“God’s People Come into His Kingdom”
November 24, 2013
The 27th Sunday of the Christian Season
of Ordinary Time/Kingdomtide/Time of the Church
=and=
THE FEAST OF CHRIST THE KING
Jeremiah 23: 1 - 6/ Psalm 46/ Colossians 1: 11 - 20/Luke 23: 35 -
43
His Excellency
The Most Reverend Ariel Cornelio P.
Santos D.D.
of the
Archdiocese of Manila
the
National Church in the
Philippines
and the
Territorial Church of Asia
International Communion of the
Charismatic Episcopal Church
Today is the Feast of Christ the
King and we observe it in honor of our King and Lord Jesus Christ. In
1925, the Feast was instituted by Pope Pius XI to address a growing threat in
that time which was secularism. Secularism is a practical exclusion of God
from human thinking and human affairs. It is the organizing of one’s life
but apart from God and keeping God out of it. Secular is a word that is
a misnomer. It is a non-entity; non-category. Secular is understood
to be that which is not acknowledged as God’s.
God is the Creator of heaven and
earth and the Owner of all things. How can there be something that is
called secular? The reason we call it secular is to dichotomize or
separate in a dualism of things, in subdivision of things in two categories:
one, the holy; the other, the secular. We said that coming to Church,
praying, singing songs of praise or Christians songs is the holy part.
This is what we do when we are in the Spirit. When we are in the
flesh, then we do what is called the secular, which is brushing your teeth,
washing the dishes or doing your homework and other things that we don’t
necessarily call holy.
All things are owned by God.
I would define secularism as a futile, vain attempt to exclude God, get
Him out of the picture from our lives and from our affairs. During the
time of Pope Pius XI when this Feast was instituted, secularism was growing not
only in individual lives, but also in politics, in public and national affairs.
This was their response because he said that we need to tell the world
who is King.
The people were being deceived.
We cannot just rest and say, “God is Owner of all things and He is King
of all so we let them do their secularism.” We must be vigilant because
secularism maybe a deception but it was deception that caused man to fall in
the first place. Did the snake have power over them? No, he only
can deceive. This spirit of trying to exclude God really has no power
over us and we don’t submit to its deception. In the first place,
there is no power over us. We don’t accommodate or entertain it in our
thoughts and in our hearts.
The Feast was intended to proclaim
the Kingship, the Lordship of Christ over all men, families, nations and all
spheres of life. You cannot exclude Christ from your business. You
cannot exclude Him from your love-life. You cannot exclude Him from
anything that you do. He is right there and He gave to us whatever it is.
We can’t say, “This is for Church,” and, “This is for me.” “Sunday
is God’s and Monday through Saturday is mine.” “The tithe is God’s,
ninety-percent is mine.” This is not correct for all things belong to
God!
In the Encyclical that was made to
inaugurate the Feast of Christ the King, it says, “The manifold evils in the world
were due to the fact that men had thrust Jesus Christ and His holy law out of
their lives. This have no place in either private affairs or in politics
as long as individuals and states refuse to submit to the rule of our Savior,
there would be no prospect of a lasting peace among nations. The peace of
Christ is in the kingdom of Christ. When once men recognize both in private and
in public life that Christ is King, society will at last receive the great
blessings of real liberty, well-ordered discipline, peace and harmony.
Our Lord’s regal office invests the human authority of princes and rulers with
a religious significance. It gives dignity to the citizen’s duty of
obedience to them, For this reason, St. Paul instructs wives to revere Christ
in their husbands, and slaves to respect Christ in their masters; not as men,
but as representatives of God and of Christ. If princess and magistrates
duly elected are filled with the persuasion that they rule. not by their own
right, but by the mandate of God and in place of the Divine King, they will
exercise their authority piously and wisely, and they will make laws and
administer them, having in view the common good and also the dignity of their
subjects. The result will be a stable peace and tranquility, for there
will no longer be any cause of discontent. Men will see in their king
and in their rulers men like themselves. Perhaps unworthy or open to
criticism but they will not on that account refuse disobedience if they see
reflected in them the authority of Christ God and Man. Peace and harmony, too,
will result; for with the spread of the universal extent of the kingdom of
Christ, men will become more and more conscious of the link that binds that
binds them together, and thus many conflicts will be either prevented entirely
or at least the bitterness will be diminished. All authority is derived
from the kingship of Christ. If we acknowledge in a godly ruler, state,
church, family, that they are just representatives of Christ and they derive
their authority from Him, then it sill we easier to obey them because we see in
them not men but the authority vested by the King of Kings and the Lord of
Lords Himself.”
The Feast was an antidote to what
was called the anticlericalism which was and still is the opposition to the
involvement of the Church and the clergy in politics, in national life and
public affairs. It is the government saying, “The Church should keep
their nose out of our affairs.” But it is still the Church’s duty to keep
the government on tract morally. It is a rejection of Christ authorized
leaders, which is also a rejection of His authority.
Pope Pius was rallying the world
that, “While nations insult
the name of the Lord by suppression of all mention of God’s name in parliament
(in public – schools, offices) we must all the more loudly proclaim His kingly
dignity and power.” He
ordered the beginning of the public adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.
It was taken out of the Tabernacle and was processed in a proclamation of
who is really is King of all.
This is talking about making
visible the void. We must, as CEC, understand and adhere to the theme of
Christ the King. It is making the visible the kingdom of God which has
been void. We share the vision of this Pope of almost hundred years ago.
Christ’s kingship in Daniel 7 says
that the title and the power of king were given and belonged to Christ as Son
of Man as man. He already was King; He didn’t have to receive a kingdom
when He was from eternity and was God. He received the Kingdom and the
dominion and power as man. While as a Son of Man, to Him was given
dominion, glory and a kingdom. As man, He carries out the rule of God’s
kingdom here on earth.
Christ is the second Adam.
The first Adam stopped implementing God’s rule on earth. Our second
Adam had to come and continue and implement that. This is the meaning of
Catholic – all encompassing; covers all always and everywhere. Christ’s
kingdom is supreme. It extends to all individuals and kings and rulers,
not just to baptized Christians. He is King of All.
Jeremiah 23 said that He will reign
as King, act wisely, and do justice and righteousness in the earth as man.
If He was on earth, as a spirit, that will be of no good use. He
had to be man, in the flesh. Philippians 2:10-11 says, “At the name of
Jesus, every human knee shall bow and every human tongue confess that Jesus is
Lord and King.” Acts 4:12 says, “No other name under heaven was given
among men by which we must be saved.” Each one of us goes through Christ
to go through the Father. Revelation 1:5 says, “He is the Ruler of the
kings of the earth.”
Revelation 19:16 also says that He
is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. Those kings and lords are
earthly for His rule is really on earth also. 1Corinthians 15:25-26 says
the He must reign until He has put all His enemies on earth under His feet, the
last being death. We are not our own. Paul says in 1Corinthians
6:19-20 that we are not our own; we have been bought by a price and we are
members of Christ. How can we exclude Christ if that is the case?
One day, He will sit as King and
all nations will be gathered before Him. He will judge each one according
to his deeds. Christ is Supreme as King. His kingdom is universal
because it extends to all kingdoms and places. We pray, "Thy kingdom
come on earth as it is in heaven.” The kingdom of God is right here, right now!
Here and now! It is not waiting by the street by and by. We
are not strangers on the earth. We are citizens of the Kingdom right
here, right now! In the life of the world to come, we will simply
continue to be citizens of the Kingdom. We are starting right now because the
Kingdom is eternal extending to all kingdoms and in all places.
Psalm 2 says, “I have installed My
King upon Zion. I will give the nations as His inheritance and the very
ends of the earth as His possession.” It is earth, not heaven.
Jesus is not a stranger here. He is King, here on earth! We
need to proclaim that and make all men acknowledge that through our witness.
Hebrews 1 says that He is the Heir of all things on the earth. Caesar
owns nothing. We have misinterpreted that portion of the gospel that
instructs us to give to Caesar what is Caesar and to God what is God’s.
Everything belongs to God. Man does not own anything. Man is
simply a steward of God’s possessions. He is expected, under the
authority of God, to be a good steward; to use his resources wisely and
according to His law.
Psalm 72:7-8 says that in the
king’s days, the righteous shall flourish and abundance of peace till the moon
is no more. He shall rule from sea to sea and from the river to the ends
of the earth. He covers the whole earth with all the kingdoms and places
thereof because all authority over heaven and on earth has been given to
Christ.
In Romans 13, we are told to be
subject to all governing authorities. There is a debate as to whether it
is the presidents, the rulers of nations. It does include them. No
authority is not from God. Everything comes from God. God established
that which exist. No authority is there except form God including authority in
the Church. Jeremiah says that God was upset with the shepherds because
they were not doing according to instructions because they were under authority
under Him. All authority is derived from God.
Colossians 1 says, “By Him all
things were created both in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible whether
thrones, dominions, rulers or authorities.” All things were created
through Him and for Him. We may ask, “Does it mean that the President or
Senator who cheated in the elections and is now duly installed leader of the
nation derive his authority from God?” Why does God allow that? I
don’t know why God has allowed everything else and those things which we don’t
understand and which we categorize as evil or bad. There is no authority
except from God. Certain things must take place in God’s wisdom and
sovereignty and supremacy. He allows or causes things to happen, but He
is King and He is in control.
In the song, “Christ is Alive,” it
says, “No longer bound to distant years in Philistine…He comes to claim the
here and now and conquer every place in time.” His kingdom is eternal and
conquers every place every time. Psalm 45 says, “Thy throne, O God, is
forever and ever. His kingdom is an ever increasing kingdom and it is
eternal.”
Isaiah 9:6-7, “For unto us a child
is born. Unto us a Son is given. The government will rest on His shoulders.
There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace…from then on
and forevermore.” His Kingdom is eternal, but the eternality of His
kingdom is not just in the future. Eternal means covering the past and the
future, including the now. His kingdom is here now!
Jesus told the thief who repented
on the cross and asked Jesus to remember him when He comes to His kingdom,
“Today, you will be with Me in My kingdom which is paradise.” Behold,
today is a day of salvation! The Kingdom is here now! The Kingdom
is now! Joy, peace, righteousness are meant for now! God did
not design for our life to be miserable on earth so that we can earn heaven.
The Kingdom is right here and right now, and it is not eating, drinking
but joy, peace, righteousness in the Holy Spirit of God.
The kingdom of God is also about
forgiveness, which is what we need to spread. His kingdom is spiritual.
It is not of this world. We sing, “Though He was rich, made Himself
poor. Like no other king had done before.” His kingdom is not of this
world. Pilate asked Him, “Why are they accusing You of certain things?”
Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this
world, then My servants would be fighting that I might not be harmed or
delivered to the Jews. As it is, My kingdom is not of this world.” Pilate
said, “Well, then, so You are a king!” Jesus replied, “You say correctly
that I am a King. For this reason, I have been born. For this, I have
come to the world to bear witness of the truth. For everyone of the truth hears
My voice.” For this reason, He was born: to be King in the world!
He is King right now! His Kingdom is manifest through us.
Psalm 45, "The scepter of
uprightness is a scepter of Thy kingdom.” It is not like of the world.
The disciples did not understand, even after the Resurrection, what the
kingdom of God was about. In Acts 1, the disciples asked Jesus, “Jesus,
You are alive again. Will You at this time restore the political power of
Israel against Rome? Is it now that we overthrow Rome?” They still
did not understand that the kingdom of God is not of this world. Isaiah
9 says, “His government was to be established and to be upheld with justice and
righteousness because He will act wisely and do justice and righteousness.”
We don’t compare it to the world. We don’t expect it to operate
like the world does because it is not of this world.”
The Feast is our proclamation of
the kingdom of Christ and His kingship. We don’t employ the tactics of
the world but we operate in righteousness and according to His law. The
other intentions of the inauguration of the Feast were to remind not only
individuals, but also rulers and kings and priests and magistrates who attended
Mass to give honor to Christ as King. The Encyclical continues to say,
“All our faculties belong to Christ.” Not one is exempt. “He must
reign in our minds, which should assent with perfect submission and firm belief
to the revealed truths and to the doctrines of Christ. He must reign in
our wills, which should obey the laws and precepts of God. He must reign in our
hearts, which should spurn natural desires and love God above all things, and
cleave to Him alone. He must reign in our bodies and in our members, which
should serve as instruments for the interior sanctification of our souls.”
In Luke 17, the religious leaders
asked Jesus for a sign of the coming of His kingdom. Jesus said, “The
kingdom of God is not coming to you with signs because the kingdom of God is
right here, right now in your midst and you are missing it.” The Pharisees,
the Sadducees and the religious leaders were before oppressive, not serving.
They were taking advantage of the authority given to them. Jesus
further told them, “As in the days of Noah and Lot, they were eating, they were
drinking, and they were marrying, buying, selling and building. They were
doing the daily chores but it came to them. I tell you that two men will
be in the field. One will be taken away; one will be left.”
Wheat and tares dwell together in
the world. The sons of God and the citizens of the Kingdom are in the
world because they were sent into the world and they dwell among and alongside
tares. The difference is: the wheat honor Christ as King; the tares
disregard His kingship and try to secularize His kingdom and get Him out of their
lives which is a futile and vain attempt because God is right here! He is
everywhere! He is King whether we like it or not.
I would encourage you to proclaim
His kingship in your lives! This is what the kingdom of God is.
This is the way it is in His kingdom!
