.
There is a steady debate about whether kingdoms have had their day.
In our own land many people support the monarchy still delighting in royal weddings and jubilees. Many others look forward to the day when a national maturity might lead us to cut ties with any system of leadership which is perceived to have more to do with privilege and power than care for the most vulnerable in our land.
Jesus understands the difference: Mine is not a kingdom of this world.
Old Testament Kings of Israel understood this and were judged on their faithfulness to God and their care for the poorest of the poor.
Jesus continues by clarifying that if his kingdom were of this world then he and his followers would have used the methods of worldly kingdoms, violence and control, to enforce his realm.
While nations might argue the ups and downs of monarchies, perhaps the heart of this weekend’s Feast of Christ the King is an acknowledgement that if we don’t freely choose something or some one to be the heart of our lives, then something or some one will claim that space in our minds and hearts…
…and these unchosen and often insidious rulers, perhaps the captivating “isms” of capitalism, commercialism, consumerism, athiesm, tokenism, moralism, legalism….you will think of many others… will take root and imprison us.
The invitation of the feast which marks the last Sunday of the Church year is to gently be aware of how susceptible we are to becoming slaves to all that we were not made for, and to freely choose to place ourselves in the kind and eternal keeping of Jesus whose reign brings freedom.
And there’s another country, I’ve heard of long ago,
Most dear to them that love her, most great to them that know;
We may not count her armies, we may not see her King;
Her fortress is a faithful heart, her pride is suffering;
And soul by soul and silently her shining bounds increase,
And her ways are ways of gentleness, and all her paths are peace.
Cecil Spring Rice
My mate calls this the ‘Kindom Day’
It helps..
That poem really touches my heart.
Thank You. John. As usual, so thought provoking and inspiring. I love this verse from this great old Hymn.
So relative in this age
Yes whenever I sing that verse my eyes well up with tears. Such longing.