Readings

“Mercifully grant that the peoples of the earth, divided and enslaved by sin, may be freed and brought together under his most gracious rule…” If we pay the slightest attention to the evening news we recognize that this is a tall order: “may be freed…his most gracious rule.” How does one achieve a rule that preserves human freedom? So, of course, the Feast of Christ the King is something to celebrate. But our experience might suggest offering Jesus our heartfelt condolences. “You’re supposed to put this house in order.”

But rather than our sincere sympathy, I suspect that our Lord would rather have us attend to how Jesus is pursuing that most gracious rule that is the friend of human freedom. And part of that how: the royal gifts to us: time, space, and responsibility.

Time. We say “Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again.” We are given the time between “Christ is risen” and “Christ will come again.” It is not open-ended; Christ will come again. But until then we have time.

Space. The same confession (“Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again.”) suggests the gift of space. Jesus withdraws to give us space. (On the one hand, we have his promise to be with us always. He sent the Spirit at Pentecost. We celebrate his presence in the Eucharist. We speak with him in our prayers. On the other hand, there’s real absence in that “Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again.” One of the most ancient of the Christian prayers is “Maranatha” “Our Lord, come!” And this prayer is pretty much the refrain of all the hymns we sing during Advent.)

Responsibility. It would be easy to regard the time and space as empty; marking time until something important happened, something like the cartoons of the cavemen waiting around until someone figured out how to make fire. But together with the gifts of time and space we’re given responsibility.

Our last three week’s Gospel readings have been exploring how all that works:

The parable of the ten virgins. We recall this parable at baptisms as we say to the newly baptized “Receive the light of Christ, that when the bridegroom comes you may go forth with all the saints to meet him; and see that you keep the grace of your Baptism.” “And see that you keep the grace of your Baptism.” Our use today of the gifts we have received affects our possibilities in the future.

The parable of the talents. It’s not enough to simply fulfill the letter of the law (the Ten Commandments, for instance). The Lord desires that I use what I have received for his kingdom, proclaiming the good news of this kingdom by who I am, what I do, and, sometimes, by what I say, showing mercy whether or not it is “deserved.”

And, today, this vision of the sheep and the goats. “I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.” These actions of mercy and compassion are actions of shepherds. Jesus is the Good Shepherd, but that doesn’t make us simply sheep. Each one of us may be called to be shepherd to our neighbor. And notice that Jesus does not describe heroic actions. Not “I was sick and you healed me; I was in prison and you broke me out” but “I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.”

Jesus is the Good Shepherd. And Jesus’ way of doing “Good Shepherd” is to call all of us into that work.

Our culture is often worried that belief in God will sap human initiatives. Here’s another case in which the opposite proves true. Acknowledge Jesus as the Good Shepherd—and that turns out to instruct us as to how to better play that role as needed with one another.

But there’s more in this speech of Jesus to the righteous: “Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.” From Jesus’ mouth: to respond to the needy (or not) is to respond to Jesus (or not).

In our tradition many have the custom of reverencing the altar, the place where the Blessed Sacrament is reserved. The King of kings and Lord of lords—right here! In light of this text, it might not be a bad idea to reverence—at least mentally—the needy with whom we come in contact. As one leading 19^th Century English priest put it: How is it that you adore Jesus in the Sacred Host and not in the beggar?

We receive the gifts of time, space, responsibility. Some of how this plays out is explored in these parables of the virgins, talents, and sheep/goats. And we continue to explore how it plays out in our shared life here at St Peter’s.

Our King, desiring to bring the peoples of the earth into freedom under his most gracious rule has given us time, space, and responsibility. “Be swift my soul to answer him, be jubilant my feet,” for our King is marching on.