Sunday Devotion

Welcome to our weekly devotion. This Sunday, Nov 26th, we celebrate Christ the King Sunday or otherwise known as Reign of Christ Sunday.  The titles for this Sunday, expressed in those two ways, made me think about what this really means.

For me, the image of a king includes riches and a crown of jewels. However, Christ doesn’t fit into that image. No jewels and riches, and Christ’s crown, as we know it, was a crown of thorns. In Jesus’ world, he reached out to the poor and the hungry. He ate with those whom the world despised, and he preached forgiveness and love, often clashing with the norms of his day. He didn’t preach about a King’s power but his words were about the power of God’s love.

The world we seek where Christ is King is a world that serves others. When we live out Jesus’ teachings – that is where the power really is. That is when Christ reigns! What do or can you do to bring about the reign of Jesus in your community?
Jesus ate with people who were looked down upon within the society of his time. Who are those people today in our society?  Don’t we find them on our street corners holding signs asking for help? What do you offer them?  When have you sought to bring hope, reconciliation, and healing to a corner of your community?

I find that the idea of the Reign of Christ means so much more. A king represents the government side of power. And today, in our country and in the world, there is upheaval, divisiveness and violence in words and actions. It is the reign of Christ that is needed. We need to love and value humankind in the ways Jesus taught.

Whether you live a life where “Jesus is King” or where “Christ Reigns”, how do you show this in your community? Next week we begin Advent and emphasize love, hope, joy and peace in our church services. But we need to do more than light candles and share the stories of old. We need to go outside the doors of the church, out into the mission field, and take love, hope, joy and peace into the world. Show what it means when “Christ Reigns”.

We must heed the words in Doctrine and Covenants 162:7d. “The call to respond is urgent. Look to the needs of your own congregations, but look also beyond your walls to the far-flung places where the church must go. Each disciple needs a spiritual home. You are called to build that home and care for it, but also to share equally in the outreaching ministries of the church. In that way the gospel may be sent to other souls also yearning for a spiritual resting place.”
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Christ Reigns. His heart is our mission.