The Feast of Christ the King
Sunday, 20 November 2011
The Rev’d Lloyd Prator
New York City

The Festival of Christ the King has a somewhat problematic origin. Originally it was the last Sunday in October, established on that date by our friends in the Roman Catholic Church. It is not an old feast, dating from about 1925 and is actually a festival with a bit of an edge to it. The Roman Church began to notice that some Protestants kept a feast called Reformation Sunday at the end of October. Christ the King was, to put it bluntly, meant to be something of a slap in the face, by the papal glove, to the Protestants. The iconography of Christ the King often pictures our Lord with a crown and with vestments associated with Catholicism, making it clear that when the Church celebrated Christ the King, it was not honoring the Presbyterian Church around the corner or the Methodist church up the hill.

The Feast of Christ the King can have, therefore, something of a tinge of triumphalism about it; and triumphalism always gets the church in trouble. It is, perhaps, our greatest temptation

So, in light of that, I think Christ the King is one of those feasts which needs to be slightly refocused. From a perspective of liturgical symmetry, I am glad it is there. I like the idea that both of our periods of ordinary time—Epiphany in the winter, and the time after Pentecost in the summer and fall—come to an end with a festival. There is something nice about bringing ordinary time to a close with a blast, and that does it.

The question we need to ask is this: In what way and for whom is Christ the King.

First, he is the king in our hearts, souls and minds. He is king of our interior life. In a sense, this is the simple dominion of kingship. When we make our baptismal promises, we offer our life to God to shape and form into the image of his son. To look creatively at the idea of Christ the King means to look at any area of your life where you have not welcomed him and have not given him dominion over your life. Take your intimate relationships, spouses, husband and wives, those with whom you are seeking to develop love. Is that area being infused by the presence of Chris?. Your career—is it being used to build up your life in Christ? The hours of your day, are you setting aside time for prayer and meditation? Your intellectual life—are you seeking to learn more about our faith and to explore it more deeply?

Is there any part of your interior life which is not open to God? If there is, then that is an area of yourself which is not open to Christ. Open it up, dust off the crown, and welcome in the Lord.

Second, Christians are called to extend the kingdom of Christ around the world. This we have not always done well. In the early years of the Christiana church, we thought it a good idea to link up with the Roman empire. It certainly was a nice change from persecution by the same folks but as the empire’s fortunes changed, Church and empire became coterminous and the church began to exercise what now seems to us to be corrosive and domineering power in all aspects of human life. When we hear passages about our being sent to baptize the whole world in the name of Christ and his church we hesitate; the last time we tried to run the show, we did not do so well.

When we think of Christ’s dominion over the world, a new set of images is needed. As the church relates to society, it needs to relate as a servant might relate, seeking to help where needed, to make our programs and our visions touch the genuine needs of the world, and to join with other parts of society to take a common look at our issues, and to do what we can to show Christ to the world as one who cares, as a servant.

I was put in mind of this idea last week when the football scandal at Penn State hit the papers. Rather than speak judgmentally or occupy a position of lofty critic, we should share with the legislators and moral authorities of our nation our own experience when we have found those among our circle who have injured children and abused the young and the vulnerable. We have a responsibility not only to proclaim Christ as King, but to do so in a way that loves and cares for those injured—even by the Church. Our role is to be good citizens.

That is why I have told the vestry and wardens of this church that our church has a policy about child sexual abuse. And that policy is that we call the police right away. Ours is a religion which proclaims that the truth makes us free, and that obfuscation and mendacity are serious sins, particularly when they are used to serve as a defense of those who hurt children.

Christ is a different kind of king from the royal icon offered 80 years ago. He is the king who lays aside his royal paraphernalia and comes to live with us, and particularly with the weak and the vulnerable about whom he particularly cares. If we get on board with that program, we will genuinely proclaim Christ as King, the Servant King, the King of Love and the one who rules in our hearts.