Born to Pay it Forward

John 18:33-37
Revelation 1:4b-8

I just read that Christ the King Sunday (which happens this Sunday) is a recent addition to the liturgical year.  It was added in a time when respect for the church had fallen off and the control of nation states over churches was increasing. This was the time of the rise of Hitler and Stalin. Hitler's Mein Kempf had just been published when Pope Pius XI declared that the Roman Church would have a holiday to celebrate Christ as our one and only King.  Wow. That puts some perspective on the day.

The Catholic Church and also the Protestant Churches deciding to add a day to the church calendar when we would declare boldly that our one and only King is Christ is actually a big deal, it turns out. Not a day we should shove in with the leftover turkey and sit patiently through while we tap our toes waiting for Advent to get here.  This day deserves its own special LOUD AND CLEAR recognition.

This is the day we read of Pontius Pilate asking Jesus if he is King of the Jews.  And Jesus declaring that his kingdom is not of this world because if it was his followers would be fighting to keep him from being handed over to the authorities. His purpose, he declares, is to testify to the truth.

In other words, we can't put Jesus in most of the boxes we have in our world and have him fit. He can't go in the political box. He can't go in the commercial/capitalist box. He can't go in the American Dream box. He can't go in the Hollywood entertainment box.

Jesus is here to speak only the truth. And if any of those categories above were to actually decide to be about the kind of truth that Jesus declares, they would need to do some serious reframing.

Revelation tells us that in his death and resurrection, Jesus made us to be a kingdom, priests serving God forever and ever.  We are called to be the kind of king Jesus is, in other words. We have been called by his great sacrifice for his world to be the sacrificial leaders of our own.

Jesus, the nativity story and prophecies say, was born to pay it forward. Revelation tells us today that we were ALL born to pay it forward. All born to realize that being a kingdom of Christ is not about domination but about truth telling and putting God above any other facet of life.  Being a kingdom of Christ is ultimately about putting ourselves on the line for peace every single day.

Being born to pay it forward is a noble and high cause.  As we come to celebrate Christ the King this Sunday, ponder reverently your own higher calling. What is that "God instinct" calling you to that is noble and sacrificial?  In what part of your life can you truly begin to live as Christ lived?

It sounds large and impossible, but paying it forward begins in small steps. Look at Jesus. His journey begins in a shelter for animals that the innkeeper allowed Mary to stay in so Jesus wouldn't be born on the streets. And his mom has to push him into performing his first miracle. And he is still Christ the King.