11/24/2024 ~ The Feast of the Reign of Christ – Proper 29 ~ The Last Sunday in Year ‘B’ of the Three Year Lectionary Cycle ~ Thirty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Twenty-Seventh Sunday after Pentecost ~ 2 Samuel 23:1-7; Psalm 132:1-12, (13-18); Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14; Psalm 93; Revelation 1:4b-8; John 18:33-37

VIDEO OF FULL SERVICE: https://vimeo.com/showcase/7960701/video/1033152375

Christ and Trinity

“Yahweh has established the world; / it stands firm; / it shall never be moved; / Indeed, Your throne, / Your reign is established from of old, / from ages past; / from everlasting to everlasting / from eternity You exist.” — Psalm 93:1a-2.

How can this possibly be true? Seminary was 33 years ago. Back then a student in the last semester could circulate a profile, a pastor’s résumé. In the U.C.C., the United Church of Christ, my denomination, these are 20 to 30 page long documents.

So my profile went to numerous unsuspecting Search Committees, Pulpit Committees in that last semester. It got a lot of interest even though I was just about to graduate. Perhaps that was because I was already serving as an Assistant Pastor at a five church cooperative in Waldo County. I was a called pastor despite the fact that I was still in Seminary.

Committees from Iowa, Michigan, South Dakota, Maine, Connecticut and New York contacted me. I did phone interviews— a bunch— no ZOOM back then.

Now the pastor’s profile at that time had what was called a “forced choice” survey, a list of 43 choices which described what the pastor thought their own gifts were. The pastor had to check 8 and only 8 boxes from a list of 43. To choose just 8 out of 43 is very, very hard.

Some choices were obvious: effective preacher, organized, a helpful counselor. Some were less obvious at least as a prime choice— works well on a team, helps organize community action. But pretty much all the choices were binary, yes or no.

These days the U.C.C. profile system is very different. It now lists “Faithful and Effective Marks of Ministry”— 48 of them. And none of them are binary, yes or no. They are textured. And you can check all 48.

Of course, all the categories cannot possibly apply to any one individual. No one is that complete. In theory, this exercise is designed to show where a person is competent and where there might be a growing edge.

Now, each choice has 4 levels. So this is just mathematics: if each of 48 marks of ministry has 4 levels, that’s 192 possibilities to be considered.

Here’s an example of one Mark of Ministry. (Quote:) “Prays actively and nurtures spiritual practices.” That might have dozens of levels but there are still just four levels from which to choose.

Now, there is one Mark of Ministry which to our 21st Century American ears sounds very binary, yes or no. It says (quote:), “Acknowledges Jesus, the Christ, as the Sole Head of the Church.”

But is the idea that Jesus is the head of the church binary, a yes or no question, really? Perhaps it’s just our American ears that hear it that way. Possibly the concept that the Christ is Head of the Church a more subtle, texture, complex idea with multiple levels? Consider that. (Slight pause.)

We find these words in the work known as Psalm 93. “Yahweh has established the world; / it stands firm; / it shall never be moved; / Indeed, Your throne, / Your reign is established from of old, / from ages past; / from everlasting to everlasting / from eternity You exist.” (Slight pause.)

In the Gospel reading, Pilate, prefect of Rome in Judaea, tries to get Jesus to proclaim some kind of temporal, finite authority. Jesus avoids addressing temporal, finite authority. Instead Jesus speaks of witnessing to truth, eternal truth.

One truth to which Jesus did attest is the reality of the Christ. I think this is actually a subtle, textured, complex claim but our 21st Century American ears have a difficult time grappling with how subtle, textured, complex it is.

To explain, Christ is Greek for Messiah, which means anointed to do the work and will of God. And as was said earlier, today is a feast of the church. It’s called the Reign of Christ. However, the very word ‘reign’ implies some kind of temporal authority. Should it?

What is it we Christians really claim about the Messiahship of Jesus? Is it about temporal, finite authority? I doubt it. We claim that in Jesus God is revealed.

So, using the word reign for the feast I think is simply sloppy, convenient shorthand, not subtle, not textured, not complex— just shorthand. But we do not live in a society which particularly appreciates subtle, textured, complex, do we?

This is where I think Psalm 93 can be helpful. The Psalm leads us to a question. Who is the God Jesus proclaims?

Jesus not only proclaims the God of the Hebrews, but Jesus refers to God by an intimate name, Abba, Daddy. Please ask yourself, in naming God ‘Daddy’ what Jesus might be saying about God, the God of the Hebrews Who is One and as Psalm 93 says, the One Who from eternity exists? (Slight pause.)

Jesus, you see, always insists temporal, finite authority is not a part of the picture. And Jesus also says I am the Messiah, anointed to do the work and the will of, God, Who from eternity exists.

This still leaves two obvious questions. ‘Who is Jesus, this Messiah?’ and if Jesus is the Messiah and Yahweh is One, Who from eternity exists, what can be said about the Messiah? How does Jesus, the Messiah, fit into this theological concept of the Hebrews that God is One and that God is eternal? (Slight pause.)

It takes the church centuries of thinking about this to respond. The place the church winds up was given a grand name— Trinity— three persons, One God.

Given that, I need to mention two things about this idea we call Trinity. First, Trinity insists we have a connection with God and that connection is Jesus.

Trinity also insists there is a relationship, a connection between God and the Messiah. So this Trinity language Christians use to explain the connection of God and Jesus was and is not meant to be gender based, as in Father-son. It is meant to be relational as in Abba – Daddy.

But using this human familial language is not about Father-son nor even about Daddy-child. This is a theological statement. The language is meant to illuminate the closeness God has with humanity and the sense of closeness humanity should have with God.

Now, that word Trinity might sound like a high faluting subtle, textured, complex idea. But Trinity is really just about one thing. It’s a way of saying this relationship matters because God loves us.

And yes, love, especially the love God offers, is a subtle, textured, complex thing. Relationship, any relationship, is a subtle, textured, complex thing.

All that brings me back to this Mark of Ministry in a Pastor’s profile which says Jesus, the Christ, is the Head of the Church. Does Jesus love us as God loves us? If the answer is ‘yes’ seeing Jesus as the sole head of the church should be a part of a pastor’s belief because Jesus connects us.

However, I need to point out acknowledging Jesus as the Sole Head of the Church is not just for pastors. This should be a trait found in churches, in a congregation.

So for me the point of Psalm 93, the point of the Messiahship of Jesus and why we might connect the two might is not as subtle, textured, complex as it might seem. In a real way the tie is rather simple.

This Psalm says God loves us. And Jesus, the One connected intimately to God, loves us. Therefore, when we, the church, show the love of Jesus, the Christ, to all people— we, the church, all of us together, then show this mark of ministry.

To be blunt: showing love to all people is not easy. Why? Showing love to all people is subtle, textured, complex and is or should be the real mark of ministry for the whole congregation. Amen.

11/24/2024
Elijah Kellogg Church, Harpswell, Maine

ENDPIECE: It is the practice of the Pastor to speak after the Closing Hymn, but before the Choral Response and Benediction. This is a précis of what was said: “As was said earlier this is the Feast of the Reign of Christ which then leads to Advent, then Christmas, Christmas which is, of course, the Feast of the Incarnation, the Feast of the Birth of the Messiah. A parishioner once told me when she grew in faith only then did she start to understand Christmas is not about magic babies or angels or stables. Christmas is about the connection of Yahweh, God with the Messiah, the Christ and thereby with us. So what is Christmas really about? It’s about the connection of humanity with Yahweh, God and the Messiah, the Christ.”

BENEDICTION: Let us receive the gifts of God’s grace and peace. Let us rejoice in the freedom to love as Jesus loved. Let the Spirit of God speak through us today. Go forth and reach out to everyone you meet in the name of Christ. And may the face of God shine upon us; may the peace of Christ rule among us; may the fire of the Spirit burn within us this day and forevermore. Amen.