The Kingdoms of this world have become . . . the Kingdoms of our God and of His Christ
Most will recognize that line from the Hallelujah Chorus, which is quoting Revelation 11:15. Along with verbal power, the music always grabs me. Handel (and the performers) put in a pause that is theologically meaningful. There is a dramatic pause before the second part of the sentence happens. That pause is now. We live between the two advents, a time of already and not yet.
At Christmas we talk a lot about "the newborn King." For most it's mere sentimentality. We go with the flow and really don't think about the political, theological, or eschatological meaning of Jesus as King. Americans are particular allergic to kingship. Jesus as King is something we accept but simply don't understand and probably, if honest, are not that keen on. There are many reasons for this state of affairs.
Kings live in the land of fairy tales.
Our whole culture and system of government and world view is based on denial of a king.
We equate kings with oppression, lack of rights and freedoms, extravagant living, unnecessary pomp and photo ops, and the worst kind of privilege.
Our idea of kingship is based on the Windsors.
If not the Windsors, the worst kinds of despotic kings, like those monarchs in Asia that think they are gods of some sort (even in the 21st century).
Just like people who have bad fathers experience difficulty accepting God as Father, Americans who only see kingship as evil or foolish have a hard time seeing Jesus as King. Surely He will really just be a really good, but non-elected president, and we'll still run the show, right?
Wrong.
At Christmas we talk a lot about "the newborn King." For most it's mere sentimentality. We go with the flow and really don't think about the political, theological, or eschatological meaning of Jesus as King. Americans are particular allergic to kingship. Jesus as King is something we accept but simply don't understand and probably, if honest, are not that keen on. There are many reasons for this state of affairs.
Kings live in the land of fairy tales.
Our whole culture and system of government and world view is based on denial of a king.
We equate kings with oppression, lack of rights and freedoms, extravagant living, unnecessary pomp and photo ops, and the worst kind of privilege.
Our idea of kingship is based on the Windsors.
If not the Windsors, the worst kinds of despotic kings, like those monarchs in Asia that think they are gods of some sort (even in the 21st century).
Just like people who have bad fathers experience difficulty accepting God as Father, Americans who only see kingship as evil or foolish have a hard time seeing Jesus as King. Surely He will really just be a really good, but non-elected president, and we'll still run the show, right?
Wrong.
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