Advent and Christmas: Putting Christ the King in Context

Preparing for the First Sunday of Advent: One Day before Sunday (Year A)

Scripture

Psalter: Psalm 122

Old Testament: Genesis 6:11-22

Gospel: Matthew 24:1-22

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Prayer

Unexpected God, your advent alarms us.  Wake us from drowsy worship,  from the sleep that neglects love,  and the sedative of misdirected frenzy.  Awaken us now to your coming,  and bend our angers into your peace. Amen.

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Reflection

“Then they will hand you over to be tortured and will put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of my name. Then many will fall away, and they will betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because of the increase of lawlessness, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And this good news of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the world, as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come (Matthew 24:9-14).

Last Sunday was Christ the King Sunday (also called the Reign of Christ). It is the last Sunday of the liturgical year, which begins anew this Sunday with the season of Advent. When the New Testament proclaims that Jesus is Lord, it is not simply an affirmation that Jesus reigns in our individual hearts and lives; it is a radical political claim meant to put the nations of the world and their leaders on notice. In the Roman Empire, it was common to swear allegiance to the emperor with the shout, “Caesar is Lord.” When the Christians substituted Jesus for Caesar, they were making a significant claim about the nature of Christ’s lordship, and the ultimate insignificance of Caesar as one who determines the destiny of human history.

Now that we have finished the church year we plow right into Advent with talk of expectation and judgment, heavenly signs, and getting ready for God to visit his justice and judgment upon us… then Christmas. The beginning of the church year sets the stage and puts into context the last Sunday of the year. Jesus is indeed king, but it is not a reign, it is not a rule we were expecting. The coming of this king in the humble circumstances of the nativity is the first sign that King Jesus will not be the kind of king we expected.

Starting this Sunday we will be reading Isaiah and Matthew, but we won’t be reading the Christmas story of the shepherds and angels and Baby Jesus wrapped in swaddling clothes. Instead we will be reading about Isaiah and God’s future kingdom of justice and peace inaugurated by a suffering servant. We will be reading about John the Baptist preaching by the river calling people to repent because God is about to do something big, something cosmic in nature. Divine salvation is at hand and God’s people need to be ready. And after reading and reflecting on promise and expectation and judgment and deliverance, on Christmas we will discover how that deliverance comes—not in pomp and circumstance, not in the king that conquers through violence and coercion—but in a helpless baby born in a backwater village to peasant parents. Jesus the King comes in circumstances that can hardly be considered royal. Apparently, God needs some instruction in shock and awe.

Christ the King Sunday may have passed for another year, but Advent and Christmas puts Jesus’ kingly reign in context. The lessons taught at the beginning of the Christian year need to be heeded at its end.

Jesus Christ is indeed King... and it is a reign like no other.

PRAYER: God of justice and peace, from the heavens you rain down mercy and kindness, that all on earth may stand in awe and wonder before your marvelous deeds. Raise our heads in expectation, that we may yearn for the coming day of the Lord and stand without blame before your Son, Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.

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