Christ the King Sunday at St. Mark’s

The last Sunday of the church year is known as the Feast of Christ the King. A relatively modern observance, it was instituted first in the Roman Catholic Church in 1925 by Pope Pius XI in response to an increasingly secular and ultra-nationalist sentiment in society. It is now observed, if not always with the same pomp and circumstance, in many denominations including our own. The emphasis is on the “reign” of Christ in our lives as primary, superseding that of earthly leaders and their ambitions, and the readings for the day speak to this tension.

In her sermon, Joan spoke about the encounter between a bound Jesus and Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor imposed on the people of Israel, in which he says “my kingdom is not of this world.” Jesus by his example upends earthly understandings of what it means to be a king, or–frankly–in charge of anything. She also described a memory of visiting the English country church where George Herbert also modeled that humble servant leadership.

Br. James Koester of the Society of St. John the Evangelist, an Episcopal monastic community, wrote:

“The world has never seen, except once, the kind of king we mean when we speak of Christ the King. Our king reigns from a cross and rules on his knees. His crown is thorns. His orb and sceptre, a basin and towel. His law is love. We are here to tell the tale of lives transformed by loving service, and this king has set the example for us all.”

Our church school class also explored this topic, at their level, and created crowns with the kind of qualities make a good leader. They joined us in singing today’s postlude:

Coffee Hour afterwards was hosted by Bridges4Life, a community resource group who held a Trans Day of Remembrance service in our space on Saturday. An art exhibit and information booth which were part of that event remained on display. Some beautiful scarves which had been donated will be added to the pajamas and socks we collected for Never Alone Again, an outreach to survivors of domestic abuse.