Reflection for 21 November 2010

Year C Proper 21 - Reign of Christ 21 November 2010
Jeremiah 23: 1-6 Luke 1: 68-79 Colossians 1: 11-20 Luke 23: 33-43

Once upon a long time ago, people were waiting for the promised salvation of God. Then Jesus came and he was often not recognised for who he was and he was rejected by the very same people who were eager for his coming.

This week’s readings celebrate the reign of Christ. We look towards a time when Jesus is King over all and his kingdom ...on earth as it is in heaven. But is it possible that we have fallen into the same trap as the ancient people? Are we looking forward to something while not recognising what it is that we have right here?

Jesus will come again in glory, but for each of us we have a personal responsibility to respond to Christ right now. He already reigns and should have reign and kingship over our lives – but he gave us free will and waits for us to freely serve him.

We read in the Gospel that Jesus uses the word “today”. Luke 1:42,43 “ Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.” We are God’s people today and Christ is our King today, but do our lives bear witness to this reality?

The place that Christ holds has to be different in our lives from those who believe that Jesus was a “good bloke”. There are plenty who hold to this and believe his teachings to be good and wise, but they aren’t the Church. As Church and therefore, the body of Christ we need to say, “Jesus, I will accept your will and your wish is my command....” that is the attitude of the servants of a king.

Colossians shows us that this is no ordinary “good bloke” that we are serving: Colossians 1:18-20 “And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.”

Anyone who claims to be the body of Christ – part of the Church and yet denies the deity of Christ is NOT part of Christ’s body.

Within Jesus the fullness of God dwells. He is God. But is he the kind of king who would demand hard things from us and treat us cruelly? You know sometimes we think that he is, but we should know better. This is Jesus who made peace for us - between us and God – by shedding his blood on the cross. There is nothing Jesus asks of us that he hasn’t done for us more so. Christ died for us and yet we have trouble with seemingly simple things like forgiving others.

Luke 23:34 “Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” We have been forgiven much and are asked to do the same with others.

As servants of our God - our King we are also given responsibility and this responsibility comes to us not just as servants but as the royal children of God. I noticed on the news tonight that Prince William has gone to visit the troops in Iraq. This is one of the duties that befall a person of royalty. In the words of Spiderman; “with great power comes great responsibility”.

We are inheritors of this heavenly kingdom along with Christ and we have an amazing privilege through Christ’s sacrifice, of undeserved favour with God, who strengthens and gifts us; Colossians 1: 11,12 “ being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light.”

As inheritors of this Kingdom we are called to prepare for Christs coming. We prepare others and ourselves for his glorious second coming, but we also need to prepare the way for others to meet Christ personally. That is, to bring others into this same relationship of privilege. In many ways, and especially at this time of year, we align ourselves with the mission that was given to John the Baptist – to prepare the way for the coming of the Lord.

Luke 1:76 “76 And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him, 77 to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, 78 because of the tender mercy of our God,...”

Like it or not we have a responsibility and we need to heed the warning from our first reading, because as the body of Christ, we all are in some form called to be shepherd of God’s flock: Jeremiah 23:1,2 1 “Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of my pasture!” declares the LORD. 2 Therefore this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says to the shepherds who tend my people: “Because you have scattered my flock and driven them away and have not bestowed care on them, I will bestow punishment on you for the evil you have done,” declares the LORD.

It begs the question; Did the people know they were leading people astray? Did the Pharisees of Jesus time know that they were encouraging people to reject Jesus? I believe that many of them thought they were serving God in what they were doing – St. Paul being a prime example as he persecuted the Church thinking that he was protecting the faith in doing so. So, in this case, how can we know that we are walking in the way that God wants and doing his perfect will?

The answer is simple: Allow Jesus to be King in our lives. When we do this and consciously surrender our will to his then we will be led by his Holy Spirit. Christianity is a living relationship. Where other religions may have set structures and methods, we know that there is nothing we can do to earn our way into God’s “good books” – we are there already because of Jesus. He has given his Holy Spirit and promised to be with us always. It is only right that we make him the ruler of our lives – to do anything else is to deny reality.

Colossians1: 15 - 20 “The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.