Christ the King

The world was turned upside down by the horrendous terrorist attacks in Paris last Friday, 11/13/15. Following the attacks, it was impossible for me  get our gospel reading scheduled (Mark13:24-32) for Sunday out of my mind. (Mark was the focus of our discussion at our Scripture Discussion session on Wednesday, 11/11/15.) I do not believe in coincidence as Jesus' words continued to resonate as images of fear, pain and lostness played out on live TV from Paris and in my living room in me: “Keep Awake…the day or hour no one knows…after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from the sky, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken And then they will see 'the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory.” Was it prophetic or was it a script? 

Next Sunday is the last Sunday before Advent and is the Feast of Christ the King. Our reading in John (John 18: 33b-37) picks up where Jesus left off in Mark with Jesus’ words, announcing "My kingdom does not belong to this world. If my kingdom did belong to this world, my attendants would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not here." 

These two readings could not have been more prophetic. How could the people of Paris who died or were injured or who lost love ones have known that this night would be so catastrophic? And where was God in all this? Couldn’t he just this one time send his army to prevent the terror being foisted on innocent people in the name of religion, in his name, just this one time? Why not we wonder. 

Our ability to make sense of all this is somehow all wrapped up in the mystery of God in which words come to us more easily than the reality of recognizing him, and perhaps ourselves, in those who are hurting? We become so wrapped up in religiosity and Bible-speak that we let the words flow trippingly off the tongue? Words, words, words. But how do the words become flesh in us and help us to process the events and find the indwelling God  in this human tragedy.

Aldolpho Quezada says in his book, Walking with God, “God does intervene but less in the circumstances of our lives than in our manner of responding to those circumstances.” His insight fits in with the psychological principle that it isn’t what happens to us but how we interpret what happens that causes us problems or anxiety or depression. For example, God may not intervene in the illness of a loved one but he will intervene in how we and our loved one react to the illness, seeing the suffering in the illness as essentially linked to the redeeming suffering of Jesus on the cross."

As for the Kingdom of God in the here and now, Richard Rohr tells us that for centuries all the world’s religions were pointing to heaven or the kingdom of God as something in the “next world.” God is with us, here and now, as revealed in the fellowship of broken people we call church and available to us in the seemingly small gestures of mercy we offer and are offered each and every day. It may not be where we expect God to show up, but it is just where we need him.
As for Paris, the overwhelming shared feelings of unity and support coupled with being able to mirror ourselves in those directly effected, gives us a glimpse of God's love at play.  So, we celebrate the feast of Christ the King, not because of his regal bearing, but because of his humility; not because of his power, but because of his compassion and his presence in us…What kind of king wields the power of love and shuns love of power and humbles himself and takes up residence in us, the least of these?