Join us today as we celebrate Holy Communion for the Feast of Christ the King 11/21/21. To follow along at home, click here and print the Holy Communion Program. Video and text of today’s homily below.
If you would like to have prayers offered for you, a loved one, a friend, for someone who is suffering, ill or who has departed, please email Archdeacon Mitch at mitch@heritageartsinc.com and we will pray for you. And if you’d like to assist in the beautification, improvement and maintenance of St. Barachiel Chapel, please click here to make a donation.
Homily for the Feast of Christ the King, Sunday 11/21/21
Readings: Dn 7:13-14, Ps 93:1, 1-2, 5, Rev 1:5-8, Jn 18:33b-37
Friends, why does Jesus say to Pilate, “My kingdom is not of this world”? Because he wants to make it clear what he’s really up to. He says, “If my kingdom did belong to this world, my attendants would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not here." Jesus is not fighting a political battle to overthrow the Roman Empire. After the resurrection, does he come back from the dead and visit kings and queens, emperors and empresses, revolutionaries and zealots? Does he come back to try to change monarchies into democracies or communist states? To convince rulers to make better laws, to write better legislation or institute better government programs? To build great temples? No – he came to testify to the truth. He visited his disciples and friends, and he gave them authority to preach his truth and to perform miracles and good works in his name.
What about the last thing he says in today’s reading? What does he mean when he says, “Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.” This isn’t about hearing voices. Jesus is saying that everyone who belongs to the truth is listening to his voice, because Jesus is truth. The actions are one in the same. To “belong to the truth” is exactly the opposite of what most people want. We crave ownership of the truth, rather than striving to be owned by it. Our natural tendency is backwards. The truth doesn’t belong to us. It’s not ours. But we’re always trying to create it, or curate it, or possess it. To make our will manifest rather than God’s.
Don’t be like the people of Jesus’ time who wanted a king of this world. Pilate gave them a choice, and they wanted Barabbas, the criminal and revolutionary, to be released. They wanted a revolutionary who would give them what they desired. They hated Jesus because he spoke unpleasant truths. And those truths can be just as unpleasant now as they were then.
As soon as we think that our group, our church denomination, political party, favorite president, preacher, pundit, or pop culture icon is in possession of the truth, we have made something other than Christ our king. We have to get this through our heads – there is nothing here on earth that is perfect and good and true. There cannot and will not be any utopia here on earth until Christ returns to establish it in the fullness of time.
We are not going to get what we want. We’re never going to get a news outlet, website, or social media platform that we can trust to tell us the truth. We’re never going to be able to let your guard down and trust that what we are hearing aren’t lies. Neither are we going to be able to trust that our desires, our senses, or our lusts. What’s your king? Your cell phone? Your T.V.? Your favorite foods, your toys, your video games, your music, your stylish clothes? Your pornography, your house, your car pot, your alcohol? Those are all things of this world.
Two thousand years ago, Jesus wasn’t trying to win a battle to overthrow Rome. And he isn’t trying to win a battle in this world today. He is and always has been fighting to win the battle for your soul. Think about that. “The kingdom of God is within you.” (Luke 17:21). Christ’s kingdom is in your mind, in your heart, in what you think about, in what you desire, in what you crave, and in what you trust. Make Christ, and only Christ, your King.