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The Gospel of Mark Bible Studies
January 2006
February 2006
March 2006
April 2006
May 2006
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December 2006
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Christ the King Sunday In the Name of the King of kings, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Today is Christ the King Sunday. Although most of us are probably very familiar with this special day, it actually is of very recent origin. The festival came into being when Pope Pius XI added this to the Roman Catholic Calendar in the year 1925. Originally, it was celebrated on the last Sunday in October as a preparatory day for the celebration of All Saints Day on November 1st. (Unofficially, the last Sunday in October placement of this festival was also probably done in order to combat the popularity of Reformation Sunday among us Lutherans and other Protestants.) In 1969 (only 37 years ago!) the Roman Catholic Calendar moved Christ the King Sunday to the last Sunday of the liturgical year, the “final Lord’s Day” with its eschatological emphasis of Christ’s coming again to fully establish his kingdom. Shortly after that, Lutherans and other more liturgically minded Protestants began adopting the Revised Common Lectionary with its 3-year cycle of scripture readings, and that is when WE started to observe this day as well. It is wonderfully ironic to note that this day, in part at least originally conceived as a divisive festival to compete with Reformation Sunday, has now become a day that is observed by Christians of many different denominations to emphasize the UNITY that we all have under Christ as our king! I believe that this is truly evidence of the Holy Spirit working among us in our churches, and for that I give praise and thanks to God. As we prayed in this morning’s Prayer of the Day; “Almighty and ever-living God, you anointed your Son to be priest and sovereign. By your will, restore all creation to the beauty of his lordship, and unite all our divided world under his glorious and gentle rule, for he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.” That Prayer of the Day is a beautiful summary of one of the central hopes of our Christian faith – that Jesus Christ has come and will come again to unite all peoples of our world under his rule of love and forgiveness. As we know, this world presently is anything BUT united. It is divided in all kinds of ways – in terms of culture, language, religions, wealth, politics, power, and the list goes on and on. And, unfortunately, these divisions are often manifested even in the Church. But still we hope, and believe, that one day all of these divisions will be done away with and that we will all be united as one people – as God’s people – under Jesus Christ. In today’s first reading from the Old Testament book of Daniel, we heard about a wonderful vision. This vision details the Ancient One (God) convening his heavenly court in a setting of almost indescribable splendor. In this setting, God entrusted the rulership of his world to a very special person – to one “like a human being”. The literal term is one “like a Son of Man” – namely, someone who represents the entire human race to God – who came to be understood as being the MESSIAH that Israel was hoping for. JESUS often used the term “Son of Man” to describe who and what he was. And it was to this person that the Ancient One in the vision in today’s first reading gave dominion and glory and kingship, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him. On the face of it, it seems incredible that Jesus could ever have described HIMSELF as being that “Son of Man”. During his earthly ministry, he did not exhibit any of the qualities of rulership described in Daniel’s vision – except for one thing. People indeed DID come to serve him –not because of his “power” but rather because of his LOVE. Jesus’ love is what drew people of many different backgrounds together. His own group of twelve disciples, for example, included Matthew the tax collector and Simon the zealot, two persons who normally would not have anything to do with each other. But in their love for Jesus, they also came to love one another as well. It is in that sense that Jesus is truly the “Son of Man” whose love will eventually unite all the peoples of the earth. We indeed have many differences, and we tend to make distinctions among each other on the basis of gender, race, nationality, vocation, religious denominational affiliations, and in many other ways as well. But Jesus Christ loves ALL of us and has given his life for ALL of us, no matter who and what we are. His love for us is what draws us to him – and bit-by-bit, through him we are also drawn to love and forgive each other as well. It is true that right now it can be hard to see that the kingdom of Christ is a reality. There is still so much hatred, division, oppression, and discrimination among us. This is often true for us in our own lives, and it is certainly true in our world at large. But still we believe – despite all outward evidence to the contrary – that Christ’s love will triumph over all of this. We believe that some day, Christ’s love will rule in our hearts through and through – and that his love will bring us and all people of the earth together into one family, and one communion. That’s the hope that we Christians celebrate on this last Sunday after Pentecost – on this Christ the King Sunday. Somehow, some day, Jesus’ love will reign in our lives and throughout this entire world – and then there will be no more suffering, no more pain, no more sorrow, and no more war. There will only be joy and peace forever more. And indeed, even in the midst of so much bad news in our world, and often in our lives, we still can see some hopeful signs that the kingdom of Christ is here in our midst. Every time someone forgives another, Jesus is there. Every time we help a neighbor, Jesus is there. Every time we remember our unity under Christ – as we do especially on this day – Jesus is there. Jesus is here – transforming and renewing our lives and our world with his love. Today, on this Christ the King Sunday, may we remember that we belong to Jesus – and that he has commissioned us to love, to forgive, and to serve each other – even as he loves, forgives, and serves us. May we live each day so that we may bear witness that Jesus Christ is truly our savior, our lord, and our KING – now and forever. So may it be! Amen! -------------------- George R. Karres, Pella Lutheran Church 418 W. Main Street Sidney, MT 59270
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