Advent 2 – 5 December 2021 - Year C

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen

The Holy Gospel is written in the 3^rd Chapter of the Gospel according to St Luke: Verses 1-6: 

In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness. And he went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall become straight, and the rough places shall become level ways, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.”” 

 

Today is the second Sunday in Advent and we keep waiting. And we keep reflecting on what we are waiting for. For the return of Jesus Christ. For the Last Day, the Day of our Lord, the day of great fear and even greater joy, for the restoration of all creations, when all the evil, and pain and sufferings will end, and when God’s chosen people will see their God face to face. 

This is our ultimate hope, and this is what makes our lives joyful, this is what gives us peace regardless of difficulties that we may experience now, for we know where we are heading. To our true home, to be with our true Father.

This our hope is firm and unshakable, and not because we are such great people, not because we have lived such perfect lives. Not at all! But because Jesus Christ, true man and true God has called us with His Spirit, He has made us a member of His Divine family, the Church, in our baptism, and He has promised that we will be with Him, forever. 

Today in our Gospel reading tells us about John the Baptist and how he begun preparing people for the first coming of Jesus Christ. Initially Luke mentions quite a few names: Tiberius, Pontius Pilate, Herod, Philip, Lysanias, Anna and Caiaphas. 

Who were they? Real people who lived and reigned at the time when John begun his preaching. We know of them from other historical sources as well. 

In the first century people didn’t say ‘this happened in year 29AD.’ Instead, they referred to years of reign of their kings. Thus, Luke didn’t write ‘in year 29AD’, instead he mentions the fifteenth year of Roman emperor Tiberius and also several regional rulers and two Jewish high priests. 

As we read this it serves us as a reminder that we are talking about historical events. We are not here only to satisfy our private, subjective spiritual needs, but also to look at history, at what the true God did in our history, in particular times and places. 

Our ultimate hope is built not on historical facts, but on faith. On what God did in Jesus Christ, on Jesus’ death and resurrection. As God raised Jesus from the dead, He will also raise us, to have new bodies and to live in His presence. But somehow for the human mind, when Holy Scripture is underpinned by historical presence we are comforted by tangible facts.

... “the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness”.

This is how Luke compares John with the prophets of the Old Testament. We often read in the Old Testament prophetic books, that the word of God came to one of prophets. How exactly it happened, we don’t know. 

In the case of John, it was not about distant future anymore, it was about immediate present. He was preparing people for coming of someone, who already stood among them. 

John “went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins”. As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall become straight, and the rough places shall become level ways, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.””

The prophet Isaiah wrote these words seven centuries before John begun his ministry. And as Luke shows it, Isaiah was referring to John the Baptist. That he will be the one, who will prepare the way of the Lord. 

Luke doesn’t quote Isaiah’s words fully. But there are somethings we need to hear. 

When Isaiah prophesised about the coming of the Lord, he wrote, that ^{(Isa 40:5)} “The glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.” 

What words! Do you know what the glory of the Lord is? It is His presence. The presence of the holy God. What Isaiah was saying is that once the way is prepared, the Lord God Himself will come among us. 

Remember, at Mount Sinai, once the Tent of Meeting was prepared the glory of the Lord indwelled in it. The same happened once the Temple was finished in Jerusalem by Solomon; the glory of the Lord filled the Temple. Just as was prophesised by Isaiah. 

Once the way of the Lord is prepared, the holy God Himself will come, His glory will be revealed, and all flesh will see it. This is what John was sent to do. To prepare the way of the Lord, the Holy God Himself. 

This is a big task for John – how did he do it? How did He prepare the way of the Lord? By calling people to repentance. As Luke wrote John was “proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” 

You see, John’s baptism wasn’t the same as our baptism in the name of the Triune God. John’s baptism didn’t deliver forgiveness of sins as the Church’s baptism does. 

When we were baptised in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, then all our sins were forgiven, the gift of the Holy Spirit was given to us and we were made a child of the Triune God, a member of Jesus’ family. 

John, on the other hand, proclaimed a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. To put it in different words John proclaimed the need for repentance, he called people to admit their sinfulness so that they would be ready to receive the forgiveness of sins once it is offered through Jesus Christ.

Why would all of this be important for us? Because here we can see how God’s salvation works. If we want to be ready for Jesus, first we need to hear John. The importance of this is demonstrated in the way God's Word speaks to us and all His people throughout the ages.  

First, we need to hear God’s law, or we can say God’s eternal and holy will for our lives, as written in the Ten Commandments and the first five Books of the Old Testament. These are His demands for our lives. His expectation for us. God does not impose His Law on humanity. God’s Law is in fact the very description of who He created us to be. 

So, the Law comes first.  But God’s Law is not ‘user-friendly’ for our human nature. We are born sinful and unclean, and in the Law, our sinfulness is revealed. The Law demands perfection, and we are far from perfect, in our daily sin, we are accused, and found guilty. In fact under the Law we are condemned to death. ^{(Genesis 2:17)} “but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die."  Our sinful hearts rebel against our Creator, demanding our will to happen. 

 

So here we are sinful and condemned people desiring God’s salvation, but totally unable to do a thing of our own volition to earn the salvation we so longingly desire.

Malachi wrote: “How can I endure the day of His coming?” He will be like a fire. If God sees my heart and if I am accountable for all my thoughts and desires, who can help me to stand in His presence? Who can save me from this purifying fire?” 

In the Law God has spoken and there can be no doubt that through it we have a ‘reality check’ on who we are and the extent of our sinful nature. But the good news is announced in ^{(John 3:16)} “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life”.

You see this is the power of anticipation at Advent. This is the time when we, as baptised Christians, celebrate the great love God has for us by sending His only Son to take on our human form. He came as true human and true God, a truth beyond our human comprehension.

The bitter-sweet truth of Advent is that we welcome the coming of the Baby Jesus as he is born God / Man, we celebrate with Mary and Joseph in anticipation of His birth. We look forward to the revelations, miracles and teaching He will bring into the world, into our hearts and minds. But ironically, we look forward to His crucifixion, death as horrible as it was and with great anticipation we look forward to His resurrection. In all this suffering, death and victory is the grace filled gift of unconditional love of Jesus for us that He was willing to suffer the penalty of death in our stead that we may be forgiven through the penalty He paid for us. And of course, in His resurrection, Jesus overcame death in our place to win for us eternal life with Him in the glory of God’s Kingdom.

In one short sentence Paul summed up our salvation ^{(Rom 6:23)} “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord”.

This is why John was sent to preach repentance, so that people would be ready to receive this wonderful exchange. This is why Jesus sent His apostles, so that they can preach the Law and the Gospel, so that all people from all nations could come to repentance and to rejoice in His forgiveness. 

The time of Advent is certainly one of anticipation of the coming of the Saviour, Jesus Christ, and it is a time when we read the relevant Bible readings in grateful relief that God had a plan in Jesus to save us from the punishment of His law. But Advent is not a time for complacency. The message of John the Baptist is still as relevant today as it was in the time he walked the earth. God’s law has not been abolished. The punishment of God’s Law in regard to sin was fulfilled by Jesus for the repentant sinner. Today in this day and age Jesus’ death and resurrection still means salvation for the repentant sinner. John’s Advent message called all to repentance. Jesus, in His death and resurrection offers forgiveness, salvation and eternal life to those who repent and believe in Him. Is that an offer you can refuse? 

We live in times where people are encouraged to be like gods, choosing their own good and evil. Of course, it doesn’t work, not even in a short term, but if your eyes are fixed on yourself, you can’t see it. 

To you it has already been revealed. In Jesus Christ. God revealed His glory in human flesh. So that you can know Him and His heart for you. God revealed His glory in sufferings of Jesus, and on the Cross. He revealed how much He loves His earthly rebellious creatures, and what He has done so that we can be with Him. 

God’s glory is revealed to us when we hear God’s words of love, when we receive His forgiveness in our baptism, in our confession and absolution and in the Lord’s Supper, and when we are united with Him by His Spirit. For us it is a reality already now. Rejoice and take comfort in it, and know that the final Day of the Lord is near. Amen. 

The love and peace of our Great Triune God that is beyond ll human understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen

 

Advent 1 – 28 November 2021 – Year C

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen

The text for this meditation is written in the 21^st Chapter of the Gospel according to St Luke: Verses 25 - 38

 

"And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and upon the earth dismay among nations, in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves, men fainting from fear and the expectation of the things which are coming upon the world; for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.  And then they will see the son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.  But when these things begin to take place, straighten up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near."

And He told them a parable: "Behold the fig tree and all the trees; as soon as they put forth leaves, you see it and know for yourselves that summer is now near.  Even so you, too, when you see these things happening, recognize that the kingdom of God is near.  Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all things take place.  Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.

"Be on guard, that your hearts may not be weighted down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life, and that day come on you suddenly like a trap; for it will come upon all those who dwell on the face of all the earth.  But keep on the alert at all times, praying in order that you may have strength to escape all these things that are about to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man."

 

We played a game when I was a young lad.  You may know of it.  It worked best in the late afternoon just on dark.  One of our group would be the "wolf" and they would hide somewhere. Then we would walk, usually huddled together, unable to see the “wolf”, toward the area where he was most likely hidden, all the time knowing that he was there and that he was near.  ‘What time is it, Mr Wolf?’ we would ask, and he would softly tell us a time. Scared, we would venture closer, peering, asking the time, still unable to see him – until - we got really close and the “wolf” would jump out and shout out "midnight!" and chase us like a monster and we would flee in panic, trying not to be caught by the "wolf".

 

When I read through the Gospel text, I think immediately of our childhood game; I clearly relate ‘midnight’ as the ‘end of the day’. Our text tells us that there is a day coming that will be unlike any other, an ‘end day’ for another day will not follow it.  We don't know when, exactly, but we know it’s getting ever closer.  The end of the world, the final day of reckoning, the day of our salvation or the day of our doom, is coming.  Jesus tells us how we should stand in readiness for that great and terrible day, always being alert to the signs of the times.  Like my childhood game, we go through life calling "What time is it Mr Wolf?"

 

According to the words of Jesus, the signs of this coming catastrophe are pretty clear and pretty dramatic.  There will be signs in the sun and the moon and the stars.  Of course the details of those signs are not made clear, and we are no longer a people who read signs in the stars as they did back then.  We are too scientific.  The signs could be as simple as the scientific discovery that a meteor or a comet will strike the earth and annihilate the human race.  It could be the physical and robotic exploration of the moon and planets, and the wonders of the galaxy that we behold through space bourn telescopes.  We, as humans put a lot of time and money into searching for “signs in sun and moon and stars”. - "What time is it Mr Wolf?"

 

Then Jesus says another sign is dismay on earth among the nations, identified with a perplexity at the roaring of the seas and the waves.  Now that sounds distinctly environmentalist, doesn't it?  The dismay at the seas.  Nations have become extremely agitated of late at the Ocean.  The ice caps are said to be melting.  The ocean is said to be polluted.  Life forms are disappearing from it.  It seems like the last ten years all we have heard in regard to weather patterns is whether we are experiencing either El Niño or La Niña. These oceanic conditions determine the water at the surface being too hot or alternatively one if the water is unusually cold.  Weather reports continually give us crash courses on how these phenomena affect our weather dramatically, and we have seen a remarkable increase in cyclone (or hurricane) activity across the planet causing many people a great deal of alarm. This is another sign Jesus gave, mankind fainting from fear and the expectation of the things that are coming upon the world.  

 

Fear is certainly not in short supply in today’s world, worldwide, people are quaking with fear over what is happening or what they think is about to happen.  There is widespread fear of terrorism and extreme ideologies.  People are frightened by the control and invasiveness of information technology, and the changes that will make in our world.  People are afraid of running out of resources, afraid of global warming, and afraid that some natural disaster, like fire flood or earthquake, or those meteors and now the ravages of the COVID 19 epidemic, that will wipe out mankind, or life itself from this world. -  "What time is it Mr Wolf?"

 

Could it be that we the people of God’s creation are afraid because we have lost the faith in and the knowledge of God and of His great love for us.  Do we no longer recognise His reality, and have we lost sense of His divine providence.  That is a definite recipe for fear.  Friends in Christ, that fear, that dismay, and that perplexity is the sign that Jesus pointed to as the sure and certain sign that He is coming back. That will happen for sure, but not the way the doom and gloom prophets predict.  The end of the world is a certainty.  The end of our participation in it is a far nearer certainty, - but – take heart, that should not be the cause of fear for us the children of God, Baptised into a Holy and eternal fellowship with our Great Triune God.  Admittedly when we, as Christians, read of and speak of the Biblical catastrophes that produces terror in the hearts of worldly people today, there would be few very few of us who also would not feel some fear.  You would have to be a pretty remarkable person if you didn’t.  Our weakness is our humanity. -  "What time is it Mr Wolf?"

 

Friends, Jesus knows all this, and he urges us to have courage, to have faith in Him.  “But when these things begin to take place, straighten up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near."  Rather than fear, Jesus inspires us to confidence and hope.  Lift up your heads!  Don't cower in fear as though something unexpected is happening.  Straighten up and lift up your heads.  You know what is happening, and what it means.  It means that we are following the carefully laid plan of God.  The end is coming, and soon.  It is not going to be global flooding, or global warming, or a monster rock from outer space.  It will be the return of Jesus Christ with the fulfilment of our salvation in His hands!

 

Jesus even tells the parable of the fig tree to make His point.  Just as we recognise the signs of the seasons, and know that everything is happening just as it should, Jesus invites us to know the signs of the ages, and understand that it is not a terror for us.  Nothing bad is happening.  They are the signs of the return of the Lord that we see. He is the same Lord who loved us so much that He became man for us.  It is the same Lord who suffered such agonies in our stead, for our sin, so that we would not need to.  It is the same Lord who forgives us all our sins, and gives us eternal life.  Remember that for the child of God the worst thing that can happen, a physical death that our sinful flesh rejects, is also the best thing that can happen, for it is the door to life everlasting in glory with Him!

 

Jesus said that it will happen, and then He reminds us that His promises and His salvation and His love is more permanent than the earth below us or the sky above us.  Even as we see this world come unravelled and undone, His love and His promises and His salvation are unshaken and sure!  “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.” 

 

Friends, in the light of this, we remember the complex prophecy of the ancient Mayan civilisation, which for so long (up to six years hence) held the undivided attention of so many worldly academics, the prediction that the 5,125 year life cycle of the earth would end on 22^nd December 2012, at which time the world would come to a cataclysmic end.

 

Is it any wonder that Jesus says, be prepared:  Be on guard:  Those are the words He used.  Be on guard against the unrealistic and unbelieving fears.  Be on guard against the foolishness that cannot understand the events around us.  Be on guard that your hearts may not be weighed down with dissipation (the squandering of life’s blessings) and drunkenness (debilitating escape from reality and self control) and the worries of life, (the car payments and the house repairs, the opinion of our neighbours about us, and the endless stream of health scares) Jesus doesn't say not to take care of such things, He simply warns us not to be crushed by them or so distracted that we do not see the coming of the day of the Lord, and that day comes on us suddenly like a trap. - "What time is it Mr Wolf?"

 

The signs have always been with us. They have been and are still there because God has so arranged this world that they would be there for His people to see because that end day is coming, and God would not have us be distressed by its approach, or surprised by its arrival.

 

It will happen Jesus said so, it will come upon all those who dwell on the face of all the earth.  How do we prepare?  Pray for strength and endurance in all the many circumstance of this world, “But keep on the alert at all times, praying in order that you may have strength to escape all these things that are about to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man."

 

Jesus is all the preparation that we need.  He did what we needed done.  He paid for our sins.  He forgives us all our guilt.  He has given us eternal life in our Baptism.  He who is baptised and in penitence, allows the grace of God to flow into and through their lives, are saved.  In this world, among all the challenges and pains and sorrows of this life, our trust in the will of God in our lives is all the preparation you really need, ultimately, it is the only real hope we have in this life into eternity. - What time is it, Mr Wolf? – it is the time of our Lord; it is time to live in unity with Him. Amen

 

The love and peace of our great Triune God that is beyond all human understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen

  

Christ the King Sunday – 21 November 2021 – Year B

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen

The text for this meditation is written in the 18^th Chapter of the Gospel according to St John; Verses 33 – 37:

Then Pilate entered the headquarters again, summoned Jesus, and asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” ³⁴ Jesus answered, “Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?” ³⁵ Pilate replied, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me. What have you done?” ³⁶ Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.” ³⁷ Pilate asked 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.”

 

Where are you going? Where are we going? That question can be as simple as a child's fantasy journey or a parent's trip to the grocery store. It can be as complex as issues of national foreign policy or world environmental policy.

Where are we going?

 

 Ultimately it involves the deepest questions of existence: Why am I here? Does my existence mean anything at all? Is my life going anywhere? Does it have purpose, meaning, hope? Our answers to these questions have implications for all our relationships.

 

As we gather for worship on this last Sunday of the church year, looking back across a year nearly completed and looking ahead to a new year that will end who knows where, the passing of time itself confronts us with questions of our destination. 

 

The church's own unique way of observing time proclaims to us the answer, holding before us our faith, which alone enables us to live lives filled with meaning, purpose, joy, and hope.

This of course is the tri-annual cycle known as the liturgical calendar, which dramatically portrays the life of Christ and the life of his church, proclaiming his birth, death, and resurrection and challenging our Spirit-empowered response. 

 

Indeed, the church’s liturgical calendar is cyclic through years A, B and C, and yet its concept is not that of a circle, which has neither a beginning nor an end. Rather the church calendar portrays a spiral, which, like the propeller on an airplane, moves forward through time with each rotation; or, like the threads on a screw, with each rotation pulls us along toward our final goal. That goal is the kingship of Christ, the answer to all our questions of existence.

 

This Christ the King Sunday proclaims the accomplished fact that Christ is king, the king of all kings and the Lord of all lords, "the Soverign of time, creator of the continuing universe, inexpressibly sublime!" Christ the King Sunday challenges each one of us to pray that Christ may be king for us, that he may be our eternal king.

 

That was precisely the issue confronting Pilate in today's Gospel. Although he phrased the question in different ways, he was caught up in the same issue that catches us up: Who is the king? Are you our king? If so, how can this be possible?

 

The scene is one of the most dramatic in the entire New Testament. The accused Christ had been led by the high priest's guards to Pilate, the Roman governor. 

 

The Jews would not enter the praetorium, the palace of the governor. To do so would defile them, so they would be unable to eat the Passover meal. Pilate came out to them and then called Christ inside the palace. Then, Pilate, the most powerful man in Roman Judaea bounced back and forth like a Ping-Pong ball between the jeering Jews on the outside and the gentle Jesus on the inside. Seven times Pilate went back and forth, a mere pawn pushed by events beyond his control. 

 

Ruler confronted ruler. Kingdom confronted kingdom. Pilate proclaimed his authority but acted in confusion and fear. Pilate said he was in charge and wanted everyone to believe that, but the passing of time shows that he was not. Supposedly Jesus was on trial. In fact, it was Pilate who was being tried.

 

As the text opens, Pilate has entered the praetorium again, leaving the jeering Jews outside. Pilate called Jesus and said to him, "Are you the King of the Jews?" 

There the scene is set. There stood Pilate, resplendent in the robes of a ruler, with the kingdoms of the world and all their authority behind him…… and the kingdom of God before him.

 

On this Christ the King Sunday, liturgically we stand between the climax of the kingdom on Easter Sunday when Christ rose as the Victorious King, and, the promise of the future coming of the kingdom into our lives. Today we can celebrate being one turn of time closer to the completion of Christ's kingship.

 

The fact is, that you and I also stand there with Pilate in the praetorium, living between two kingdoms and the King.

You see, in reality, we are all Pilates,  …… rulers in our own house. We sit here with the kingdoms of the world behind us. Make no mistake, we are of the world, outside that door, in the world we are part of, stands the kingdoms of culture and custom, the kingdoms of religion (of all makings) and tradition, the kingdoms of politics and power, the kingdoms of greed and corruption, the kingdoms of money and prestige. And here we are, worldly leaders of our lives, with the kingdom of God before us, facing here the Christ, confronting here in this moment his complete and universal kingship. This shook Pilate’s confidence to his core – do we feel the same way?

 

Most of us here have lived in much simpler decades in world history, but as each one passes we find ourselves confronted with a dramatically changing world order in which many of the old ways simply do not work anymore, we find ourselves like Pilate shuffling back and forth, trying to figure out what is really going on, who is really in charge, often feeling hopelessly confused. 

 

Like Pilate, we question this Jesus, for we are not at all sure what his kingdom will really mean for us in our ruler's robes. We are not sure how he can really be a king. Most profoundly, we are not at all sure if we want him to be our King. So we phrase the question in abstract terms, "Are you the king of the Jews?"

 

Jesus immediately confronts us with the choice between commitment and curiosity, challenging us to decide between being an idle (and safe) spectator or an active participant in the kingdom: "Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?" You see, He refuses to accept or reject the royal title, compelling us to confess him as King, if he is indeed to be King for us. 

 

Pilate once again evaded responsibility, demanding to know from Jesus what he had done to deserve being called king. "I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me. What have you done?"

 

Jesus responded by describing not the accomplishments of his kingship but the quality of it: "My kingdom is not from this world." My kingship is not the same kind as the kingships of this world. My kingship is defined by being totally different from the world's kingdoms. 

Pilate seized the opening: "So you are a king?" Jesus knew Pilate meant something exactly opposite from his own understanding of the word: "You say that l am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth."

 

There's the answer! There's the good news! "For this I came into the world." Christ's kingship is not of this world, but it is indeed in this world. "For this I have come into the world!" 

 

The kingdom of God was in fact standing right there in that praetorium in the person of the accused Christ. That means the kingdom of God is even now right here in our very midst, in the personal presence of the crucified and risen Christ.  …….. Present as he comes through the word read and proclaimed and heard, present as he joins us to himself through the waters of Holy Baptism, (as He will do for Hugh today), presentas he enters our lives bodily through the bread and wine of his Holy Supper. That means that the kingdom of God is here even as the King himself is here among us.

 

To all our profound questions of existence, of meaning and purpose and hope, this Christ the King Sunday answers loud and clear with the new song of Easter, with the revealing of accomplished victory, with the vision of the crucified Christ risen and living, with the voice of truth, Christ's own voice proclaiming the transcendent truth of our faith: "My kingdom is not from this world." In my death and resurrection the kingdoms of this world have been transformed forever. "The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdom of our God and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever!"

 

As you and I turn from the kingdoms of this world and put them behind us and turn this morning to face Christ the King, we see in him the truth about ourselves and about the eternal heart of God; the truth that triumphed when Christ accepted a cruel cross and burst a terrible tomb and poured his Holy Spirit upon his people.

 

 We see the truth and discover the reality of the kingdom in our very midst. We find ourselves being transformed into kingdom people, priests to our God, a community that both knows and tells the truth.

 

"For this I have come into the world." For this we the church are being sent into the world. Here in these days of conflict and confusion where the Kingdom of the World and the Kingdom of God co-exist on this earth, Christ the King stands in our midst, equipping us, empowering us to represent to the world a foretaste of things to come. Christ the King is not of this world, but He is most surely in this world, in, with and through us to bear witness to the truth.

 

All of us have stood outside on a summer evening watching an approaching storm and seen the brilliant flash of lightning and then heard the thunder follow a few seconds later. The laws of physics tell us that light and sound travel at different speeds. But in fact, they are one simultaneous event. They happened at the same time. But in that experience of a few seconds between lightning and thunder, for us humble observers of the wonders of creation, the same event is an experience both present in the lightning, and future in the thunder.

 

The kingdom of God is like that. Climaxed at Easter, it is not yet complete, and we live between the lightning from an empty tomb and the thunder of a new universal creation. 

 

Dear friends, we have experienced the lightning with confidence. We have witnessed it in our hearts and minds through the Word and the Holy Spirit that filled our hearts at our Holy Baptism. We have partaken of the Body and Blood of the risen Christ. And now through the gracious gift of faith we know the thunder of the new kingdom will come, just as certainly as it does on a summer night, just as certainly as this crucified and risen Christ the King stands even now in our midst. By his great grace, we become kingdom people, bearing witness to the truth that the kingdom comes daily closer in this time and this place. As written in ^{(1 Chronicles 16:31)} “Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; And let them say among the nations, “The Lord reigns.” Amen

 

The love and peace of our Great Triune God that is beyond all human understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen

 

Pentecost 25 - 14 November 2021 – Year B

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen

 

The text for our meditation is written in the 13^th Chapter of the Gospel according to St Mark: Verses 1 – 13:

And as he came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher, what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!” ² And Jesus said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? There will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.”

³ And as he sat on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him privately, ⁴ “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when all these things are about to be accomplished?” ⁵ And Jesus began to say to them, “See that no one leads you astray. ⁶ Many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he!’ and they will lead many astray. ⁷ And when you hear of wars and rumours of wars, do not be alarmed. This must take place, but the end is not yet.⁸ For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. These are but the beginning of the birth pains.

⁹ “But be on your guard. For they will deliver you over to councils, and you will be beaten in synagogues, and you will stand before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them. ¹⁰ And the gospel must first be proclaimed to all nations.¹¹ And when they bring you to trial and deliver you over, do not be anxious beforehand what you are to say, but say whatever is given you in that hour, for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit. ¹² And brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death.¹³ And you will be hated by all for my name's sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.

The Bible, the sacred text of the Holy Christian Church world wide, dates back approximately 6000 years. The Bible is a compilation of 66 books, written by 40 different authors, over more than 2200 years, in 3 different languages, on 3 different continents. Still on the best seller list, still immersed in controversy and disagreement. Yet it remains in the pews of mainstream Christian churches and has a place in most Christian homes. What of this amazing book?

 

Well, God gave us His Word in order to give us His plan of salvation in Jesus Christ.  It focuses on the forgiveness of sins earned for us by Jesus dying on a cross and rising from the dead.  It is not the goal of the Bible to give us a comprehensive history of the world.  Such a history would be too big.  Instead, the Bible focuses on the history of Jesus and His people.  From the world’s point of view, men like Caesar Augustus, Governor Quirinius, and Herod the Great were important rulers.  On the other hand, the Bible only mentions these men when their story intersects the story of salvation.

 

Herod the Great’s biblical claim to fame is his attempt to assassinate Jesus by killing off the boys of Bethlehem.  Herod had already reigned for a long time when Jesus was born.  In the senility of his old age, he had become dangerously insane and even killed members of his own family when he thought they were plotting to take his throne.  But murder and political intrigue were not all there was to Herod.

 

Herod the Great was also responsible for many major building projects during his reign.  It is likely that he hoped improvements in the infrastructure of the land would counteract the hatred that the Jews had for him.  In fact, for the average man on the street … those people who were not involved in politics, life was actually fairly prosperous under the rule of Herod.

 

One of the building projects that Herod started was a massive upgrade to the temple grounds in Jerusalem.  Herod began this upgrade about twenty years before Jesus was born.  The actual work on the upgrade continued after Herod died and was completed about 65 AD.  10,000 lay labourers worked on the common areas of the temple and 1,000 priests did the upgrades to the sacred areas of the temple.  It was a massive undertaking, and the result was quite impressive.

 

The dates of this building program means that every time Jesus and His disciples came to Jerusalem, there was new construction at the temple.  It would be very normal for visitors to Jerusalem to take some time to tour the new features of the temple area, admire them, and speculate about what the workers would do next.  It would not be at all unusual for anyone to look at the building materials around the temple site and the new buildings and fantasise about the greatness of it all.  That is the context of today’s reading from the Gospel according to Mark.  ^{(Mark 13:1)} As [Jesus] came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher, what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!” What a shock it must have been when Jesus replied, ^{(Mark 13:2)} “Do you see these great buildings? There will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.”

 

Jesus’ words came true just five years after the temple upgrade was complete.  All those workers laboured for over eighty years to put all of Herod’s upgrades in place.  In 65 AD they put the finishing touches on this magnificent upgrade to the temple, one of the great architectural wonders of the ancient world.  Five years later, in 70 AD, after all of that work, the Roman army marched into Jerusalem and tore the temple down to the ground.  Jesus’ prediction came true.

 

Of course, today’s reading is an account of events that happened about forty years before this destruction and the disciples don’t know anything about it.  Jesus’ words must have been the verbal equivalent of a hefty punch in the stomach.  The disciples couldn’t very well leave Jesus’ statement alone.  So, when they got back to their camp site on the Mount of Olives, they had to ask Jesus for more details.  So as Jesus sat down on the Mount of Olives and looked across the valley at the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him privately, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when all these things are about to be accomplished?”

 

Jesus began His explanation in an unusual place.  Rather than come right out with a direct answer to the disciple’s question, He warned them about false teachings.  Jesus began to say to them, “See that no one leads you astray.  Many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he!’ and they will lead many astray.

Here is Jesus Himself telling His disciples and us that pure doctrine is really important.  Jesus is warning us that the devil will constantly be sending false teachers our way.  He is warning us that these false teachers will be very popular.  They will lead many astray.

 

We have plenty of false Messiahs even today.  Many of you have heard the phrase “drinking the Kool Aid.”  That phrase is the result of a cult leader named Jim Jones who actually convinced his followers to mix cyanide poison into a batch of Kool Aid and serve it to their children and then drink it themselves.  Jim Jones presented himself as a Messiah figure to his followers and led them to their deaths.  More recently, we had the Blood Moon prophecy of Christ’s return on the lunar eclipse in September 2015.  The Jehovah’s Witnesses claim that Christ already set up his millennial kingdom in 1914.  The Mormons have a living prophet as the head of their church.  L. Ron Hubbard’s church of scientology has influenced many thousands into its midst. There are many more such frightening instances and examples.

 

The books of the Bible have stood the test of time.  Every archaeological discovery in the Holy Land reveals that another part of the Bible is the truth.  The historical reliability of the books of the New Testament is approximately 10,000 times that of any other ancient writing.  Regardless of this, many people will take the word of ‘charismatic con men’ over the Word of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.  Jesus is right to warn us of false teachers.

 

Then there are the persecutions.  It is not enough for the false Christs to lead people away from the truth, but they must also persecute those who remain faithful.  Jesus warns that people will even turn against their own relatives: ^{(Mark 13:12–13)}  “Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death. ¹³And you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. At another time, Jesus even warned, ^{(John 16:2)} “Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God”.

 

Suffering, persecution, death … what possible reason could there be for us to resist such cruelty?  Why should we not simply throw our hands up in surrender and go along with the world?  Why do our vows of confirmation ask people to remain faithful even unto death?  What could be so important that we would be willing to risk even death rather than give in to the culture?

 

Today’s Gospel began with the temporary stones of the temple.  Those stones cannot save, but there is a stone that can save us.  The Psalmist said, ^{(Psalm 118:22–23)} “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. ²³This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvellous in our eyes”.

 

The Temple authorities rejected this stone with extreme prejudice.  They arrested Him and used political pressure to force Pontius Pilate to execute Him on a cross.  As He hung on the cross, it looked like His end was near.  As He died on the cross, it looked like His end had come.  As His cold body lay in the tomb, it looked like His end had passed.

 

His suffering and death was an end, but it was not His end.  It was the end of our slavery to sin.  It was the end of the condemnation and guilt that our sin earned.  It was the end of death’s reign in this world.  For on the Sunday after He was laid in the tomb, He rose from the dead.  He rose to live forever.  The stone that the builders rejected had indeed become the cornerstone.

 

This stone, of course, is Jesus Christ Himself, the Rock of Ages.  Those who believe in Him, believe in the only stone that lasts forever.  They believe in the living stone who is the foundation of the New Heavens and the New Earth.  Jesus said, ^{(Mark 13:13)} “The one who endures to the end will be saved.”  The one who endures to the end is the one whose faith in Jesus Christ endures.  That one who believes that Jesus Christ is the only saviour from sin is the one who endures to the end and will be saved.

Jesus encourages us to avoid false teaching and to endure persecution because these things only last a short time.  His salvation endures forever.

All things on this earth come to an end.  Today’s Gospel talks of the beautiful buildings of the temple.  They have been replaced by a Moslem Mosque.  There will be a time when that mosque will also be gone. Eventually, even the earth, the sun, the moon, and the stars will all be gone.  Only Jesus Christ, the Rock of Ages will remain to preserve us.  Those who followed the false prophets of this world will remain without salvation.  Those who endured in the one true faith to the end will be saved. May this blessing be yours. Amen.

The love and peace of our Great Triune God that is beyond all human understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen