Ready for a bit of trivial pursuit? Name something significant that happened on December 11^th , 1925....  On this day, Pope Pius XI proclaimed a new holy day in the Roman Catholic Church, the “Feast of Christ the King.”

“So...,” you might now be thinking, “what does this have to do with us?” After all, we don’t look to Rome for guidance, nor do we owe allegiance to the bishop there (the Pope). Our heritage flows from those who rebelled against that kind of authority. Our Brethren roots grew not just out of the “Reformation” of the church, begun nearly 500 years ago. No, we are offshoots of what is sometimes called the “Radical Reformation,” a Christian movement which teaches a different kind of authority and power. We believe that it is not invested in bishops or in kings, in some religious or political hierarchy. Instead, as we see it, true authority and power is entrusted by God into the hands of the everyday servants of the true King Jesus, into the community of believers gathered around his Word.

Back in 1925, Pope Pius XI had various motives in getting his worldwide flock to turn their attention from the nations in which they lived and focus upon the reign of Christ, giving their allegiance to the real leader, the true King of all - Jesus.  That wasn’t a bad move, especially in the context of that time period between two world wars, and the increasing secularization of society. Of course, if Christ is King, and the Pope is his representative - we know where this is going. It’s an earthly power struggle. And Jesus said, “my kingdom is not of this world...” (John 18:36)

Over the years this Holy Day, the “Feast of Christ the King,” has made its way into the wider church, even into traditions such as ours which do not see one particular day as necessarily any holier than the next. The date has even been shifted from what Pope Pius XI proclaimed. Originally it was set on the last Sunday of October, perhaps a not-so-subtle dig at Protestants and their celebrated anniversary of Martin Luther nailing his 95 theses to the door of the Wittenberg Church on October 31^st, 1517, thus starting the Protestant Reformation.

Of course, the battles between Catholics and Protestants have cooled down a bit since 1925. “Christ the King” or “Reign of Christ” Sunday in the “Christian” calendar now followed by many churches is today celebrated toward the end of November. It marks the end of each church year. Next Sunday is not only the beginning of the season of Advent, a period of repentance in preparation for the coming of Christ, it is also the beginning of a brand-new church year.

Now, as I have said before, I/we don’t slavishly follow this “Christian” calendar and observe all these holy days. I do find some guidance in the suggestions of scripture readings for every Sunday that goes with this calendar. It helps me to preach not just on my favorite Bible texts, but rather nudges me to touch more of the width and breadth, the height and depth of the Word of God. Still, I don’t always follow these suggestions from this “church” year.

Sometimes, for instance, “Christ the King” or “Reign of Christ” Sunday falls on the same day that we in this country traditionally celebrate “Thanksgiving Sunday.” Do we, then, choose one over the other, or blend them together? Most of you probably don’t care one way or the other. You just come to worship God, no matter what Sunday it is, to fill up your spirit’s tanks for another week, and to connect with other believers. Does it really matter that we celebrate “Christ the King Sunday?” No.

However, it does matter whether or not we focus our attention upon and give our allegiance to Christ every Sunday, even every day. It’s sort of like Thanksgiving. In celebrating “Thanksgiving” this past week, does that mean we’re only “thankful” once a year? Not at all. It’s helpful to have a special day, though, especially if we allow it to be more than a “stuff-your-face, watch football, be nice to your family no matter how hard it may sometimes be” day. “Thanksgiving” turns us, if we are open to being turned, toward the source of every blessing. “Now thank we all our God...” Likewise, to celebrate the “Reign of Christ” on this last Sunday of the “church” year doesn’t mean we don’t seek to make Jesus our sovereign leader the other 364 days of our year. Not at all.

Of course, what does it mean for Christ Jesus to be “King” of our lives? That may have been an easier question to understand back in the days of the “tall man” John Naas (recall the Children’s story this morning?), who refused to serve as a guard to the King of Prussia because he was already serving as a soldier of King Jesus. Two centuries later, when Pope Pius XI first proclaimed this day, there were still a few Kings out there. However, the era of Royal Monarchs was almost at an end. For us, today in this country, the “kings” are a basketball team from Sacramento, or just a bit of nostalgia.

What does it mean for Christ Jesus to be “King,” to be “commander-in-chief” (so to speak) of our lives? We sometimes can’t even agree on what it means for someone to be President of our country, let alone decide who that person is. By the way, I’m glad our recent Presidential election didn’t hinge on some “hanging chad” in Florida, like in 2000. How many of us had ever even heard the word “chad” before that post-election fight? It was a new word to me at the time, not even in my old 7^th edition of Webster’s collegiate dictionary. As we have since shifted almost totally to computer screen ballots in the last 12 years, “chad” is now an archaic word. For those who have no idea what I’m talking about, “Chad” was/were (is it singular or plural?) the holes punched out of a computer card. In other words: trash, hopefully recycled. How interesting that our decision in 2000 for what is arguably the most powerful position in the world came down to a bunch of trash.

Let’s not talk “trash” when it comes to Jesus. Deciding what it means for Christ to be our “king,” our sovereign, our ruler, our authority, our leader, isn’t merely a matter of punching a hole in a card, is it? We must confess, however, that sometimes that’s nearly what it amounts to - just a bag of chad. We claim Jesus as our Lord of Lords, our Prince of Peace, our King of Love, our true shepherd, but we live however we darn well please - as if it isn’t so.