Pastor Joe reminded us this morning that in the Christian liturgical calendar, today is "Christ the King" Sunday, which often gets lost in the shuffle of Thanksgiving celebrations. Strange it is that the same Christians who are upset over the commercialization of Christmas and whether or not Starbucks has a plain red cup, have allowed the secular culture's Thanksgiving usurp this particular observance of the Christian year, but that's an entirely different matter than what I have in mind today.
Since 1776, we Americans have distanced ourselves from the concept of kingship. Though it's a respected office and has many of the opulent trappings of royalty, our presidency is quite a different bird than any monarchy. And for most of the world, monarchy is but a shadow of what it once was, with ultimate political, social, legal, and military power concentrated in a single person who holds that power by virtue of lineage alone. Perhaps the best known monarchy today, that of England, is more titular than actual. It wasn't always this way.
Yet in our faith, we remain saddled with terminology that while historic, doesn't fully convey the meaning it once did. We speak of Jesus Christ as King, or as the Creed says, "I believe in Jesus Christ our Lord," (another monarchial term), without really grasping the significance of the word. We think more in democratic terms in which our leaders are elected by virtue of popularity and hopefully competence, and know that we can fire them in the next round of elections. A king or lord on the other hand, has absolute and utter power over his subjects. He rules by divine right, not by the will of the people (at least until the people rise up and depose him through insurrection or war).
When we claim Jesus Christ as Lord, it is much more than boss or manager, whose power may be real, but is never absolute. Perhaps the closest to the concept is the Don of mafia infamy, but without the corruption. When I say, "Jesus is Lord," I am relinquishing all say in the matter of my life. My choices, my will mean nothing; his is everything. It is a pretty solemn statement, which we should not take lightly. And yet how often have I mouthed the words while clinging to my independence and insistence upon my rights? To claim Jesus as Lord takes a huge weight of responsibility off our shoulders, but at the same time lays a heavy burden upon us to yield all things in life into his hands-not an easy task by any means. Nevertheless, I am grateful to be able to say, "Jesus is Lord;" it gives me my goal, even when I fall short.
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