Posts Tagged ‘Christ the King’

What Does It Mean for Christ to be King?

Thursday, November 21st, 2019

Christ The King

2 Sam 5: 1-3; Col 1: 12-20; Luke 23: 35-43

Deacon Larry Brockman

Christ the King!  That means Christ is not the President; not the Prime Minister; not the Emperor-  e is none of these other things.   Rather, He is a King.  You see, He is not elected by either the people, like a President, or by the leaders, like a prime minister; nor is He the leader by virtue of conquest like an Emperor.  Rather, He is chosen and anointed by God the Father.   

Now at first blush, the difference may not mean a lot to you.  But when you really think about it, well, being a King versus any of those other things is quite profound.    You see, being the King means that Christ is sovereign.  He is above all else and first and foremost as Paul says.  No one else either compares to Him nor can they ever compare to Him.  Rather, He is all of the things that Paul talks about in the letter to the Colossians. 

Christ is not King by virtue of acceptance by the people or the leaders of the people or by conquest.  That’s why David was anointed King.  But it is different with Christ.  He is the absolute King not subject to any other authority- not to the people, the leaders, or conquered slaves.   

The fact that Christ the King is above everything else implies that God’s creation is a hierarchy.  We know that there are angels and that angels are in a hierarchy.  We don’t know what else God created outside of our universe.  But the rest of creation in our Universe has levels within it; it is a hierarchy.  To drive that message home, God created hierarchies all over the place for us to see.  The animal Kingdom is a hierarchy; the plant kingdom is a hierarchy.   Even the Universe is a hierarchy of galaxies with dependent stars with planets subject to them.  So, we know the Kingdom of God to be a hierarchy as well.  

Now we are used to the phrase that “All men are created equal”.  But you know what- that is not really true if everything is a hierarchy, is it?  What is true is that God created each one of us as He saw fit.  God does not create junk; so everything He created is good, and everything he created was created for a purpose.  God uniquely “gifted” each of us with the life that we have in the times that we were born into; we are all pieces of a giant jigsaw puzzle that is in God’s mind.   

We are all of equal value to God; but that doesn’t mean that we are all created with equal value in our frame of reference because God made some of us more talented than others in the eyes of our peers.   

You see, the reality of who we really are is only known to God.  We are like icebergs floating on the sea to the world.  To God, he sees all of us, including the potential we will have in the Kingdom of God; the only thing the world sees is the part that sticks above the surface.   God sees the part below the surface as well.   

Now I mention all of this because we need to be good subjects.  We need to recognize Christ as the King, like the so-called good thief in the Gospel rather than scoff at God and his ways like the bad thief did.  Good subjects submit to their King without question.  They do the will of the King at all times and they accept the role they were given without coveting something more for themselves.   

In return, like any good sovereign, the King will protect and serve His loyal subjects and provide for their common good.  But God is so much more than the best of benevolent Kings from of old, that His subjects will enjoy everlasting happiness and joy.

Life is about learning to live the life God intended for us; to be happy with the gifts and blessings that we have; learning to avoid comparing ourselves to others; and learning to share for the common good.  Life is about becoming loyal subjects of Christ the King.  If we trust Him and submit to Him; ultimate happiness will be ours our forever. 

Pondering the Kingdom of God

Sunday, November 24th, 2013

Christ the King

2 Sam 5: 1-3; Col `1: 1-12; Luke 23: 35-43

Deacon Larry Brockman

 

You know what?  Heaven is not run by the people!  There won’t be any politicians running for office or campaign promises there.  There aren’t going to be any elections either.  We are not going to get to vote for anyone or anything if we make it there.  We will have to just settle with whatever we get from God.  Heaven is after all a Kingdom- and Kingdoms have Kings not elected presidents.  Heaven is the Kingdom of God; and that Kingdom lasts forever- and forever is a long time.

God has already chosen His King, His anointed one- Jesus Christ.  That’s what today’s readings are all about- Christ the King.  We hear that Jesus Christ is “the image of the invisible God”.  We know that Jesus came before all of us and made everything.  Heaven has angels and saints in it but they are subjects, not voters.  God wills that things be handled by His King Jesus the Christ; and it will always be that way- forever.

And while all of us aspire to be part of God’s Kingdom,  It would be naïve of us to think that we will all be the same.  We are all loved by God equally, but each of us is unique, and is loved for our uniqueness.  And each of us will have our own unique place in Heaven if- if we follow Jesus as the Gospel calls for.  Let us ponder things about such a heavenly Kingdom :

First, we are each given gifts from God in this life.  If we don’t learn to be happy with what is ours in this life, it will be difficult to be happy in the Kingdom of God forever.  Life here is our opportunity to learn to accept the gifts that God has chosen for us.  But to appreciate these gifts to the utmost, we have to do God’s will for us because all of our gifts were especially chosen for us.  The closer we are to doing God’s will, the easier it will be for us to use our gifts.  If we try having it our way rather than God’s way there is going to be a problem- a disconnect between our gifts and our lives.  That can result in pain for us; and it will be the same in the next life as well- it will be Heaven or Hell for us.

The more we are given; the more God expects from us as stewards of those gifts.  Some of us were gifted with fame, money, power, special talents, or good looks as viewed by the world’s standards.  Others were entrusted with more ordinary things in life here.  We are white, black, yellow or red; and we are male and female.  But that doesn’t make any of us better than the other- just different and destined for our own special role in the Kingdom of God.  God loves all of us the same; and He is interested in how well we accept what He gives us.  Life here is like the tip of an iceberg compared to eternity, where we will experience the rest of our gifts.

Our greatest gift is life itself.  God wants us to cherish that above all other things.  He has gifted us with instincts that motivate us in exactly that way- to defend and preserve our lives no matter what.  If we don’t respect our life and the life of others in this world, why would we be expected to value life in the next?  And so, no matter what our quality of life, we simply must learn to love life itself.  After all, if we want to live an eternity with God, we must value life forever.

Next, all of us were born with limitations; but these also are gifts.  None of us could be perfect as only God is perfect.  If we can’t learn to live and be happy with our limitations in this life; how can we expect to be satisfied with our limitations in the next life forever?  But, even in the next life we will not be perfect; otherwise we would be God, and we are not God.

One of the biggest problems we have in this life is our tendency to have expectations.  We hope for, and expect that things will go our way.  But they don’t- they go God’s way.  Jesus the Christ is our King and so, we need to learn to be obedient to the King.  God, like all kings, is really big on obedience.  A house divided against itself cannot stand.  And so, God demands our obedience in His Kingdom- forever.  So, it is important for us to learn obedience in this life.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus promises the good thief Paradise.  From that we learn that the kingdom of God is paradise- a place of eternal happiness.  Why does he promise this thief paradise?   Because this man recognized his limitations; accepted them, and recognized himself for what he was; promising to learn from his mistakes.   He just wanted a chance to be remembered by the King.  All of us are called to do the same.

The other thief was arrogant and cynical, presuming to judge Jesus on his terms and according to his standards, as were the rulers and soldiers who sneered at Jesus.  These are people who are in control in this world; but the lessons we just outlined for the Kingdom of God escaped them.

And so, take the opportunity today to think about the coming of the King who will lead us into eternal happiness in His Kingdom.  Love life; accept your gifts and limitations, learn the King’s will for you, and be obedient.  Then you will enjoy the good life of the kingdom of God forever.