Christ the King Sunday
22 November 2025
Message
“Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus
Christ.”[1]
Let us pray. “May the
meditations of my heart and the words of my mouth be pleasing unto you, O Lord,
my rock and my redeemer.”[2]
Amen.
If you have at least a passing awareness of contemporary American
politics, you should be aware that there is a lot of talk about kings these days. It was not but a short number of weeks ago that
the nation saw millions of citizens participate in “No Kings” protests. I personally was not able to be out for these
events as we were visiting family that particular weekend. That said, I was observant about the conversations
happening on social media and the media generally about the events as they occurred
or in the immediate aftermath. What was particularly
interesting to me was how some who identify as Christian were responding and commenting
about these events.
One commentor was ELCA Pastor Clint Schnekloth from the Good
Shepard Lutheran Church in Fayetteville, Arkansas. In a blog post he offered “…[t]hat’s why today
it’s great there will be faithful presence at the No Kings protests across the country. There, clergy and neighbors from across traditions
proclaim that we do not serve a god of empire (even if the emperor organizes a military
parade and pays people to attend). We serve
a God who overturns thrones and washes feet.”[3] He goes on to offer that “[i]n our moment of protest,
we must also be clear about what we’re asking for. Not just what we oppose, but what we bless.”[4] After putting forward what he is doing related
to SNAP and Medicaid, the stipulates that “[c]uts to these programs are not just
economic decisions. They are moral decisions. They are spiritual decisions. And as faith leaders, we believe every person
is made in the image of God and deserves not just to survive, but to thrive. Our sacred texts, across traditions, command us
to care for the widow, the orphan, the stranger, and the poor. When the state fails to do so, it becomes the
task of the faithful to both serve and to speak up. Charity is essential, but charity alone is not
enough. We need just policy. We need a moral
economy.”[5]
Another commentor was Ken Ham. Ken is the Founder of Answers in Genesis, the
popular Creation Museum, and the world-renowned Ark Encounter in Kentucky. In a Facebook post he wrote: “So, at the so-called ‘No Kings’ protest in our
local area in Kentucky (people lined up down Mall Road, Florence) there were lots
of signs claiming these protestors wanted love not hate. And yet there were children
there being trained to hate, carrying signs such as ‘we hate you Trump.’ So I have come to understand when these protestors
say we need to love, then love to them means to love everyone except those they
disagree with, as they hate those people.
And as expected, there were lots of rainbow flags and LGBTQ signs, statements
about ‘freedom of choice’ (in other words the right to sacrifice children in the
womb), etc. Really, I think for most of these protestors, ‘No kings’ actually means
‘No King’—they reject the King of kings as they want to be their own god (Genesis
3:15) and reject all that the true King of creation has created and defined (gender,
marriage, etc).”[6]
To say these are very different responses would be an understatement. That said, the differences are not only pretty
stark, they are also differences in understanding both the nature of kingship generally
and most importantly about what is meant by “Christ the King” even, especially,
within those that call themselves Christian.
This being “Christ the King” Sunday, it seems only appropriate that I address
this dichotomy and bring clarity to what scripture reveals God is calling us to
understand about kingship, His kingdom, and what is really meant by “Christ the
King”.
For me the start of this conversation has to start with the first
time that God’s people cried out for a “king” and started to use “kingdom” language,
intentionally. This means, we need to turn
to the period of Samuel the priest and prophet, well before, chronologically, the
Old Testament reading for today. Turning
to 1 Samuel, chapter 8, the scene is where Samuel, the head priest for all of Israel,
is getting on in age and his sons were simply not up to the task of serving as judges
of Israel. This is coupled with a geopolitical
reality that Israel has now become surrounded by numerous kingdoms and empires that
makes Israel look a really odd as a polity in worldly governance terms. With that context in mind, let’s start at 1st
Samuel, chapter 8, verse 4: “4
Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel
at Ramah 5 and said to him, “You are old, and your sons do not follow
in your ways; appoint for us, then, a king to govern us, like other nations.” 6
But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to govern
us.” Samuel prayed to the Lord, 7 and the Lord said to Samuel, “Listen
to the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected
you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. 8 Just as they
have done to me[a]
from the day I brought them up out of Egypt to this day, forsaking me and serving
other gods, so also they are doing to you. 9 Now then, listen to their
voice; only, you shall solemnly warn them and show them the ways of the king who
shall reign over them.”[7]
So, if we are reading/listening carefully,
the scene is that Israel (us), is back at it again, and turning its back on God. Having an earthly “king” is not something that
is “good”, quite the opposite, it is just doubling down on distancing ourselves
from God and his love for us. And Samuel,
at God’s command, lays it out to Israel, and us as well, what “kings” bring to us:
in a word, “slavery”. We fall into this trap over and over again, just
like they did. Our stubbornness in sin, in
other words, is the antithesis of God’s plan and God’s reality. Scripture doesn’t mince words in this scene
as it states that “19 [b]ut the people refused to listen to the voice
of Samuel; they said, ‘No! We are determined to have a king over us, 20 so
that we also may be like other nations and that our king may govern us and go out
before us and fight our battles.’ 21 When Samuel heard all the words
of the people, he repeated them in the ears of the Lord. 22 The Lord
said to Samuel, ‘Listen to their voice and set a king over them.’” So, if we are listening, God is giving them
(and us) over to our desires, no matter how antithetical to His purpose. To borrow from Luther, this is the Bondage of
the Will, in full display. Our
willfulness, as humanity, is our proverbial Achilles heel; we’d rather keep up
with the Joneses than actually be faithful to the Creator of all that is and
will be.
Which brings us to the lessons
today. The epistle makes clear that
Jesus, God, the Christ, “15 …
is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation, 16
for in[e] him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible
and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have
been created through him and for him.”[8] God is already in, with, and through all of
creation, including, and especially, us.
Yet, we still seem to forget that power and dominions are fleeting, and
certainly stand under the will of God to care for all his children. As recorded in our gospel today, Jesus says as he is crucified, “Jesus said,
‘Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.’”[9] This is not just about him being crucified,
it is about the whole premise in which the soldiers mock him, how and why he
was condemned, and moreover the total misunderstanding of what the kingdom of
God is all about. You will note, there
is never, ever an instance ever recorded where Jesus claims the title
“king”. Yes, he talks about the kingdom
of God, but never says he is the “king”, he never claims that title. Famously, when questioned by Pontius Pilate,
and asked “Are you the king of the Jews?”, Jesus answered, “You say so.”[10] That wasn’t an artful dodge, it was him
speaking to the problem with even asking the question. In a large measure, as this letter from Paul
to Colossians is trying to lay out, he doesn’t need to, nor is he a mere
“king”. Rather he is the kingdom, and
the ultimate anti-king. While Jerimiah
pronounces in the Old Testament, that God will raise up “a righteous Branch,
and he shall reign as king and deal wisely and shall execute justice and
righteousness in the land,”[11]
we have to realize that the very notion of reigning as king is not what God
will do, nor did, nor has done. Rather,
God makes clear over and over, that reigning is not his mission, loving in an
unbreakable relationship is his mission.
And that mission, is what he has called us to as well.
So on this Christ the King, we need to reflect on what is
God’s Kingdom, and who really is King.
To do that, one must realize that ultimately God is the perfect anti-king. He is seeking not to “rule our hearts”, but
rather to be written on our hearts[12] so indelibly, that
we can’t but love him and love one another without ceasing. To return to some of the social media posts I
shared, Ken Ham has got it entirely wrong.
God is not the “King of creation”, he is the Creator itself. Calling for “No King” is precisely what God
has wanted us to do from the outset. The
Lord wants, as Pastor Clint offers, a “moral economy” that is unyielding and
righteous well beyond our concept of righteousness in this world. The Kingdom of God is ultimately about
freedom from kings and dominions and powers and anything other than pure love
and relationship with the essence of all that is, has been, and ever will
be. With that, “[n]ow may the piece of God
that surpasses all understanding, keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”[13]
Amen.
[1] 2
Corinthians 1:2
[2]
Psalm 19:14
[4]
Ibid.
[5]
Ibid.
[6] https://www.facebook.com/aigkenham/posts/so-at-the-so-called-no-kings-protest-in-our-local-area-in-kentucky-people-lined-/1364991188321066/
[7] 1
Samuel 8:4-9
[8]
Colossians 1:15-16
[9]
Luke 23:34
[10]
Luke 23:3
[11]
Jeremiah 23:5
[12]
Cf. Romans 2:15
[13] Philippians
4:7
