Christ: the King

Today on the church calendar we celebrate Christ the King Sunday. As Americans we have a hard time understanding kingship. But if we call Jesus our Lord, we have pledged our allegiance to Him alone and, in theory--if not practice, made Him Lord over every area of our life. We have made the choice to let Him rule and have His say in our daily decisions.

Christ's reign has been referred to as "The UpsideDown Kingdom." He doesn't always go along with the social norms. Frequently He turns them upside down. The last in our society shall be first in His Kingdom. The social outcasts get attention, the lowly are raised up, the undesirables are given care. Disrespected women are looked in the eye. Those who couldn't afford health care are healed. The immigrant and alien are made a part of the family. The sinner is forgiven.

Christ chooses unlikely followers: fishermen, tax collectors, traitors. He makes leaders out of lowly people: Abraham, Moses, David. He expects His followers to stand up for the orphaned, the widowed, the alien, the oppressed (honestly--it's in the Bible, you can look it up!). He's not looking for the most qualified, but those who are willing to follow--no matter how much they mess up or how shady their past is.

It's the end of the church calendar year. Next week we begin anew in Advent, awaiting the coming of our King--celebrating both His incarnational coming as an infant and His future return in glory. How does the Lordship of the one who's birth we celebrate next month play out in your life?