One of my favorite preachers, Kate Huey, suggests some reflection questions for today:
As the end of another year draws close, what are the powers that you and your [fellow] church members fear, consciously or unconsciously? What "philosophies" and "false teachings" undermine Christian faith today, especially in your own setting? What is the power that helps you get through your day and the struggles of your life? Does the universe, does creation itself, feel out of control to you?...I found the above questions right here.
The image of a king may seem a bit outdated for people in post-modern democracies. Do you think it is still relevant for the church today? Is there another image that works better for you? How might our understanding of Jesus' being "raised up" expand beyond what happened on one Easter morning to a comprehensive understanding of his place over everything, not just our individual, personal lives, or the community, or the church in every age, but all of creation, in all time?
I have hesitated to post on this basically because of being labelled "republican scum" on another blog that shall not be mentioned here. I have said before on said blog that my essential belief is that there is no king but God, and the rest of us are commoners - and that even God has chosen to be a commoner on occasion, if I read the gospels rightly. This is basic Protestantism, as I understand it. But I have no problem with Christ the King. It's human institutions I sometimes worry about. The human tendency to draw up the drawbridge once one is established in power, to prevent that power from being taken away, is something to be resisted by all those who will be excluded and disenfranchised by that action. But that doesn't apply to God, quite obviously. God is love, and the source of all life. God is God. And God is King. Does that all make sense? :-)
ReplyDeletePutting this together with the previous mediation about C.S. Lewis. I see Aslan as a wonderful reflection of what it would be like if Christ were King. A king who was totally beneficent yet fearsome enough to hold evil at bay and accountable those who were not committed or caring would be better than any form of democracy I've experienced. Actually, Cathy, in spite of volunteering that you might be labeled 'republican scum' and as hard as I've tried to find an excuse : ) what you said sounds, well, pretty sound. : )
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