"Kingdom, Come" | The Rev. Heidi Thorsen | November 24, 2024

Those of you familiar with the year long cycle of religious seasons and feast days, what we call the liturgical calendar, may know that this Sunday is a significant day— it is the last Sunday in the liturgical year. Not only is this the last Sunday of what we call “ordinary time”— the long season after all the excitement of Lent, Easter, and Pentecost, before we begin a new season with Advent. This last Sunday is also celebrated as Christ the King, a day when our prayers and readings point us to a vision of Jesus as more righteous and powerful than all the rulers of the earth. This year marks the 99th year that Christians have celebrated Christ the King, as a named feast day, making it the most recent addition to our liturgical calendar. Its newness makes it no less significant, since the Holy Spirit has always moved through the evolution of our church traditions. The themes of Christ the King are rooted in scriptures that have stood at the center of our faith for centuries.

But why this new feast day, 99 years ago; how did it come about? This story originates with the Roman Catholic Church, and more specifically an Italian priest, who became a cardinal, who became the pope - Pope Pius XI. Pius instituted the feast day of Christ the King in 1925, at a significant crossroads in history. On the one hand, Pius wanted to promote peace, with the violence of World War I fresh in many peoples’ minds. On the other hand, Pius wanted to strengthen peoples’ resolve in the face of three rising political dictators: Benito Mussolini in Italy, Adolf Hitler in Germany, and Joseph Stalin in Russia. The Feast of Christ the King, from its very inception, has always been a response to the threat of fascism. It has always been a response to leaders who pursue a distorted vision of the common good, through the centralization and abuse of power. It has always been a beacon of justice against rulers who would lead us astray. Episcopal and Lutheran Churches followed the example of the Roman Catholic Church, and we adopted this feast day in our own liturgical practice. Clearly the themes of Christ the King resonated back then, and they still do today.

What does it mean to call Christ our King? To understand that better, let’s explore the scripture of the day. In the Gospel of John we encounter Jesus in the midst of a trial that will ultimately lead to his crucifixion. Jesus has been temporarily passed on from the local Jewish authorities to the regional Roman authority, Pilate. As an outsider to Jewish customs and controversies of the time, Pilate asks Jesus, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus does not answer directly. Instead, he begins an extended conversation with Pilate. “My kingdom is not from this world.” Jesus says. “If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.” Again, Pilate asks, “So you are a king?” Jesus replies. “You say that I am a king.”

This passage reveals an important detail about Jesus’ teaching. At no point in this passage, or indeed in any part of scripture, does Jesus call himself a king. It is other people who place this title on him. It is Jesus’ followers who act as if he is a king, when they lay down their robes before him in his triumphant entry into Jerusalem. It is Pilate who asks if Jesus is a king in this passage, presumably because of accusations passed on from the local Jewish leaders. And it is ultimately Pilate who prepares a sign to be posted on the cross above Jesus, proclaiming to all who pass by: “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” 

Jesus never called himself a king.

But Jesus did speak, a lot, about a kingdom. 

“The kingdom of God is like a man who casts seed upon the soil; and he goes to bed at night and gets up by day, and the seed sprouts and grows– how, he himself does not know” (Mark 4:26-28)

“The kingdom is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it” (Matthew 13:46).

“The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed… smaller than all other seeds, but when it is full grown, it is larger than the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches” (Matthew 13:31-33).

The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son, and when the guests were unwilling to come he sent members of his household out into the streets, and everyone they found– good, bad, and in between– was welcomed in to enjoy the feast (Matthew 22:1-14, paraphrase).

These are just a few of the many examples in which Jesus talked about the kingdom of God (sometimes referred to as the kingdom of heaven). Jesus talks about the kingdom through metaphor and parable, through blessings like the beatitudes, and even in the prayer that Jesus himself taught us: thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

On Christ the King Sunday, we spend a good deal of time imagining Christ as a King. Crown him with many crowns, we sing. At the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow. Perhaps you have an image in your mind of Jesus sitting enthroned among the clouds. These are powerful things to meditate on– adoration is a meaningful practice, unto itself. Still, I can’t help but wonder if Jesus would prefer that we spend a little less time meditating on his crown, and a lot more time meditating on his kingdom. The kingdom, after all, is what Jesus keeps pointing us back to, again and again, throughout his ministry. And when Pilate asks Jesus if he is a king, Jesus responds again by talking not about kingship, but about a kingdom.

Jesus invites us, at every step of his ministry, to imagine what that kingdom of God looks like. This act of imagination is a first step towards that other thing that Jesus asks of us– that we work towards making this world more like the kingdom of heaven.

Thy kingdom come, thy will be done,

On earth as it is in heaven.

Christ is King no matter what country we live in, what state we live in, or what city we live in. Christ is King no matter who is the president, the governor, or the mayor in the city where you live. Christ is King. But that doesn’t mean that we can sit back, relax, and rejoice because God’s going to take care of it. Jesus’ kingship is not a dictatorship, but rather a rule in which each one of us has a role to play in making the kingdom so. This is our calling as Christians: to proclaim the kingdom of God here on earth, in word and in action.

Since the very first Sunday when Christ the King was celebrated in 1925, this feast day has stood as a guidepost for people of faith in times of political uncertainty and unrest. Christ the King does not give us permission to disengage because Christ will ultimately win the day. Instead, Christ the King compels us to engage more deeply. Christ the King compels us to apply the values of Jesus Christ in every aspect of our lives. Christ the King invites us to be active citizens in the kingdom that God is creating.

Sometime this week, I hope you will spend some time thinking about what the kingdom of God ought to look like. Think about the kingdom that Jesus taught about, throughout the Gospels. Maybe pick one of those kingdom passages to sit with more deeply. Talk with a friend to see how their vision of the kingdom of God can inform and expand your own. And remember: while Christ is already King, this world has a long way to go on its way to being more like the kingdom. Let us pledge our allegiance to God’s reign of justice, love, and mercy, so that we can have a part to play in planting God’s kingdom here on earth, so that it can grow and flourish.

Thy kingdom come, thy will be done,

On earth as it is in heaven.

Amen.