Reign of Christ Sunday
I must admit candidly that this coming Sunday in the liturgical calendar – Christ the King or Reign of Christ Sunday – fails to engender excitement and hope for me.
Kingship is a curious notion for people who live in a democracy; it is a long way culturally and politically from ancient Israel’s monarchy (or Rome’s empire) to America’s vulnerable democracy today.
Yet, some of us are so accustomed to hearing about (and singing about!) the patriarchal concept of kingship that we often fail to admit its oddness in our modern lives. When was the last time you saw a king in real life? As if to prove my point, I sang the words “crown him” recently in my church!
We navigate then the overwhelmingly masculine territory of an incredibly familiar word, “king,” which people seem to believe profoundly and intuitively has some strong connection to God but which also conjures up images of Buckingham Palace.
If you would like to read more of my thoughts on Christ the King Sunday and Ezekiel 34, you can navigate to the Working Preacher site below.
Tyler Mayfield
Countering Christian Nationalism
My colleague, Rev. Dr. Leah Schade, suggests that this coming Sunday can be a moment to stand against Christian Nationalism.
"I’ve come to realize that Christ the King Sunday is an ideal time to raise awareness about Christian Nationalism and to firmly proclaim where the church stands in regard to this threat to democracy and to the tenets of Christianity."
Leah D. Schade
Prepare for Advent
The season of Advent begins next week. If you are interested in the Isaiah passages that appear in the Revised Common Lectionary on three of the four Sundays of Advent in 2023, then I wrote a book a few years ago to help Christians understand the traditional Advent passages from Isaiah.
A Benediction (Or Miscellaneous Thoughts)
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