Despair and Hope - Christ our King

When Jesus walked on this Earth He would challenge some with this simple question: “Whom do you serve?” This question was so important because the people or causes that we serve ... are a great way to look at ourselves and see what we really believe. I can tell you all day that I love the poor and want to help them, but if my time, money, and effort go toward just protecting myself, SERVING myself … my own wants above others’ needs … then I don’t really believe in taking care of the poor. Today the Church celebrates the solemnity of Christ the King. And it’s a title that asks us point blank, do you serve Jesus or someone or thing else? Let’s first examine what a king means, and then ask the question, why should I serve Christ the King above anyone or anything else?

So, let’s get into the main topic: what is a king? A King must teach and lead people. A king must guide his nation through wisdom and patience. In addition, if something threatens the citizens (either from the inside or out), it’s up to the king to identify the dangers, unify everyone, give strategies, and protect his people. Yes, this can go wrong…like with Napoleon. Or Caesar Nero … who was pretty much a murderous tyrant. Bad kings lead the nations to the goal of serving them … But a good King leads their nation to the COMMON GOOD: Everyone being safe, peaceful, and ultimately happy.

The title of King for Jesus is appropriate and helps us understand Him more. Jesus invites us to live in the Kingdom of God, nothing other than living in the state of grace, following His loving commands and choosing to avoid sin. Christ is such a gracious king, that we really can choose to leave at any time, it really is our freewill to remain with Him or not. But our loving king just wants to teach us how His ways can heal and enliven us. And how any other king or thing we make our rulers can actually redound on us, and harm us in the long run.

Jesus teaches us what kind of king He is, as well as how we can accept His offer of entering His kingdom. The basics are: you must love your enemies and avoid SIN which hurts you. Receive baptism as the entrance into divine life (which we get to celebrate today), because baptism gives you full citizenship in the Kingdom of God. AND according to John 6, worthily eating His flesh and drinking His blood gives us LIFE within us. Through all His teachings… Jesus wants to guide us to His Kingdom and teach us how to live a REAL fulfilling life in it.

But in order to shift gears a bit, we mentioned before that a good King has to identify threats to His kingdom. And there’s a few out there that we could focus on, but I think one that might be affecting the most people right now on a wide scale is the attack of despair. I’ve noticed it in my students, in my directees, and just in the random conversions one might have. Despair is the emotion that states, things are bad and they are not going to get better. The reason this is a very deadly attack is because it is the opposite of one of the most important graces or gifts that Jesus wants to give us, and that is hope. Hope is the ability to recognize the reality of the struggle in front of you, while having the strength to live through it. Hope is all about internal motion. Not allowing bad circumstances to fundamentally change you for the worse. Again, despair drains us and almost locks us into place unable to move. Hope moves us forward, despair locks us down.

In short, there’s a temptation when we feel despair to change our loyalty into ANYTHING that promises to fix life quickly. We compromise, we self-medicate … things we call sin. Short term pleasure that harms us in the long run … all because we don’t see any way things will get better.

But that’s why we need Christ as our King. Jesus died and literally came back from His own death. In God’s mercy, this showed us that whatever sad thing we’re experiencing now, in the end, God is stronger than it. Think of the time that all the disciples were in a boat and they were in the sea and there was a huge storm raging around them … and Jesus was asleep. The disciples were panicking, looking at the storm, trying to row themselves out of it. It was only when they turned to Jesus for help did the calm come.

Overall, it’s time to identify who you serve. Where is your focus, attention. Most of the time, where do your thoughts dwell? If it is on the saddening state of the world, there will be the temptation to just fixate on the brokenness which will only lead to despair? Giving into despair is, in a way, like saying the problems I’m facing are stronger than God. That is when the problems take their place as our ruler, as our king.

So, like the disciples in the boat, when you’re tempted to give in, is it finally time to turn toward Jesus. Ask Him for the gift of hope. Hope is NOT burying your head in the sand. Hope is the ability to see with clarity the problems that I’m facing are serious, they need to be dealt with, BUT they aren’t going to define my life. You and I still need to move, and live, and act in this world of pressure and sadness, but with Hope, we can still be at peace no matter what is happening. Our main goal is perfection in heaven, with hope I can still get better in the face of anything.

Overall, today we celebrate Christ our king. A king is a good leader who teaches and protects. A king also identifies threats to His kingdom and I today we identified a pretty big one. Despair. It tempts us to say that my problems are stronger than God. But again, like the disciples in the middle of the storm, turn toward Jesus and acknowledge Him as stronger. The rest of this mass, especially if you are prepared to receive the Eucharist today, ask our Lord and King to help us see Him for who He is … Your good and loving leader. Ask Him to speak to your specific despair today and ask for words of hope. All you have to do is receive them, and remain under His strong protection. May Jesus Christ our King be praised.