Although we don’t live in a kingdom, books and movies have given us some ideas of what kings and kingdoms are like. But those ideas are stood on their head on this particular feast day. What a strange sort of king we honor when we proclaim Christ to be our king. Instead of a lofty throne with velvet cushions and luxurious drapes, the throne of our king is a cross of pain and torture. Instead of a golden and bejeweled diadem, our king has a crown of thorns. Instead of castles and palaces, our king has nowhere to lay his head. Instead of ermine robes and fancy dress, our king is stripped bare. Instead of cheering and adoring crowds, our king is mocked and jeered at. Instead of having soldiers who do his bidding at the word of command, our king is bullied and insulted by soldiers. Instead of royal blood coursing through his veins, our king is just like the rest of us: “our bone and our flesh.” This is certainly a different kind of king! And he rules over a different kind of kingdom. Don’t go looking for the borders of my kingdom, he told us. My kingdom is already in your midst. No one can build a wall to keep us out of the kingdom of Christ the King. All we need do is look to the ordinary things of life like a farmer sowing his seed. Look at a prodigal son welcomed home or a good Samaritan helping someone in need. Look at a shepherd who pursues the lost sheep. And the citizens of this kingdom are no less surprising than its head. In the kingdoms we are accustomed to, the rich and the famous, the nobility, the upper crust surround the center of power. Christ, our King, was notorious for surrounding himself with the sinners and the prostitutes, the sick and the poor, the hungry and the hopeless, the neglected and rejected. The citizens of his kingdom include the apostles who abandoned him, Peter who denied him and Mary Magdalene from whom he cast out seven devils. What a strange sort of king, what a strange sort of kingdom, what a strange set of citizens of that kingdom.
We’re just strange enough to belong in such a kingdom. No matter what anxieties we have about the current state of our country our true citizenship has been transferred, as St. Paul puts it in the epistle to the Colossians, from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of forgiveness. We fit right in with the rest of the motley crew that were attracted to the kingdom of God. We can relate to Peter and Mary Magdalene because even when we mess up we remain citizens of the kingdom of forgiveness. Jesus welcomes us into the kingdom with no visa or passport required except a sorrow for sins committed and a desire to do better. Maybe we’re even a bit like the “good thief” that St. Luke described in the gospel. He has been given a sentence of capital punishment and he admits he deserved it. Nonetheless Jesus welcomes him into the kingdom of forgiveness. “Today you will be with me in Paradise.” You might say that after a life time of stealing, the “good thief” managed to steal heaven with his death bed conversion. Church, no matter what we have done we too can steal heaven by turning to the Lord and asking for welcome. It’s never too late. His kingdom is populated by many who have snuck in by the skin of their teeth.
However, that doesn’t mean that in the kingdom Christ proclaimed anything goes. There are clear directions, regulations, rules of the road when Christ is our King. If we are going to be citizens of the kingdom of God we have to heed those signs to ensure that we’ll end up at our desired destination. One of the most important road signs in the kingdom of God is a big red octagon with white letters: STOP. If you are doing something you shouldn’t be doing, stop. If you’re hanging with someone you shouldn’t be seeing, stop. If you are talking about someone like a dog, stop. If you are eating or drinking or smoking or doing anything too much, stop. There are other signs. If you try to get on the off ramp or get off the on ramp you’ll find a rectangular sign that says, WRONG WAY. You are going the wrong way when you find you have to lie and be secretive with those who you live with. You’re going the wrong way when you wake up in the morning and your body is telling you that you can’t keep burning the candle at both ends. You’re going the wrong way when you’re too busy to pray. Of course if we persist going where we shouldn’t we’ll come to a sign that says: DO NOT ENTER. Do not enter the kingdom of materialism and consumerism. The need to have, to possess, to own the latest, to wear the hippest, to drive the hottest is a trap. Stay always with what really valuable — home, family, friends, church. Do not enter into the kingdom of racism. This community has endured too much from a racist society to pass it on. And do not enter into the kingdom of violence. Violence does not solve problems but only creates new ones. There is also a sign that has a white arrow on it with black letters that say: ONE WAY. Church there is only one way, the way of Jesus. We need to go his way of love, joy, peace, patience, generosity, kindness, compassion, fidelity compassion, mercy. That is the way that gets us where we want to be. Down that road we will come to a yellow triangular sign that says: YIELD. We have to yield our plan in order to live God’s plan. We have to yield our desires for health, long life, recognition in this world to God’s desire for our eternal happiness. We have to yield our tendency to place ourselves as number one. Inevitably, since we live in Chicago, we’ll come upon a flashing sign that says: CONGESTION, REDUCE SPEED AHEAD. Our lives are too filled with this, that and the other. We have to reduce speed and spend time in prayer, reading the Bible, meditation, church, sharing faith. When we slow down and reduce speed, eventually we will come to a big green sign that says: EXIT. When Christ is king our exit instead of being frightening is inviting. This life is not the be-all and end-all. This life is merely the preparation for the deeper and richer life we will share on high. So when we come to our exit sign we are only entering more deeply into the kingdom of God’s beloved son. If we follow the signs he has given us we will hear him say, “Today you shall be with me in paradise.”
