Trivia
question for you – what do Morocco, Spain, Norway, Sweden, Cambodia, Belgium,
Bahrain and the Netherlands all have in common?
Trivia
answer – Each has a king. Japan has an
Emperor. Denmark has a queen, as do
sixteen different nations who honor Queen Elizabeth II as their monarch.
But
we in America – we have no king, no queen.
Rejected him, got rid of him 241 years ago. “We got this,” we said in 1776. “We can rule ourselves.” And we have, not perfectly but pretty
successfully over those 241 years, I would say.
As
a result, you and I have little understanding of what it means to have a king,
a monarch. And that’s a pretty important thing to understand on this feast, the
solemnity of Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, isn’t it? Even in those nations who still have a king
or queen today, that person is usually a figurehead, as the governments are
mostly elected by the people. So I’m not
sure the folks in those places really understand the concept either, as it once
was.
There
was a time when pretty much all the world, every nation, was ruled by a king or
a queen. What did it mean to have a
king?
Of
course, the king was the head of state – the public face and symbol of his
nation, his people. The people would give him honor, respect, allegiance, even
love.
The
king was the leader – would lead his people, and his people would submit to
being led.
The
king demanded obedience from those he ruled.
The king was leader, yes, but also ruler. The executive branch, legislative branch – he
made the rules – and the judicial branch.
The king was the supreme judge. So you prayed for a good king, a
benevolent king, who would use such vast powers wisely and lovingly.
A
good king would care for his people, care for the people entrusted to him.
We
celebrate today that we have such a good king, a loving king, a perfect king –
Our Blessed Lord.
A
leader and ruler who lovingly and personally shepherds us, as we heard
in our first reading from the prophet Ezekiel.
“I
myself” says the Lord three times. “I
myself will look after and tend my sheep. I will rescue them from every
place where they were scattered. I myself will pasture my sheep; I myself will
give them rest.” That is the kind of
king we pay homage to this day, every day.
The kind of king who loves us so much that He left heaven to come to
save us!
But
if He is a good and perfect king, a loving shepherd, what does that make
us? For after all, the concept of Christ
our King implies a relationship. If He
is to be our King, we, then, are His subjects, His sheep even.
It
means that we are to submit our minds, our wills, our hearts, our lives to
Him. To let Him rule our hearts and
lives as our King. That’s the hard part. Especially for us Americans I think. We still have that tendency to say “I got
this. I can rule myself.”
And
this culture, which you can sum up, I think, in Frank Sinatra’s signature song
“I did it my way” encourages just that kind of attitude. “I don’t need no stinkin king. I can do it myself.” That is the attitude of the sleek and the
strong of which Ezekiel speaks: “The lost I will seek out, the strayed I will
bring back, the injured I will bind up, the sick I will heal, but the sleek and
the strong I will destroy, shepherding them rightly.”
He
calls us to have the attitude of sheep, of subjects, humbly submitting to being
led, trusting in His care for us, turning to Him and relying on Him in every
aspect of our lives. Letting Him really
be the King of our hearts.
Now
His is a different sort of kingdom – it’s one where we can, and do, vote
for king. By our lives, by the way we
live our lives, we elect Him King of our hearts, or we vote for something
else. Our lives proclaim Him “my Lord,
my King, my God,” or we proclaim “not my king.” We do that when we obey Him, or
when we obey our own whims and passions.
And
Our Lord, in this Gospel, tells us vividly, and frighteningly even, how we do
that. We do that by how we serve our
neighbor. Or how we neglect them. By how we look for our King in the least, the
poorest, the most defenseless among us.
Do we see in the homeless and hungry the face of Our Blessed Lord? Do we give Him to eat, to drink? Clothe Him, visit Him, care for Him? Or did we go about our own business, our own
way, ignoring them, serving ourselves?
That
is how we vote – that is how we proclaim Him my King, or not. How we choose His Kingdom, or the Kingdom of
the prince of this world.
A
story is told about a king…who lived in a far-off land. He had a wealthy
kingdom, with all his needs and desires met every day by his royal court. He was loved and respected by his family and
noblemen and was known throughout the land for his wisdom and fairness.
He had everything he wanted, except for one important thing: he had no
heir to whom he could leave his kingdom and all its wealth. So in his
wisdom and he came up with a plan. He would invite young people from all
over his kingdom to come to the castle and be interviewed for the job.
He’d find the most-qualified, most well-suited young man to become his prince
and heir. The king sent out the word to his people and then he waited.
Far
away in a tiny remote village, a poor young man heard about the king’s plan.
Intelligent and hard-working, his heart leapt at the thought of meeting the
king and perhaps earning his trust to become his adopted prince. But the
castle was a long way from the young man’s village and he had no supplies for
such a hard journey. So the young man worked and saved day and night to
earn enough to buy the food he needed to make the trip and new clothes suitable
for meeting the king. After weeks of work and difficult travel, he
finally found himself outside the king’s castle.
Sitting
by the castle gate was a filthy beggar dressed in dirty rags. “Have pity on me,
my son” the beggar cried out to the young man. “Help me.” The young man
looked down at the beggar and his heart was moved to pity for him. He
gave the beggar the new clothes he’d worked so hard to buy. And he gave
him the money he’d saved for his return trip home.
The
beggar was overjoyed and thanked the young man for his generous heart and
kindness. But now his giving heart was fearful as he looked down at the
old clothes he’d worn on his travels. Since he’d given away the only new
clothes he had to the beggar, he was going to have to wear his old things to
meet the king. “Oh well,” he thought, “I’ve come too far to let anything
stop me now.”
He
was escorted into the palace and led down a long hallway to the king’s throne
room. As the huge doors opened before him, the young man stepped into the
presence of the king. And there, seated on the throne, was the beggar,
wearing the clothes the young man had given him. The king smiled and
looked at his shocked visitor, threw open his arms and exclaimed, “Welcome, my
son!”
That is the kind of
King we have, sisters and brothers. And
that is how He will judge whether we are worthy to spend eternity with
Him. Let us choose wisely.
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