But the British monarchy while being the oldest surviving monarchy and fascinating in its complex detail is a far cry from the monarchies of old which wielded complete power. The monarch of old embodied the full power of the state in his or her person. The English monarchs up to Charles 1 believed in and behaved in accordance with the Divine Right of Kings. Ancient monarchs truly reigned: their power was all encompassing. This introduction is not to argue in favor of monarchy (although the details in the television program make it an endlessly fascinating subject) but rather to provide some background to the language of this day in scripture and in song. “Crown him with many crowns” we have sung; the Gospel just sung speaks of the Son of Man on the throne of his glory in judgment. It is this emphasis that gives this last Sunday in the Pentecost season its subtitle, or nickname, Christ the King. Admittedly the title had more political overtones when it was promulgated by the Roman Church but they do not apply to us today.

But the imagery of the readings is a far cry from notions of political kingship we may have from our historical knowledge. Ezekiel speaks of the Lord God, God who reigns over all things, in terms of a shepherd who not only seeks out the sheep, but cares for them, binding them up when needed, feeding them, giving them justice, destroying those who prey on them and executing judgment. It is that image of the shepherd judging the flocks by separating the good from the bad that is picked up in Jesus’ final parable in Matthew 25. 1 Corinthians on the other hand sees the reign of Christ as being inaugurated by his resurrection from the dead and concluding with the consummation of his reign at the end of time when Christ hands over the kingdom to the Father. “Then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father, after he has destroyed every ruler and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death.”

While the language of monarchy is increasingly irrelevant in our day nevertheless the content of the imagery of monarchy is translatable into current idiom. To say Christ is our King has little to do with the trappings of monarchy (although in traditional Christian art we often give Christ a crown, orb and robe of a king as in our Lichgate Statue on the cover of the bulletin). What it does seek to indicate is that Christ has central place and authority in the lives of believers. This feast is often called the Reign of Christ: that Christ has power, rule, authority and dominion akin to but far greater than a monarch of old. For the reign of Christ is none other than the beginning of the inauguration of the Kingdom of God, when the centrality of God’s reign will be universally recognized and accepted. It is that reign of Christ that we celebrate not only today but in every baptism and eucharist.

Take baptism for instance and what could be more appropriate than on this day as we rededicate our historic font beautifully restored and relocated so it can be used liturgically. Just a word about its relocation from a niche in the Holy Family Chapel to its new position right in the middle of the aisle as you enter the church. That position says much about baptism. For it proclaims loud and clear that baptism is primary, central and important. It says you enter the Christian life through the waters of baptism. It says that in and through the waters of baptism we die and rise with Christ; that in baptism we proclaim Christ is central to our lives; that he is our king; that he reigns in our hearts. So we can say that by Baptism, Christ is our King.

As you enter the church now there are in fact twin focal points: font and altar representing the two dominical sacraments, Baptism and Eucharist. Like in Baptism we celebrate our dying and rising with Christ so at every eucharist, at every mass, we enter once again into the mystery of Christ’s dying and rising by which as 1 Corinthians says inaugurates his kingly reign, his sovereignty over all things. As we eat and drink the Body and Blood of Christ at communion time so we identify our lives with and we participate in this kingdom-reign of Christ our Lord. So in a very real sense we celebrate Christ our King at every mass.

But to say Christ is our King by participation in baptism and eucharist is not the end of the matter. For at every baptism we all join in the Baptismal Covenant in which we commit ourselves to persevere in resisting evil; in seeking and serving Christ in all persons, loving our neighbor as ourselves; and striving for justice and peace among all people, and respecting the dignity of every human being. At the end of mass we often hear the words “Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.”

This brings us to the teaching about the meaning of Christ the King which we glean from today’s gospel and the first reading from Ezekiel. There the kingship associated with God and his Christ is people centered. There is no question about it. I have already pointed out the imagery of the shepherd king employed in Ezekiel. But that famous passage from Matthew about the judgment is dramatic in its teaching: “just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.” Making Christ our King is not just a matter of words, of correct religious formulas or of certain religious actions in worship. Ultimately making Christ our King is to do with how we treat each other; how we treat the weakest and the least. The Gospel holds up for us a radical model of people service as the way to honor Christ as the one who is central to or sovereign in our lives.

But this is also our Stewardship Sunday when we think about our commitment in terms of the use of our time, our talents and our treasure. We may well ask what does it mean to make Christ our King in baptism, eucharist and ministry if he is not also significant in or central to our use of our treasure? Does our giving reflect our stated commitment to Christ? Does my pledge card reflect the priority of Christ in my life? I truly believe that we should consider giving a portion of our wealth (no matter how great or how small) to God first as a sign of the priority of God in our lives. And in tough times like these that is even more important because it is that faith in God which we need precisely to help us to get through difficult times.

So today as we celebrate the Sovereignty of God and his Christ; as we affirm that Jesus Christ is our King; that he reigns in our hearts; as we celebrate that in baptism and eucharist; we also recommit ourselves to honor Christ the King in our actions to others and in our giving to his church.