Homily for Christ the King Sunday Year B 2015
Daniel 7:13-14; Revelation 1:5-8; John 18:33-37
Introduction
Why "Christ the King" Sunday? Aren't kings out of fashion?
·
Kings remind us about
oppression, brutality, unfair taxes. Just
think of the bad kings of the Bible like Ahab!
Or the kings of the Middle Ages! Or King George of England, against whom
this country fought for its independence!
·
The only royalty we seem to
keep around are the fake kings: The Prom King and Queen, the Mardi Gras Kings,
Rex and Zulu, and of course the King of Rock and Roll.
If kings today are either villains or comedians,
why call Christ a King?
But I think we are going about this the
wrong way. Instead of seeing the
kingship of Christ through the lens of these imperfect kings, we should start
from Jesus Christ himself, the standard of what a true king is.
Scripture and Theology
In
today's gospel, when Pilate interrogates Jesus about his kingship, he not only
reveals that he is a king, he also reveals two important qualities of his
kingship.
·
First, he says, "My kingdom
does not belong to this world." His Kingdom is a spiritual one. He is not the kind of King we know, one with
armies, courtiers and servants. His
Kingdom is in heaven, where as Daniel said, he presides over "all peoples,
nations, and languages."
·
Secondly, Jesus says that he is a King who has come to testify to the
truth. "For this I was born and for this I came into the world . . ."
he says. Speaking God's truth is so
important for his kingship and his kingdom, that he is even ready to die for
it. Those who don't like the truth of
the gospel that he teaches will condemn him to be killed on the cross. But those who listen and act on his truth will
become a part of his Kingdom.
If we need the Kingship of Christ all the
time, a spiritual Kingship of truth, we need his kingship even more in times of
crisis. That is what both our first
reading from Daniel and our second reading from Revelation do, during a time of
crisis. They both point to Christ as the
true King who brings hope and victory.
·
Daniel was written during the reign
of King Antiochus who desecrated the Temple in Jerusalem. He forced the Jews to adopt pagan customs and
to abandon the Law of Moses. Those who resisted were tortured and killed. Daniel writes to the Jews to give them hope
and assure them that this evil will be pass, because a Redeemer will come in
the future. He writes: “I saw one like a
Son of man coming, on the clouds of heaven.” We Christians believe that this Son of Man is
Jesus Christ.
·
The Book of Revelation, for its
part was written when Christians were facing fierce persecution from the Roman
Emperor. Like the Jews of Daniel's time, many were being arrested and killed,
while others were driven underground. This book is therefore written, especially
for the underground Church – that is why it speaks in symbols or secret codes
that would be understood only by the Christians. Revelation also points these suffering Christians
to the Christ, as the King who will save them.
Christian Life
This
feast of Christ the King, is therefore, not about a tyrant with too much power or
a comical King with no power. Christ King
has true power, the Truth and the key to Heaven. This feast could not have come for us at a
more opportune time.
·
As faithful Christians in this country and in the world, we are facing
much persecution for our beliefs and practices.
·
As peace-loving citizens in this country and in the world, we are
facing terrorist threats to our way of life, as happened in France last week
and in the West-African country of Mali this past week, and all over the world.
Like
Daniel and Revelation pointed to Christ, as the solution for their crises, should
we not look to Christ the King to guide us, as we deal with our crisis? Christ can be our King today, if we listen to
and live by the truth, which he teaches, truth that can guide our response to
this crisis.
In
1993, only two years after Nelson Mandela had just been released from prison,
one of the top black leaders, Chris Hani, was assassinated. At a time of very delicate relations between
Blacks and Whites in South Africa, this assassination was the catalyst
extremists on both sides needed to start a full blown civil war. But Mandela, not even president yet, just a
respected leader of his people, went on radio, and appealed for calm. And he made his appeal, not using ideology, prejudice,
or emotion, but simply the truth.
First he
acknowledged that the prejudice and hate in the white
man, who had killed Hani had left the nation teetering on the brink of
disaster. But then he quickly reminder
his black listeners, that the criminal had been immediately arrested, because a
white woman had risked her life and called the police, so that the assassin would
be brought to justice. And he went on to
appeal to his people, that despite their pain, grief and outrage, they must
exercise restraint, discipline and courage.
And most people in South Africa believe that this one address of
Mandela, perhaps singlehandedly averted a national disaster, and paved the way
for peaceful elections and the end of apartheid.
Today as we fear for our nation and our
children, in our search for security and for justice, we too must not set aside
the truth, even for a moment. As
Christians we must remember what Jesus teaches us: “If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples, and you will
know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (Jn. 8:31-32).
I am always proud to be a Catholic, but I
could not have been prouder this week, when in a sea of illogical, prejudicial,
hateful noises, perhaps among the few voices of reason and truth were our
Catholic bishops, both at home and abroad.
Immediately after the savage atrocity in
Paris, the Archbishop of Paris, appealed to Catholics and others, to respond in
a Christ-like manner. He said:
Faced with the violence of men, may we
receive the grace of a firm heart, without
hatred. May the moderation,
temperance and control that has been shown so far, be confirmed in the weeks
and months to come; let no one indulge in panic
or hatred. We ask that grace be the
artisan of peace. We need never despair
of peace if we build on justice.
Our own Archbishop of New Orleans, reading
from the same song-sheet, the gospel of Jesus Christ, called for the same
balanced response that does not condemn people just because of their
nationality and religion. He reminded us
of what Pope Francis said to Congress about this kind of situation, when he
said:
To imitate the hatred and violence of
tyrants and murderers is the best way to take their place. That is something
which you, as a people, reject. Our response must instead be one of hope and
healing, of peace and justice.
Conclusion
Jesus
said of himself: "My kingdom does
not belong to this world" (Jn. 18:36). He said the same thing about us Christians:
"They do not belong to the world any
more than I belong to the world" (John 17:16).
And so,
while we share the fears and hopes, the sorrows and joys of our fellow citizens
of this world, as true followers of Jesus we are in this world, but we are not
of this world. We must strive to conform
our thoughts and values, our words and actions, to Kingdom thoughts and values,
Kingdom words and actions.
Especially
in times of darkness, our light must shine before men, and seeing our good
works, they will give glory to Christ our King (Mt. 5:16).
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