Homily for the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ the King
(Nov 26, 2006)
intro: Now that we have
gorged ourselves on turkey and football on Thursday and spent too much
money on Friday, what does it mean that Jesus is our King?
I).. Certainly it does not
mean everything in our world is perfect, nor is Christ running all
aspects of our church. While
the
Kingdom
of
Christ
has already started, it has
not fully arrived.
A-Jesus is the Alpha
and the Omega – The
eternal Word through whom all things are created, but he is also the
Glorious King who will Come on the Clouds at the end of time.
B) Despite all the
riches of salvation Christ gives to his church 2000 years ago and today,
we would be foolish to think we already have the fulfillment of the
Kingdom
of
God
. If we only had the church on earth, with all it foibles, failures and
incompleteness, that would lead to despair.
C) On the other hand,
those Christians who talk mainly about Christ’s future coming, and focus
their attention, waiting for Jesus to come back at the end, seem unaware
that our King has already come and is here with us every day.
The
Kingdom
of
God
is already come AND
the Kingdom has not yet been fulfilled.
Christ is the one who is, who was and who is
to come. The Alpha
and the Omega. .
Story:
Neither Jenny or Mabel went to church. They were talking about
religious one day.
Jenny said, what I don’t
like about religion is that it is always talking about all that old
stuff and all those people who lives thousands of years ago.
What does that all have to do with me?
Mabel responded: I have just the opposite problem. All the
religious people I know are so wrapped up in getting to Heaven and what
will happen at the end of the world, they don’t seem to care about the
environment of the planet we live on now.
Jenny – Well I
guess in both cases the problem is that religious people don’t care
much about what is going on now. They are not in the present moment, but
off in some other world – past or future.
II)..Christ is The Lord of
History and transcends our earthly history
A- As Jesus of Nazareth he
enters our earthly history, and yet he tells Pilate: My
Kingdom is not of this world. : If
my Kingdom was of this world my disciples would be taking up weapons to
defend me. He lived on our earth and still is the one who will come
on the clouds as the Master of the Universe – who has no beginning and
no end.
B- All history of the Western world turns around the person of
Jesus, the Christ. Most of you
know that we call this the year 2006 AD; Anno Domini; Year of our
Lord—because it is 2000 and 6 years since Jesus was born.
Yet the
last 2000 years do not seem to be that Christian in the way various
tribes have treated one another – just look at the wars, the
starvation and the injustice. The Gospel of Jesus is far from being the
norm even in countries in which baptized Christians have been the
majority. No country on earth dare to claim that it has been
ruled in a way which clearly indicates that Christ is its King.
C - When we pray thy Kingdom come, it has to mean something for
right now in our own world, and not just a wish that we would be
included in the
Kingdom
of
Heaven
after we die. We know the
Kingdom
of
God
has been breaking into our world from ancient times and we know the
Kingdom will not be fulfilled until the end of time
Conclusion: Those
who have the faith that Jesus saved the world 2000 years ago and those
who have the Hope Jesus will come back at the end of time, must live our
lives in such a way as to make manifest that Jesus is our King today.
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