Homily
Solemnity of Christ the King
Christ the King Parish Topeka
22 November 2014
Readings
Because our great United States of America was founded through the toppling of a tyrant King, and we elect a president to serve us instead, talk of kingship might sound anachronistic. But it's not. We still love kings. When there is a king lacking, we want one. That's how Michael Jackson becomes the King of Pop and LeBron James the King of basketball. We love to see who dominates in their area of reality, and who has power and fame. We love it. What is more, we love seeing Kings fall.
But today, we are the ones who fall down before our King. We might love toppling Kings, but today we are here to worship a King that is unstoppable and unbeatable. Jesus is the greatest King, for having existed before the world began, He is more powerful than the Big Bang, and his kingdom alone being universal and eternal, even a nuclear weapon cannot touch it. So we are powerless to beat Him. But we come not merely out of submission to this King, not against our will because we have no other choice. No, we choose this King, we worship him with all our heart and will, because the most powerful King imaginable shows His power by standing powerless before us His beloved. We come today in worship not to be dominated by our King, but first of all to be served by Him who loves us His subjects beyond all measure. We come to be judged by Him not merely because we have no other option, but willingly, because our King has been found worthy to judge the world. For before He is judge, He is the lamb that was slain.
So we worship Jesus as King not temporarily in hopes that one day He might be toppled, but begging Him to allow us to participate in his eternal and universal Kingdom of truth and love. We know that any other kingdom to which we belong is temporary and illusory, especially any Kingdom we would fashion for ourselves, unless it participates in the Kingship of Christ. For more powerful than the power of the Big Bang, or the power of a nuclear weapon, is the power to lay down one's life in love. It is sacrificial and merciful love that is the heart of God, and the ground of all reality. It is because God is love that there is something rather than nothing, that there is me instead of not me, and it is this merciful love that alone is stronger than death.
Jesus showed his ultimate power through vulnerability. He was powerful enough to be born in the cold, in abject poverty, powerful enough to ride into his capital city not with a secret service, but on a donkey. Powerful enough to allow himself to be judged by his enemies, and for his Kingdom to be spat upon and mocked. The more vulnerable He became, the stronger and more sure His kingdom grew, and in the Resurrection it was confirmed that sacrificial love alone is stronger than death.
As we see clearly in today's Gospel, He is powerful enough to identify himself with the weakest of human persons, his subjects, and when He does so, His Kingdom only grows. We will ultimately be judged as belonging to His kingdom, or not, by whether we see ourselves, and Him, in our brothers and sisters. It is by showing charity and mercy that Jesus has been found worthy by His Father as judge of the world. It is by the standards of charity and mercy that we will be found worthy of belonging to Him, and His eternal Kingdom . . and rightly so! Amen!
Solemnity of Christ the King
Christ the King Parish Topeka
22 November 2014
Readings
Because our great United States of America was founded through the toppling of a tyrant King, and we elect a president to serve us instead, talk of kingship might sound anachronistic. But it's not. We still love kings. When there is a king lacking, we want one. That's how Michael Jackson becomes the King of Pop and LeBron James the King of basketball. We love to see who dominates in their area of reality, and who has power and fame. We love it. What is more, we love seeing Kings fall.
But today, we are the ones who fall down before our King. We might love toppling Kings, but today we are here to worship a King that is unstoppable and unbeatable. Jesus is the greatest King, for having existed before the world began, He is more powerful than the Big Bang, and his kingdom alone being universal and eternal, even a nuclear weapon cannot touch it. So we are powerless to beat Him. But we come not merely out of submission to this King, not against our will because we have no other choice. No, we choose this King, we worship him with all our heart and will, because the most powerful King imaginable shows His power by standing powerless before us His beloved. We come today in worship not to be dominated by our King, but first of all to be served by Him who loves us His subjects beyond all measure. We come to be judged by Him not merely because we have no other option, but willingly, because our King has been found worthy to judge the world. For before He is judge, He is the lamb that was slain.So we worship Jesus as King not temporarily in hopes that one day He might be toppled, but begging Him to allow us to participate in his eternal and universal Kingdom of truth and love. We know that any other kingdom to which we belong is temporary and illusory, especially any Kingdom we would fashion for ourselves, unless it participates in the Kingship of Christ. For more powerful than the power of the Big Bang, or the power of a nuclear weapon, is the power to lay down one's life in love. It is sacrificial and merciful love that is the heart of God, and the ground of all reality. It is because God is love that there is something rather than nothing, that there is me instead of not me, and it is this merciful love that alone is stronger than death.
Jesus showed his ultimate power through vulnerability. He was powerful enough to be born in the cold, in abject poverty, powerful enough to ride into his capital city not with a secret service, but on a donkey. Powerful enough to allow himself to be judged by his enemies, and for his Kingdom to be spat upon and mocked. The more vulnerable He became, the stronger and more sure His kingdom grew, and in the Resurrection it was confirmed that sacrificial love alone is stronger than death.
As we see clearly in today's Gospel, He is powerful enough to identify himself with the weakest of human persons, his subjects, and when He does so, His Kingdom only grows. We will ultimately be judged as belonging to His kingdom, or not, by whether we see ourselves, and Him, in our brothers and sisters. It is by showing charity and mercy that Jesus has been found worthy by His Father as judge of the world. It is by the standards of charity and mercy that we will be found worthy of belonging to Him, and His eternal Kingdom . . and rightly so! Amen!
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