By Sr. Doreen, SSJD
Come, let’s shout praises to God, raise the roof for the Rock who saved us! Let’s march into God’s presence singing praises, lifting the rafters with our hymns! And why? Because God is the best, High King over all the gods. In one hand God holds deep caves and caverns, in the other hand grasps the high mountains. So come, let us worship: bow before God, on your knees before God, who made us! Oh yes, God is our God and we’re the people God pastures, the flocks God feeds. (from Psalm 95 Message translation)
This coming Sunday is The Reign of Christ Sunday. It is also known as The Feast of Christ the King, or Christ the King Sunday. It is the last day in the season of Pentecost, the Sunday before Advent and for us it marks the end of the liturgical year and highlights God’s inclusive and tenacious love over every aspect of life.
As we stand at the beginning of a new liturgical year, it is good to look back and remember. As we start a new liturgical year, we will find ourselves following the events and stories celebrating the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. Then we move into Pentecost, a long period where we reflected on Jesus’ life and teachings to learn the meaning of living as his disciples. So, in a very real way, the Reign of Christ is an open door to us inviting us to remember and challenging us as disciples to further God’s mission.
We are entering into the expectation of Advent and anticipating the in-breaking of heaven to earth. We recall how time and again we fail to live up to the ways God calls us to be, and yet God never withdraws his grace. On Reign of Christ Sunday, we celebrate that God’s reign in the entire universe has already been accomplished. At the same time, we anticipate the day when that reign will be accomplished in every human heart. We celebrate who Jesus is for us – all the people of the world: Christ to whom we owe our very being, and to whom we owe our love, obedience, and allegiance.
Today serves as a reminder of who we belong to and the Christ that we follow. It is a day that is about a way of living out the values of the gospel, about making a difference in the world, about being part of a force for good in the midst of such a broken and angry world. This is an invitation to us – an invitation into a relationship, an intimate relationship of love, into remembering that we are God’s home, that God reigns in our heart and in our communities and in our world. God holds the whole world, more tenderly and more fervently in spite of or because of our fragile condition and our longing for unity, peace, and loving justice.
In all of the accounts of Jesus’ life and ministry, the one theme that occurs repeatedly is that of the “Kingdom of God”. Jesus spoke about the Kingdom of God more often that he talked about anything else. It was, in fact, the central theme of his teachings. The Kingdom of God, as Jesus referred to it, meant God’s will on earth, a world of peace and love; a place where compassion and justice prevailed. A place where all experienced the fullness of life, and where God’s love and compassion reigned. On this day, the reign of Christ is a celebration, an anticipation, a deep longing and challenge of hard work, that the kingdom of God become our present reality, which is demonstrated in the words that He taught us “Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Jesus wanted heaven on earth.
One of George Herberts songs says it all: “Let all the world in every corner sing: my God and King! The heavens are not too high, his praise may thither fly; the earth is not too low, his praises there may grow. Let all the world in every corner sing: my God and King! The church (that’s us) with psalms must shout, no door can keep them out; but above all, the heart must bear the longest part. Let all the world in every corner sing: my God and King!”
So, today, this is also what we strive for (or at least we should, if we are disciples). We work towards making an earth that is like Heaven or at least moving in that direction – a place free of war, striving for justice, love, and peace for all. With God being our King, we try to emulate Him and create a kingdom of truth and life, a kingdom of holiness and grace. At the same time, we anticipate the day when that reign will be accomplished in every human heart on earth. We are called today to be disciples, to make disciples, to invite others to become disciples, for the transformation of the world.
Teresa of Avila sums up very well our mission as Christ’s disciples on this earth.
Christ has no body now on earth but yours; no hands but yours; no feet but yours.
Yours are the eyes through which the compassion of Christ must look out on the world.
Yours are the feet with which He is to go about doing good. Yours are the hands with which He is to bless His people.
The Collect for The Reign of Christ Sunday:
Almighty and everlasting God, whose will it is to restore all things in your well-beloved Son, our Lord and King, grant that the peoples of the earth, now divided and enslaved by sin, may be freed and brought together under his gentle and loving rule; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. AMEN
A pondering meditation hymn from Sing a New Creation, Anglican Church of Canada #150
Christ Sophia, Child of Wisdom: dancing in our deepest dreams, calling us to love unbounded
Daring us to God’s extremes – peace and gentleness and justice, kingdom values, wisdom’s themes,
Kingdom values, wisdom’s themes.
Brother Jesus, Child of Mary: walking with us on life’s way, showing us God’s humble kingdom,
Sharing both dark night and day, breaking through death’s seeming end into new life’s dawning ray,
Into new life’s dawning ray.
God incarnate, our true mother, birthing us to joy and pain, showing us the steps to dance to,
Loving us to life again: grow us into your true image as we strive for your love’s reign.
As we strive for your love’s reign.
(Text: Ellen Clark-King)