What Is a King, Anyway?
Luke 23:33-43
The notion of kingship has bubbled up in our national conversation these days with “No Kings” protests popping up all over the country in defiance of the Trump administration. The United States of America’s democratic roots come out of a defiance toward kingship, too.
In fact, the defiance of kingship is also rooted in United Methodist history as well. We exist as a separate christian denomination from the Anglican communion because we could no longer remain Anglican after the revolutionary war. The declaration of independence severed the United State’s fealty to a British king—thus severing it from the Church of England which, by law, had as its head the King.
When we read scripture, we learn that God was hesitant about the idea of a human king to lead God’s people. In Deuteronomy, God places strict limits on a king that might sound surprising when we consider what we imagine a king to be:
“…he must not acquire many horses for himself or return the people to Egypt in order to acquire more horses, since the Lord has said to you, ‘You must never return that way again.’ And he must not acquire many wives for himself or else his heart will turn away; also silver and gold he must not acquire in great quantity for himself. When he has taken the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself a copy of this law on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests. It shall remain with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, so that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, diligently observing all the words of this law and these statutes, neither exalting himself above other members of the community...” (Deuteronomy 17:14-20 NRSVUE)
So, in summary, the King can’t be rich, he can’t have whomever he wants to sleep with, he cant acquire a great quantity of silver and gold, he must always keep the scrolls of holy scripture near him and read it every day of his life, and he cannot exalt himself above other people. Wow.
The Sunday before Advent is generally known in Christian worship as “Christ the King” Sunday, a holiday whose origins emerged out of the historical tensions around Italy eliminating its monarchy alongside other continental European countries in the aftermath of World War I. With the ensuing rise of secularism and nationalism (the same nationalism that gave rise to Mussolini) in Italy, Roman Catholic Pope Pius XI established “Christ the King” as a feast day for the final day of the church year in response to Italy’s fervent nationalism (fascism), reminding them that one’s allegience as a Christian is first and foremost to Christ.
And by the the time you have gotten to this point, perhaps you are chuckling like me at how, yet again, history continues to rhyme. Human history seems to have a constant texture, a warp and woof, of nations rising and falling and of ideas of power settling on institutions or on people. The rise and fall of monarchy is certainly a part of this.
And today we see the rise of a duplicitous kind of authoritarianism that seeks the powers of monarchy clothed in the appearance of popular, democratic support. This kind of “king” has his power not in religious authority like a historical monarch. Instead, this kind of “king” is anointed by the blessing (and political donations) of an uber-wealthy class of societal elites.
Whichever King is at large, we know as Christian that any true king we might revere must also have the title of “Prince of Peace,” “Messiah,“ and “Emmanuel.” The King we worship and whose entrance into our shared humanity we honor in the coming season of Advent is Jesus.
Jesus did not hoard wealth. He did not wield power to dominate. He did not exalt himself above other members. In fact, he submitted himself in astonishing ways. He taught us true humility. And he sacrificed his life to redeem humanity.
That is the kind of King I would gladly bow to.
