CHI NA-EME EZE; THE KING-MAKER KING

HOMILY FOR THE SOLEMNITY OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST THE KING OF THE UNIVERSE

Rev. Fr. Ezekoka Peter Onyekachi

 

Chi bu eze (God is king). Chi na-eme eze (God is the king maker) because He has the power to elect and anoint. He gives what he has. He is unlike the king makers of the world who claim to be king makers without being kings themselves. And after the kings they make is enthroned, there powers become redundant in the kingdom of the new king. The kingship of God (before whom no one exists, and after whom, any that exists, exists through Him) is primordial. The kingship of men is only temporary. Even when some men assume the position of God and force allegiance, they have not always succeeded because kingship belongs not to them but to God. You can only remain eternally a king if you are God. It has been all the News how Mugabe Muammar was forced to resign as the king of Zimbabwe after 37 years. What a great number of years!!! Yet, he was forced to resign. No matter how man tries to make his kingdom eternal or as long as he lives, he does not succeed. He will someday die and will live the kingship for another.

Today, we talk about an eternal king who is king yesterday, now and forever. It was at the fullness of time that God sent his only begotten son, Christ to save man from peril. This christological mission inaugurated an explicit identity of Christ as king which was not comprehended fully by the first followers, but is seen scattered all over the pages of the New Testament. The reign of Christ inaugurated our own reign. He was made king that we too might become kings. He was loyal that we might become royals. He was crowned that we too might be crowned. He was anointed that we too might receive anointing. His crowning saved us from drowning. For I when am lifted up shall draw all men to myself (John 12:32).

Historically, the feast of Christ the King is a relatively recent addition in the history of the Church. It was instituted in 1925 by Pope Piux XI, and in 1970, it was moved to the final Sunday of the Ordinary Time. Its earliest date of occurrence is 20 November as the latest is 26 November. It a feast established as a remedy to secularism, a way of living which relegates God to the background. Today, we proclaim in a striking and effective manner Christ’s royalty over individual, families, societies, and especially the secular leaders of the world. Today, we emphatically state that Christ is God, the creator of all who possesses a supreme power over all. Today, we boldly shout it out that Christ is our Redeemer who freed us from the shackles of sin and death, and made us his own. Today, we herald strongly that Christ is the head of the Church, as we are many parts of this body. Today, we remind ourselves that we and the entire universe have been handed over to Christ. Christ is our king.

The Readings of today open our eyes to the various characteristics of this king, and how his kingdom looks like. From these Readings, we extract three models of the kingship of Christ.

1) The model of the King as a Shepherd

Behold, I judge between sheep and sheep, rams and he-goat (cf. First Reading; Ezekiel 34:17). This excerpt from the First Reading brings out the quality of Christ as a shepherd king. He is a king that can be likened to a shepherd. This parable of the shepherd in the prophet Ezekiel is as the result of the attitude of the former shepherds of Israel who were wicked. Instead of living up to their calling as shepherds to feed the sheep, they rather feed on the sheep. So, they are termed wicked for they neglected their calling. They would be neglected and relegated, for the Lord will take over his flock. God is coming to punish those wicked shepherds and to take over the shepherd’s responsibility. These wicked shepherds want power without responsibility. God then will be the good shepherd.

In the oracle of the Prophet Jeremiah 31:10, the word of the Lord speaks to all the nations that it is God’s onus to gather his scattered people, and will keep them as a shepherd keeps his flock. Remember, every good shepherd is always with the sheep to the point of having the smell of the sheep. He does not shepherd from afar. He is ever-present. This is how Christ our King is constantly present. He is not far from us. He sleeps with us, eats with us, walks with us, and scares the predators who want to devour us. He brings us to good pastures (cf. Ps. 23) in our own land. Those who are lost he seeks them out and those who stray he brings back to the fold. The injured are bound up, and the sick are healed. These are the very many functions of the good shepherd who is Christ our king.

2) The model of the King as a Victor/Conqueror

Christ as king can never be conquered. He can never be dethroned. He can never be victimized again. His victimhood on the cross has made him victorious forever; for He must reign until he has put his enemies under his feet (cf. Second Reading; 1 Cor. 15:25). A time will come when God will be all in all. That is the moment of total triumph over evil and the devil. The kingship of Christ is a victorious one. Paul reminds the Corinthian Church that Christ’s kingdom inaugurates the destruction of the kingdom of darkness, and introduces the final reign of God. This reign will no longer have any rivalry. Such a reign is what we implore in the lives of every Christian. A reign which saddles us on a throne of victor, puts on our head the crown of total liberation, hands over to us the staff of authority over forces that militate against our Christian life, and puts into our fingers the rings of belongingness to the highest of all the thrones –the throne of Jesus the Christ.

3) The model of the king as a just Judge

In the Gospel, we are presented with one of the most vivid parables of Jesus. The moral lesson of the parable is clear; that God will judge us in accordance with our reaction to human need. He sits on his throne as king while the nations assemble before him. He will separate them from one another as a Shepherd separates the sheep from the goat (cf. Gospel; Matthew 25:32). His judgment does not depend on the knowledge we have amassed, or the fame that we have acquired, or the fortune that we have gained, but on the help that we have offered. Let us look at the things which served as the basis for judgment. They are giving food to the hungry, water to the thirsty, welcoming a stranger, consoling the sick, and visiting the prisoner. These are simple things which every one of us can do. This is the case of the simple help we all can render to people that we meet every day. We must learn to carry each other’s burden and be good to people (cf. Gal. 6:2). No one can claim that he/she has not got what it takes to fulfil these demands. Be nice to people. The loving action must be from the heart, and not any one done for any ungodly intent.

An example of help rendered for ungodly intent is the one which is rendered and publicized to win the praise and admiration of people. Such help is selfishness in disguise. Any help, however done with the right intention is given to Christ himself. Christ is the judge, and the judge is the king. Therefore, Christ is the king. The king rewards the sheep by giving them the inheritance of the kingdom of heaven. The goats are punished. They are cut off from God and thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is a state of anguish, torment, and punishment. The reason for this punishment was clear. They failed to minister to their suffering counterparts, lived a selfish life and did were spiritually blind. They failed to see Christ in the suffering. We must note that they were condemned for what they did not do, not for what they did. It was the sin of omission. The sin of omission affects the community.

Think about how many people are left to suffer because a goat refused to help them. By this, the king manifests himself a just judge who gives each his place. The judgment is for eternity. By this judgment too, the sheep are crowned eternally. They have now become kings forever, and that is eternity. The eternal king has allowed them to partake in his kingship as a reward for their royalty to his dictates. Loyalty breeds Royalty. Nevertheless, there are some loyalties which breed damnation. That is the one we pay to the devil, and anyone who works for him. That sort of loyalty can only lead us to damnation because the person to which we pay it has no right to it, and thus is not the king of justice. Our loyalty ought to be directed to God alone. Every one of us owes his/her loyalty to the king of kings, Jesus the Christ. He is the King. Therefore, as we celebrate this feast today, I pray that our loyalty to God brings about our royalty in Him. Amen. God bless you.