Fr. Bob - Christ the King
Today is the feast of Christ the Kiing. In John 18 we hear Pilate’s conversation with Jesus. “They say you are a king. Is that true? Jesus responds, “My kingdom does not belong to this world. If my kingdom were of this world my followers would be fighting to save me.”
The king that he is standing there before Pilate Jesus courageously testifies to the truth. As his followers what are the truths that Jesus wants us to be assured of? I mention three of them. The first truth is something that many of us don’t want to think about. The second truth is something that is hard for many of us to believe. And the third truth is something that many of us want to ignore.
The first truth that many of us don’t want to think about can be stated as a question. “When we die is this life all there is or is there something more? This past week a good friend of the parish family died. How is it for him now? Is this life all there is or is there something more?
Jesus testifies to the truth to the good thief who hangs on the cross beside him. “This day you shall be with me in paradise.” I don’t know about you but I’m going with the conviction that after we die there’s something more. Why? Our faith tells us so.
The second truth that many of us have a hard time believing is this. We all know we’re anything but perfect. So, when we die, flawed and imperfect as we are what will God say to us?
God will say, “Yes, you’re flawed and imperfect. But do you know how beautiful you are? You are precious in my eyes, and I don’t love you any less for not being perfect. What if we could live our lives really believing that? That’s not to take us off the hook. Knowing that helps us be all the more in love with this God who loves us no matter what.
And the third truth that many of us want to ignore or do something about is this. We look at our world today and the suffering there is. There’s poverty, hunger, discrimination, exploitation oof the poor, and vulnerable and many other injustices. As followers of Jesus, we are not called to passivity in the face of those injustices.
Jesus’ kingdom is for everyone so we’re called to do something. What that might mean for you ,I can’t say. But whatever it is we’re all called to live our lives in a way that we walk in solidarity with those who struggle for a life with dignity.
Three truths that Jesus assures us of, -there’s an element of “bad news and good news” in each of them. For the first truth the bad news -this life is not forever. The good news, there’s more to come and it’s really good. For the second truth, -the bad news is that many of us think that God thinks less of us when we’re less than perfect. The good news, – that’s not true. For the third truth, – the bad news is that there’s a lot of suffering in our world. The good news, -we can do something about it.
Thereare three truths that Christ our King assures us of. Which truth are you called to embrace more fully? Which truth do you still resist? Let these truths speak to your heart and they will be the good news that changes your life for the better.
