Christ the King, 2020

 Today is one of my favorite days of the liturgical calendar: Christ the King Sunday. The last day of the liturgical year (next Sunday, the first Sunday of Advent, starts the new liturgical year), Christ the King Sunday affirms and celebrates the ultimate victory of God and the ways of God. In the words of Rob Bell, "love wins."  

I especially need the affirmation Christ the King Sunday proclaims, here in 2020. If I do not keep watch over my heart, I can become discouraged and my spirit grow weary. Dealing with life's challenges and the seemingly inescapable, dominating presence of evil can be emotionally and spiritually draining. I can fall prey to fear and its debilitating power. 

I confess that I have struggled to not live out of fear this past year. I have grieved the polarization of our nation, highlighted by an election year. I have grieved the open, unapologetic display of racism, hatred, and white supremacy that has resurfaced in our nation. I have grieved a sitting President who has stoked this polarization and manipulated it for his own advantage. I have grieved the support he has received from people who identify themselves as Christian even though he as a person and his presidency has reflected nothing of the teachings of Jesus, much less the servant spirit of Jesus. I grieve the wedding of the Christian faith with nationalism (the myth that we are a Christian nation) that their support reflects. I grieve that political and patriotic positions seemingly shape the thinking of self-identified Christians more than the teachings of Jesus. I grieve their efforts to impose their beliefs on others. I grieve how power has openly been used to intimidate others - the very opposite of how Jesus said his followers were to use power. (See again Mark 10:41-45.) I grieve the gross mishandling and politicization of the COVID pandemic that has resulted in over 250,000 deaths (to date). We as a nation lead the world in the most identified cases and the infection rate grows each day. And, yet, some still deny the reality of the pandemic and insist on their "rights," ignoring and defying the government mandated guidelines. I grieve the rigid, emotionally-driven thinking that rejects scientific truth as fake news and as a hoax designed to manipulate the nation. I grieve how widespread such thinking appears to be. 

This year especially, I need to pause to celebrate Christ the King Sunday. I need the reassurance of the hope it proclaims. I need its reminder that ignorance and the bullying use of power and evil will not win the day. 

Christ the King Sunday affirms and reassures me/us. It rekindles hope. But it also calls us to action ... both in our individual lives and in our world.

It calls us to reaffirm our commitment to God's transforming work in our own lives. It calls us to give ourselves anew to learning the ways of God that Jesus taught so that the nature of God and the ways of God shape our thinking and living. It calls us to continue to open our lives to the Spirit's transforming work in our hearts and minds. 

And it calls us to reaffirm our commitment to live as Christ's followers in the world. It calls us to live the ways of God even though they are at odds with the ways of the world. It calls us to proclaim the ways of God even though they challenge the thinking of the world. It calls us "to resist evil and injustice in whatever forms they may present themselves" (from the UM baptismal covenant). It calls us to live as God's partners, doing God's work in the world so that the kingdom may come on earth as it is in heaven. 

In the face of all that 2020 has brought, Christ the King Sunday reminds me of Paul's words in Galatians 6:9, "Let us not grow weary in doing what is right."

Come anew, Spirit of God. Renew our hearts and minds. Move us beyond the weariness of soul that the challenges of life bring. Rekindle a spirit of hope within us. Empower us once again to live the ways of God that Jesus taught so that the Kingdom may come on earth. Amen.