As I began recording this episode I realized there were two episodes running around in my head and I was trying to cram it all into one. I am looking at Christ the King Sunday from two angles today. This one is why it is important for Christians to re-up their covenant commitment to the Lord as King and what that means. When the feast day was installed in the liturgical calendar by the Roman Catholic church in 1925 it was because Pope Pius XI saw something in the culture that greatly alarmed him and others like Gresham Machen saw it too (if you don't know Machen, follow that link to a short primer on the man, it's worth it). They saw it also in the church, and instituting an annual remembrance of Christ as the King was begun. Here is what Pius XI said he hoped to gain from this and I believe even we Protestants can agree with the importance of these particular aim. . "If to Christ our Lord is given all power in heaven and on earth; if all men, purchased by his precious blood, are by a new right subjected to his dominion; if this power embraces all men, it must be clear that not one of our faculties is exempt from his empire. He must reign in our minds, which should assent with perfect submission and firm belief to revealed truths and to the doctrines of Christ. He must reign in our wills, which should obey the laws and precepts of God. He must reign in our hearts, which should spurn natural desires and love God above all things, and cleave to him alone. He must reign in our bodies and in our members, which should serve as instruments for the interior sanctification of our souls, or to use the words of the Apostle Paul, as instruments of justice unto God."
