Yesterday was “No Kings Day” where millions of people around the USA gathered in protest against President Trump’s actions and attitude in office.
This morning I was preparing the Visual Lectionary resource for Christ the King Sunday that is coming up on November 23.
These two things prompted me to repost this reflection regarding Christ, Kings, and Kingdoms
A Reflection on Christ the King
Christ the King Sunday can be a difficult topic to preach, especially for Citizens of the United States. It is baked into our Revolutionary DNA to distrust a king!
Human kingdoms are built on the idea that one man has all the power. Whatever the king says is law. The reign of the king’s power reaches to every border of his kingdom. If you disagree with the King, you die.
That’s a lot of power for one human being. Most human kings don’t hold that power well and a lot of people suffer under the hands of a tyrant who seeks wealth, power, and control.
Praise God, we do not have a king like that! Jesus never claimed himself to be the King. He proclaimed that the basilea ton ouranon—Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of the Heavens, the Divine Reign, the Divine Commonwealth– was at hand! Change your perspective and trust it! (Mark 1:14, Matthew 3:17) read more here and here.
Jesus points us to a God who rules, not as a tyrant, but as a Loving Parent–whom Jesus called “Abba”–seeking justice and righteousness for all of creation. Jesus sits at the right hand of God as the lamb who was slain.
This is an upside down kin-dom of love. The Way of Jesus will always be counter cultural to any human system that worships/feeds power, money, greed, self-exaltation, and the abuse of another human being.
I offer you three resources to contemplate Christ as King this week. The first two are the images above. The third is this post where John Cobb talks about the Divine Commonwealth. Enjoy!
Every week I compile all the visual resources on cartoonistbible.com for the lectionary readings on both the Revised Common Lectionary and the Narrative Lectionary. Get them in your inbox every Monday morning.
