When Christ Reigns

Many of us are uncomfortable with the title of "King" for Jesus, for myriad reasons, hence the festival of Christ the King can seem problematic. Some of us are a little more comfortable with the naming of our festival as the Reign of Christ. I encourage you to read what I wrote previously on these set texts (The Reign of Christ. Jeremiah 23:1-6; Song of Zechariah; Colossians 1:11-20; and Luke 23:33-43.) as background.

Christ the King

This year I want to explore what it might mean if the Christ reigned. Let’s consider three areas. Firstly, within our own hearts. Many of us may have invited Jesus into our hearts as our personal Lord and Saviour or in some way made a decision to follow Jesus and his teachings as our Lord. But who, and what, is on the throne of our hearts if we are honest? Is Jesus the Holy One really the core of our being, our true source and direction in life, the ruler of our unruly hearts and minds?

This question is not so much about beliefs as it is about our spirituality. Father Richar Rohr talks of the need to spiritually “die before we die”! or to surrender, let go, give over our control to the Spirit of the Christ. “I’ve always made a great deal of the passage where Jesus says, “This generation is an evil generation; it seeks a sign, but no sign will be given except the sign of Jonah” (Luke 11:29). He is saying that his message is simple and clear: You’ve got to die before you die … In modern psychological language, we call it the death of the ego or the separate self.” This discipline of surrendering, letting go, and giving over control is just that – a discipline – something we need to do again and again!

Secondly, the community of faith, the Body of Christ in our time and place, needs to allow Jesus the Christ to Reign, not only to be worshipped! Churches are decorated with stained glass windows, banners, and statues that depict Jesus and invite us to worship him. Liturgies with beautifully crafted words spoken and sung evoke responses of worship and praise. But how often, and to what extent, do we allow the teachings of Jesus to rule our corporate life? While it is not always easy to confidently explain how the teachings of Jesus would translate to the specific issues of our day I am fairly certain that some of the judgemental and discriminating things the church has done and preached (segregating where people can sit according to race, ethnicity, gender, class; being complicit in the removal of children from their families on the basis of race etc) in the last century, and to this day, are not informed by the teachings of Jesus and do not convey the Reign of Christ - the vulnerable crucified one.

And thirdly if we believe that God created all that is through the Word who came to birth in Jesus then the Reign of Christ is over the whole world and everything and everyone is included. One of my preferred ways of describing/explaining what the kingdom of God means is the phrase “the dream of God for the world”. Creator God continues to dream, to yearn, and to desire good for the world that God brought into being. The work of creation and salvation is not finished until all is redeemed and restored, until all have come to the fullness inherent in each part of creation and the interconnected belonging of all.

Even so, come Lord Jesus Christ, come take the throne of our hearts and make them your home; come fill our places of worship; and come awaken us to the gift of your world.

This is my work informed by all that I have heard, read and experienced. I am indebted to the wisdom of others. This week I am especially grateful to Father Richard Rohr @

https://www.cac.or/daily-meditations/a-story-of-transformation/

As Advent is now upon us you may be interested in the following courses:

Advent Year A

The Gift of Incarnation