Being Stirred Up

This week churches around the world are marking the end of another liturgical year and celebrating Christ the King or the Reign of Christ Sunday. For us it is also Aotearoa Sunday, which really reminds us of how slow we Pākehā were to live out the reign of Christ with ngā iwi ō Aotearoa and the first Anglican Church in this land. A solemn note to finish the year as we reflect on how our Eurocentric notions of kingship and what it means to be Christian got in our way of living with compassion and generosity among ngā iwi ō Aotearoa. It often still does. We have played king, with Christ the king made in our image. It is also Stir-up Sunday.

What is Christ the King or Reign of Christ Sunday about? Some suggest it is a day to affirm God’s reign over empires that do not hunger and thirst for God’s righteousness. It is a day to remind ourselves that the reign of Christ as described in the Beatitudes and the Sermon on the Mount is what we are invited to work toward. While no political entity can ever bring that about, we are invited to reflect on how we engage in the political process in ways that allow Christ’s reign to blossom.  As we finish our time with Matthew, we are offered his version of Jesus’ final piece of teaching – the story of the sheep and the goats – a story that invites us to be people who see the crucified and risen Christ in those we often ignore.

As we end our church year this Sunday provides an opportunity for us as God’s people to look back and ask how we lived out God’s reign and faithfully lived the Beatitudes, and using Ezekiel “fed them on justice.” Advent invites us to look to the fulfilment of Christ’s reign through the birth of a baby in walled off Bethlehem.

Enough there to well and truly stir us up, I hope