Christ the King Sunday

This Sunday we're doing something a bit different at St. Francis; we'll be doing an Instructed Eucharist. At various points during the service, I'll be making some comments about the service (what we're doing, why we're doing it, the history and theology of it, etc.). We'll be making the service shorter in some places (no music at parts) to give us more time. There also will not be a traditional sermon on Sunday, but instead more commentary.

So here, I thought it would be a good thing to explore the readings from Sunday that we'd normally read. This Sunday is the last of the liturgical year, and is called Christ the King Sunday. Take a look at the readings for the day and reflect on them. It's not as old of a tradition as you might suspect, not even 100 years. Some folks also call it Stir Up Sunday because of a historical prayer often said on that Sunday. In the Episcopal Church, that particular pray comes up on the Third Sunday of Advent. But think of the year 1925. The world had just finished the first World War, empires were beginning to rebuild, religion was being critiqued. So the Pope thought that we needed a reminder that we have only one king, one ruler, one lord, one leader- and that is Christ.

We have wonderful readings today, I sort of wish I was preaching a full sermon on them. The other two years of the lectionary cycle have readings from what we would call Good Friday- they are stories of Jesus' crucifixion. In those years, it is a way to remind us that the kingship of Christ is not what we expect.

This year, the readings are different. Instead of telling us how Jesus became the king, they tell us what sort of king Jesus is. The passage from Ezekiel is absolutely wonderful and would definitely provide wonderful sermon material. "I myself will search for my sheep, and will seek them out." "I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, but the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them with justice." I don't need to say anything, do I? Preaches for itself.

Then in Matthew, we encounter the well known "truly I tell you, as you did it to one of these you did it to me." Great passage that gets us thinking about the King who cares for his people, the King who is glorified in his people, the King who cares for his people as much as he cares for himself.

Would love to get your comments on this-

• does our world appear to know that Christ is King?
• does our church?
• how do you proclaim Christ's kingship in your life?
• how could you do so?
• what do you think of Christ as King?
• what do you think of the idea of having a Sunday set aside for this feast?