A sermon preached by the Rev’d Natasha Woodward
at the Church of All Saints and the Church of Unity Orpington
Sunday 22 Novembe 2009, Christ the King year B
Readings: Daniel 7.9-10, 13-14; Revelation 1.4b-8; John 18.33-37
Here we are now in the last Sunday of the year, this feast of Christ the King. This feast doesn’t just come on its own, but it fits with some themes of the last month or so, this is one of those times when the natural world and the church world and the secular world come together. November starts with All Saints – the day after Halloween – All Hallows’ Eve – which is a celebration but also a time for thinking of those who have died and have lived especially holy lives. All Saints’ is followed by All Souls – traditionally 2 November, in this church marked on Remembrance Day in the afternoon with a memorial service – a service of mourning, for those who have died recently. And Remembrance Day is another occasion for thinking of those who have died, especially in war. And it’s a time of year when nature can seem to be dying off, the leaves are coming off the trees and the plants are dying back. All in all – November can seem a pretty sad month – a time where we keep coming back to the theme of death. This season, this time, in the Church’s year has a name. It is called ‘Kingdom’ season, and it culminates today, in this feast of Christ the King. That might seem strange – what does death have to do with kingdoms?
Well – death has everything to do with Christ’s kingdom. Because Christ’s kingdom is about hope. Christ’s kingdom is not of this world : Today, Christ the King, is about what happens after the end of Christ’s earthly life, after his death, resurrection and ascension, just as this whole month has been about the end of our earthly lives. Today is about the future, it is about our future, it is about the world’s future – a time after death.
Jesus says to Pilate that his kingdom is not of this world – of course! If his kingdom were of this world, he would not be in the position of facing execution in the first place – his followers would have fought to defend him. He is a king, but not the kind of king who has people to fight on his behalf, who imposes his will on other people. He is a strange kind of king, who is arrested, abandoned and killed. It’s clear Christ isn’t a king in the way we normally think of kings or rulers.
So – we might ask – what kind of king is he? What kind of kingdom is Christ’s kingdom?
Visual aid: red altar frontal [hangings and vestments]. They are red [as they have been since All Saints, in this kingdom season]. Now that might seem strange. You might think for a king, we’d have purple – there is a royal colour. Or, since purple has another meaning in the church, what about white or gold? Gold and white in the church are about celebration, and we might want to celebrate the kingship of Christ. No, today it is red and this is significant.
Red in church is full of meaning. Red is blood, like the poppy at Remembrance, red represents the blood of those who have died, and in church red is especially used for martyrs, in other words anyone who has died for their faith.
Red is just as much about the spirit – a bit less straightforward – God’s spirit often represented by fire, which the red is supposed to represent. Pentecost, that day when the disciples were so moved by God that they described God’s spirit as being like tongues of fire. God’s spirit is something so powerful that it can seem like fire – think of when someone is ‘on fire’ for a cause – something they care passionately about, something they will do anything for – or when you say of someone that she has ‘fire in their belly’ – God’s spirit can be what drives people, what motivates people to do what they think is important. Another image of God’s spirit as fire is saying that God can be like a refiner’s fire – in other words, as the fire can be used to make to purify metal, to make it better, stronger more beautiful – God’s spirit is so powerful it can change us, help us, purify us, as fire can purify metal.
So red is like the flames of the spirit, and the blood of the martyrs. And these are connected. The flames of the spirit remind us that God is powerful, that with God’s spirit we can make things happen. Christ in God is the true king, sharing in God’s creation of the whole world. But lest we get overconfident, or too keen on power, blood reminds us that the power of God is a different kind of power. Christ’s kingship, his authority is not about winning a fight, or forcing other people to do what he wants – the red reminds us of Christ’s blood, that he was the one who could lose everything, who could be crucified and lose his life on behalf of others, and yet still be God. When you see pictures of Christ enthroned, he is shown still bearing the wounds, in some cases still with the cross. This is a king who does not need to fight to protect himself, because he knows his kingdom is different, a kingdom defined by love, not violence.
So what would it really mean to pray “thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven”? Well, if we really want to pray it, we need the fire and the blood. The fire of God’s spirit, of trusting God that we really can change things, that with God’s help we can be fiery people and do good in the world. The blood to remind us that we do not do this for ourselves, just as Jesus did not do it for himself. This is a king who acts not out of fear, but love – a self-giving, self-less love which extends to all – and we can be part of that, we can work to reflect Christ’s kingdom in ourselves and in the world. How? Well – easy to say, difficult to do – your starter for 10: we can spread God’s kingdom by trying to love every bit of God’s creation which we encounter, by looking at every person you meet as God sees them – as someone who is ready to be loved and to learn to love, who is ready to come near to God, even if they do not know how to begin. Christ’s kingdom is about seeing people as Christ sees us - not through eyes of fear, but love, as people who will come to know God’s love, if not in this life, then in the next. To love people in that way we need God’s help, and so might we pray to God:
Thy kingdom come,
thy will be done.
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