The Church Year comes to a close with the final Sunday being dedicated to Christ the King. It is one of the newest holy days on the calendar, having been added after World War I as a way to remind us that the kingdoms of this world are temporal and that the only Kingdom we should pledge everlasting allegiance to is the one Eternal Kingdom—that of our Lord Jesus Christ, the King of the Universe.
We live in a world that is always being re-carved by human minds, hands, and military powers. Truthfully, this has been the case since the dawn of human existence, with times of harmony less common than times of conflict. Nonetheless, as people of faith, we must bear witness to the sparks, flames, and wildfires of warfare that are taking place globally during our time. We must be relentless alarm bells ringing out for peace, justice, and tolerance. We who claim that Jesus is King of the Universe, must proclaim that all human-made borders are meaningless and that the human dignity of all is far more meaningful.
Every Sunday is really Christ the King Sunday. Every Sunday we proclaim in our congregations that our Lord Jesus conquered sin and death, that the gospel of our Lord is one that is good news for all, and that our Lord therefore rules over all. In our reciting of creeds and prayers, we consistently cry out that the Eternal Kingdom of God will be the only such Kingdom that lasts forever and ever. Yet, despite this weekly echoing, we greatly need this yearly special reminder when we elevate these refrains all the more. We need to do it for our world, and also for ourselves.
It is easy internally within our spirits and within our communities to begin giving pieces of our individual and collective spirits to other kingdoms of this world. We find ourselves pledging allegiance to our country, to national symbols, to companies, brands, family, and friendships. In many cases, we don’t even realize how deep and dangerous our love affairs for these competing entities goes and how these entanglements choke out our faith. In the end we find ourselves thinking more about the kingdoms of the world than the Eternal Kingdom of God. We find ourselves looking inward and not outward—looking for friends, power, money, possessions, and other passing glories of the the earth. We abandon the Eternal Kingdom of God and thus betray our Lord Jesus.
To be good and faithful followers of the Lord Jesus we must seek the Eternal Kingdom above all else. We must not commit ourselves to anything of this earth with more gusto than we do the Eternal Kingdom. This does not mean a stoic or monastic lifestyle. To the contrary, Jesus calls us to be workers for the Eternal Kingdom of God in the midst of our daily lives. That means, doing something to make the Kingdom present today and now. Sitting around and looking towards the future is not enough. We must be active doers of the will of God—breaking down barriers, bringing about peace, building bridges of understanding, promoting justice, and rallying others to such causes. The only King we have is Jesus Christ the King, and we must commit ourselves fully to the Universal Kingdom of God for which our Lord lives forever and ever.
Relevant Reformation 