25 Nov 2018
Solemnity of Christ the King, Year B
The scene painted by the Prophet Daniel reads something like
a coronation. We heard: “When he reached
the Ancient One, and was presented before him, the one like a Son of man
received dominion, glory, and kingship.”
Kingship was bestowed upon him.
And when we think of Christ the King—Christ our King—we can use this
coronation scene and we can picture God the Father crowning his Son, Jesus:
“When he reached the Ancient One [the Father], and was presented before him,
the one like a Son of man [Jesus] received dominion, glory, and kingship.”
And one of the symbols of the authority given to a king or a
queen is the scepter: a staff or a rod.
And usually on top of the scepter is yet another symbol of
authority—maybe a cross, or an eagle, or a jewel or something. But if we think of Jesus’ scepter, his staff
or rod, what might be on top of it is the word “Truth.”
Jesus says, “For this I was born and for this I came into the
world, to testify to the truth.” He also
says, “The truth will set you free” [John 8:32]. And, of course, Jesus identifies himself as
“the Way, the Truth, and the Life.” When
we picture Christ the King, we can picture him with his scepter in hand, and
the word “Truth” atop that scepter.
Truth is at the heart of Christ’s kingship. And truth is the foundation of any authority
we give him.
Power isn’t what makes him a king. Likeability and friendliness don’t make him a
king. Nor does any amount of privilege
as the Son of God make him a king.
Truth, and his absolute fidelity to truth, is what make him our
King. A 19th Century
commentator (Matthew Henry) writes that Christ the King “conquers by the
convincing evidence of truth; he rules by the commanding power of truth, and in
his majesty rides prosperously, because of truth (Ps. 45:4). And it is with his truth that he shall judge
the people (Ps. 96:13)”.
And so, today’s celebration of Christ’s kingship is, at the
same time, a celebration of truth; and a celebration of the power and the
freedom, the justice, and the goodness and beauty that all come with truth.
You know, whenever there’s a dispute among people, or in
court, or in politics, we hope that the truth will prevail. And that’s our hope because truth and justice
go hand-in-hand. Or when a child does
something wrong, we hope that he or she will tell the truth. And that’s our hope because truth and
goodness are inseparable; and we want our children to be good. Or when somebody confesses to a crime, the
truth comes out and there’s freedom.
There’s still some penalty to pay, but at least the soul is free.
And this last example gets at the meaning of truth. In Greek, there’s the word “lethe”
[láy-thay], and it means “forgetfulness” or “concealment.” It’s where we get the word “lethargic.” But then in Greek there’s the word for truth,
which is “alethia” [ah-láy-thee-uh]. And
it basically means “revelation” or “disclosure.” It means: To reveal what is hidden. And so, we can understand why Jesus calls
himself “the Truth.” He reveals to us
what is hidden in God. And not only
that—he also reveals to us what is hidden in ourselves.
The Second Vatican Council wrote that “by the revelation of
the mystery of the Father and His love, [Christ] fully reveals man to man
himself and makes his supreme calling clear” [Gaudium et Spes, 22]. We give Jesus authority because he’s like a
mirror for us. We look at him, his life,
his values, his priorities, his loves and, in that, we’re meant to
see...ourselves. Jesus reveals to us our
potential as sons and daughters of God.
And he loves us that way, by being our truth.
Christ is the Great Revealer, the one who unveils everything;
he is the Truth. And, because of that, goodness
and beauty, freedom, power, and greatness follow him. In short, the Kingdom of God springs up
wherever he is; wherever truth is. And
that’s why Scripture speaks of “us” as having been “made into a kingdom” [Rev
1:6]. If the truth of things is really
of importance to us, then the Kingdom of God necessarily blossoms within us and
through us. And this is something that’s
seen throughout the history of the Church.
Whenever the Church has been in trouble, salvation always
comes by way of the truth. When
Christians were persecuted in the early Church, there was a lot of bloodshed,
but truth won out. When life was dark
and chaotic in the 9th Century—even in the Church—people who stuck
to the truths of the teachings of Christ and the Apostles are what saved
Christianity. When the Church was going
off the rails again in the 16th Century, Martin Luther tried to
interject the truth there, for which he was condemned. But the Church did make some changes then, and returned to the truth again—even if
Christianity had been split apart by then.
When we look at the Church today, it’s in trouble. Some of its leaders have caused irreparable
harm. Christ himself is given a bad name
by some “Christians” out there who preach their own truth as though it’s God’s truth,
and they accuse and condemn people left and right. There’s a sense of competition with the
Evangelicals and mega-churches: “We need music like they have, we need flashy
preachers like they have, we need to have what they have.” And then soon our salvation is dependent on
other people and buildings and this latest trend and that latest thing to hit
the church “industry.”
What happened to truth?
What happened to seeing beauty and goodness in God’s truth? What happened to marveling at the transforming
power of God’s truth? What happened to
Christ—in particular, Christ the King; Christ the Great Revealer who shares everything he has from the Father with
us? Christ who holds nothing back from
us, and offers us everything? Whenever
the Church has been in trouble, salvation has always come by way of the truth.
As we live out our calling to be “the kingdom” here on earth,
it’s critical to keep truth at our core.
And we do that in several ways—none of which we haven’t heard of
before. One way is humility; not
self-deprecation, but genuine humility—the kind of humility that says, “I am
not the center of the universe. I’m a
necessary part of it, and I’m even a good (very good) part of it, but I’m not
the center of the universe. There’s more
than just me and my thoughts.” So,
humility and truth go hand-in-hand.
Another way is wonder—trying to see the world fresh every
day, realizing that there’s always more to learn. You know, science and experimentation are
fascinating things. And they’ve revealed
a lot of truths to humanity. But, if
there’s a pitfall to science, it’s a lack of wonder. For example, just because we know how genetics work, that doesn’t mean we
shouldn’t wonder about why genetics
work the way they do. Humans didn’t make
genes and chromosomes and all that, so we can’t stop at the question of how; we have to keep wondering and ask
the question why. So wonder, endless curiosity, and truth go
hand-in-hand.
What else... Well, learning is essential to truth. Learning, knowledge, understanding, wisdom—we
don’t leave them behind when we graduate from school. We don’t leave them behind when we get
confirmed. Learning and truth go
hand-in-hand.
And, perhaps another way we live out our calling to be “the
kingdom” here on earth, is through respect and awe. When we approach God in prayer, in Mass, or
wherever, we approach with respect and with awe—not because God is someone to
fear, but because God is someone to be awed by.
It’s like being with someone at the moment of death, or at the moment of
birth. It’s like seeing the power of
tornadoes and hurricanes. It’s like
seeing a beautiful sunrise or the stars twinkling in the clear night sky. You just sit back with awe and take it in. Truth requires a certain amount of
“stillness.” It needs time and silence
to unfold for us. It needs respect and
awe. Truth can’t be rushed, but only
received and hungered for.
Christ the King reveals to us our supreme calling: to “be the
kingdom” here on earth, a nation of people where truth is our light, and where
none other than God himself is that Light and Truth. May we live humbly, with wonder and awe,
learning from Christ our King, Christ our Truth.
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