May God’s Kingdom come on earth...
Dear friends,
This Sunday is the last Sunday of church Year B. Our church calendar calls it the Feast of Christ the King. Our readings are filled with kingly language and images of Christ’s kingship, thrones, crowns, majesty, and sovereignty. We end our year by recalling our Savior’s reign, his Kingdom coming on earth in glimpses and in heaven someday.
Even as we ask questions about God’s kingship, we’re getting ready for the manger, which presents us with Jesus the baby, ready to come among us and grow up again. Each year, we watch the King who reigns at the end of the year come as a helpless infant to grow up, die, and be resurrected. Over and over, we live the story.
Maybe you wonder, what’s the point? In the words of T.S. Elliot, “to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.” We study a King and a baby, so different from each other, but the same, able to teach us about ourselves and God. Jesus, The way, The truth, and The life. King of all that is, and ever will be.
Years ago, I built a stone labyrinth in my yard. It’s a large, round pathway, inspired by one I first saw at a convent of the Sisters of the Poor Handmaidens in rural Indiana. My neighbors thought it looked like some sort of launch pad. The man who works in my yard thinks it’s a lot of trouble to weed. But when I walk on it, it always encourages me to slow down and pray.
Yesterday I thought about the conflict and trouble in our world. From the church to our work to our homes, conflict is inevitable and everywhere, part of life. And flawed as we may think our church is sometimes, we wouldn’t know much about God’s kingdom without it. We do want everything to be made right, our conflicts settled, loved ones made well, and life to be easier, we want it now!
My longing tells me God’s kingdom has not fully arrived, as Jesus says, “It’s not of this world,” yet. The Kingdom will come someday, in fullness, because God loves us and is faithful, but now we only see glimpses.
Jesus trusts us with his message and calls us to witness his truth in our lives, inviting us to be born again with new life. He invites us to love each other into a new Kingdom on earth and in heaven, right now.
An old legend says that when Jesus finally got to heaven the angels asked him who he had left behind to finish what he started. “Just a small band of men and women who love me, he answered. “That’s all?” the angels said, more than just a little worried. “But what if they should fail?” Jesus said, “I have no other plans.”
As we anticipate Advent and Jesus’ coming, I give thanks for you and your ministry. I invite us to give thanks that we worship a King who is sovereign and whose judgment is mercy and love. May God’s Kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven. And I hope I see you at church!
Blessings,
Bishop G