All Things Hold Together
“All Things Hold Together”
Christ the King/Reign of Christ Sunday YEAR C, November 24, 2019
Jeremiah 23:1-6 Colossians 1:11-20
Andrew Kennaly, Sandpoint, Idaho
Today is Christ the King Sunday, or the newer, more gender-inclusive and less-oppressive-sounding name, Reign of Christ Sunday. Christians, like Presbyterians, are Trinitarian, affirming God as three persons, distinct yet one. God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, one in three and three in one. The Son, Christ, is the Second Person of the Trinity. Christ is a Greek word, a title, meaning, “Anointed One,” like the Hebrew word, “Messiah.” When we say, Jesus Christ, we are saying two things. Jesus is a name, Christ is a title, alluding to the Second Person of the Trinity, the Anointed One. Christ was not Jesus’ last name. Jesus was a specific person in the flesh, Christ is a title of the eternal One, as Paul says, “The firstborn of all creation.”
This morning we read about Christ in Paul’s letter to the Colossians. Then again, did Paul write Colossians? Is Paul the author of this letter? Scholars debate this, as they do the interpretation of a whole lot of what we read this morning. Is Paul talking about God or Christ? Does the blood of the cross reconcile, as the source? Or is it a means, through which Christ reconciles, or is it God doing the reconciling, and to who, for what? Is this even written by Paul, or someone else, after Paul dies? Is part of it original, or pulled from even older material, like a Hebrew hymn, while other parts of it are redactions, passages added later by, for example, the author of Ephesians? Is it based on an older hymn that’s been co-opted, or do these verses actually find roots in Gnosticism, another stream of wisdom? Is it Hebrew Poetry, or Greek, or not poetry at all, but rather Prose? The town of Colossae was destroyed by an earthquake in the year 60, right around the time Paul died. Someone else may just be using the town’s name as a literary device rather than an actual, intended audience. (pause) You will find scholars endlessly debating these types of questions, and the conversation is multi-generational as one study overlaps another for the last 2,000 years.
This reminds me of seminary. One of the classes students needed to take explored what’s called, “Christology.” Christology, the study of Christ. This morning as we celebrate Christ the King or Reign of Christ Sunday, we say this as if we know what that term, Christ, means, as if we assume there is settled agreement. The class exploring Christology looked at various theological statements, biblical texts, particular theologians, all exploring the nature of Christ; who Christ is, what Christ does, what these various thoughts may imply for us. Conversations regarding Christ can become pretty intense as interpretations and beliefs can get challenged, and our authority as individual believers gets questioned. Even on the floor of Presbytery, as our congregation gathers with others, people use the name “Christ” with all sorts of assumptions, in ways that seek to affirm their faith perspectives.
Because theories of Christology are quite varied, and this class was over 25 years ago, it’s kind of a blur, but I do remember my main take-away from that class. After spending months of sincere exploration and conversation and study, I came away noticing that every one of the Christological streams, each flowing well and strongly, even so, at the end of the various streams faith, whatever one you pick, they break down. No single Christological belief statement can hold all the variables, all the nuances of interpretation, or all the assumptions of belief. Words and thoughts, even sincere belief, can only go so far in trying to capture divine mystery.
Passages like this one from Colossians, with all the questions of authorship and intention, spill lots of ink, and use large words like, “terminological, rubric, pericope, retrojected, parenetic, and polemical.” As Jeffrey Lamp puts it in an article, “Colossians 1:15-20 has been the occasion of voluminous literature and scholarly attention. Questions surrounding the formal structure, composition, and sources of the Christological affirmations of the passage are continually rehashed, with each offering frequently differing from those preceding it on virtually each of the noted heads.”
Online resource through Google search on Colossians 1:20 showing a segment of David Brondos’ book, Jesus’ Death in New Testament Thought Volume 2: Texts https://books.google.com/books?id=GrFjDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA844&lpg=PA844&dq=Is+Colossians+1:20+a+redaction?&source=bl&ots=PPkzusXu7N&sig=ACfU3U1NWYQRWY1aBqZ6RPQewmiju3xk7Q&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwik85bIpPzlAhUhJzQIHSTRBrUQ6AEwA3oECAkQAQ#v=onepage&q=Is%20Colossians%201%3A20%20a%20redaction%3F&f=false
One of the methods used to study a passage from scripture is to look at the context, the cultural context that was taking place around the time period the passage was written. What was going on in the world will likely influence or be addressed by what words and teachings are shaped through the text. The author of Colossians certainly has a high Christology, and is calling Christians to honor and glorify God through Christ. Remember the context of this passage involves first century politics as the Roman Empire occupies the Middle East, Europe, northern parts of Africa, everything bordering the Mediterranean Sea is under the control of Caesar, the Roman Emperor, who was revered as divine.
This passage from Colossians, no doubt chosen for Reign of Christ Sunday because of this, shows Christ, not the Roman Emperor, representing God on earth, accurately showing the “image” of God. Believers are reminded that all things are created in and through Christ, for Christ, and not for Rome. “Rome does not bring peace and reconciliation to the cosmos, only Christ, and not with blood from warfare and violence, but with the blood of his cross.” It’s ironic, even, that Rome tries to use crucifixion as a way to get rid of people who disagree with the Empire, but Jesus uses crucifixion as a way to defeat sin and death altogether. The cross reminds believers that Christ, not Caesar, rescues, forgives, and redeems people from slavery to sin, and the cross becomes a tangible symbol of active, non-violent resistance. Jesus was a pacifist. Early Christians did not fight or serve in the military. Not until after 325, when Emperor Constantine made Christianity an Empire Religion.
So how does this first century historical context of faith in the midst of Empire, still speak, and why is there a Christ the King Sunday – what is that, anyway? Pope Pius XI, in 1925, wrote an encyclical called Quas Primas. In this, he universally instituted the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ the King, or the Feast of Our Lord Jesus Christ the King. Using historical context, we see that in 1925 “secularism was on the rise, and many Christians, even Catholics, were doubting Christ’s authority, as well as the Church’s, and even doubting Christ’s existence. Pius XI, and the rest of the Christian world, witnessed the rise of dictatorships in Europe, and saw Catholics being taken in [persuaded] by these earthly leaders.”
(Online blog by Deacon Joel and Lisa Schmidt, November 20, 2011, http://thepracticingcatholic.com/2011/11/20/catholicism-101-the-history-of-christ-the-king/ ).
“Pope Pius XI hoped the institution of the feast would have various effects. They were:
1) That nations would see that the Church has the right to freedom, and immunity from the state (Quas Primas, 32).
2) That leaders and nations would see that they are bound to give respect to Christ (Quas Primas, 31).
3) That the faithful would gain strength and courage from the celebration of the feast, as we are reminded that Christ must reign in our hearts, minds, wills, and bodies (Quas Primas, 33).
The timing is intentional. “Celebrated one week prior to the first Sunday of Advent — [and Advent is] a purposeful time of preparing, waiting, and making straight the path for Jesus in our lives — the feast that proclaims Christ being Creator, Redeemer, Preserver, and Ruler of the universe is just as relevant today as ever.” (from the blog mentioned above).
Christ offers us a vision of King that is defined not by power in violent ways, not by oppression, but by humility and service. “When we celebrate Christ as King, we are not celebrating an oppressive ruler, but one willing to die for humanity and whose ‘loving kindness endures forever.’ Christ is the king that gives us true freedom.
We know things they didn’t know in the first century. They thought the world was flat, that the Earth was the center of everything. It was the 1500’s and the Copernicus Revolution, saying the Earth and other planets in our solar system actually moves around the sun. We now know there are countless billions of suns, with countless planets. Christ as King is now, even more, a cosmic title, as the universe is expanding.
Who is your Caesar? What idolatries tend to replace Christ’s mystery in your life? How is our current historical context having it’s way with you? What eternal rhythms are calling out? What spiritual disciplines are you developing to heed the call? How is divine Mystery getting your attention lately?
As we journey from one liturgical year to another, at the Advent of a new season, may we open our hearts, humbly seek to serve, and pledge our devotion to reflect Christ’s peace more faithfully. And as we live in trust of the One in whom all things hold together, may God’s love be lived and experienced, now, even as forever. Amen.