John 18: 33-37

Then Pilate entered the headquarters again, summoned Jesus, and asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus answered, “Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?” Pilate replied, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me. What have you done?”

Jesus answered, “My kingdom does not belong to this world. If my kingdom belonged to this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.” Pilate asked him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”

Sermon Text

Christ the King Sunday began to be celebrated ninety-nine years ago. Beginning as a Catholic Feast celebrated in October, the feast was meant to be a response to several problems in this world.[1] Pope Pius XI saw a growing secularism in the world, Christians – and in his specific world, Catholics – were not putting Christ at the center of their lives. Ideology, greed, and personal gain were taking over where the teachings and work of Christ should have power. Specifically, Pius cited the following failings, among others:

“… the seeds of discord sown far and wide; those bitter enmities and rivalries between nations, which still hinder so much the cause of peace; that insatiable greed which is so often hidden under a pretense of public spirit and patriotism, and gives rise to so many private quarrels; a blind and immoderate selfishness, making men seek nothing but their own comfort and advantage…”

God’s people have always struggled with how to balance faith in God, devotion to God’s kingdom, and human authority. In the days of the Judges, rule was spread across tribal leaders who rose to power as needed. Throughout the book of Judges, however, a lament is raised again and again, “In those days there was no king in Israel; all the people did what was right in their own eyes.”[2] This lament was short lived however, as Kings fixed nothing for the people of God.

The prophet Samuel was the first to consecrate Kings to rule in Israel, and he did so under duress.[3] His warning to the people is long and varied, telling them that they are turning their back on God by taking up a ruler like what other nations have. Samuel said the King would take their money, their crops, their children, and as a reward for giving all this to the King the people would receive trouble after trouble after trouble. Saul failed as a King, David began in earnest and then failed repeatedly to do God’s will. Solomon was a “great,” king but also a slaver, a lecher, and a hoarder. His son, Rehoboam, would be the last to rule a united Kingdom, building on his father’s sin and not his virtues.

Kingdoms have risen and fallen, many claiming to be “Christian,” in their government and leadership. None have succeeded in bringing the Kingdom of God into the world. Following the Protestant Reformation, nations began to exist in a way they had not before. Each nation had a king, and each king claimed to worship God in the right way, and to serve God through their rule. None had a monopoly on what was right, nor on proper leadership.

In the United States, we were born of the English Reformation. Christians in England first rejected the Papacy, then for a time the monarchy, but settled back into a Church run by the King or Queen of England. When the revolution came, we made the bold decision to be a secular democracy, with no leadership by kings or claims to divine right to rule keeping us from progress. We were born out of the enlightenment, and because of that our founders had a dream of a largely secular government. Individual religious devotion would push the people to do what is right, and a detached government would ensure they had the right to do so, while not being caught up in the religious wars that had destroyed Europe again and again.

Brief history of our religious lineage established; I have to ask you all. Do you look at government, at our political climate, at anything we do and think, “That sure is a Christian.” I think the answer across the board is a pretty sharp, “No.”

Violence, greed, and selfishness dominate our world. Criminalizing the poor, prioritizing profits over people, and placing national pride above God’s call are deeply un-Christian behaviors, and yet they seem to rule the day. Reinhold Niebuhr, the last great public theologian in America, argued in Moral Man and Immoral Society that individuals can act morally, but groups—whether governments or societies—struggle to uphold Christian principles. Fear, greed, and the desire to “win” often override faithfulness to God’s values.

We just had an election. Some of us feel that the outcome was good, others that it was not. I will not equivocate the two parties and pretend their identical, nor will I take an explicitly partisan stance. Instead, I propose this reality. No matter who would have won – the Church has a duty to challenge those in power to embody the virtues we claim to put above all others – the only difference is in how that challenge would need to be offered.

The virtues we claim, by the way, are not the following – GDP, stock prices, the price of any consumer product, racial superiority, or vague sentiments of “civility.” Instead, they are as follows: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. The things we should promote are the things that actively help others – to clothe the naked, feed the hungry, care for the sick, love the prisoner. We should remember all those in need, for Christ faced all human troubles to live alongside them – the poor, the hungry, the homeless, the migrant, the abused, and the murdered.

There is a problem in the Church. We have failed to understand when it is our duty to be political, and when we become political we are unfailingly partisan. In some regards it’s impossible not to be. Every two to four years we are given two parties to choose from and picking one or the other affects things greatly. A side often has to be taken, and sometimes the side we take will reveal itself to be the wrong one. Democracy is a beautiful thing, but it is dangerous. An old Latin Proverb explains the problem simply, “… those people should not be listened to who keep saying the voice of the people is the voice of God, since the riotousness of the crowd is always very close to madness.” Democracy is a crowd seeking after the voice of God, and so often we give into madness rather than Godliness.

I can only give these few precepts for how we should conduct ourselves as Christians who are, by necessity, forced into scenarios in which we must engage in political and civic life. First, we must pray—for our nation, its leaders, and even those we see as our enemies. Prayer opens our hearts to God’s guidance and softens animosity. Second, we must reject bad faith arguments and misinformation, holding truth as sacred. Finally, we should speak, act, vote, and advocate for policies that reflect Christ’s love, even while accepting the imperfect nature of democracy.

Christ’s Kingship means that, in all things, we answer to him. Someday, every ruler will kneel before God’s throne and have to give an account for what they did with the power they had. I do not envy them that heavy responsibility. We as members of a democracy will likewise be held accountable for our participation in enacting policy, electing rulers, and promoting the good – I know that I will have things to answer for when I get there.

Christ is King, Lord of all Creation, and yet the Kingdom he built is not like others. His followers are told to put away weapons and take up tools to make the world better. We are told not to hate, but to love again and again. We are called to serve as slaves rather than ever allow ourselves to be called “kings,” and “rulers.” No wonder no truly Christian nation has ever existed – only one kingdom, and one King could ever truly achieve that status.

In Advent we look forward to what God’s coming into the world will do. On Christ the King Sunday we acknowledge that while the Kingdom of God is not fully existent yet, it still has begun. We as Christians, in democracies, dictatorships, and monarchies all, are called to serve one King above any other. May God guide us, as we enter the hope of Advent and the joy of Christmas, to remember what it means to live in our present, imperfect age, and still be called “the people of God.” – Amen.

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[1] The full text of the Encyclical Quas Primas, which established this feast, is available here: https://www.papalencyclicals.net/pius11/p11prima.htm

[2] Judges 18:1, and others

[3] 1 Samuel 8