24th November 2024
Christ the King
And so we come once again to the last Sunday in the Church's year. On this Sunday, before we move into Advent and begin to prepare for Jesus' coming to us as a baby in a manger, we remember Christ the King, Christ in glory.
During November, the readings for Morning and Evening Prayer offer a smorgasbord of weird apocalyptic imagery - the doom-laden sections of Isaiah 1-39, the visions of Daniel, and the book of Revelation. Isaiah propesied in Israel through times of inequality, poor government and, ultimately, invasion by a foreign power, Assyria, and the stark choice of assimilation, exile or death. Daniel lived in exile in a foreign land, navigating the tricky path of flourishing in a strange culture whilst holding on faithfully to his Jewish roots. John, exiled for his faith in Jesus in one of the waves of persecution that beset the early Church, was isolated on an island, far from friends, family and support.
These are readings for troubled times. These are readings for all those who face the harsh reality of inequality, poor government, invasion and oppression, exile and persecution. They are not easy readings - indeed, first thing in the morning, they can feel somewhat indigestible - but when we wade through the strange, unfamiliar imagery, we are reminded, consistently, of two things. First, that God is sovereign, that Christ is King. Earthly rulers may, like the horns in Daniel's vision (chapter 8), speak arrogantly of their power and might and use that power badly to oppress others, but, ultimately, God is in control, and God's justice will triumph. And second, that God has limited the time of the suffering of the victims of earthly arrogance and injustice. Daniel repeats the phrase "a time, two times and half a time" - a defined period, not eternity. In Revelation, it is clear that the woes inflicted before the end times are inflicted for a limited period, a certain number of days.
Why does God simply not end all suffering now and return to bring in his new heaven and new earth? In his second letter, Peter suggests to his readers that the delay is due to God's kindness. "The Lord is not slow about keeping his promise", he says, "... but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance." (2 Peter 3:9). In the meantime, we are called to patient endurance, trusting in Christ our King whose love is sufficient for the sufferings of today and who will return in power to make all things new.
