Christ the King Sunday

This sermon is from Christ the King Sunday. 

Here are the readings. And again it includes references to a reading from some members of the parish. And I will look for a link to their epistle to the congregation. 

            Last week in Sunday School we did a unit rewind. This meant that we went over our last six lessons and tried to remember what it was we had learned: the different Bible Stories and try to see if there were any larger themes. As a teacher, this is a scary moment. It’s the moment you realize it's quite possible that you haven't taught your students anything. But then you find some faith, and have some confidence that the kids have been learning the stories, and connecting their faith to the things happening in their everyday life. After we had recalled the stories and some of the lessons and activities, I asked, "What have you learned about who God is and what God is like this fall in Sunday School that you didn't know before?" After a little time had passed, and some silence and fidgeting, Jahzara, a fourth grader shared her thoughts. She said "I learned that God has very different moods and that the moods change a lot." This is not a moment of the purity or simplicity of a child's faith rather it is the sophistication. I have been thinking a lot about the mood of God this past week. Especially as we are celebrating the last Sunday of our church year this week with Christ the King (or more gender neutrally the Reign of Christ)--and next week will start our new church year with the first Sunday of advent, waiting for the arrival of the Christ Child. This is a big mood swing.

            The Reign of Christ is a Sunday of celebration. Glad for the authority of Jesus and the coming of his Kingdom. The language of reign and king suggest finery, castles, gold, ultimate power and dominion. But we are in for a mood shift then when we encounter our Gospel text. The reality of the reign of Christ is God on a Cross--unable to save himself from death. Mocked and scorned by his inability to change his fate. It is immediately clear then that king, reign and kingdom are going to mean something very different than we (and all of Jesus' followers) expect them too. This is a very different model of king, and will mean a very different kingdom. The two crooks who die on either side of Jesus demonstrate two different understandings of Kingdom. The one wants to be saved from death, and wants Jesus to prove his power, his messianic state, in that saving. The other crook knows better. He addresses Jesus simply, and with intimacy saying "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." This man understands who Jesus is, and understands that it will be a different kind of kingdom. 

            In our Bible Study this fall we have been studying the Kingdom of God in Luke's Gospel. Sometimes it has been a frustrating study as Jesus never seems to come out and say just what he means by the kingdom of God. I think some of the attendees of our Bible Study were frustrated by me too--because every time one of them asked me, as the teacher: what is the kingdom of God, I tended to ask them, "well...what do you think?" Even Jesus was more clear when he compares the kingdom to a mustard seed, or to a shepherd who goes who leaves 99 sheep and goes after 1 who is missing. Over the course of reading Jesus talk about this kingdom so frequently we did learn a few things. It wasn't going to be a kingdom like other earthly kingdoms. It occurs in striving for it. It's values are not wealth and power and dominion, rather they are love and servanthood and stewardship of our planet and of those most in need. Finally we learned that the Kingdom of God is something that happens in relationship to one another in our church community.

             The values and ideals of the kingdom of God are our values and ideals as the Church--as the body of Christ here on earth. We don't always achieve those ideals--in fact the church and we all have a tendency to fall awfully short. In that falling short though we are reminded of our dependence on God, and our need for God. Our striving for those ideals of love, justice, servanthood and stewardship as a group as a community is what enacts the kingdom of God and brings it forth. I want to focus on that last word of the ideals of the kingdom of God though: stewardship. This Sunday is another mood shift for us at St. Ann's because it is that last Sunday of our month of Stewardship epistles and next Sunday will be when we ask people to start to consider what their pledge for 2014 might be. This stewardship reflects our care for one another, the value we understanding intrinsic in our relationships with one another and with God, and our realization that with our mutual striving we can make a difference here on the corner of Clinton and Montague. This morning at our bake sale we are striving for good, creating a name for ourselves among our neighbors that we care about feeding those who are hungry, and that we know some ways we can connect to that need. Our monthly outreach projects have been met with considerable outpouring--it reflects our community's intense desire to give--our need to give, and I think we are all very glad that our church is  becoming a place where we can give more and more. In order to continue and grow our outreach programs, and to begin some sustained cultural programing we are going to need to ask for every one's help. The stewardship of this community is necessary. Our church needs the financial support of those of us who regularly sit in its pews. And we will need the time and talent to support new efforts and to try new things.

            Marc and Josef's epistle this morning about aspirations for the future at St. Ann & the Holy Trinity made me think about both what my aspirations are here and how those of us who are new-er here take part in that visioning. I have been here a little over a year and a half--maybe it's almost a year and three quarters--but I think I still retain a veneer of newness. There is just so much that feels possible here. I have a tremendous amount of faith and hope for what we might be able to do here, along with God's help. Some of those things we might do have a lot to do with mission, and ensuring that we are being fed by our outreach programing and that we are also feeding others. But some of the things we might do are successes like out Early Church service, that has really, really grown. It's liturgy seems to speak to the lives of busy folk and families who appreciate the casual and warm atmosphere we've cultivated here. That service does a good job creating community in a new way around here. I wonder what else we might do in the week to reach some people who live in this neighborhood? So many of you travel from further and distant neighborhoods in Brooklyn to be a part of this special, spirit filled place, but during the week we might be able to reach some more folks who live and work in this area in some new and innovative ways.

            One of the things that really interested me as I read Marc and Josef's letter was that we are becoming something new. The influx of new folks like Marc and Josef who are figuring out how to contribute and be a part of this community will necessarily mean that we will be something new in the coming year. The pledge of new folks time, talent and treasure will mean we gain some skills and expertise as a community that we didn't have before. We will be ready to respond to new things in new ways. Or perhaps, in Jahzara's words: we will be ready to respond to God's different moods. And we don't just have to have newcomers be the leaders of our becoming something new. As we wind down our month of Stewardship letters and sermons, we have an opportunity to consider all together and as individuals, what are our aspirations here? How will our pledges of time, talent and treasure help us towards those goals? What can we do to better live into the Kingdom of God, and celebrate Jesus' reign in our lives? What we become, how we better become Jesus' missional body of Christ in the world is dependent on the contributions of this entire community. As we all give though, I can promise too that we will be fed together. We will be fed in our relationship with God, in our relationships with one another, and in our Eucharistic meal where we share the Body and Blood. AMEN.