Sermon. Christ the King

Sermon, 20 November 2016. St Michael and All Angels, Little Ilford

Christ the King

Luke 23.33-43

And here we are:

Sollemnitas Domini Nostri Iesu Christi universorum Regis.

The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe.

That most sacred, most solemn, most venerable and most ancient festival of

Christ the King.

Except of course, it is nothing of the sort. Or at least, it is not all of that.

One thing this feast most certainly is not is ancient.

In the Church of England, it only really emerges with Common Worship, so really this millennium. If we were going by the Book of Common Prayer, this would simply be the last Sunday after Trinity. In the ASB it would be the 5^th Sunday before Christmas.

And it would be known as... Stir-Up Sunday. That's right, the Sunday, when we pray that Gd will stir up our hearts to stir up our Christmas puddings (or something – listen out for the prayer after communion).

Of course what we are really doing is making our own an earlier Roman Catholic festival. But, as we have it now, even that was only introduced in 1969. It is younger than me! What do you mean that's not young? No matter, because there was an earlier version introduced in 1925, older than most of us. And this is significant. This is the point. Why in 1925 did the then pope feel a need to affirm the reign of Christ over the whole world? It's not hard to see.

Europe was living through the aftermath of the First World War, the Great War. The Russian Revolution was also recent, and the possibility of atheist communism sweeping the continent was real. Against it, another radically new movement had risen up, and was also attracting followers and devotees, which had as little time for the gospel of humility. That was fascism. Fascism at home in Italy, the home of the pope.

So, you see, people were greatly troubled by the questions: Who should have power? Who can be trusted? What is authority? Can/should power and authority be taken away by violence? Whose?And even when these questions weren't formally articulated, the mood that people were living in was one of uncertainty, and, more: fear. These were fearful days.

Oh, and as if that wasn't bad enough, the Church had fears of its own. Its role in society was shrinking; its leaders weren't as respected as once they were (or so they felt). Many were saying that religion had no place in the public sphere.

Does any of this sound familiar? Pretty much all of it, I'd say. It's true that communism and fascism-calling-itself-that are not major players in our days. But surely there is the sense abroad that these are uncertain times. Old certainties have not so much been challenged as utterly imploded, gone. And there are new forces at work, claiming and getting power. They are not so easy to name.

One would be 'globalisation' or 'neo-liberalism'. One way of thinking about this is the belief that capitalism is the only real authority in the world. So all nations must trade with all nations, without any let or hindrance. If the Chinese subsidise their steel and want to sell it here far below any price we can make steel for, you have to let them. If Americans want to see us their maize, be it utterly genetically modified, we must let them. There is no alternative.

Against that, the other force we've heard an awful (awful) lot about in recent days and weeks... let's call it nationalism, but a nationalism which goes way beyond patriotism, and has a particular view of the nation, and sees 'dangerous others' not only in other nations but in groups within the nation too.

I am trying to put things as fairly and calmly as possible. But another part of me wants to say quite clearly that I am scared. I am scared by the way politics in this country and in the world are unfolding.

I am not making a narrow political point. I am not debating the referendum on Europe all over again. But I am saying I am scared by what Brexit has unleashed. People with hateful, racist views, have felt empowered. No doubt about it. The trial is taking place at the moment of the alleged killer of Jo Cox MP; it's as real as that. Again, it's not for me to pass judgement on the US Presidential election, where the culture is quite different. But I am scared by the hateful attitudes unleashed there and what is ahead for us all. If I say I do not find Trump to be a careful character, who will weigh things up, listen to other voices, and choose his words and actions with deliberation, always valuing his own integrity, then I scarcely think I am saying anything controversial.

So, today's message is surely:

in 1925 and in 2016,

Jesus Christ is King.

When the life of our nation and of the world seems predictable,

and when we lose all of that, speedily,

nevertheless, Jesus Christ is King.

Jesus Christ is King, not only of the 'hearts of believers'

but of the world and all the powers at work in it.

But that message is itself ambivalent.

The question is, if we believe that Christ is King over all, what do we do with it?

For we have the option of saying to ourselves: That's okay then, I just won't worry about politics. I'll say my prayers and trust that Gd is in charge and will sort it all out in the end. Or we can say to ourselves: Jesus Christ is King and I am his subject/we are his subjects. So how can we live obediently, courageously in these days? How can we throw ourselves into the middle of all of these rows and controversies and speak the right words. Truthful, truth-full words. Words of peace, justice, freedom and forgiveness. How can we do the right thing?

Today's gospel is of Christ on the cross. That is not a mistake. It's the gospel, the gospel that says Christ reigns from the cross; that is where he is first seen as King. King of the Jews, the notice said. But really the King of Glory, speaking, forgiving, and reigning from the cross.

A lot might be said about this. But, here and now, I want to say just one: the cross says that the violence we fear is real. As people, we often hate, divide up, mistrust and feel led to violence against those we call 'the others'. Gd knows this. But Gd is not beaten by this. Gd stays involved with us, and refuses to be beaten by it. And in that, Gd puts the question back to us: Given that these human forces which seem so overwhelming are not overwhelming, but are part of Gd's bigger whole, how are we, in ways big or small (more likely small), going to oppose the hate, the division, the mistrust and the violence? I can't tell you. We'll have to work it out as we go along. But I can encourage us: Let us resist; let us get properly stirred up! Amen.