Tag: Christ the King

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Sermon: Christ the King Sunday RCL C

Things you didn’t know (probably):

  • The oldest goldfish lived to be 43 years. 
  • The real name for a hashtag is an “octothorpe”. 
  • Before 2011, beer was considered a soft drink in Russia. 
  • It is impossible to hum while holding your nose. (As you will all be curious about that one, and not hear the sermon until you try, go ahead.)
  • A group of cats can be called a clowder, or a cluster, or a glaring, or a nuisance, or a pounce, or a clutter.
  • More than half of the world’s population is under 30 years old. 
  • The plastic tip on the end of a shoelace is called an “aglet”. 
  • The Caesar salad was created in Tijuana, Mexico, by an Italian immigrant named Caesar Cardini. 

It’s always good to be teachable and to learn new things. I never even thought about holding my nose while trying to hum until I read that (and tried). I would like to say that as I prepare sermons and teachings, I already know and understand it all, but each week I learn something new or gain a deeper understanding. This week was no different, even though it was something I already knew, I saw it with more clarity and fullness. 

Today is the last Sunday of the Church Year: Christ the King Sunday—the day we celebrate the Kingship of our Savior, Jesus. When I reflect on this and the Kingdom of God, I’ve always viewed it as a Kingdom outside of myself. A Kingdom that I can walk through and work in. A Kingdom that I, if it is God’s will, can help move forward. But this week, I heard Jesus’ words in a different way. Which words were those? “The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is within you.”

For me, Christ is the King I come before, kneel before, and desire to serve to the best of my abilities. I try to do His bidding as a faithful servant in His Kingdom, which is around me. However, what happens when I say, “Not only do I live and work in the Kingdom of God, but the Kingdom of God lives and works within me?” I understand God’s Holy Spirit working in me, just as I understand accepting Jesus into my heart, but what does it mean to have God’s Kingdom working within me?

What prompted me to meditate on this were the words in the notebook On Prayer by Origen of Alexandria, a second-century priest. He writes, “The kingdom of God, in the words of our Lord and Savior, does not come for all to see… Thus it is clear that he who prays for the coming of God’s kingdom prays rightly to have it within himself, that there it may grow and bear fruit and become perfect…. The Father is present in the perfect soul, and with him Christ reigns, according to the words: We shall come to him and make our home with him.” And a little further, Origen says, “There should be in us a kind of spiritual paradise where God may walk and be our sole ruler with his Christ. In us the Lord will sit at the right hand of that spiritual power which we wish to receive. And he will sit there until all his enemies who are within us become his footstool, and every principality [and power] in us is cast out.”

Listen to these words:

“God is the King of all the earth!” (Psalm 47:7)

“The Lord reigns; let the peoples tremble!” (Psalm 99:1)

“Who would not fear you, O King of the nations?” (Jeremiah 10:7)

“King of kings and Lord of lords.” (Revelation 19:16)

“The LORD is king forever and ever.” (Psalm 10:16)

What if we said that Jesus is Lord, Jesus is King, out there, but also in here? What if we understood that this King of all the earth can and will conquer His enemies in this world, but can also conquer the enemies within our souls? What would happen if you let the King of kings and Lord of lords reign within you to rule not only over your external life but also over your internal one? St. Paul tells us that “our God is a consuming fire.” (Hebrews 12:29) What if we allowed that consuming fire to burn within? Allowed is the right word because, so often, we hold God in check. 

Do you remember the story of Charlemagne, the Holy Roman Emperor? He wanted to conquer the world for Christianity and insisted that all his soldiers be baptized. They did. All but one hand was submerged, and in that hand they held a sword. It was a statement that declared there bodies belonged to God, but that hand and that sword belonged to Charlemagne. When we say we want the consuming fire of the King of kings to reign within us, like those soldiers, we sometimes tuck away a few things in a fireproof room, because we’re willing to let God rule most of our lives but keep a few exceptions. Those few exceptions are the problem. Those few exceptions are what prevent us from fully submitting to the Kingship of Christ, which then causes a ripple effect, impacting not only the Kingdom of God within us but also the Kingdom of God in this world.

All I know about her is that her name is Amy and she is on the internet. (I promise this is not some weird story about me falling in love with the operating system on my computer.) Amy is someone who posts content online, and I’ve seen two of her posts. Anyway, she tells the story of going to the grocery store. At the checkout, standing in line in front of her is a man in his 70s. As they wait, one of the cashiers approaches and says, “Sorry, this line is closed, you’ll have to go to that one.” Amy does so, but the older man looks a bit confused, so he continues to stand there. After a minute, the cashier returns to him and repeats herself, and he understands. He moves toward the line she is in, but since she’s shifted, four more people are now behind her. Amy steps forward.

“You were in line in front of me,” she says. “You can go ahead of me.”

“Are you sure?” he asks. “Are you sure I was in front of you?” Amy assures him that he was, and he says, “Thank you for your honesty. It doesn’t happen very often anymore, and I really appreciate you being honest.” She tells him it’s no problem, but he continues, “It is such an odd world that we live in now, and I don’t know what to think of it anymore.”

She says, “Yeah, it is an odd ball world. I agree with you. It’s odd. Things are not going well for society right now.”

He responds, “Sometimes I’m happy that my life is almost over so that I don’t have to live in this world anymore.”

Amy later asked herself, “What if letting someone get in front of you in the line at the grocery store is a massive gesture of kindness? We have to do better as a society.”

If letting someone in front of us in line at the grocery store is the greatest act of kindness we can perform, then there’s not only something wrong with society, but also something deeply wrong with us. If someone is happy that they are nearing the end of their life because of how they are treated in the world, then the One who said, “Love one another as I have loved you,” is not the King of our lives. What is the solution? 

Today in our Gospel reading, we heard about Jesus’ crucifixion. After those standing around and one of the others who had been crucified with Him finished taunting Him, the good thief said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” He had no hope of reaching Heaven for himself, but he at least wanted to be remembered. However, Jesus said to him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”

In this context, we see paradise as something to come; however, what did Origen say? “There should be in us a kind of spiritual paradise where God may walk and be our sole ruler with his Christ.” We are to create within ourselves a paradise where the King of Heaven and the “King of all the earth” can be the King within so that He might rule every aspect of our lives, and that, my friends, is a scary thing. St. Paul said in his letter to the Hebrews, “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” (Hebrews 10:31) It is a fearful thing to fall into God’s hands to be ruled, but I will guarantee you this: it will be a far more fearful thing to fall into His hands to be judged.

Within, many choose to establish their own kingdom and sit on a throne they’ve created for themselves so they might rule over their own lives. However, a wise person will realize that within they can create a paradise for the very Kingdom of God, and within that Kingdom, there can be a throne where the King of Glory is permitted to take His rightful seat. Your soul and this world need the Kingdom of God.

Allow yourself to be consumed by the fire of God so that He may reign in your life as the Righteous King.

Let us pray:
May the light of Christ, the King of all, 
shine brighter in our hearts, 
that with all the saints in light,
we may shine forth as lights in the world.
Amen.

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Sermon: Christ the King RCL A – “His Reign”

King Henry VIII’s title: “Henry the Eighth, by the Grace of God, King of England, France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith and of the Church of England and also of Ireland in Earth Supreme Head.” A lot to remember, but relatively short when considering the late Prince Philip’s title consisted of 133 words.

The Royals. The British monarchy seems to have lost something since the death of Queen Elizabeth, but their lives are still interesting and, when you dig a little below the surface, a bit odd.

It is fairly common knowledge that you don’t touch a member of the royal family unless initiated by one of them, and then only a handshake, and that the King is not required to have a driver’s license. However, other aspects of their lives…

Everyone must weigh in before and after the meal when invited to Christmas dinner. According to Edward VII, who set the rule, you didn’t have fun if you didn’t gain any weight.

Queen Elizabeth had someone break in her shoes. According to an aide, “a flunky wears in Her Majesty’s shoes to ensure that they are comfortable and that she is always good to go.” However, it seems that Charles is a bit more prissy; after each wearing, someone must iron his shoelaces. 

So that Charles does not become overtaxed too early in the day, he requires his valet to “squeeze one inch of toothpaste onto his toothbrush every morning.”

That’s only the beginning of oddities, but all this to say, “It really is good to be King (or Queen.)” It also proves the point of the prophets of Israel who told the people, “You really don’t want a king.”

We’ve been studying the Book of Judges on Sunday mornings and recently been covering Gideon. We’re soon going to learn that after a great victory, the people want to make Gideon their king, but Gideon says to them, “I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you; the Lord will rule over you.” (Judges 8:23) However, during Gideon’s lifetime, he had seventy sons (more than one wife.) Two of the sons were Jotham and Abimelech. Jotham was good, Abimelech, not so much. After the death of Gideon, Abimelech decided that he did, in fact, want to be king. Concerned that one of his sixty-nine brothers might have similar ideas, he murdered them all except Jotham, who was in hiding. 

On the day of Abimilech’s installation as king, Jotham came out of hiding and prophesied against Abimilech and his followers. Jotham told them a parable, “Listen to me, you leaders of Shechem, that God may listen to you. The trees once went out to anoint a king over them, and they said to the olive tree, ‘Reign over us.’ But the olive tree said to them, ‘Shall I leave my abundance, by which gods and men are honored, and go hold sway over the trees?’ And the trees said to the fig tree, ‘You come and reign over us.’ But the fig tree said to them, ‘Shall I leave my sweetness and my good fruit and go hold sway over the trees?’ And the trees said to the vine, ‘You come and reign over us.’ But the vine said to them, ‘Shall I leave my wine that cheers God and men and go hold sway over the trees?’ Then all the trees said to the bramble, ‘You come and reign over us.’ And the bramble said to the trees, ‘If in good faith you are anointing me king over you, then come and take refuge in my shade, but if not, let fire come out of the bramble and devour the cedars of Lebanon.’” (Judges 9:7b-15)

In the parable, the fig tree and the vine represent men who would have made good leaders for the people. Yet, like Gideon, the others recognized that they were doing good in their current position. They also recognized that the best king the people could have was the Lord, so they refused the position. However, the thornbush—Abimelech—thought he should be king despite his father’s promise that none of his sons would serve as king. When you think of the bramble or thornbush, you know that it grows through the forest, living off the life of the other trees. Eventually, it chokes the life out of them. In saying this, Jotham is saying that Abimelech will be a king who lives off the wealth of the others until he will choke the life out of them. If they do not submit to him, fire will come out of the thornbush and consume. In other words, if they do not submit, Abimelech will make war against them and destroy them completely.

Jotham was imploring the people to submit to the reign of the King of Heaven so that the would-be King Abimelech would not destroy them. The people did not listen, and it happened as Jotham had prophesied. Abimelech was eventually killed in battle, but the idea of having a king never left the people. Later, they would ask again for one, and after warning them, the Lord allowed it. Over 450 years, Israel would have forty different kings and great turmoil. Wars amongst themselves, political murders, coups, and more. It all led to the eventual destruction of everything in 70 A.D.

Having a monarch or even elected officials that act like it is never a good idea, and like with the Israelites, it never works out. They may start with good intentions, but the lure of more power, corruption, outside influences, jealousy, and whatnot cause them to fall to pieces in the end. If we were to take all of these problems and roll them into one biblical word, that word would be “evil.” Why does the evil flourish under such circumstances? Because God is placed on the sideline, and human interests and desires are raised up as new gods worthy of our devotion and attention.

In 1925, having witnessed the ravages of World War I and the work of earthly kings, Pope Pius XI issued the encyclical Quas Primas—translated “In the First.” Pius writes, “In my first letter…I referred to the chief causes of the difficulties under which mankind was laboring.   I remember saying that these manifold evils in the world were due to the fact that the majority of men had thrust Jesus Christ and his holy law out of their lives; that these had no place either in private affairs or in politics: I said further, that as long as individuals and states refused to submit to the rule of our Savior, there would be no really hopeful prospect of a lasting peace among nations. Men must look for the peace of Christ in the Kingdom of Christ…. In the Kingdom of Christ, that is, it seemed to me that peace could not be more effectually restored nor fixed upon a firmer basis than through the restoration of the Empire of Our Lord.” (Source)

Abimilech’s little kingdom and the Kingdoms of Israel didn’t work out. A survey of history easily demonstrates that no kingdom has ever truly survived, except maybe in name. So what is the world to do? Pius suggested we establish the Empire of Our Lord. He suggests that we make Christ the King! Quas Primas established the feast day that we celebrate today—Christ the King and what it suggests is quite radical, but as Jesus said to Pilate, “My kingdom is not of this world.” (John 18:36a)

Jesus, Pius, and the Church have always taught us that we, as a Christian people, are not looking for earthly rule. As has been proven, that does not work. So, instead, we seek to have Christ Jesus rule in the hearts of all people. To allow the King of Kings to instruct us and to guide and direct us daily. When we do this, we put something much larger than ourselves into motion. As the Lord begins to rule in our lives, then he begins to rule in our families. When He rules in our families, then His influence and reign can begin to extend beyond us into those around us. As His Kingdom expands, the Empire of Our Lord becomes a reality. 

We are free to fight it and deny it, but in the end, Christ will rule over all—the righteous and the unrighteous, for as St. Paul tells us, “God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:10-11)

There will always be many persons and things that seek to reign over your life. Abimelechs of a sort that would have you submit to them. Resist them and bend your knee only to the one who died for you and rose again. Confess Jesus as Lord of your life that He might lead you into His Eternal Kingdom.

Let us pray: Almighty and merciful God, you break the power of evil and make all things new in your Son Jesus Christ, the King of the universe. May all in heaven and earth acclaim your glory and never cease to praise you. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

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Sermon: Christ the King RCL C

Rebecca thought it was time for her family to expand their social circle. So she and her husband David invited a bunch of different people for dinner. But early on, things weren’t looking so good.

Ralph, an insurance salesman, monopolized the conversation with a lengthy account of recent litigation he was involved with. Since two other guests were lawyers, Rebecca was becoming increasingly uneasy.

“In the end, Ralph concluded, “you know who got all the money.”

Rebecca and David cringed.

“The lawyers!” Ralph shouted.

There was embarrassed silence at the table. Rebecca’s heart was pounding until the wife of one lawyer said, “Oh, I so love a story with a happy ending.”

Every year on Christmas Day, we read Isaiah 9:2-7. Verses six and seven are:

“For to us a child is born,
    to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
    and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Of the increase of his government and of peace
    there will be no end,
on the throne of David and over his kingdom,
    to establish it and to uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
    from this time forth and forevermore.”

These are words that were written 700 years before the birth of Christ. For those 700 years, the people were waiting and watching for this king to come. Several individuals rose in prominence that some believed were this long-awaited king, but in the end, they were disappointed. There was no happy ending, but then a spark of hope. A message came to a young woman.

From Luke, chapter one: “In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary.” It is the opening of the scene of the Annunciation. Using the words that Isaiah had spoken 700 years prior, Gabriel said to Mary, “You will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

The child grew, and many began to follow him and believe he was the long-awaited king. In John’s Gospel, we are told that there was one incident—although it likely happened more than once—where the people gathered around Jesus to take him by force and make him king (cf. John 6:15), but he avoided them. And then there was the day he arrived in Jerusalem. The people were waving palm branches and laying down their cloaks so that the donkey Jesus rode upon would have them to walk upon. The waving of palm branches was a sign of royalty, and the laying down of cloaks symbolized the peoples’ submission to a king, who they obviously believed was Jesus, because, in addition to those symbols, they shouted, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” A happy ending in the making that turned sour quickly.

“When they came to the place that is called The Skull, they crucified Jesus there with the criminals, one on his right and one on his left.”

I know. Too much reading this morning, but Cardinal Schönborn says it best: “It sounds like mockery when at the end of his Gospel Luke the Evangelist has to recount what became of all the great hopes from this Savior of his people. His throne has turned into the Cross, that place of torture; for company, he has two robbers, one to the right and one to the left of him. The homage he receives is the mockery of those who have set this ‘throne’ up for him, and as the ultimate in nastiness, a notice over the head of the man who is dying in such torment states the reason for his crucifixion: ‘This is the King of the Jews.’” (Jesus, the Divine Physician: Reflections on the Gospel During the Year of Luke, p.158)

After all those years of waiting and hoping for the promised king yet, when he arrived… they put him to death. We know the rest of the story, but if we put ourselves in the place of those who witnessed the crucifixion, then this was certainly not a happy ending to the story. Instead, it was the worse possible ending. And not only did they put him to death, but in the end, they all failed to understand who he was.

When Jesus said, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing,” he wasn’t simply asking the Father to pity them. In an unemotional way, Jesus was saying, “They truly don’t understand.” They failed to comprehend. And it wasn’t just the religious leaders or the Romans who failed to understand. It was also his followers, even the disciples. 

Shortly before his crucifixion, Jesus told the disciples about all that would happen, but the Scriptures say, “But they understood none of these things. This saying was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what was said.” After his resurrection, Jesus meets the two dejected disciples on the road to Emmaus. They say, “Oh, we had so much hope in this Jesus. He was going to redeem Israel”—essentially, “He was going to be our king.” And what did Jesus say to them? “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” “Father, forgive them… they just don’t know.” But there was one. One person who finally understood.

“One of the criminals who were hanged there kept deriding him and saying, ‘Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us!’ But the other rebuked him, saying, ‘Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed have been condemned justly, for we are getting what we deserve for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong.’ Then he said, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’ 

No one, from the greatest to the least, understood who Jesus was except for a single condemned man who, knowing he was dying, saw in the face and person of Jesus, his Eternal King. In seeing him, he asked only to be remembered. He didn’t want to have lived his life—flawed though it was—and be forgotten. He just wanted Jesus, one person, to remember that he had lived, and by simply asking, he was not only remembered but given access to Paradise, the eternal kingdom of our God. Jesus said to him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”

Today is Christ the King Sunday. It is the last Sunday of the church year. Next Sunday is the First Sunday of Advent, and we begin the story again. We’ve spent this year primarily hearing about Jesus from Luke’s perspective. Next year it will be Matthew’s. 

In our travel through Luke, with all that we’ve read and heard, there are a great many lessons. Enough theology to fill libraries. John said at the end of his Gospel, “Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.” That is true. We can make the Gospel deep and even difficult to understand, but if we were to ask Luke, “What were the most important things you told us?” He might remind us of the prayer of the tax collector, who, standing in the Temple, would not look up to Heaven and, while beating his breast, prayed, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” And I think he would also remind us of the words of the thief that we heard today, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” For it is not the depth of our understanding or any works—small or great—that allow us entry into the Eternal Kingdom. No. Instead, it is our willingness to come before Jesus—before God—and acknowledge our need for His mercy and then to see in the face and person of the crucified king, the Eternal King. The moment we pray and submit ourselves to Christ Jesus’ reign over our lives is the moment the angels sing, and Jesus speaks: “Behold, I make all things new,” and the gates of the Kingdom of God are opened to us.

“Oh, I so love a story with a happy ending.”

Let us pray: O Lord God, King of heaven and earth, may it please You to order and to hallow, to rule and to govern our hearts and our bodies, our thoughts, our words, and our works, according to Your law and in the doing of Your commandments, that we, being helped by You, may here and hereafter worthily be saved and delivered by You, O Savior of the world, who lives and reigns forever and ever. Amen.

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Sermon: Christ the King Sunday RCL B – “What have you done?”

Photo by Pro Church Media on Unsplash

Boudreaux’s entire family was gathered and looking over his momma’s shoulder as she flipped through an old photo album. She eventually came across a picture of her holding baby Boudreaux in one hand and a coconut cream pie with a mile high meringue in the other.

“My pride and joy,” momma said, smiling.

Boudreaux almost got weepy until his momma said, “Won the blue ribbon at the state fair pie cook-off.”

I suppose when some folks remember us, we’ll always be in second place in their life—if not further back—to a blue ribbon pie or something less, but hopefully there will be a few that remember us a bit more fondly. But have you ever wondered what your younger self would remember and think of you today? One person who did was Elie Wiesel.

Elie died in 2016 at age eighty-seven, having as a boy survived the Nazi concentration camps. His parents and one of his sisters did not survive. He would emigrate to the United States and become a writer and professor, promoting human rights and was a great advocate for the Jewish people. In 2003, the Los Angeles Times declared him, “the most important Jew in America”. Earlier, in 1986 he won the Nobel Peace Prize. During his acceptance speech, he made the following remarks about those early days in Germany.

I remember: it happened yesterday or eternities ago. A young Jewish boy discovered the kingdom of night. I remember his bewilderment, I remember his anguish. It all happened so fast. The ghetto. The deportation. The sealed cattle car. The fiery altar upon which the history of our people and the future of mankind were meant to be sacrificed.

I remember: he asked his father: “Can this be true?” This is the twentieth century, not the Middle Ages. Who would allow such crimes to be committed? How could the world remain silent?

And then he wondered what his younger self would ask. He said, And now the boy is turning to me: “Tell me,” he asks. “What have you done with my future? What have you done with your life?”

Although our own lives may not have been as hard and difficult as Elie’s, we can speak of the events of our lives in a similar way. I remember when difficult things happened in my life, but I also remember the good: from the day I was ordained a priest to the day I gave last rites to a four year old little girl. So many different events in between, good and bad. And I know that you all can tell of similar events. I also know, as with Elie, the young boy or girl within us turns to us and says, “Tell me. What have you done with my future? What have you done with your life?”

As for Jesus, think of the things he could remember. I remember calling the first of the disciples and the beheading of John the Baptist. I remember the temptations in the wilderness and I remember the look on the people’s faces as they were fed with a few loaves of bread and a couple of fish. I remember how I was arrested in the garden and I remember the blind man seeing for the first time in his life. But for Jesus, it was not the little boy within him who asked, What have you done with your life. Instead, it was Pilate.

As we read in our Gospel: Pilate asked Jesus, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus answered, “Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?” Pilate replied, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me.” And then Pilate asks, “What have you done?” What have you done with your life that has brought you to this point?

How any of us answer those types of questions communicates our legacy. How we will be remembered by our friends and family.

Elie Wiesel, says that he answers the little boy in himself by telling him, “I have tried. That I have tried to keep memory alive, that I have tried to fight those who would forget. Because if we forget, we are guilty, we are accomplices.”

As for myself, it depends on the day. On some days I tell my younger self that I have tried to make a difference. That I tried to follow God to the best of my abilities. That I tried to be true to my calling. Other days, the devil shouts me down.

As for Jesus, Pilate went onto say to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”

Jesus, what have you done with your life that has brought you to this point? And Jesus answers, “I came into this world and I have testified to the truth. For I am the way and the truth and the life. I came into this world that God’s people might have life and have it abundantly.”

Today is Christ the King Sunday. It is the last Sunday of the Church year. Next Sunday, The First Sunday of Advent, we begin the story again. Over the last twelve months, we have added another year to how we can answer the young child in us: what have you done with my future? What have you done with your life? For each of us, there will be moments that we are proud of and moments we regret, successes and failures, but each of us, through our faith in our One True King, can report to our younger selves that if nothing else, we have secured our eternal future in the Kingdom of our God. A Kingdom where our remembered lives are redeemed and our past sins are forgiven. A Kingdom where we are allowed entry, not because of what we have done, but because of what Jesus has done.

Today, I invite you to take a deep breath and to let it out slowly and begin again. As we learned a few weeks ago in our Wednesday night study: for the Christian person, each new day is the Genesis story being written anew. The first words of that history are, “In the beginning God created…” and today God is creating, re-creating you better than you were yesterday. This day is a new Genesis, so—now that I think about it—those questions our younger selves ask should’t be asked in the past tense: “What have you done with my future? What have you done with your life?” Those questions from our younger selves should be asked in the future tense: “What will you do with my future? What will you do with your life?”

Would you please turn to page 93 in your Book of Common Prayer. To close today, I would like for us to say together canticle 19, The Song of the Redeemed, would you please stand:

O ruler of the universe, Lord God,
great deeds are they that you have done, *
surpassing human understanding.
Your ways are ways of righteousness and truth, *

O King of all the ages.
Who can fail to do you homage, Lord
and sing the praises of your Name
for you only are the Holy One.
All nations will draw near and fall down before you
because your just and holy works have been revealed.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.

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