November 26
Beloved of Good Shepherd Church,
Grace to you and peace in Jesus Christ our Lord!
I am so thankful for God’s gift of you to our parish! You really are a gift. We are all the richer for your presence among us. The particular elements of your personality, the way that God’s love shines through you, and the simple joy that beats like a tender drum in your heart are all vital to making Good Shepherd the vibrant, love-soaked place it is today. This Thanksgiving week I give thanks to God for creating you!
I am also thankful for our rhythm of life as Episcopalians. We keep time with a liturgical calendar. As you may know the church calendar is about a month ahead of the secular calendar. The church’s new year begins next Sunday with the season of Advent which is a stretch of four Sundays that lead us to Christmas. Advent is the preparation season in which we walk alongside Mary, the pregnant mother of Jesus, as she makes her way to Bethlehem, the birthplace of our Lord.
So, if next week is the first week of the new year, then obviously this week is the last week of the current year. This past Sunday was our New Year’s Eve in the church. It is commonly called Christ the King Sunday. We read the crucifixion scene from the Gospel. That may seem like a strange choice for this time of year, but I think it’s perfect. At the end of the year we are essentially saying, it all comes down to this: The one who is all-powerful did not exploit his power, rather he took on powerlessness hanging on a cross unto death, so that he could show us how vulnerability is the pathway into eternal life and infinite love. Truly, love is all!
At his crucifixion two people hung beside Jesus on crosses of their own. A standard reading of the text is this: Both men were criminals caught red-handed. One was a bad guy because he taunted Jesus. The other was a good guy because he confessed his sins and asked Jesus for help. “Remember me,” he said, “when you come into your kingdom.” A traditional reading suggests that the good guy goes to heaven with Jesus, and the bad guy, well, we suppose his fate is to spend some time in another place. Let’s leave that reading of the text in place and dig underneath it for additional treasure.
If we go deeper and excavate below the surface level reading of the text into the symbolic realm we might sense that it’s not two guys, it's one guy with two sides. The guy is not a criminal, he's me or you. Can you identify with the bad guy who is so scared hanging near death that he lashes out at Jesus? I can. Can you identify with the good guy who is so remorseful that he begs Jesus for help? I can. Jesus can too. The deep meaning of the cross is found in Jesus’ full solidarity with us in all our limits, all our fears, all our sins, and all our sorrows.
Now listen to what Jesus says to you and to me on both our good days and our bad days - I promise you this day you will be with me in paradise. No matter the things you’ve done or left undone I will not desert you.
So, at the end of the year, after all is said and done, it comes down to this: Jesus is for us, he’s on our side, no matter what, and his way with us is tender, merciful, forgiving, and fundamentally loving. We can be with him in the paradise of the present moment right now, indeed, we are. Our king, Jesus Christ, is not like other kings. He doesn’t need or want worldly power. He has the power of love which flows through his weakness and ours as the very strength of God. Now that’s Good News! Happy New Year!
Remember this always - God loves you, and I love you too!
Love is all,
Hendree+