"In him were created all things in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible,
whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; all things were created through him and for him." From today's second reading.
"The rulers sneered at Jesus and said,.......'If you are King of the Jews, save yourself.'" From today's Gospel.
As I so often remind myself, and as I so often say in homilies, the Christian Faith and the Christian life are full of tensions. They are full of truths and commands that we need to hold together. Sometimes these truths and commands can seem to contradict each other and yet we know that they are all true. We must hold them all together without denying or watering down any of them, and also without emphasizing any at the expense of others. So it should come as no surprise to us that today's feast, of CHRIST THE KING, presents us with vital truths which we must again hold in tension, without compromise.
On the one hand Jesus Christ is a Glorious king full of majesty, power and might. He is the ruler of the whole universe and he will return in glory to judge all peoples, the living and the dead. But on the other hand Jesus Christ is a servant king, who comes in humility and meekness. He is a suffering king, who allows himself to be humiliated, to be beaten, to be insulted, to be tortured and to be killed. It is vital that we hold these two truths in tension.
Jesus Christ is a glorious resplendent king. He is God the Son, infinite in greatness and splendour. Together with God the Father and the Holy Spirit, He created the whole universe, visible and invisible. All things were made through him and for him, without him nothing was made that has been made, in him all things hold together. Consider the intricacies of our human bodies. Consider the billions of atoms and molecules, the many millions of cells, the tissues and tissue systems, the organs. Christ made everyone of us and keeps us in existence. Consider how many bilions of people there are in the world and yet how small this worls is compared with the Sun so many light years away. Consider that our sun is but one of billions in our galaxy, each millions of light years away from one another, and that our galaxy is but one of billions of galaxies in the universe.
Jesus Christ is the same person who made all of this and keeps it in existence. He is the King who governs the whole universe. What a glorious and powerful person is Jesus Christ! If we were to really see his glory and greatness, we could do nothing but bow down in awe and reverence. Actually that is exactly what all the angels and saints in heaven are doing right now. They are bowing before him crying out "Holy, Holy, Holy". What a mighty God we serve, a glorious God and King!
But I have a question to ask; how does Christ manifest his kingship to us? He manifests his kingship by love, a love which shows it self in humility and meekness. He manifests it by the love through which he becomes a servant. Christ came not to be served, but to serve. If I said that I wanted to become an ant because I love ants, you would say I was absolutely crazy! If I then went on to say that I wanted to be a SERVANT ANT, that I wanted to become an ant and serve then you would know that I was indeed mad. And yet in Christ, God became human and the difference between God and human beings is far greater than the difference between humans and ants. The difference between humans and ants is finite but the difference between God and humans is infinite. What love!!
Jesus Christ manifests his kingship to us through a love by which he became one with us, coming not as a great earthly king and ruler but by coming as a poor servant. The son of man came not to be served, but to serve. Indeed he came not just to serve but, even more, to give his life as a ransom for the many. Jesus Christ manifests his kingship to us through a love by which he suffers for us. As we see in today's Gospel, out of love for us Jesus allows himself to be subjected to absolute humiliation. They mock him, they insult him, they torture him, and they hang him on a cross as a criminal. The holy, powerful ruler of the whole universe, out of love for us allows himself to be killed for us!
St Paul puts it this way in Philippians chapter 2. "Jesus Christ who being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but he emptied himself, he made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death, even death on a cross!" Wow!
What is more, the physical and emotional suffering of Jesus was as nothing compared with the spiritual suffering he experienced. The spiritual suffering he experienced as he, the perfect and holy one, experienced the weight of our sin, the sin of every single man and woman that has ever existed. It felt like he had been completely abandoned by his Father with whom he had been in intimate fellowship from all eternity. We can never even begin to imagine the suffering that Jesus experienced...and he went through it all for us. What love...what love!
I'd like you to read to you the words of a hymn. I'd like you to read the words of "Meekness and Majesty" by Graham Kendrick. I'd like you to sing it too.
Meekness and majesty
Manhood and Deity
In perfect harmony
The Man who is God
Lord of eternity
Dwells in humanity
Kneels in humility
And washes our feet
O what a mystery
Meekness and majesty
Bow down and worship
For this is your God
This is your God
Father's pure radiance
Perfect in innocence
Yet learns obedience
To death on a cross
Suffering to give us life
Conquering through sacrifice
And as they crucify
Prays: 'Father forgive.'
O what a mystery
Meekness and majesty
Bow down and worship
For this is your God
This is your God
Wisdom unsearchable
God the invisible
Love indestructible
In frailty appears
Lord of infinity
Stooping so tenderly
Lifts our humanity
To the heights of His throne
O what a mystery
Meekness and majesty
Bow down and worship
For this is your God
This is your God
Brothers and sisters, let us pray that God reveals to us in a very deep way what it means that Jesus is King. Let us pray that we see something of his majesty and power, of his greatness and might. Let us understand how we should quake with fear in our sinfulness before such a holy king. Yet, as we see his humility, his service, his suffering let us also understand that instead of banishing us to hell, as we deserve, that this great King calls us into intimacy with him. Let us understand that he calls us into a relationship of deep, deep, deep love with him. Let us understand that in his love, Christ the King of the whole universe freely offers us not just mercy, not just the mercy of a forgiveness which we could never deserve but that also, on top of such amazing mercy, he offers us grace upon grace, gift upon gift. Let us understand that above all he offers us the grace, the unmerited gift, of becoming his brothers and sisters, and through him becoming children of God the Father, sons and daughters of God, princes and princesses!
Brothers and sisters let us understand this and let us turn to Christ in repentance for our sins. Let us place our faith in him and follow him as our King, as our Lord and master. Let us allow him to transform us to become who he wants us to be and so that we can live as he wants us to live - as his brothers and sisters who reveal his love to the world. Let us allow him to transform us so that we can follow his example of love, humility and service, not trying to prove ourselves as great but rather seeking to take the last place,
considering others before ourselves, seeking to serve and to serve and to serve.
Let us allow Christ to transform us through his Holy Spirit so that we live according to the values of HIS kingdom and not the kingdom of the world. The kingdom of the world says run after money, sex and power. Jesus says in my kingdom, blessed are the poor, blessed are the pure hearted, blessed are the humble and meek. The kingdom of the world says it doesn't matter if you trample on others to get promotion, to get more money and influence. Jesus says seek to serve, seek to lift up others above yourself. The world says forget the poor, even oppress them. Jesus says care for the poor and the needy, seek justice for them - and then when you have done that, then go even further, give out of your very need. The world says have sex outside marriage, Jesus says be pure and chaste, that there should not even be a hint of sexual imorality and impurity in our lives.
You know sometimes we go to Church and we proclaim that Jesus is our King. We sing about it and dance about it (or at least if you are a charismatic or pentecostal like me then you do!). We even kneel down and make wonderful sounding prayers about how Jesus is our King and Lord. But then once we leave the Church, outside the 4 walls, we allow ourselves to be ruled by greed, lust, anger and pride. We backbite, we gossip, we slander, we oppress the poor, we have sex outside marriage, we pay unjust wages, we get drunk, we steal, we are corrupt, we let hatred and resentment fester in our hearts, we refuse to forgive.
Brothers and sisters THAT is not the way to acknowledge Jesus as our king...let us repent. Let us repent of every way in which our life outside the Church walls denies his Kingship in our lives. Let us repent and place our faith in Christ, let us allow Christ, through his grace, to truly make him our King. So that when he comes again at the end of time, or when we are judged by him when we die, we will be ready for him. So that we will be ready for him not because of our goodness or our greatness but because we have accepted HIS love, HIS mercy and HIS grace, and because we have allowed HIM to transform us and make us ready for him.
I'll finish by encouraging you to read and sing another Graham Kendrick hymn; "The Servant King".
From heaven you came
Helpless babe
Entered our world
Your glory veiled
Not to be served
But to serve
And give Your life
That we might live
This is our God
The Servant King
He calls us now
To follow Him
To bring our lives
As a daily offering
Of worship to
The Servant King
There in the garden
Of tears
My heavy load
He chose to bear
His heart with sorrow
Was torn
'Yet not My will
But Yours,' He said
This is our God
The Servant King
He calls us now
To follow Him
To bring our lives
As a daily offering
Of worship to
The Servant King
Come see His hands
And His feet
The scars that speak
Of sacrifice
Hands that flung stars
Into space
To cruel nails
Surrendered
This is our God
The Servant King
He calls us now
To follow Him
To bring our lives
As a daily offering
Of worship to
The Servant King
So let us learn
How to serve
And in our lives
Enthrone Him
Each other's needs
To prefer
For it is Christ
We're serving
This is our God
The Servant King
He calls us now
To follow Him
To bring our lives
As a daily offering
Of worship to
The Servant King
AMEN!
--
Fr. Paul Uwemedimo
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