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The Last Sunday after Pentecost: Christ the King
Almighty and everlasting God, whose will it is to restore all things in thy well-beloved Son, the King of kings and Lord of lords: Mercifully grant that the peoples of the earth, divided and enslaved by sin, may be freed and brought together under his most gracious rule; who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (Proper 29)
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The Last Sunday after Pentecost: Christ the King
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A Sermon by
The Rev. Canon Carl Turner
✛
Thou art the King of glory, O Christ
empowering the citizens of the kingdom
The presidential election has had some unexpected consequences for us here at Saint Thomas Church and if you managed to negotiate the barriers, the crowds, NYPD and members of the Secret Service you will know exactly what I am talking about. Suddenly our church finds itself two blocks from the White House! We are also witnessing almost daily marches and demonstrations passing the Church. Something has stirred people up and we, as a Christian community on Fifth Avenue, suddenly find ourselves in the middle of it.
Many of you today will have noticed that for the first time in over two years, it is possible to see the outside of the Church again. The scaffolding, the hoardings, and the netting that has covered the church for the great stained glass windows project is finally being taken down. Because of prudent management of funds and the project coming in well under budget we decided to take advantage of the scaffolding and make a thorough examination of the fabric of the building, which revealed a lot of stone repairs that, if left untreated, would have become a large and very expensive problem to fix in some years’ time. We also decided to clean the church as well as repair the stone and it really does look magnificent. In cleaning the Church there were a few surprises; long forgotten carvings appeared from the dirt and the grime – 20th century artifacts or concepts – Bakelite telephones and chemical molecules – but we also found two statues that some of us honestly thought had never been carved! In the late 1960’s at the height of the civil rights movement, the then rector Dr. Morris and the vestry decided to erect what could easily have been interpreted as a political statement. Four new images were placed on the tower and can be seen clearly now for the first time in years. The vestry and Dr. Morris placed four images of people associated with the theme of liberation; two great emancipators of slavery – William Wilberforce from the United Kingdom and Abraham Lincoln from the United States (they are the ones we couldn’t see very well), and two African American civil rights leaders; Martin Luther King Jr and Mary McLeod Bethune. There are some of you present in this church that have told me that you also went on the marches during the civil rights movement. Now, the statues of Martin Luther King and Mary McLeod Bethune gaze down upon Fifth Avenue.
Cast your gaze to the right of those statues and you see why the Vestry placed these images of people who strove for liberation and justice in earthly society; words from the Te Deum, which is the song of the Church, in great incised letters above the rose window: “Thou art the King of glory, O Christ.” The same words beautifully embroidered on the High Altar frontal you see today.
Two blocks from the temporary White House, which is already receiving heads of state, Saint Thomas Church makes the greatest statement about the responsibilities of Christians and the paradox of the incarnation:
“Thou art the King of glory O Christ.”
Where do we find that glory? Today is the Feast of Christ the King and we find his glory expressed in our readings in ways which are very different to the exercise of human power over the centuries:
“The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.” (Jeremiah 23:5)
Jeremiah’s prophecy is for a king who will bring justice and righteousness. This prophecy finds its fulfillment in the birth of Jesus Christ:
Writing to the Colossians, Paul says, “He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” (Colossians 1:13-14)
Jesus comes to rescue us from the sinfulness and potential corruption of human power, and to usher in the Kingdom of God, here on earth. In Jesus we recognize perfect Kingly power which brings with it forgiveness, freedom and empowerment rather than human arrogance, domination, and rule. But it will come at a terrible cost, and it will be an example that we will be called to follow also:
Paul continues, “In him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.” (Colossians 1:19-20).
Earthly power is often expressed in subjugation of others; imposing one’s will over others – ‘getting one’s own way’ (and we all know something about that!). Power in the Kingdom of God is the opposite of earthly kingship or sovereignty for it is found in weakness and self-offering; the greatest example of which is the cross of Jesus through which he brings forgiveness, freedom and peace. On the cross, wearing the crown of thorns the people still cannot understand his kingship: “He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Messiah of God, his chosen one!” (Luke 23:35b). The soldiers, used to earthly power and taking orders fail to recognize a king. Dying on the cross, Jesus denied himself the abuse of earthly power and, instead, redeems the thief crucified with him: “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom” said the criminal, and Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”
The emptying of God into his creation brings about a new way of living; those of us who follow Jesus and his way know that the values of the Kingdom of God are not the values honored in this world. As Victor Austin once said talking about Christ’s kingship, “Jesus’ ministry is a ministry of empowerment: he empowers people to become citizens, and the kingdom in which they become citizens is his.”[1]
The images that Dr. Morris and the Vestry placed on the tower in the late 1960’s represent the empowerment of citizens of the Kingdom and, more specifically, in the lives of four Christians spanning 200 years, that slavery or discrimination particularly when it is based on race or color has no place in that Kingdom. In order to live faithful Christian lives, those four liberators had to engage with human society and even with political systems, but they did so out of a conviction that Jesus Christ was King and that only his rule could bring about true justice and righteousness in the land.
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