Sermon for Christ the King Sunday
The Reign of God Has Already Begun!
By Rev. Michael Cooper-White -
Greetings to all the saints of Mt. Olive in California! I greet you from the opposite coast where I am recording this sermon at our home near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. My wife Pamela and I divide our time between here where I retired after serving as president of Gettysburg Seminary and New York where Pam is the dean of Union Seminary in Manhattan.
It’s a privilege to offer some reflections with you on this day historically called Christ the King Sunday and more recently designated to observe the Reign of Christ.
This is my second biennial sermon for Mt. Olive on this last Sunday of the church year. I stood in your pulpit just two years ago in November of 2018. I won’t quiz you on what I said in the sermon then. But perhaps a few will recall my title was “Camelot and Calvary.” I shared on that occasion my conviction that God is with us both in the high spots and low moments of our lives. Jesus celebrated with his friends when they celebrated, and he wept when they suffered and grieved. And he gave himself for us all and for the whole cosmos at Calvary where his crown was made of thorns not gold and jewels.
This year I invite you to join me in walking around these Scripture readings looking through some different lenses.
The Scripture readings are designated by what is called the common lectionary used by thousands of churches around the world. These Bible readings were selected years ago by an international committee.
But does it seem to you, as it does for me, that Pastor Shafer or somebody might have sat down just a week or two ago and chosen them for this day in our time?
Could there be Scriptures that more directly address our situation here in late 2020 than these 3 lessons?
The first, from Ezekiel, addresses a people who have been driven out of their homeland into exile. The people of Judah were dragged kicking and wailing into a foreign place called Babylon. We can only begin to imagine their despair, their grief, their sense of loss.
Against our will, have we not all been dragged out of our comfort zones these past months into a strange and foreign territory of pandemic? Torn from our normal routines of work and recreation. Separated from family members and kept distant from friends. Ripped from the joys that come from congregating in restaurants, theaters, concerts, large gatherings—even worship together?
To the bereft Judeans, the prophet Ezekiel spoke a message of comfort and promise: God continues to be with you, more than ever. And God will someday enable a return to normalcy. Someday, probably not any time soon, but someday you will again feel like you are back home.
34:12 As shepherds seek out their flocks when they are among their scattered sheep, so I will seek out my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places to which they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness.
34:13 I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land; and I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the watercourses, and in all the inhabited parts of the land.
Then there’s the second lesson for today from the book of Ephesians. Bible scholars continue debating if St. Paul himself wrote Ephesians, or if perhaps another early Christian did so. While it is directed to the fledgling Christian community at Ephesus, many Bible scholars are convinced this was a letter circulated broadly among several early congregations.
While Ephesians addresses many topics, a primary theme is Christian unity. Even in their earliest years, a number of the fledgling Christian communities were experiencing conflict. Especially in places like Ephesus where churches embraced both Jews and Gentiles, conflicts of various sorts began to arise. A multicultural community then, as now, was not always easy to hold together.
So, the basic message of Ephesians is that of striving to unite a divided community. Sound familiar? Now from what I know of Mt Olive, I don’t think you have great divisions or conflict among you at all.
But our nation? Many are saying they have never seen us so divided. As one who was a young adult in the late 1960’s, I’m not sure things are worse now than back then. But the recent election and continuing contesting its outcome leaves no doubt we are badly divided. Who among us in society is better equipped to bring healing and foster unity than the church and other faith communities?
1:20 God put this power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places,
1:21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come.
1:22 And he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church,
1:23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.
God has put all things under Jesus’ feet! We are filled with everything necessary to be agents of healing, angels of reconciliation if you will.
Finally, today’s third lesson from Matthew’s Gospel holds promise and hands us our mission.
25:34 Then the king will say to those at his right hand, 'Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world;
25:35 for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me,
25:36 I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.'
Although I have been to Mt Olive only a handful of times, I know how seriously you take this mission of feeding the hungry, welcoming and sheltering strangers. You don’t need any encouragement; you deserve praise and thanksgiving! As we pause Thursday for a day of national Thanksgiving, I will give thanks for a great congregation with a great pastor that my GPS says is exactly 2692 miles away.
Amidst a pandemic, besieged by national disunity, political tensions and racial injustices, held before us is a bold promise of the reign of God, prepared before the foundation of the world. While only partially, and despite our feelings much of the time, we have already been ushered into God’s eternal realm.
And we have continuing good work to do. And we know what it is. But I don’t have to it alone. We truly are in this together, from coast to coast and around the world. I am so grateful to be joined in this great calling with you the saints of Mt. Olive! God bless you this day as we conclude another church year and look forward to the first Sunday in Advent next week.
The Rev. Michael Cooper-White
Past president of Gettysburg Seminary
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
Sermon for:
November 22, 2020
