St Martin's & St Paul's
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I first became aware of the Festival of Christ the King in the 1980s. I was then a member of a church in Sheffield whose new Vicar was a bit higher up the candle as they say than the previous one. Up until that time, we had been working through the Alternative Services Book (1980) lectionary which, as you may recall, chose to call the Sundays after Pentecost and Trinity 'Pentecost Sundays' rather than 'Sundays after Trinity' (to which we have now reverted with Common Worship). The lectionary year ended with a Sunday called the Last Sunday after Pentecost - and then we moved into Advent Sunday.
So I was quite surprised when I arrived at church to find a big picture of Christ in glory displayed before the altar and the heading 'The Festival of Christ the King' on the newssheet. The Vicar explained to us why he was doing this - importing in fact a tradition from elsewhere. Now I have to say that there were some rocky times during this Vicar's tenure - particularly over such things as the use of incense and references to purgatory, but while for some people this was just another example of his 'Roman' ways, it did seem to me that he had described to us what was a very fair theological point about ending the Church's year with a festival of Christ the King. It was a sort of anticipatory statement: we had travelled through the narratives from the prophecy of the coming of the Messiah through to His birth, His childhood, His early ministry, His suffering, His death, His resurrection, His ascension and the coming of his Holy Spirit and the birth of the Church. Why not then conclude by recognising and looking towards his ultimate return in glory, rather than just ending with a 'Last Sunday'?
So when I saw that the Common Lectionary of 2000 had included the Festival of Christ the King, I felt that that was the right way to end one year and turn towards another. It also reminds us that we are those in whose lives Christ is already enthroned: Christ is King, he rules. Looking out at our world at what feels like a rather bleak era on many levels, we also know that just as Christ will one day return in glory, so He does already rule where people of faith and vision welcome him to His throne. We should not therefore be asking 'What Jesus would think or do about this or that' or 'Why he is not doing anything about something'? If he is King in your heart and mine, then he will act in you and me: though our own actions, our prayers, our giving, our commitment and our love. When we work together - all the better. Many of Jesus' stories refer to an absent Lord who comes back suddenly. In the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats, Jesus reminds us that many people will be surprised to find that although they didn't think about him when they showed compassion and service to people less fortunate than themselves, they too were realising the Kingship of Christ when they did so; because it was also Him that they served.
Amen
