Sermon for the Feast of Christ the King – 25th November 2023

Fr Terry Hemming – St Paul’s Athens

We live in an age of democracy so to end the church’s year with a celebration of Christ the King may seem an oddity and perhaps even a mistake of the church.

Yet the idea of government and the state is not. It was a privilege to be at Alimos Military Cemetery for the Armistice commemoration. Ambassadors and representatives of many countries there to acknowledge the service and sacrifice given by many to their countries. Loyalty to their government, fidelity to their friends was uppermost in our minds.

God shows himself in many ways but king is one of them and we are therefore his subjects, citizens of his kingdom.

In the Old Testament the people of God were warned against seeking a king like those of the surrounding nations. Our Old Testament reading shows how the rulers were meant to be shepherds and it is with that in mind as we think of Christ the King. He is both the Good Shepherd and the King. Both care for their flock, their nation as a parent for the family. However, this morning let us think of how we respond to his kingship.

 

We remind ourselves

1 Loyalty to Christ.

We remind ourselves of our baptism and the mark which says we belong to him. This is our first call. We belong to many “kingdoms” families, neighbourhoods, work, choirs, societies, countries, but for us the first is we belong to Christ, the Creator, the Redeemer and the one bringing all things under him. Just as we had Remembrance Sunday so we have had All Saints and All Souls to remind us of those who have served loyally in the past, some to the cost of their lives, some sacrificing much to serve him.

Duty is not the opposite of love. We can be dutiful because we love. We can be loyal because we love. Fidelity is a sign of love. If you love me keep my commandments.

2 Loyalty to our fellow Christians.

In the armed services camaraderie is uppermost. The regiment is the family. People who have served together have a bond they struggle to explain to others. Should this not be true to those who serve Christ the King? Paul in 1Cor 3 writes: And so, brothers and sisters, I could not speak to you as spiritual people, but rather as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for solid food. Even now you are still not ready, for you are still of the flesh. For as long as there is jealousy and quarrelling among you, are you not of the flesh, and behaving according to human inclinations? Yes even in the early church Christians found it difficult to get on with each other.  So in Philippians 2 we read: If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,

who, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God
as something to be exploited,
but emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to the point of death—
even death on a cross.

 

We may not have a physical uniform like the Salvation Army but we do share a uniform as those who serve under the one king and owe loyalty to each other.

In return we receive,

 

1 Hope in our struggle.

We are a people of both now and not yet. We belong to the kingdom of God and yet we do not experience it fully. The creation groans and we with it. But the New Testament holds out that Christ has won and we share in that victory. His kingdom will come.

 

2 Courage in our struggle.

Our King like kings of old has gone first into the battle. He has lived here fully in our form and has conquered death and the devil. Look to him as Hebrews (12) says: Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such hostility against himself from sinners, so that you may not grow weary or lose heart.