Christ the King 2017

Sermon for Christ the King 2017

Perhaps today more of a meditation or collection of thoughts instead of Sermon!

Last week I shyed away from the Gospel reading because I felt I was that slave who had buried the treasure without even gaining interest on it before handing it back. I was the slave cast out into the place of gnashing teeth. This was a scary pace to be in, so I avoided going there.

This week I am faced with the decision whether I am a sheep or a goat? Needless to say if I am found to be a goat I head once again to the place of gnashing teeth and torment.

Yet I am also aware that Jesus always calls and always accepts us as who we are.

We have got so used to thinking and behaving as if God was somewhere else… out there… beyond, and have forgotten the image of God we all carry within us. As Richard Rohr said this week our best access to God is to realize that he is a lot closer than we had given credit for.. he is within. Our transformation comes from realizing our union with God is right before our eyes… God is right here right now.

The king stands before all the nations (all the world) he stands before us and we look around and recognize that there are people alongside us who we think do not belong before the king…. (Not of our club) He then tells us “come you are blessed”

Behaving in simple human terms to one another, if you like reacting to the image of God in others, means we are blessed.

When we think of God as “beyond”, when we put God “out there” it is all too easy to see “failure “ in ourselves. We do not meet the mark, we do not make the grade, …. The sad thing is we never will because we are measuring in human terms.

The parable of the talents last week was not about  money or investment, nor was it in human terms about reward and punishment. The two slaves were received equally, the growth in talents were given back to the master, the slaves enjoyed the success of the master. They remained slave and master.

Today is the feast of Christ the King.

We see this portrayed more often than not as Jesus reigning from the cross. Our crucified Lord is our King. The one who came alongside us through incarnation, becomes our King. We hail him as king.

The king before whom we stand pronounces a blessing on us as we become accepted.

In order to more successfully illustrate this point we need to head to Golgotha. The place of the cross.

What do we see as we gaze on the “Green hill”

Three crosses, not one. Jesus our King is there, the one we have followed and listened to despite our weak humanity.

What do we hear as we gaze on the crosses?

We hear Jesus talking to that good for nothing thief, that criminal, the scum we did not even think was worthy of anything… and we hear Jesus our King saying…. To him of all people….

Today you will be with me in paradise.

No gnashing of teeth here, just wonderful love and blessings.

Christ is our King… O friends rejoice!