From Christ the King to the King of the Vulnerable

Today is the last Sunday of the liturgical year. In 1969, Pope Paul VI made today as Christ the King Sunday. Since then, most mainline Protestant churches observe this practice, including the Lutheran, for this is a good round up of a year. In fact, the emergence of Christ the King Sunday can be traced back to Pope Pius XI (庇護). In 1925, he made the last Sunday of October as Christ the King in order to respond to the rise of nationalism and secularism in the world, on the one hand and to encourage Christians to recommit to God, on the other. This is the background to understand  the passages for today, namely, Ezek 34;11-16, 20-24; Matt 25:31-46.

Ezekiel passage has laid down the foundation for our understanding of Christ the King. The passage is about God’s promise to the exiled in Babylon. Since the exiled are scattered around, God promises that the shepherd would come to seek, rescue, gather and feed them. This is not just a matter of survival, but it is a life with quality and a matter of justice. The Scripture says,

I will feed them with good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel shall be their pasture; there they shall lie down in good grazing land, and they shall feed on rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. (v.14)

And it is important to note that the Lord says,

       I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. (v.20)

The fat sheep are judged, not because of the discrimination against the fat, but because ‘they pushed with flank and shoulder, and butted at all the weak animals with their horns until they scattered them far and wide.’ (v.21) There is no justice without salvation.

        How would God’s promise be fulfilled? According to Ezekiel, God would send them a king (v.23-24), and he is commonly known as the Messiah. In the New Testament, Christians consider Jesus as the Messiah whom God promised. Although Jesus as the Messiah is very different from the expectation of many Israelites, some Israelites believe in him, for Jesus’ crucifixion, resurrection and ascension have convinced them. They gradually come to realize that God’s promise is not confined to the scattered Israelites, but extended to the gentiles. God’s kingdom is not narrowly restricted to the Israelites, but a cosmic kingdom. God himself is the king of the kingdom, not a human king, and Jesus is the king. Despite of a wider and deeper understanding of God’s promise, Christians are still used to the traditional understanding of kingship, that is, glory, power, royal and holy. This is the context of Matthew 25. The Lord says,

I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me. (Matt 25:35-36)

Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me. (v.40)

First, Jesus the king whom Christians are worshipping is not associated with political power, but he chooses to identify himself with the hungry, thirty, stranger, naked, sick and in prison. They are the vulnerable. Thus, Jesus the king is found in the street, slum, hospital and prison, not in the palace. He is the king of the vulnerable, not the king of the rich and power. Second, our worship to our Lord is not featured by prayer and praise, but by caring the material and spiritual need of the vulnerable. Christians are not waiting for the fulfillment of God’s promise, but we are the witness to the fulfillment of God’s promises by participating into God’s promise. Third, the king comes to separate between sheep and the goat. This is an act of judgment. The basic criterion of judgment is not the confession, but rather is about how they respond to the vulnerable.

Christ the King Sunday reminds us Christ the king is of the vulnerable. In the Old Testament, the vulnerable is the scattered exiled and lean sheep caused by the exploitation of the fat sheep. In the New Testament, the vulnerable is the hungry, thirty, stranger, naked, sick and in prison. Who is the vulnerable today? During the Umbrella Movement (2014), the vulnerable is:

When I need to use the toilet, you do not let me use it, and say. ‘This is private property.’

When I need a shelter to escape from tear gas, you choose to close the church, for you do not want to be mistaken by the government.

When I am blocked by the police at the Tamar Park on September 28, you make no attempt to visit me, for this is an illegal gathering, and you do not want to violate the law.

Perhaps, our church is far away from the occupying spot, and therefore, these are not our concerns. However, we can’t escape from it, for distance would not dismiss our responsibility to the vulnerable. More importantly, we should not let politics overriding our love. Rather it should be the opposite.

On this Sunday, let’s worship Christ the King in his revealed way, not our expected way.