November 22, 2009

Folk who know me well will say that I am not a sentimental person.  I don’t hold on to little treasures.  I never pass on those flowery e-mails to my 12 best girlfriends.  That’s just not the way I’m wired.  I never thought much about this deficit until a friend was over and commented on my refrigerator.  She said there’s nothing on your door!  Where is the kids’ artwork?  What are you talking about?  Where are the pictures and crafts the kids make at school?  Well, either in their rooms if they really liked them, or in the trash. In the trash?  In the trash?  That’s really cold!  Hold on, wait a second.  I called down the hall, “Whitney, are you loved?”  She yelled back, “Yes, and cherished.”  How do you know?  “Because you tell me every night.”  And?  “And you lead my Girl Scout troop and you sit on wet bleachers watching my soccer games even though you hate being cold and you spend exactly the same amount on my Christmas presents as you do on my brother – to the penny.  You could show me the receipts if I asked.” 

See, I told my friend, refrigerator art is not the absolute indicator of affection.  She remained dubious.  But our difference of opinion reminded me that there is no cast iron template for creating a healthy, happy family.  What keeps some people anchored and connected will seem silly to others.  And what appears as chaotic and thoughtless to outsiders will be the glue that binds another family.  The key to deep relationships is not recreating and adhering to someone else’s standards of togetherness, rather, it’s engaging in the demanding work of figuring out what works best for your people in your present circumstance.  Thoughtful engagement and committed action, these are the true, required attributes for making a meaningful life.  They are the qualities that shape positive families.  They are the characteristics that build substantial faith lives.  Thoughtful engagement followed by committed action – these are the keys to the kingdoms we cherish. 

I was reminded of this truth when I noticed the church calendar.  Today is Christ the King Sunday.  Today is a feast day I’ve never really understood.  It’s always seemed like another one of those “sentimental” made-up holidays, like Bosses Day.  If you work for someone else, if your efforts support someone else, isn’t every day “Bosses Day?”  Do they really need another special day where everything goes the bosses’ way?  And isn’t Christ the King every Sunday?  Isn’t he the King every day of the week?

I was curious about the origins of this celebration and so I studied its purpose.  The feast of Christ the King was instituted by Pope Pius XI in 1925.  As he looked over the landscape of his world, he was distressed.  Following the 1^st World War, the first global conflict devastating massive populations of young men, he saw the rise of nationalism and socialism.  He saw an increase in fascism and a decline in religious commitment.  He saw entire countries turning away from God to pursue secular idols.  People abandoned their daily prayers.  They decreased their time in church.  They changed their priorities.  Charitable giving diminished.  Allegiance to God, fidelity to the Great Commandment was over-shadowed by other pursuits.  Pope Pius thought to reverse the trend.  He brought forth a new initiative, “Christ’s Peace in Christ’s Kingdom.”  He hoped to remind the many, many members of his church that the real hope for the world and the best pathway to a full, safe life lay in following the tenets of Jesus Christ.  Pope Pius suggested that our ties to Christ were more important than our loyalties to national leaders.  He said the principles Christ laid out for us promised better results for more people than any other political plan.  He said long-lasting peace, and continuous prosperity would come when we aligned ourselves with Christ’s vision.  Christ’s Peace in Christ’s Kingdom was our best hope.  To help keep his people focused, to keep them centered on who had the real power, the good pope instituted a feast celebrating Jesus Christ as the ultimate, everlasting king, the king who was above all other kings, the king who reigned over all the earth and in heaven.  The feast of Christ the King established Jesus Christ as the leader with the indisputable correct play for the healthy, secure life on earth and even more.  Unlike the temporal heads of state, Christ the King had policies and a formula for the life beyond.

Christ the King Sunday was meant to be a day of recognition and recommitment.  At first it was celebrated the last week of October, but in 1970 it was moved to the last Sunday before Advent.  Now, Lutherans and Anglicans join Catholics in observing Christ the King as the final feast of the church year.  We consider the full stature of Christ and all he means to the world before we begin the cycle again with preparation, the nativity, the epiphany, the ministry, the miracles, the parables, the trial, the crucifixion, the resurrection, the promise.

Christ the King Sunday was meant to be a point and a place for rededication.  And, if the world needed a way back into renewed relationship with Christian principles in 1925, how much more do we need help today?  When the feast was first instituted, people’s commitment to an organized prayer life and a life centered on the church was waning.  Even so, normal Christian life included stopping in church on the way to work to read the office of Morning Prayer.  Before the lights went out for the night, families routinely gathered for Evening Prayer.  People went to church on Wednesday nights for instruction and back again on Sunday evenings for Bible study or prayer services.  At twilight, evensong was sung.  Now maybe these traditions are like refrigerator art.  Maybe they are helpful for some, maybe they are sure signs of devotion and affection.  Maybe they are not the way into deep committed relationship for others.  But if these practices and rituals do not signal connections with our faith, something else must.  And as thoughtful engagement and committed action are the requirements for all meaningful endeavors in human life, we are charged to consider what makes our faith real.  We must move from institutional faith to owned faith.  Do we know the difference?  Institutional faith is what we are taught in Sunday school, in Bible study, in liturgy camp, and in the articles in the newsletter.  Institutional faith is what we say we believe when we stand together.  Pronouncing, proclaiming the Nicene Creed is institutional faith.  Being able to take each line of that creed or each promise of our baptismal covenant and say what it means to us is owned faith.  The ability to say this is who I believe God to be is owned faith.  “This is how I see the Holy Spirit moving in my life” is owned faith.  “I don’t know what the Anglican Communion swears to be true about the pre-existence of Christ before the world was created, but this is how I relate to Jesus” – this is owned faith.

Owned faith comes after reflection.  It comes as the result of quiet, focused deliberation.  Owned faith takes work.  It is a relationship made real by thoughtful engagement.  And, after the work, comes the reward.  When we know what we believe because we’ve worked it out for ourselves, we are at peace.  We have confidence and our hope makes sense.  Our relationship with God and his Son has legs.  It can support our needs and our worries.  It calls forth our trust because it is a relationship that is true to its participants.  It’s right for us, our time and our circumstance.  Out of the reflection comes the action.  When we know what we believe for ourselves, we are prepared to act on those conclusions.  Owned faith shows in how we live our lives.  When we know what we believe, we say yes to these priorities and no to those distractions.  We say yes to spending time and energy and money on these endeavors and no to those activities.  We teach our children these lessons and discourage those notions. 

Today begins the last week of our church year.  Today we praise the image of Christ the King.  We bring his power and dominion to the forefront of our minds.  Before we begin the routine cycle again, before we launch into frantic preparations for Advent and Christmas, let us consider what we truly believe about Jesus Christ.  Through this next week, for the next seven days, let us commit ourselves to some moments of reflection, some quiet prayers, and some scribbled notes.  From everything I’ve heard in Sunday School, from what I remember in the Bible, from my encounters with faithful people, from my own life experience, this is what I think is true about Jesus Christ.  This is how I can best relate to him.  Our relationship could be better if I did what?  He would be better pleased with me if I did what?  I’d feel better if I understood this about him.  Christ would be the king of my life if…?  These are the questions of this feast, of this day.  These are the essential questions of our faith.

Dear ones: This query is our charge.  Go and ponder.  Go and consider.  Go and find the answers that make Christ real for you.  Find the answers so when asked, “Dear friend, are you loved?”  You can answer, “Yes! I’m loved and cherished.”

Blessings on your pondering.

Blessings on your answers.

Blessings on your owned faith.

Blessings on this feast of Christ the King.

Amen.