Christ our King? - some rough notes from Sunday's sermon

You can listen to this sermon here 

Gate Pa –  Christ the King Sunday and/or Aotearoa Sunday - Year C - 2022

Readings:

Psalm -             The Song of Zechariah (Luke 1:68-79) 
First Reading -  Jeremiah 23:1-6
Second Reading - Col 1:11-20
Gospel:            Luke 23:33-43 

What I want to say:
Where does Christ the King Sunday come from, and in light of that discuss
·       What images or words of Christ’s kingship come to mind?
·       What is unhelpful about Christ the King?
·       Where do we look in the bible for our images of Christ the King?
·       What does Christ the King offer us?
Christ the King is complicated and contested. It means different things to different people and can be used to justify some appalling things.
One of those is the shameful story of the creation of Te Pihopa o Aotearoa. And yet the reign of God prevailed, and we have had our radical constitution for 30 years which involves self determination and co-governance. In the reign of Christ what do we have to offer the discussions around these issues in Aotearoa-New Zealand today
What I want to happen:
As we approach advent – where do we look for such a reign?

The Sermon

1.    Introduction:

today is a big day
last Sunday in Ordinary Time – next Sunday Advent starts
last Sunday we have with Luke
Christ the King or Reign of Christ Sunday
Stir up Sunday – stir up Christmas pudding
Aotearoa Sunday
where to begin with all that
 

2.    Christ the King?

Let’s begin with Christ as King
Created by Pope Pius XI in 1925 as a way to combat rising anticlericalism and nationalism in Europe after WW1
As an aside
Pius XI was the first pope to recognise democracy as a legitimate form of government in his encyclical in 1933, written in response to the new and very anti-Catholic Spanish constitution.
Pius XI’s predecessors had been pro-monarchy and anti-democracy, encouraging Catholics to not vote in elections.

• What images or words of Christ’s kingship come to mind?
• What is unhelpful about Christ the King?
• Where do we look in the bible for our images of Christ the King?
• What does Christ the King offer us?

Ø Discuss
Ø Plenary
 

3.    Complicated and Contested

The problem with Christ the king is that it is complicated and contested
Pope Pius XI wanted to offer a reminder that our primary allegiance is to Christ
He wanted to remind Catholics that their first loyalty is to Christ (through the church) and not Caesar.
I am follower Christ first and that should shape my allegiances to church, state, tikanga.
Too often been other way around
I would suggest that Christ the King has too often been made subservient to needs of church
-        Needs of state
-        Our identity
In our recent history we can see this
 We can see that with the Patriarch of Moscow support of the invasion of Ukraine
And if we are honest that is no different than the role the church played in supporting Anglo-Boar war and WWI
WWI – Christians fought for king and country
-        King there was king of Great Britain
-        First allegiance was to British Empire
-        Christ King was seen as important supporter of British endeavour
-        Those Christians who placed Christ first and refused to fight were vilified by fellow empire supporting Christians
o   Imprisoned
o   Some taken front line and strung up
è Continued in WWII
-        Story of Ormond Burton and his ejection from Methodist Conference 1942 for refusing to adhere to their policy on not preaching anti-war sentiments
-        Christ the King sounds great
-        Much harder to live out
 

4.    What kind of King?

Wonder where we would look in bible for images of kingship
-        Maybe with passages like Jeremiah which lay out the failings of kings and what the promised king would look like
-        Maybe with Colossians and the discussion on power
Wonder how many of us would start with the crucifixion?
-        This story that is unique to Luke in way it is told
o   Forgiving “them” for they do not know what they do
o   Promise to the supportive insurrectionist
Whole of Luke is about reign of God
-        Mary’s song in Luke 2
-        Tests in Wilderness about what being the Son of God might be about in Luke 3
-        Reading from the scroll in Luke 4
-        Blessings and woes in Luke 6
-        Warning to not get distracted by grandeur in Luke 21
-        Crucifixion this week
One commentator called it – this is a dangerously subversive image of kingship
 

5.    Te Pihopatanga

See how hard this is in story of formation of Te Pihopatanga o Aotearoa
Talked bout on other occasions
-        Te Pouhere Sundays and Aotearoa Sunday
For many British settlers and church leaders in this land
British way life superior
First allegiance was to that
Church was vehicle to spread that tikanga
Hence sad story of struggle of Māori Anglican church
Struggle to set up structures to elect a Māori bishop
Reluctance of the north island bishops
Half stipend once elected and no home
-        Waiapu
Bishop Auckland not allowing Pihopa Bennet to enter Auckland
1978 Te Pihopatanga established and Māori had seat in General Synod
Brought change
-        Tino rangatiratanga – self determination
-        Co – governance

6.    How to finish

Early church for Christ the King
Subversive
Called into question allegiance to current political systems
How might our allegiance to Christ the King invite us to look for different ways of making decisions for benefit of everyone
What are we afraid of?