Christ the King and Commitment Sunday – November 23, 2014
Texts: Ephesians 1:15-23 and Matthew 25:31-46
Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, Grand Prairie, Texas
+
INJ +
Grace and peace are yours, from the
One who was, who is, and who is to come, Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.
Amen.
Today is the last Sunday in our
Church Year, and the Sunday set aside as Christ the King Sunday. This
particular commemoration is a rather recent addition to our Church Year
Calendar – it was added in 1925, so less than 100 years ago. The goal of taking
one Sunday each year to focus on Christ as king was to remind the Christian faithful
that it is Christ who is our head, our sovereign, our king.
The problem, for me, is that kingly
language doesn’t really resonate with me. I don’t have a king – I never have –
and the kings (or queens) who are around today are not particularly powerful.
Even if they are influential, most monarchs today are figureheads – and a mere
figurehead is not how we should be thinking of Christ.
So, if Christ as king isn’t a
helpful image for us in 21st Century America, what image might we
use?
