2 Samuel 23:1-7; Palm 132:1-18; Revelation 4b-8; John 18:33-37
2 Samuel 23:1-7
It’s the end of the year.
The last Sunday.
Good Night Irene!
“But, wait a minute, preacher. It’s just the end of November – we have a whole month to go before the end of the year.”
Well, it depends on what calendar we’re using.
In church, we use the liturgical calendar … a calendar that begins with the first Sunday in Advent – and that’ll be next week Sunday, by the way.
That’s how the church year begins – with Advent – longing, hope, dreams – but that’s next week.
Today, the end of the year.
The last Sunday.
Christ the King Sunday.
Or, The Reign of Christ Sunday.
Whatever it’s called, it’s all about Christ.
Christ, the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end …
What began a year ago, Advent, 2008, ends today, with Christ the King Sunday …
Along the way, what have we learned?
Our first reading today, the last words of David.
He looks back on his life … and what has David learned?
David says with confidence, as he looks back:
One who rules justly is like the light of morning, the sun rising on a cloudless morning … gleaming from the rain on the grassy land.
What have we learned in the last 12 months?
Looking at David and Solomon, all that palace intrigue and betrayal, more adultery than you can throw a stick at – a potpourri of sins.
Human beings are a motley crew … we rise to the heights and we sink to the depths … we are selfish beyond belief, and we are utterly selfless … we’re wise and we’re foolish … we’re grand and we’re dastardly … we’re the best of the race and the worst of the lot … we are saints, and we are sinners, all in the same day … and our hope is in the LORD.
David says that God has made an everlasting covenant with him … and that means us, too … because we are all children of David … through Christ, we are part of David’s family, and God’s promises to David, are God’s promises to us …
An everlasting covenant.
To love us always.
To help us, and to guide us.
To forgive our sins, and to restore us when we fall.
To rebuke our pride, and to take us by hand when we’re lost.
To temper our power with grace, and to bless our weakness with strength.
To give us a second chance, a third chance, and a fourth chance … a fresh start … ten thousand times.
Such is the covenant of God.
What have we learned?
We’ve learned that evil is real.
The team for Canines @ Covenant has learned some of that this past week … some hideous emails have been sent to us, and everyone of them written by “christians” – I have learned over the years, there is no greater darkness than the darkness of religion run amok, and no greater meanness than a mean-spirited “christian.”
The world literally has cheered us on - dozens of emails and phone calls from churches and pastors and people in all walks of life have added to the chorus of congratulations. Canines @ Covenant has struck a deep and responsive chord for so many, and what a wonder it’s been.
I’ve told the team – don’t bother replying to such mean-spirited folk.
Pray for them.
Their hearts are heavy and their souls burdened.
They’re strangers to the joy of Christ, though they claim his name.
Laughter has long been absent in their lives.
A peculiar Christianity they have – a snarl on their face and a readiness to attack.
Is this way of Christ?
So we pray for them.
Because they are dangerous!
David says of them: they cannot be picked up with the hand – full of thorns, they prick you and you will bleed … you can only use iron, and they burn quickly when thrown into the fire, because they’re dry and brittle … life has gone out of them a long time ago …
So we pray for them.
What have we learned?
The hope of David – God.
Always God … God in the morning and God in the evening, and God at suppertime.
What have learned?
We have learned to more aware of our sinfulness.
We have learned to be more reliant on God’s grace.
We have learned that love and justice prevail … but, what a struggle sometimes, along the way.
We have learned to make decisions … to follow the ways of justice and to open wide the doors of our heart … we have learned that some abhor justice, because justice means change; we have learned that personal comfort is a great temptation … we have learned that Jesus doesn’t call us to be comfortable, but to be pioneers – hit the trail into the unknown, forge new ways to think and love and serve … pioneers - who pick up, pack up, and leave behind all the familiar stuff – taking along for the journey the essentials, the things that count – but leaving the rest behind.
We have learned to be brave.
We have learned:
Never give up.
Don’t run away.
Stay focused on God.
Be of good cheer.
Try something new.
Think out of the box.
Be centered in Christ.
And loyal to another.
That’s what we’ve learned. Amen and Amen!
On to the second reading:
Third reading: Revelation 1:4-8
What have learned?
To live in between … between the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end … between creation and the end of time … ten thousand years … or millions, or billions … makes no difference … we live in between, and Christ in the center!
In a good world created by God …
A good world put into our hands, with a commission – to care for the world and all of its creatures with a godly love.
No creature posses a greater responsibility that we possess.
We have enormous powers – to build up and to tear down …
We alone can engineer a suicide gene and splice it into the DNA of corn and wheat, so that farmers around the world cannot save harvested seed for next year’s planting, as farmers have always done, but have to buy new seed every year from Monsanto, because the harvested seed is infertile and can only be used in feed-lots or in food production.
We alone can create weapons of mass destruction.
We alone can alter the face of the planet.
We have learned that Christians have a unique role to play … we have to be watchdogs and whistle-blowers, like the ancient prophets who called kings to account and pointed a finger at religious pomp and priestly power and called it false!
Like those early prophets, we have learned to stand on the ramparts of history and sound the alarm … to be vigilant and watchful … guardians of God’s creation and defenders of the widow, the orphan and the alien.
We’ve learned about Jesus and what it means to follow him.
We have learned that cross-bearing is no easy task.
Following Christ requires decisions and sacrifice that may set us at odds with the values of our culture … we have learned that the world rejects Jesus and rejects those who follow him, because Jesus is the truth, a shining and loving truth, and the world is filled with lies.
Jesus is grace while the world is harsh.
Jesus tells us to give, but the world tells us to take.
Jesus calls us to serve, as the world tells us that we’re number one.
Jesus invites us to be not afraid, while the world instills terrible fears in our soul.
Jesus teaches us about the kingdom of God, but the world dreams of wealth and power and war and domination and control.
The story is played out again and again:
The enemies of Jesus are dressed in the robes of religion and empire.
Pilate’s judgment is always the same: to the cross, to the cross, to the cross you must go.
What have we learned?
We have learned to put our lives into the hands of God … because God is good all the time, and all the time, God is good.
We have learned that life can be very hard … sorrow comes our way … sin rears its ugly head more often then we care to admit … reversals of fortune and brutal tragedy.
But we’ve learned, as well, that grace abounds, and so does mercy … and there is no greater power than the power of love.
What have we learned?
We have learned that the world is full of good people who strive for a better world … who seek justice and live kindness … who love deeply and forgive quickly …
Good people, who call our attention to the best in ourselves … who inspire us to greatness and remind us that we can always start over again … we have learned: defeat is never final, failure doesn’t have the last word; tomorrow holds new opportunities, and with God, all things are possible.
We have learned the gospel:
1. We are loved more deeply than we could ever imagine and more than we will ever know.
2. Our sins, though they be many, are as if they never were.
3. Even now, God sends the Holy Spirit to bind our lives to Christ and to one another.
4. And when we die, we shall be with Christ forever!
We’ve learned a lot, haven’t we? Amen and Amen!
Fourth Reading: John 18:33-38
What have we learned?
We’ve learned to be the church, the church of Jesus Christ.
Distinctive and determined.
For we, like Christ, are not strictly of this world.
Not that we’re against the world, or disdainful of the world.
We’re in the world, as it should be, but we’re not of the world.
Our values are determined by God.
Our faith is driven by the Holy Spirit.
We work with Scripture, and we delve into our history.
We ask again and again the basic questions:
Who are we in Christ?
What does God want of us?
What does it mean to do justice?
To love kindness?
To walk humbly with God.
We’ve learned to ask good questions.
The little child who asks “Why?” is a good model for us.
When we’re asking questions, we’re on safe ground.
Though the ground may shake beneath us.
To live well is to probe deeply.
To ask many questions.
The way of Christ is very much a way of questions!
We’ve learned about prayer.
About loving one another.
Having fun together.
We’ve eaten together and laughed and cried together.
We’ve worked hard and we loved much.
We’ve wondered how it’s going to work out.
We’ve put together a very fine Designated Pastor Nominating Committee, and our good friend, Sandra Mader, is the representative from the Committee on Ministry.
I have every confidence that they will work well together, take their time, and do what’s necessary to find Covenant’s next pastor.
We’ve learned some very important things:
Everything that needs to happen at Covenant can happen right now … there is no need to wait for another day.
We’ve learned that all of us are the church … not the pastor, not the Deacons or the Session … every one of us has a calling, a task, a responsibility. We are the church, each and every one of us.
We’ve learned that times have changed profoundly.
When families moved to Westchester in the late Forties and early Fifties, they looked for two things … anyone wanna guess?
That’s right, schools and churches.
Today, when people move to Westchester, they still look for schools, and if they choose a parochial school, they’re likely to attend that church … but without children, or if they send their children to the public schools, finding a church is way down on the list, and maybe not even on the list at all.
Times have seriously changed!
In a world so different than it was 50 years ago, it’s up to us to find new ways of telling the story and relating to people.
Faith always adapts to the new environment … I salute you, because you have been working hard to be a church for the 21st Century … a church for a very new Westchester.
Because it’s 2009 and soon to be 2010 – goodness, already, the first decade of the 21st Century.
I am very proud of you.
You are a sweet and kind congregation.
You are devoted to God and centered in Christ.
You are serious about justice.
And you’re real with love.
And you dare to think!
Covenant Presbyterian Church, Covenant on the Corner, you are a faithful congregation.
To God be the glory.
Amen and Amen!
