Christ the King Sunday - Col 1:11-20, Lk 23:33-43

At the end of the Magician’s Nephew, the first book in C.S. Lewis’ chronicles of Narnia series, the magical land of Narnia is created. The evil Jadis runs away as the children Polly and Digory stand spellbound, listening to beautiful and creat-ive music. As they listen, the sun and stars appear, revealing the lion Aslan, who is singing Narnia into being. With his high playful notes, the flowers appear, and by his music and breath the animals grow, come to life, and talk. Aslan places the carriage driver and his wife as king and queen over Narnia and they bow before Aslan and serve him well.

In Narnia, Aslan lives before Narnia is created, and Narnia is created by Aslan and for Aslan. C.S. Lewis has given us Colossians 1 in story form. Look at Colossians 1:11-20 with me now.

He is the image of the invisible God…the firstborn over all creation…in him all things hold together…he is the head of the body, the church. Listening to Paul’s words, we are as speechless as Polly and Digory watching Aslan. What a perfect passage for Christ the King Sunday.

Through Paul’s words, we see the majesty of Christ. He is the ruler after all. Christ rules over all things. Did you notice the repetition? In him all things were created…all things were created through him and for him…He is before all things…in him all things hold together…in all things he might have supremacy…through him all things were reconciled. There is no doubt that Christ is above us. And if we had any lingering doubts, this passage reminds us that we cannot compare with Christ.

What a necessary reminder. Christ the King Sunday returns year after year, and we are reminded once again that Christ is the ruler of the world and our lives. We try to remember that every day, don’t we? But we hear so many conflicting messages.

We tell our children to choose their vocations, and their high schools and colleges train them to make the choices to run their own lives. We decide who comes into our homes and who impacts our lives. We choose where to invest our time, energy, and money.

Our lives are filled with decisions we have to make. It is easy to wake up in the morning and forget to thank God for bringing the sun up again. It is easy to go to work and school without asking God for the strength to live faithfully. And it is easy to worry about homework, the cars, laundry, and dinner, and to fall into bed exhausted without thanking God for helping us through another day. John Wesley said that most people live as practical atheists, worshipping, praying, and serving God on Sundays and at Bible study, but running our lives as if God did not exist the rest of the time.

It’s easy to get caught up in our tasks, in the lists of chores that never seem to be finished. But Christ the King Sunday is our yearly reminder that God rules our lives; we do not. It is our yearly call to repentance for the days and hours when we have lived as though God does not exist.

For how could we ever compare to Christ? He is the image of the invisible God. We know God because we know Christ, because he lives and walks among us. As Christians, Christ lives in us, and so we become an icon as well, a window through which others can see Christ.

He is the creator of the heavens and the earth, of the rulers and powers. Even all of our scientific advances don’t allow us to create. We can clone cells, but God gives life. We can genetically engineer plants, but God makes them grow. We can elect presidents, but God rules above them all.

And Paul gives us more reasons to celebrate Christ as King. The end of this passage brings us to the resurrection, and finally to the cross. Christ is the firstborn from the dead. He is the first of many, the first of those of us who follow him. Christ is the first to be resurrected, and in that resurrection, he is the victorious conqueror. How did he conquer? He reconciled all things to him, making peace through his blood on the cross. Paul has brought us right to our passage from Luke, the crucifixion.

At first glance, Colossians 1 and Luke 23 seem like an odd combination for Christ the King Sunday. We can understand the Colossians passage. It is majestic. It exalts Christ as the creator, as the one who holds all things together. It recognizes him as the one who has supremacy over all things.

But Colossians draws us to Luke and Luke draws our attention to the cross. In the cross we see a different kind of majesty and a different kind of strength. Perhaps C.S. Lewis can stir our imaginations. In the passage right before the one I read to our children, Lewis writes, “A howl and gibber of dismay went up from the creatures when they first saw the great lion pacing toward them, and for a moment even the Witch herself seemed to be struck with fear. Then she recovered herself and gave a wild, fierce laugh.

“The fool!” she cried. “The fool has come. Bind him fast.”

Lucy and Susan held their breaths waiting for Aslan’s roar and his spring upon his enemies. But it never came. Four hags, grinning and leering, yet also (at first) hanging back and half afraid of what they had to do, had approached him. “Bind him, I say!” repeated the White Witch. The Hags made a dart at him and shrieked with triumph when they found that he made no resistance at all. Then others – evil dwarfs and apes – rushed in to help them, and between them they rolled the huge Lion over on his back and tied all his four paws together, shouting and cheering as if they had done something brave, though, had the Lion chosen, one of those paws could have been the death of them all. But he made no noise, even when the enemies, straining and tugging, pulled the cords so tight that they cut into his flesh. Then they began to drag him toward the Stone Table.

As the king who rules over the rulers of this world, Jesus could have destroyed Pilate and the high priest. Instead, Jesus silently accepts the crucifixion. As the one who created the world, Jesus could have come down from the cross, but he chooses to die there. One word and his captors would have fallen at his feet, but Jesus speaks no words. A different kind of majesty.

The people’s taunts are ironic. “He saved others, he cannot save himself.” “Save yourself and us!” Ironic because he is saving the people by not saving himself. The King of heaven and earth offers himself as a ransom for many, and in dying remains King.

The cross shows us a different type of strength. People without power follow orders. They have no choice in their interactions with others. The King has the power, power to condemn and kill or to pardon and forgive. Jesus reveals this power. He prays, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” Jesus pardons his killers. He reveals his mercy and grace.

Jesus, the King, dies on the cross because we have betrayed God. In the cross, we see the King who would suffer for our sake. We see Jesus, the one who created the world and who is before all things, choose to die. We see the head of the body, the church, give his life for that church. We see the King Jesus reconcile to himself all things, by making peace through his blood shed on the cross.

It is Christ the King Sunday. Today we see Jesus exalted, magnified above all of creation, and we see Christ submit to death on the cross. Today we are reminded that we exist because we are created by the King, and we remember that our lives are held together only by him. Today we hear the taunts, and recognize that we are saved by the one who chose not to save himself. Today we see our King. Let us remember that we serve Jesus, our King, every day of our lives, in all of our decisions. Let us repent of practical atheism, wherever it may appear in our lives, and allow Jesus to shape us into people who pray and worship God in all of our lives.

As we spend some time in prayer and repentance, ask God to reveal any areas in your life where you have distanced yourself from him. Ask Jesus to reveal himself as the King of your life, and repent of any ways you have ignored him. Then trust him to help you love and serve him. Jesus will not let you down.