November 20, 2022: Finding a King in the Confusion of Time

The Rev. Jessie Gutgsell Dodson offered a sermon, read by the Rev. Jeanne Leinbach, for our celebration of the Holy Eucharist on the Last Sunday after Pentecost: Christ the King. To learn more about St. Paul's, visit our website: www.stpauls-church.org Readings: Luke 23:33-43; Colossians 1:11-20 Excerpt: Today we find ourselves in layers of liminal time. Yesterday, we elected a Bishop Coadjutor for the Diocese of Ohio, Anne Jolly. We now stand squarely in the space between two diocesan bishops. Today we celebrate the final Sunday of the liturgical year. Next Sunday we’ll begin the season of Advent, But before that we’ll have the “official” start of the holiday season as Thanksgiving draws near. Beginnings and endings. New years and old. The revisiting of rituals afresh. As we pause here on the threshold between what was and what will be, We observe something that we’ve come to call “Christ the King Sunday.” Growing up, I assumed Christ the King Sunday was something the church had always celebrated since the beginning of time. But come to find out, this is a relatively young observance, not even 100 years old. In 1925, Pope Pius XI called for the celebration of Christ the King or Reign of Christ Sunday as a way to rally an increasingly secular and atheist post World War I world. Since then, it’s continued, known for the beautiful music that often accompanies it. Now I have to admit I don’t quite know what to do with the image of Christ as King. When I pray to Jesus, I don’t imagine easily imagine him in a bejeweled crown, clad in velvet, and sitting on a throne. Growing up outside of a monarchy, the image of king seem distant. The connotations of wealth and patriarchy feel dissonant. Whenever facing doubts about the work of the church, it can be helpful to go back to the primary source, to Scripture itself. And today’s Scripture is shocking when placed next to the image of Christ as king. Our Gospel for today plummets us into an entirely different (and unexpected) time and place. No throne in site, but a cross. No jewels in a crown, but instead thorns atop Jesus’ head. This isn’t where we expected to find ourselves at the end of the year. Not Thanksgiving or Advent or Christmas, but Good Friday. In this reading, we get two of the last sayings of Jesus from the cross. (These are the sayings we revisit each Good Friday in our ecumenical Seven Last Sayings service.)