ART THOU A KING?

A SERMON FOR THE FEAST OF CHRIST THE KING

Today we proclaim our Lord Jesus Christ as King.  In the words of the Te Deum, “we acknowledge thee to be the Lord… heaven and earth are full of the majesty of thy glory.”  Today’s feast is fairly recent, less than a hundred years old.  It was Pope Pius XI, who instituted the Feast of Christ the King in the Holy Year of 1925.  He did so in order to combat the rising tide of secularism.  Today, this tide has become a veritable tsunami, sweeping aside all vestiges of allegiance to any King, let alone a King who claims to hold rule over the whole world.

There are so very few today who claim Christ as their King.  So few who are ready to acknowledge their own role as servants of the King, that they must serve God, as well as just knowing and loving him.  Most folks these days prefer to remain masters of their own destiny, indulging every desire that pops into their mind, with no reference to the commandments or the will of their King.  “We have no king but Caesar,” they still cry out today, and the only difference between them and the Jewish mob on Good Friday is that the Caesar they have today is none other than themselves.  They have been deluded into believing that there is no higher power than the will of the individual, and woe betide the man who would prevent them from doing what they want. 

This is exactly what the devil wants.  After all, doesn’t Satan also claim to be the prince of this world?  And what laws does this prince impose upon his subjects? Only one law: “Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law.”  It’s a law which is very willingly obeyed by many people.  After all, what’s better than doing what you want all the time? It sure beats having to obey the laws of God, which stop you from doing what you want, right?  And yet, it is the laws of God that separate us from the dumb beasts who act by instinct to satisfy their every desire.  Satan’s law makes us descend to the level of animals, and fall away from our noble inheritance as children of God and servants of the King. Satan’s law makes everybody his own king.  They might not openly worship Satan as King.  But they do worship themselves, and ultimately that’s the same thing. 

So here we are in this world, acknowledging Christ as King today, but divided from the vast multitudes who just do what they want, “free” from interference from any higher power.  We may ask ourselves if Christ truly is King, when so many rebel against him?  Isn’t it more accurate to admit that it is Satan who is really the Lord of this World? Let’s answer that by thinking of it in worldly terms.  Do you remember the story of Robin Hood?  When good King Richard appoints someone to be the Sherriff of Nottingham, and then this man turns out to be a wicked traitor who rebels against the king, who is actually the ruler of Nottingham?  Well, in a sense, it’s the rebellious Sherriff who’s in charge; but in reality, the king is still the ruler.  And eventually, at the end of the story, good King Richard comes back from the crusades, and destroys the wicked Sherriff of Nottingham, and reclaims his rightful kingdom.  Likewise, although Satan is ruler of the earth in a sense, it is only a matter of time before the King of Kings comes and destroys him, reclaiming his rightful territory.

Christ did not become the King of Israel to exact tribute, or to create a well-armed military, or to conquer visible foes; but rather that he might rule souls, and counsel them regarding eternity; and that he might lead to the kingdom of heaven all such as believe in him, hope in him, and love him.  

As men and women of faith, who do believe that Christ is our loving King, our role is plain and simple, and that role is to serve God by loving him in return. And how do we love God?  By obeying him, by keeping his commandments. That includes the commandment to love our neighbor “as ourselves”, and this is a good opportunity to remember that yes, we must love ourselves.  Not as the devil wants us to love ourselves, by gratifying our every whim, but by acting in such a way as to provide for what we most need, namely our ultimate salvation.  We don’t truly love ourselves if we sin at will, if we reject God and put ourselves on the path to hell.  The only right way to love ourselves is by following Christ our King.  Do that and we can be sure we’re heading in the right direction.  

I don’t know about you, but I sometimes have a hard time figuring out why we’re all so short-sighted.  It seems like we’re prepared to renounce eternal life for a few simple passing pleasures here and now.  It makes no sense, and yet, it’s what we all do every time we commit a sin.  Obviously, we can’t be trusted to rule ourselves. Sheep need a shepherd to stop them straying from the fold, and men need a King, to keep them from ending up in hell. 

So let’s be crystal clear today, and make this a short sermon!  We will pledge our allegiance to Christ the King today, or else we will silently resolve to continue doing what we want whenever we want to do it.  It’s time to choose now to follow either the law of Christ or the law of Satan.  Let’s make our minds up once and for all!