Reign of Christ / Christ the King (#0186)

From Christ the King to Reign of Christ to . . .

This Sunday is the final Sunday of the liturgical year: Christ the King. Carey Gardner Mack provides a brief history of this new addition to the church year:

Christ the King Sunday is a relatively new development. It does not bear the history of many long-held church traditions such as All Saints or Christmas or Easter and does not possess the deep and traditional biblical backing of these celebrations. Pope Pius XI brought Christ the King Sunday into the church’s liturgical year in 1925. He was attempting to do several things, but mainly to advance the message of God in Christ over and against that of the political forces moving in the world at that time – people like Mussolini and Hitler.

Arlene K. Nehring, a United Church of Christ pastor, explores what it means for progressive Protestant congregations to celebrate Reign of Christ Sunday (the normative name for the day in this tradition) by building on what they share in common with those in the Catholic tradition:

. . . with our Catholic cousins, celebrate and underscore the sovereignty of Christ over and above all earthly rulers. We also affirm Christ’s teachings and example, and covenant with one another to express Christ’s values in ways that point toward his vision of a just and peaceful world.

Like our Catholic cousins, we Protestants say through this observance that our ultimate loyalty is not to earthly potentates but to the Prince of Peace, and we pray and work for Christ’s kingdom to come on earth—a kingdom that ultimately may look more like a kin-dom than a kingdom.

Did you catch that I left out the “g” in “kingdom” to make the word “kin-dom”? Many liberation and feminist theologians drop the “g” when speaking and writing about Christ’s kin-dom out of a belief that hierarchical structures have often been the downfall of oppressed peoples. By dropping the “g,” we proclaim and hear a different reality—one that suggests a level playing field where equal opportunity for all may exist—rather than a hierarchical class system where a few reign over many. So, we in progressive congregations like Eden might rename today’s observance yet a third time and call it “Christ’s Kin-dom Sunday,” thus underscoring that we are praying and working for the kin-dom of Christ in which oppressive monarchies are overturned, and all people have a seat at the dinner table and the decision-making table.

So What?

Which title carries greatest meaning for you (Christ the King, Reign of Christ, or Christ’s Kin-dom Sunday)? Why?

In what areas of your life (familial, political, professional, etc.) do you find you have greater loyalty to a person or organization than to Christ? How would your life change if your primary loyalty was always to Christ?