Christ the King

By Pastor Tracey Leslie

I open my sermon this week with a “viewer warning.”  At the front end of this sermon, there is going to be some rather academic stuff about the end times.  It might be something that challenges you and gives you a lot to chew one.  But, I hope you’ll stick with me.  So…
Welcome to the end of the year…(to which many of you are likely saying, “Oh, if only;” because most of us would like 2020 to be in the rearview mirror).  But today does mark the end of the liturgical year, the conclusion of the Church’s calendar year.  Next Sunday, Advent will begin.  The Christian calendar year reflects the unfolding of salvation history.  Salvation history begins with God’s people anxiously awaiting the coming of a Savior, a Messiah, a King; one who will deliver them.  That deliverance, as we know, came as a baby born to a peasant couple… which was hardly what folks expected.  Today is a reminder of how things will end.  Today is Christ the King Sunday.  Today we are reminded of how salvation history will arrive at its full and final manifestation, i.e. how this world, as we know it, will come to an end.
I don’t always make a big deal out of Christ the King Sunday.  But this year, I think it’s something we need to look it.  And, don’t worry.  We’ll also get some Thanksgiving in here.  I promise.

​I open my sermon this week with a “viewer warning.”  At the front end of this sermon, there is going to be some rather academic stuff about the end times.  It might be something that challenges you and gives you a lot to chew one.  But, I hope you’ll stick with me.  So…
Welcome to the end of the year…(to which many of you are likely saying, “Oh, if only;” because most of us would like 2020 to be in the rearview mirror).  But today does mark the end of the liturgical year, the conclusion of the Church’s calendar year.  Next Sunday, Advent will begin.  The Christian calendar year reflects the unfolding of salvation history.  Salvation history begins with God’s people anxiously awaiting the coming of a Savior, a Messiah, a King; one who will deliver them.  That deliverance, as we know, came as a baby born to a peasant couple… which was hardly what folks expected.  Today is a reminder of how things will end.  Today is Christ the King Sunday.  Today we are reminded of how salvation history will arrive at its full and final manifestation, i.e. how this world, as we know it, will come to an end.
I don’t always make a big deal out of Christ the King Sunday.  But this year, I think it’s something we need to look it.  And, don’t worry.  We’ll also get some Thanksgiving in here.  I promise.
Due to our current world and national circumstances, I have seen a lot of social media posting about The Rapture.  In fact, someone recently told me that my political views are hastening the rapture.  (Frankly, I don’t think my political views have the power to compel the God of the universe to change up his cosmic game plan.)  But, what will the “end of time” be like?  Well, first of all, here’s what it won’t be like.  The word “rapture” isn’t found anywhere in scripture.  In fact, a “two-stage” return of the Lord such as we find in popular series like “Left Behind” is not biblical.  This cinematic theology, technically known as Dispensationalism, conflates snippets of various scriptures, taken out of context; it just kind of smushes them all together.  For example, in the gospel of Mark[i], Jesus does say that, before the return of the Son of Man, things are gonna get pretty bad, pretty ugly.  And, the apostle Paul, in a letter to the Christians in Thessalonica[ii], comforts those who are worried about the eternal fate of fellow believers who have died.  Paul reassures them that, at Jesus’ return, believers already in their graves will meet Jesus in the air first and we will join them.  Paul writes, “Then we who are alive… will be caught up in the clouds together with them” [“them” referencing back to the “dead in Christ,” i.e. Christians who have already gone to their graves]; that we will be “caught up in the clouds together with them…so we will be with the Lord forever.”
So, I’ve given you a bit of a biblical crash course in the “end times” and I appreciate you sticking it out with me.  But I think this is important, not only because we don’t want to get our theology from Facebook anymore than we should get our news from it; but also because Christ the King Sunday is the day on the Church’s calendar when we celebrate and anticipate Jesus’ return… which should beg the question: “If Jesus returns as cosmic King, what kind of king will he be?  What will the culmination of his reign look like?”
And those questions point us toward this morning’s primary scripture text from Philippians, chapter 2.  Paul admonishes the Christians in Philippi to have the same mindset as Jesus by utilizing what was thought to be an early Church hymn about Jesus…
Philippians 2:6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, 7 but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, 8 he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death-- even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
 
This, as I said, was one of the earliest Church hymns and it does not celebrate Christ the King as a monarch who is brutal or oppressive.  Christ the King is humble.  He pours out his very life for the sake of others.  He wasn’t afraid to step into vulnerable, weak human flesh.  That is the kind of king Jesus was. 
Paul uses this hymn in his letter to the Christians in Philippi because, although he loves them dearly and holds them close in his heart, as a congregation they still struggle to be of the same mind.  Near the end of Paul’s letter, he writes, “I urge Euodia and Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord.”[iii]  There it is again: a plea for Christians to “be of the same mind” which, as Paul has already stated, “was in Christ Jesus.”  So this is what we have… In chapter 2, Paul says, “Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus” and then he proceeds to recite this hymn that celebrates Jesus as a sovereign who is humble and obedient and self-sacrificing.  Then in chapter 4, Paul writes to these two women who, clearly, are dealing with some kind of conflict, “I urge Euodia and Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord.”
So the return of Jesus at the end of time as Christ the King is more than something to look forward to in the future.  It is, quite clearly, something that provides a template for our lives within the kingdom of God right here and now.  If Christ, who we acknowledge as our Lord and King, models a reign of humility and self-sacrifice, that is what he will expect of his disciples, of his loyal subjects.
And that is a message we need to hear today because we are living in a nation in which leadership and authority are not being demonstrated through humility and self-sacrifice.  Regardless of your political affiliation, I am guessing that you are feeling frustration and discouragement with what you are seeing out of Washington and even, at times, out of our own state house.  I was honored this week to have a Trinity member share a reflection with me and I want to share just a few words of it with you.  He wrote:
We see a world devastated by a virus that, in this country, has become a political football.  Even now, we find our political leaders fighting against each other in an effort to get or retain power, rather than finding ways to work together.  The direction that they have chosen is that of party first, people last. 
Friends, I don’t believe that my political views are going to hasten the so-called “rapture.”  But Jesus, during his earthly ministry, did teach that my – and your – actions in the world can manifest the kingdom of God; a kingdom of humility and self-sacrifice; not a kingdom of violence and destruction.
 
Friends: among the things for which we can give thanks this week, I hope that you will remember these:

• That the one who ultimately rules over our lives is not a sovereign wreaking terror and havoc.  Our king is humble and merciful and just, placing our well-being ahead of his own;
• That we are called and CAN live in that way also by following Jesus’ teaching and welcoming the power of his Spirit into our lives.  We may not run for political office (although maybe some of us should), but we can lead within our families, our communities, our places of employment, and various civic groups and WE can model a different kind of leadership.

And, let us give thanks, celebrate and be invested in supporting

• This faith community that encourages US to be of the same mindset as Christ Jesus, trusting that, whenever the end comes – be it tomorrow or millennia from now – it will culminate not in a reign of terror, but in a reign of mercy.

[i] Mark 13:14-27.

[ii] 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17.

[iii] Philippians 4:2.