Christ the King

Last Sunday was the celebration of Christ the King. Each year as I listen to American's struggle to grasp what it means to have Christ as King in a democratic society, Puddleglum comes to mind. 

When the Witch of the Underworld tries to persuade them that all they believe to be true is only a dream, Puddleglum stamps on her enchanted fire. Then he says how it is funny that a bunch of dreamers could invent a world that was better than her world, but "I’m on Aslan’s side even if there isn’t any Aslan to lead it. I’m going to live as like a Narnian even if there isn’t any Narnia."

So many Christ the King sermons are about how we need to bring about Christ's Kingdom on earth. We must preach to the nations, comfort the grieving, care for the poor and oppressed, and all the things that Jesus did. Without diminishing the importance of any of these things, I think it is missing the point. We don't need to bring about Christ's Kingdom. Christ has already done that. He has already conquered death. He is already King.

That means we, as Christians, live in a Kingdom that we can't see, but is more real than anything that we can feel or touch or scientifically prove. Perhaps we are a bunch of dreamers, only wishing for something bigger and better than the things that we are physically connected to. Perhaps, we have only made up a kingdom where Love rules, where Justice and Mercy kiss, where death is not the end but a beginning, where Beauty is a unifying language, and Christ is King. Perhaps it is just a story, but I'm going to live like a subject of that King.