A child is raped, and witnesses either ignore it or cheer.[1] People are beaten and murdered because of their race or perceived immigration status, and the victims are too afraid to seek help.[2] A disgruntled man opens fire on former colleagues at their workplace.[3] A mentally ill physician murders 13 people before he is stopped[4] and Muslims across the country are fearful of the consequences to innocent people.[5] Poor and dispossessed residents of Cleveland U.S.
This is just a sampling from news headlines during the past week or so. Of course, not all news is bad news, but a listing of all the happy stories I might find among the headlines can only briefly distract us from a realistic appreciation of the seriousness and persistence of what ails us. Don’t misunderstand; I’m no Gloomy Gus jaded by reality or resigned to a violent, unjust, and uncaring world. Neither am I prone to a “happy-clappy” optimism that simply ignores reality.
I look for a fuller understanding of reality – reality that encompasses what is, what was, and what will be. Reality includes our understanding of what ought to be, our vision of what is possible, our confidence that working toward our vision is not in vain, and our anticipation of that vision’s perfection. “Change” is very much a part of reality, and all change is guided either by purposeful effort or effortless entropy.
To what purpose, then, should we live in this world and direct our efforts?
Very soon, the church will celebrate Christ the King. With this festival, we conclude a full year of remembering and retelling the Gospel of Jesus Christ, through Sunday readings and seasonal commemorations. For an entire year we have traced the story of Jesus of Nazareth and the Way of Jesus:
- the prophetic promises of Advent;
- the joyful celebration of Jesus’ nativity;
- Jesus’ public ministry of bringing God’s kingdom near to the sick, poor, and oppressed;
- Jesus’ calling of disciples to learn, walk in, and spread the Way of Jesus;
- Jesus’ contention with those opposed to his Way;
- Jesus’ betrayal, arrest, torture, and murder;
- Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, that both vanquished the power that death can have over us, and encourages us to have hope and faith in Jesus and his Way;
- Jesus’ gift of the Holy Spirit to the church – the Spirit of Christ that dwells with us;
- and the disciples’ continued mission of love and service in the Way of Jesus, who despite their own frailties – and the sometimes deadly opposition of others – stayed the Way, and invited others to go with them and with Jesus.
The story of Jesus of Nazareth and of Jesus’ disciples offers us a vision of humankind and all of creation that issues directly from the Creator. The story tells of the creation as God intended from the beginning – all things created good, and humankind created in God’s image to care for one another and for all of creation. The story repudiates what has gone awry from God’s intentions – injustice, violence, poverty, famine – and invites humankind to turn back to God and God’s original vision. The story tells of a re-creation inaugurated by God – a re-creation of humankind in the image of God-with-us, Jesus of Nazareth. And at the story’s conclusion, what God has inaugurated comes to its perfection with the full restoration of humankind and all of creation to its original purpose and goodness. To this purpose, God calls us to live and direct our efforts.
On the day we commemorate Christ the King, we hold up and celebrate the end of the story – the perfection of what God inaugurated at the birth of Jesus. The end is what we look forward to, the vision we pursue by means that anticipate and embody the end of our pursuit. The end gives hope and inspiration to continue when events and circumstances conspire to threaten and overwhelm us, because we already know how the story will end.
On the day we commemorate Christ the King, the prophet Daniel[10] will remind us that God has not abandoned us to the way things were or the way things are. Whatever threatens us, all of creation belongs to God and to God’s chosen one, and the end of the story is certain. Despite all evidence to the contrary, for people of faith, “the belief and hope in a Savior that enters exactly where the forces of chaos seem to be most rampant is what allows one to get up and face the day.”[11] Our labor in Christ is not in vain.[12]
On the day we commemorate Christ the King, the prophet John of Patmos[13] will remind us to whom all creation and all time belongs: “’I am the Alpha and the Omega,’ says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” John addressed his prophecy to churches struggling with complacency, assimilation, temptation, and even violent persecution – which is to say, John addressed all churches in every place and time. And in the fullness of his prophecy, John encourages and admonishes the faithful to never forget the end of the story, and to live in the Spirit of Christ with the certainty of our hope and faith that God’s intentions for creation will come to perfection. Our labor in Christ is not in vain.
On the day we commemorate Christ the King, the evangelist John[14] will remind us that Jesus of Nazareth is God’s chosen Savior of creation, and that God’s purposes will not go unopposed. Those who profit or benefit from injustice, violence, poverty, and famine will conspire against God; murder and subterfuge are not beneath their scruples. Nevertheless, the end of the story is certain. Death will not be the final verdict on God’s purposes. Our labor in Christ is not in vain.
We have a fuller understanding of reality precisely because we know the end of the story and anticipate Christ the King.
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