To You I Belong

My kingdom is not of this world.”

If I lived at the time Jesus said that, I would have been hard-pressed to imagine what on earth ( or precisely elsewhere) he was talking about. Was there a kingdom full of people getting cured or rising miraculously from the dead? What did poor in spirit mean? The tiny mustard seed – what power did it have again?

I am writing this in the year 2021. I can only thank God humbly and profoundly that the kingdom “not of this world” has long been bathed in clarity and light. Christ died trying to get us to see it, to understand that none of what he said was fake news. I have to say that this world still lays claim on me pretty often through any given day courtesy of my ego.

Yet – because Christ’s kingdom did become manifest on this earth through him, accepting his invitation to cross over to his kingdom has become my life’s only purpose, meaning, and hope.

I consider how…

Christ my King was born not in a grand palace, welcomed by pompous fanfare and blaring of trumpets but in a manger, attended by shepherds startled by angels, maybe snorting donkeys and bleating sheep, and other witnesses of God’s creation.

Christ, my King was not a ruler crowned, sitting on a throne, lavishly clothed, holding a scepter and practicing social distancing from the people who came to bow before him, embracing only fellow royalty, members of an exclusive club.

Christ my King did not pick and choose. He waded “full throttle”, as they say, into the crowd of people everywhere he went, clothed in the simplest garment, feet strapped in sandals worn and dusty from walking tirelessly, reaching out to all people – young, old, men, women, hypocritical religious leaders, the possessed, the dispossessed, the blind, the beggar, corrupt tax collector, prostitute. His chosen companions were fishermen, not exactly the “elite” of society.

Christ my King did not make imperious pronouncements to be filtered “down” to the people. Christ my King spoke of the good news from a little boat or from a mount surrounded by a multitude or simply on the ground, toe to toe in the trenches among the people.

The difference between the two kingdoms gets more overwhelming, staggering.

Christ My King wore not a bejeweled headgear but a piercing crown of thorns, blood dripping down his face…carried his own cross one excruciating, breath-robbing step after another…was nailed to his enthronement on that same Cross, flanked by one criminal humbled, and another brimming with hubris. I see it as a matter of “Stake and Take.” He staked his life so he could take us to his kingdom.

Christ my King did not leave fading riches or inanimate gems or grandiose titles to his heirs.

Christ my King broke bread at the Last Supper, leaving us himself to have and to hold within ourselves, to nourish us when he was physically gone from earth. And then this King showed us how to serve others as he had done. No thick log of instructions. Just some water, a towel, knees on the floor, gently washing his apostles’ feet.

Through it all, Christ my King did not need an army with sharp threatening swords and armors to protect his kingdom.

Christ my King’s armament which he distributes beyond measure to every single one of us is LOVE.

Christ, my King’s LOVE comes in a bundle, wrapped always with the Related Essentials of unbridled Compassion, Grace, Generosity, Fidelity, and his trademark Mercy. It is our choice how to accept it, hopefully not squandering it.

Now going back to titles. In the kingdom of Christ my King, we – each one of us a child of God, are assured of being Co-Heirs. That’s the title he leaves us with: Co-Heirs! Imagine such unparalleled privilege!

Did I do or can I do anything to deserve it? Not really. Did I receive that startling gift just because God loves me? Absolutely.

So what do I do now?

I find myself increasingly, daily asking God humbly for the grace to know Christ as personally and intimately as I can, so that I may learn how to respond to his Love more fully and thoroughly until I am totally inseparable from him. Yes, to fall madly in love with Christ! Thank you, St. Ignatius.

In the kingdom “not of this world.”

It doesn’t promise to be a walk in the park, but I believe beyond all doubt that it is the only trek towards unending peace and uncontested joy…living life in this world, in the kingdom not of this world, simply by following Christ, King of my heart and ruler of my soul…to the end of my days.