Christ, the Royal Servant
Based on Matthew 25, 31-46, the following is a Reflection on Christ the King given by Sr. Rosemarie Greco, DW, on November 26, 2023, for the Milton Congregational Church in Litchfield, Connecticut.
Years ago, I was a missionary, teaching at a Seminary in Uganda. In August 1977, I spent the school break with a group of nuns at their convent in Nairobi, Kenya. This one morning, when we Americans came to breakfast, we were greeted with the news that “Your king has died!” My face was puzzled, as were the other Americans. “We don’t have a king,” we said. But the nun repeated, “Your king has died.”
Finally, the bearer of this confusing and surprising news said: “Elvis Presley, your king of Rock, has died.”
The confusion is a good illustration of the fact that words don’t always have the same meaning in all cultures. In different contexts, they express different meanings. What, then, is a king? A king is a male ruler of an independent state who inherits that position through birth and holds it for life. For most of us in the 21st-century Western world, especially in the USA, we might ask, “What does a king have to do with us?” Kingship conjures outdated pageantry and questionable theological language, such as ‘one King over all peoples; a Monarch ruling over all.’
We can safely say that Jesus is not this kind of King. How, then, did we start to refer to him as King?
This feast was initiated by the Catholic Church in 1925 as a response to the growing secularism and atheism around the world. It was intended to remind us that Christ must “reign as king forever.” Anglicans, Lutherans, Presbyterians, and Methodists joined in to celebrate this feast.
Today, the last Sunday of the liturgical year and the Sunday before the start of Advent, most Christian churches are celebrating the feast of Christ the King. In truth, Jesus Christ is not a king in the entertainment world, as Elvis Presley was. Nor is he one who rules over us in the political sense. His life is the standard of compassion, justice, and generosity by which we measure our lives. He is the ruler we think of when we set the standard by which we measure our lives.
Although we Christians may refer to Christ as King, in today’s feast, 100 years after the start of this feast, we know that our world is one of a great diversity of cultures, faiths, and spiritualities. Christ respects these differences. They all can embrace the One who created us.
In today’s Gospel from Matthew, we are presented with a type of “kingship” and “royalty” that Jesus holds. It is not a kingship of domination or triumph. He is a Shepherd. He leads with an all-powerful compassion and love, seeking justice for all. Christ’s inclusive kingdom is not one of the strong and mighty but one of the weak by worldly standards. Christ has turned the standard of kingship and rulers upside down. The important ones in his kingdom or society are the ones who are often ignored and who have no power in this world.
We may ask, who belongs to this kingdom of God? It is not necessarily those who strictly observe the 10 commandments.
We may be tempted to think so when today’s Gospel speaks of the separation of sheep from the goats. We are inclined to think of this as the separation of good from evil or the saved from the damned. Even so, if you are like me, I would place myself among the sheep – the saved. But the question then is: Do I rejoice that the others are condemned? (1)
In the time of Jesus, goats and sheep were separated because goats were more rambunctious than sheep, and their energy could sometimes hurt the sheep, even unintentionally. Separation was a caring gesture from the shepherd.
Who, then, belongs in the kingdom of God? It is those who create bonds of care and love, concern and compassion. These are the hallmarks of Christ’s life and ministry.
These are the signs of citizenship in this new Kingdom. These are the ones we are invited to imitate.
As I thought of this feast, I recalled songs with images we often use to extol Christ. At this time of the year, we will likely hear Handel’s “Messiah.” .
The audience joyfully rises in acclamation of “King of Kings and Lord of Lords….He shall reign forever and ever.”
However, other sections of this oratorio remind us of the spirit of Christ’s kingship as a Shepherd, the one who leads us like “a Shepherd leads the flock.”
We hear: “Rejoice, the king cometh unto thee – he shall speak peace.” (Zechariah 9:9)
“Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened. The ears of the deaf unstopped. The lame shall leap, and all tongues shall sing.” (Isaiah 35:5-6)
“He shall feed his flock like a Shepherd and gather the lambs with his arms and carry them in his bosom and gently lead those that are with young.” (Isaiah 40,11)
“Come to him- he is meek and lowly of heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” (Matthew 11:28).
Who can resist following a king, a royal person, such as this? He is the one who is shown to us in the Gospels as gathering in his arms the ones considered useless: the lepers, tax collectors, women, and children, the poor and homeless. Today, we have a challenge and an invitation to follow this King of compassion. We are all called to be royal people, bringing compassion and justice to all. (2) We do this when we live as Christ and welcome and see him all around us.
Let us live with Divine Nobility with Jesus, our rule of life, and the standard we use for seeking and living the fullest of our lives. Let the rule of our lives be the Jesus of Compassion.
BENEDICTION:
God, in Jesus, showed us an alternative to ruling as monarchs. Jesus rules with care. May we co-create with Jesus a world ruled not by domination but a world ruled by consideration and compassion. May God’s blessing strengthen us to walk the path that Jesus showed. Amen
Resources:
1. Amy-Jill Levine, Short Stories by Jesus, The Ennigmatic Parables of a Controversial Rabbi, Harper Collins, 2014. p. 282.
2. Helen Kenik, “Toward a Biblical Basis for Creation Theology” in Matthew Fox, ed., Western Spirituality: Historical Roots, Ecumenical Routes. Pp. 27-75.