Christ the King: I was hungry...

As I write, we are preparing for the celebration of ‘Christ the King’, a festival that marks the end of the Christian year; Advent 1 being the beginning of the new Christian year. ‘Christ the King’ is relatively new for Anglicans, and it is not one of the festivals of the Book of Common Prayer. Those with long memories, or with a BCP close at hand, will know that the end of the year was ordered by ‘Sundays after Trinity’ until we came to the fourth Sunday before Christmas (Advent 1). ‘Christ the King’ was added to the Western Calender by Pope Pius XI in 1925. The full name of the festival was ‘The Solemnity of our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe’. It was originally celebrated on the Sunday before ‘All Saints Day’.  Pope Paul VI in 1969 transferred it to its current date: the Sunday before Advent.  Anglicans, and others, adopted it when a common Calender was also adopted. The Evangelical–Lutheran Church of Sweden calls this day ‘The Sunday of Doom’. I think it would take some convincing for Anglicans to adopt that name! ‘Christ the King’ enables us to see the Christian year out with joy, and to finish the year with a clear proclamation that Jesus Christ is indeed King.

Proclaiming Christ as King means that we place our allegiance and service to him. We proclaim Christ as Lord and Saviour. The reading that accompanies ‘Christ the King’ this year is the sobering parable of the sheep and goats (Matthew 25: 31 – 46). The ‘sheep’ care for the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, and the prisoner. The ‘goats’ are those who ignored all these. Jesus in telling the story presents these altruistic actions as being done, or not being done, to him, as the case may be. Christ the King is mystically present in those who couldn’t appear less regal. A theme, I suggest, that also pervades the Christmas story with Jesus the infant King being born in the humblest of conditions.

Proclaiming Christ as King prompts us to think about how we pay him homage in this world. Worship and celebration are certainly part and parcel of this. Caring for those in need flow naturally from our liturgical actions. At Christmas time it is easy to get caught up in the consumerism that dominates our society. I certainly wouldn’t want to suggest that we cease from buying gifts for our loved ones, but we are also reminded this time of year of those in our nation, and in other countries, that are hungry, poor, oppressed, and falsely imprisoned.

This Christmas let us provide for those in need. This year at St Jude’s we are encouraging people to buy a simple gift (a food item, a small gift for a child or adult, for example) and leave it under our Christmas tree for distribution through Anglicare. You could also do that independently by yourself, or find another cause to support, if you wish. The main thing is to incorporate in our worship of Christ the King acts of love and generosity. 

Chris

Getting Ready

Thank you blog readers for a very stimulating discussion around last week's post. This week's lectionary readings are in a similar vein: getting ready. Ready for what: might be an interesting question to ask. Tom Wright's interpretation of the Gospel reading (Matthew 25: 14 - 30) understands this to be getting ready for God's activity in the 'here and now' of the time of Jesus 1). The people of Israel of Jesus' time have wasted their talents. God, in the long prophetic tradition in which Jesus stands, waits to perform justice and salvation now. Jesus and Paul understand this to be like a 'thief in the night' (1 Thess 5: 2; Matt 24: 43)). There will be a surprise, but not a big one for those who are ready. Staying awake, I would suggest, is to be alert to God's Kingdom activity in the world.

Consequently, there is no need for Hollywood horror theatrics when interpreting all this. The world around us provides enough horror of the real presence of evil. The Kingdom of God is breaking into this world. It is taking its time, but we are to invest our talents in making the world a fit place for God to reign at the final end.

1) Wright, T 2012, Twelve months of Sundays: years A,B & C, SPCK, London p. 125

Something in the Air - 1 Thessalonians 4: 9 - 18

On the road to where my father lives someone has posted a sign in their front room window that has been there for at least 10 years: 'Jesus is returning soon'. As I sit in the traffic, I ponder this sign. The original sign started out somewhat amateurish, but in recent years that sign has been replaced with something more polished. Obviously, the sign's owner thought that Jesus' return wouldn't be that soon, because they felt had enough time to make another one. My problem: Jesus' return has been a long time; 2000 years, more or less, and we are still waiting. I know I'm not the only who ponders this question. Some argue that Jesus' return is through his Spirit. I partially buy that one. The Holy Spirit is the first fruits of the coming Kingdom, but the New Testament certainly thinks of Jesus' 'bodily' return (the parousia), and not just his presence through the Spirit. So here we have a dilemma: the imminent return of Jesus that hasn't been so imminent.

What got me thinking about all this is this week's reading from 1 Thessalonians 4: 9 -18; in particular verse 17: '... then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up in the clouds together with them (those who have died and now have been resurrected) to meet the Lord in the air...'. Some Christian groups describe this as the 'rapture'. It is a most curious text. What do we make of it; what do you make of it?

Chris

P.S. We will be doing some thinking around this @ connecT on Sunday night @ 5.30pm.