The Reign of Christ: Are you the king of the Jews?

This Sunday is dedicated to “Christ the King.”  In Church life, this is the “end” of the year.  In the words of St. Benedict, “Always we begin again.”  And every year we do so.  In Church life, next Sunday, December 2, we begin again with Advent.   The Latin word “advent” is means coming or arrival … it can mean beginnings!

Throughout his ministry, from the first moment he spoke the words, “come and see” to the disciples and to us, Jesus has talked about the kingdom of God (or heaven) in different ways.  Perhaps one of those ways has spoken to your soul more than others.  I love to hear … “the kingdom of God is within you” which may be more accurately be translated “among you.”    The word kingdom is translated from the Greek word basileia {bas-il-i'-ah} as the “Kingdom” many times.   With this being the case, it may seem strange that Jesus never referred to himself as a King in so many words.   

The word “reign” captures what I believe is inherent in what Jesus talks about when he talks about the kingdom.   The Reign of God is the dynamic rule of God’s saving or healing love, that which makes us whole and all that we were created to be and can truly be.   Basileia is not a place but a way of being.  It is a way of say, “hmmm, perhaps God is God, and I am not!”  

History tells us that Pilate was a brutal man of his time, one we still read about today who has the honor of asking Jesus the question of the week … “Are you the king of the Jews?”

I invite you to breathe deeply and allow the Spirit of God to fill you as you invite silence to accompany you on the journey of praying the Scripture through Lectio Divina this week.

Breathe deeply and let the silence wash over you in gentle waves.   If your mind refuses to stop, simply ask yourself if you might only pause for just a moment to immerse yourself in this famous exchange between powerful men … one of them a man of the State (Roman) and one of them a man of God, truly a man who is God, fully human and fully divine … and that is simply a mystery!

Breathe, breathe, breathe ... slowly, deeply, all the way to your toes …

Read the Word ... slowly, savoring the words and their impact on your life. 

John 18:33-38    Common English Bible (CEB)

Pilate went back into the palace. He summoned Jesus and asked, “Are you the king of the Jews?”

Jesus answered, “Do you say this on your own or have others spoken to you about me?”

Pilate responded, “I’m not a Jew, am I? Your nation and its chief priests handed you over to me. What have you done?”

Jesus replied, “My kingdom doesn’t originate from this world. If it did, my guards would fight so that I wouldn’t have been arrested by the Jewish leaders. My kingdom isn’t from here.”

“So you are a king?” Pilate said.

Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. I was born and came into the world for this reason: to testify to the truth. Whoever accepts the truth listens to my voice.”

“What is truth?” Pilate asked.

Was there a word or a phrase that caught your attention as you read?   Take that word or phrase and turn it over in your mind ... listen to the word(s) and let it (them) fill you with wonder and delight.
Perhaps you might read this encounter again and allow God to touch you through it.

Breathe, breathe, breathe ... 

Receive the Word ... What do you hear from the Lord your God as you word or phrase illuminates your world right now?  Has your word or phrase drawn attention to something in your life you need to attend to?  What might God be saying to you through this word that you have received?

Perhaps at this point, you might read this encounter and consider how you might respond to God’s touch.

Breathe, breathe, breathe ... 

Respond to the Word ... Are there words welling up within you that you need to speak to yourself?  Are there words that are emerging that you want to speak to God?  Allow the words to flow from within you as you pray with all of your self ... your mind, your body, your senses, your emotions ... are there expressions of prayer and worship that you would give as an offering to God?

Breathe, breathe, breathe ... 

Rest in the Word ... Simply allow the Silence to fall upon you, to emerge from within you, and to bloom in Love for yourself, for others, for God and for the World.

Byzantine dome mosaic of Christ Pantocrator. Public domain.
http://www.sacred-destinations.com/greece/daphni-monastery

May you be blessed by our God as Christ comes to reign in your heart and over your life! 

As an Amen, which means "so be it," listen to the beautiful Hymn of Promise sung by Debra Nesgoda.  Close your eyes and let the words and music wash over you in gentle waves or watch the majestic nature photos scroll, whichever you find most restful.   

Although many persons consider this a funeral song, I find there to be enough simplicity and grace woven throughout the song for us all … What is truth?  Because Christ reigns … “In our end is our beginning!”  Let us rest in this truth! 

Deep Peace upon your Prayers, Cindy

Missional Preaching

I am currently at Garrett-ETS (Evangelical Theological Seminary) taking a 2-week intensive class on Missional Preaching.  What a gift!  Even though it is a bit chilly here in Evanston, a suburb just north of Chicago, I am finding this to be a life-giving learning experience.   There could not be a better class for a deacon in the United Methodist Church! 

Our instructor is John Dally, an Episcopal priest, who wrote a book called Choosing the Kingdom: Missional Preaching for the Household of God.  Although I rebel against the word "kingdom" and prefer to speak of the "reign of God," this book is well written and insightful as the preacher is called to move beyond "maintenance" of the institution to lead the church into "mission" in the world.  

It occurs to me that missional could be another way to talk about "risk-taking" mission.  Yet to develop a missional mindset we may have to go even farther.  Dally quotes Darrell Guder (Missional Church) “Mission is not merely an activity of the church.  Rather, mission is the result of God’s initiative, rooted in God’s purposes to restore and heal creation.  Mission means “sending” … the purpose of God’s action in human history … our challenge is to move from being a church with mission to becoming a missional church.”     YES!  Tell me how!

John challenges us every day to seek the reign of God … to proclaim the reign of God in all that we are and all that we do.    The questions that emerged for me as I prepared my first sermon for the class are:  Am I living a missional life?  How can I proclaim a credible missional message if I am not living a missional life?  These are questions that beg to be explored as I inhabit the liminal space between the church and the world as a deacon. 

So ... what does the reign of God look like in your life ... your church ... your world?

Risk-Taking Mission

Recent study and discussion about Risk-Taking Mission has taken me to a new depth of struggling with my faith as I seek to know and do God’s will. In the spiritual life, struggling with our faith helps us to learn and to grow closer to the God who is in the midst of all of our struggles, leading us and loving us.

At a recent workshop on Missions, someone asked me about a phrase I used. I made a reference to the “prophetic voice.” The following meditation emerged from my struggles since the workshop. I hope it will help people understand what I mean when I use the expression “prophetic voice” and to enter into our discussion.


In Matthew 13:45, Jesus says, “The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls; on finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.”

The formation of a natural pearl is almost a miracle: a fragment of an irritant gets embedded on the inside of an oyster shell, and the oyster works to surround that irritant with countless layers of mother of pearl to organically produce a rare and precious jewel. The evocative beauty of pearls has attracted people since ancient times.

In a long teaching discourse, with eschatological (end-time) overtones, about the kingdom of heaven, Jesus uses the rare and precious pearl to make a point. So shall I …

The prophetic voice is the irritant. It is the voice that gets under your skin. Certain sources call the irritant a foreign substance. A prophetic voice is one that sounds a message that is so provocative that people react to it with voices of their own! Just as the oyster works to expel and overcome and enfold and embrace and finally include the irritant within itself to produce the pearl, the healthy community works to listen, understand, speak out and engage the prophetic voice to produce risk-taking mission.

If the oyster is able to expel the irritant, there will be no pearl. If the community silences the voice, there will be no risk-taking mission. If the irritant kills the oyster, there will be no pearl. If the voice kills the spirit of the community, there will be no risk-taking mission. After time and work the oyster will produce something new: a pearl of great price. After time and work genuine community will produce something new and only God knows what “risk-taking missions” will one day produce a “pearl of great price.”

At the workshop, I asked people to pray … Perhaps you might open your heart and your mind to the Spirit of God in Christ and pray this communal prayer right now … Most Holy and Gracious God, send your Spirit upon the world … Help us to love and care for one another and for others as Jesus loves and cares for us. Help us to work together so that your will is done. We are not asking for the whole picture but we are asking you to show us the next step on the way to the kingdom … Amen.