Inclusion Sunday
Would Jesus want us to call him King?
Pilate entered the headquarters again, summoned Jesus, and asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus answered, “Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?” Pilate replied, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me. What have you done?” Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.” Pilate asked him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.” - John 18:33-37
The whole purpose for designating this Sunday as the day we recognize Christ as King in our lives was to bring us back from the edge of secularism. Pope Pius XI 1925 wrote the encyclical Quas Primas, In the First, to try to pull the people through their faith, away from their secular rulers and back to God.
Did it work?
Did we declare ourselves Christians living in faith in public, regardless of the dictates of our rulers?
Remember, this was before Hitler came to power, so maybe it didn’t work as planned.
In fact, people took their faith underground, hiding from the powerful regime, looking to cleanse the world of all who are different.
After almost 100 years of celebrating Christ as our King, how are we doing?
Have we convinced people to pull back from secularism and follow Christ?
Nope.
Since the 1980s, secularism has increased from 10% to over a third of all young people, under 30. The message is not getting through.
Maybe today should be renamed to show that we all come to Christ as sinners in need of love and grace, standing shoulder to shoulder with those we love, those we like, those we trust, those we don’t, those who offer us kindness, those who treat us poorly, and even those who hate us.
What would we call this day?
Maybe it should be Inclusion Sunday, a celebration of the Love of Christ.