Christ the King or Jesus the Good Shepherd?
Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24 Matthew 25: 31-46
Last Saturday, I attended two ordinations at the National Cathedral, which were held in the Great Choir. The Great Choir is the area in the cathedral where the choir and clergy sit during services and the pews flank the aisle that leads to the high altar. As I sat on one side of the Great Choir, I had a perfect view of the majestic Christ figure, carved out of Texas limestone, which is situated above the high altar. This Majestus Christ holds up his right hand in blessing. His left hand holds a cross-topped globe, which signifies his sovereignty over the whole world. Christ the King. Christ of majesty and glory
As I sat there, I found myself thinking of two things. First, there is another altar area in the National Cathedral, one which does not have as much prominence or notoriety. In a tiny side chapel, a stone carving of Jesus the Good Shepherd hangs above a small altar. The Good Shepherd cradles a lamb in his arms. Unlike the one over the high altar, which one can look at and admire, but not touch, the one of the Good Shepherd is within reach. In fact, the hands of Jesus the Good Shepherd are actually a different color than the rest of the carving, because so many people have touched those hands. Nearby, you can often find flowers or small tokens of prayer that people have left after they have prayed at this Good Shepherd altar.The second thing I thought about: I wondered what Jesus of Nazareth would think about human beings carving his image as a majestic Christus rex over the high altar of a majestic cathedral. Perhaps he would understand. After all, our gospel reading this morning looks forward to the end of time when Christ the King will come in all his glory to judge the heavens and the earth.At some point in time, you and I will stand in front of Christ the King. We will have to be accountable to the King of King, the Lord of Lords, about how we have lived our lives. So perhaps it is fitting that the majestic Christ dominates the space at the high altar of the Cathedral.Yet the Christus rex is not alone. Surrounding him and filling the area of this wall are 110 “saints, prophets, martyrs, angels, and faithful Christians.”[1] Yet “the most prominent statues flanking this central figure of Christ in glory are not the apostles or other saints, but six anonymous, allegorical figures. The statues show persons who are hungry, thirsty, in need of a place to stay, naked, sick and imprisoned. In other words, the persons most prominently close to Christ “right at the focal point of the entire 150,000 ton cathedral are those Jesus refers to in his parable of the last judgment”[2] in Matthew’s gospel today.
Christ the King. Majestic. Coming in glory at the end of time. Yet the Holy One who showed us how to live in relationship and with justice did that in more down-to-earth ways than a marble carving can portray. Yes, I believe we need both images. We need images of Christ the King that inspire us that invite us to look up and beyond the ordinary. We also need to be able to reach out, to touch the hands of the Good Shepherd who gently cradles a lamb for whom he has gone in search.Every time I read about, reflect upon, and prepare a sermon to preach, I ask myself “what does this passage of scripture tell us about God?” What kind of God is portrayed in a piece of scripture? Closely linked to this is what I call the “so what” part—if we understand what this bit says about God, then so what? What am I, child of God, called to DO out of my understanding of it? How am I, child of God, called to BE in my Monday or Wednesday life after I have read and heard the Sunday scriptures? So what do these two images—Christ the King and Jesus the Good Shepherd—tell us about God?Today, we celebrate the sacrament of Holy Baptism of Niamh Cahill Finn. It is easier to imagine Jesus the Good Shepherd cradling this tiny baby girl—only twenty-six days old—in his arms than it is to imagine her being held by the Christ carved in Texas limestone above the high altar at the National Cathedral. Yet as Christians, we always hold those images of the Christ in tension. We have to, because they both exist.We have to, because every Sunday, we affirm those two realities when we speak the words of faith in creedal form; “We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father. Through him all things were made.” ”[3]In some way, here is Christ the King. The Holy One who is full of mystery, beyond our understanding, one who was present at the birth of the world. Then we say this: “For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven: by the power of the Holy Spirit he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary, and was made man.”[4] Jesus was made fully human. Fully human. Like you and me.Because he was fully divine and fully human, Jesus knew about relationship. God the Father. God the Son. God the Holy Spirit. In a divine, eternal dance of relationship. This is what God wanted from human beings: relationship. God’s ways—throughout both the Hebrew and Christian scriptures—are firmly grounded in two things: relationship and justice. From the Garden of Eden through the book of Revelation, God invites you and me into relationship-- with God and with each other. We worship the Holy One who has created us and everything in our world. Out of that awe and wonder, out of our praise for, out of our worship of, this God “in whom we live, and move, and have our being,”[5] God calls us to love our neighbor as we love ourselves.In other words, if the world operated in its fullness as God intended, we would live out what two scholars have called “creative-responsive love.”[6] “Creative-responsive love” is that we live 100% of our time in gratitude for God’s love, God’s grace and God’s abundance. Out of that gratitude, we would then respond to people around us who suffer from injustice.Because we are human beings, and not perfect as the God who created us, we often fall short of that “creative-responsive love.” We see a clear example of that failure in the reading from Ezekiel today. Throughout the centuries, kings—many of whom began their work as God’s anointed leaders—have allowed themselves to be corrupted by power. The prophet Ezekiel spoke truth to power. God’s kings were supposed to be like shepherds. They were to gather their people, provide fertile land for them, feed them in good pasture, protect them from wild animals.
They were to seek out the lost sheep, bring back the strays, bind up the wounded, care for the weak until they got stronger. Yet Ezekiel noted that some kings had indulged themselves with power. Gradually, power corrupted them until all they cared about was themselves. They enjoyed the gold, the privilege of power. They withdrew from ordinary people, believing themselves to be better than their peers, more deserving of status, power and position than the common folk. Turning a blind eye to their people, they held court in their towers of power and privilege. They grew fat off their excess living. They didn’t care that their sheep were getting thin, that they went hungry.The prophets spoke truth to power, yet their words were not heeded. Power is as addictive as good drugs. Corrupt leaders cannot live without it. Often, they will not live without it. So finally, God sent God’s Son. Jesus of Nazareth. The Word made flesh came in the form of a tiny human child. He came to us to live among us. Jesus came to show us, in personal, concrete and active ways, how we can return to deep relationship with God.What does that way back to God look like? The accounts in the gospels are clear. Jesus said the way to re-connect with God is relationship. We love God. We love each other. We human beings don’t always have the answers for each other. Yet we can be present with one another in the midst of life’s difficult questions. We comfort and console each other in a time of grief. We celebrate together in a time of joy. We feed people who are hungry. We clothe those who need clothing. We try to help those who need medical care to get medical care—even when they cannot afford it. We fill boxes with food for families who do not know how they will get through the winter break without their children getting school breakfast and lunch.What does all this have to do with a baby who is being baptized? Everything. Everything. We read and hear today’s gospel about how we, as followers of Jesus, are to live our lives. We are not just to say we are Christians. We are to show how we follow Jesus. That means we put our words into real actions, in real time, in real ways. And it is in the baptismal promises where we think intentionally about the actions that are lived out of our baptisms.We promise to continue in the apostles' teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of the bread, and in the prayers. We promise to resist evil, then when (not if) we don’t, we promise to repent and return to the Lord. In some sense, these promises are focused on our love of, and for, God.Then grounded in that love of, and for, God, we turn to our brothers and sisters. We promise to “seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving our neighbors as [ourselves].” We promise to “strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being.”[7] Those promises aren’t just some warm, fuzzy ideals. They sound good, but we all know they are not easy to do. If we really want to follow Jesus, the one who lived, then gave his life for love and for justice, for God’s creation, then we take care of God’s flock, wherever that flock is. We open our eyes to see the face of the Christ in people around us. If someone is hungry, we give them food to eat. If they are thirsty, we give them something to drink. We welcome the stranger into our midst. We give people clothing if they need it, medical care if they are sick, and we visit the incarcerated, or at least connect with them by writing letters.Followers of Jesus understand that every human being has the face of Christ, so when we take care of the other, it is as if we are caring for the Christ himself. Jesus of Nazareth came as the Good Shepherd. Through you and me, he feeds, he seeks, he binds up, he strengthens, he loves.At the end of time, Christ the King will come to us, robed in majesty and glory. The Good Shepherd and the King of glory will be one. He will ask you and me: Did you love God with all your heart, soul, and mind? How did you do that? Did you love your neighbor as yourself? In what ways did you love your neighbor? Did you do your part, in real time, in real ways, to bring my kingdom on earth as it is in heaven?
On this day of baptism, the day that we mark the forehead of Niamh Cahill Finn with the sign of the cross, marking her as Christ’s own forever, I invite you to look into her sweet little face. I invite you to look into the faces of your brothers and sisters here. I invite you to ask, “How can I learn, and encourage others in this flock of St. Philip’s, to grow deeper in our relationships—with God and with each other? How can I, today, in real time, in real ways, “do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with [my]God?”[8]Only you can discover the answers to these questions, and only with God’s help. The Good Shepherd has those answers. Christ the King will affirm them. Amen.© The Rev. Dr. Sheila N. McJilton[1] http://www.kingofpeace.org/religioncolumn/052110.htm[2] Ibid.[3] From The Nicene Creed in The 1979 Book of Common Prayer, p. 358.[4] Ibid., 358.[5] Acts 17:28[6] http://www.patheos.com/blogs/livingaholyadventure/2014/11/adventurous-lectionary-november-23-2014-the-reign-of-christ-sunday/[7] From the 1979 Book of Common Prayer, pp. 304-305[8] Micah 6:8Photo of Christ the King at Washington National Cathedral taken by McJiltonOther images accessed through Google images.