King Jesus

”Then he will say to those at his left hand, ‘You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?’ Then he will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” Matthew 25:44-46

I like to ask my atheist friends to  “Tell me about the God you do not believe in?” The God they do not believe in is often remarkably similar to the one that fundamentalists who stand preaching on the corner probably believe in- a kind of cosmic, cruel king who casts people into hell based on whether or not they had their beliefs properly sorted out before death. The God they do not believe in sounds like one who sorts us out based on pretty high standards for eternal pleasure or punishment. Their God sounds like a bloody tyrant.

 “Christ the King” Sunday- (the last Sunday before Advent, aka “this Sunday”), gives us opportunity to think about which God we believe in. The word “king” itself is problematic, isn’t it? Most kings - even the so-called “good” ones- ruled through violence and fear and enforced a system that sorted people out based on what they had or which family they were born into. We have no context for kings in a democratic society, anyway, because we rejected that whole monarchy thing 242 or so years ago when we broke away from English rule. I am not even so sure I like the idea of Christ as King, then. 

If Jesus were king, then, what would that look like? A King Jesus that looks like the one in Matthew 25 has high standards for  “the nations” that are gathered before him in this parable. Even harder for us is that the nations are not judged based on moral purity, proper belief, worship or any other “religious” kinds of standards. Nope. They are judged based on their compassion. The righteous are those who clothed the naked, cared for the sick, visited the imprisoned and welcomed the stranger. Period.

I don’t believe Jesus means to send anyone who does not do perfect and untiring work for the “least of these” off to hell, however. If that were true, I think we would all be pretty much doomed. Jesus gives us a  good clue on where to look for God and for what God looks like. Want to find God? Get up and walk towards the messiness this life offers us. 

God is found there – in all kinds of hunger, and imprisonment and estrangement and sickness. Do good and loving work in the hunger that surrounds you right now. Find someone you know who is imprisoned- be it in a city jail or in the prison of addiction or loneliness and offer your love and help setting them free. There are strangers in your midst each and every Sunday at church-- walk across the room and welcome them- and maybe even take them out for lunch. Jesus is right there, friends, and when we follow him to those kinds of places in this world, we are truly being his "subjects"  and his "sheep."

God’s kingdom, in fact, is already ruled by a present, living King who has proclaimed the center of his power rests with the least powerful. All of us, then, have a chance to embrace our King in the present, and live under an entirely different and holy rule.