The Reign of God's love...here on earth...as in heaven

Last Pentecost/Year C

November 20, 2022

(Sermon by Rev Julie Platson)                              

Jeremiah 23:1-6; Psalm 46; Luke 23:33-43

 

Collect for today: Almighty and everlasting God, whose will it is to restore all things in your well-beloved Son, the King of kings and Lord of lords: Mercifully grant that the peoples of the earth, divided and enslaved by sin, may be freed and brought together under his most gracious rule; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

We come to the end of the church year today...the last Sunday after Pentecost or also known as Christ the King Sunday…. The Sunday, we begin with the words of our collect, praying to an almighty and everlasting God, whose will it is to restore all things in God’s well-beloved Son…Jesus…the King of kings and Lord of lords….and we pray that God’s people, divided and enslaved by sin, may be freed and brought under Jesus’ most gracious rule…in a kingdom that proclaims forgiveness, mercy, grace, joy, and hope….a kingdom that proclaims: this is what God’s love is…this is what God’s love looks like…this is what God’s love can do, through you and I…here on earth…as in heaven…

We just spent a whole year watching, listening and reflecting on the stories that were shared each week about Jesus…And if we were paying attention to Jesus’ teachings…we were given examples over and over again, of what God’s love is, what God’s love looks like, and what God’s love can do for us, and our siblings who walk this earth with us…a love that has the power to transform lives through forgiveness, through mercy and grace, through healing, through hope…a love that has the power to build, encourage and strengthen our relationships with one another, in the kingdom of God…a family of God…where Jesus, our Shepherd, guides us, and leads us, in walking the way of God’s love…

Our church year, began with the season of Advent, a season, that invites us to turn our focus once again, to anticipate the coming of a new kingdom, a new and renewed hope for God’s saving Love to come down among us…… and we celebrate the fulfillment of this hope and this Love, coming into the world on Christmas Day...when we hear the story of Jesus’ birth. 

We spent the season of Epiphany listening to the scriptures that illuminated and showed us who this Jesus was, we heard about Jesus’ Baptism and his being sent out into the wilderness, as we embarked on a journey with him in the season of Lent…we stood still with him on Good Friday, when he was crucified on the Cross, and we rejoiced once again as we celebrated his resurrection on Easter morning, three days later….The next 50 days we listened to scriptures about the resurrected Jesus, and the experiences of those who saw him, in his new glory…we celebrated his ascension into heaven, and on the Day of Pentecost, we celebrated the gift of the Holy Spirit given to us…and then we walked faithfully through the long, ordinary season after Pentecost, when we became the “students” of Jesus, and learned a lot about what it meant to be a follower of Jesus…

In this past year, we learned a lot about what the kingdom of God is like…a kingdom that proclaims what God’s love is… what God’s love looks like and what God’s love can do, through you and I…here on earth…as in heaven…

We learned a lot about the kingdom of God and God’s love…because of Jesus…

And as we mark this last Sunday after Pentecost, and the ending of a church year, we are still learning about the kingdom of God and God’s love...even, and especially, as we listen to today’s difficult gospel reading…which speaks of Jesus’ death on the cross…

In the reading today, Jesus is crucified with two criminals...one on his right, and one on his left…and Jesus’ prayed from the cross, asking for forgiveness for those who crucified him, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.”

The people stood by, watching Jesus on the cross, the leaders scoffed at him, the soldiers mocked him…

One of the criminals who were hanged there, beside Jesus, kept deriding him and saying, "Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us!" But the other rebuked him, saying, "Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation?

And we indeed have been condemned justly, for we are getting what we deserve for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong." Then he turned to Jesus and said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom."

At this moment, I envision Jesus looking directly into the eyes and soul of the criminal when he responded with words of unconditional love and forgiveness, assuring him: "Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise."

With these few words, spoken by Jesus on the cross, Jesus gives us another glimpse of what God’s love is, what it looks like, and what God’s love can do…In this moment, we are witness to a sacrificial and unselfish love that proclaims words of forgiveness from the cross…a love that sets us free, from the entanglement and enslavement of sin in our worldly lives… a merciful love that sets us free to hope and trust in God’s goodness and love… and a powerful love that reconciles us to God, one another, and all of creation…

So, yes...this church year is coming to an end today, and in today’s scripture reading, Jesus’ life on earth, is coming to an end…but this isn’t just an ending, this is also a new beginning…

…a beginning that will bring forth the hope of something new, something better than we can ever ask for or imagine, something more fulfilling and life-affirming and joyful…than we have ever experienced….

This is an ending that brings forth the promise of a new kingdom to come, a new beloved community to come to fruition here on earth, as in heaven, when we commit ourselves to following the way of Jesus, together…working alongside of each other, serving and reaching out to one another, tending, nurturing, encouraging, and caring for one another, so that we can create and build loving, equitable, just, compassionate, merciful, grace-filled communities, where no one goes hungry, where violence is no more, where all our siblings are valued and respected, where no-one is without shelter, where everyone has a chance for recovery from substance misuse, where the lonely are uplifted by the love and attention of others, where those who are grieving are assured of the joy that will come again, where forgiveness and mercy and grace are offered freely and often…

This is the vision and the hope of God’s kingdom to come here on earth, as in heaven, that Jesus proclaims from the cross… a sacrificial and unselfish love that proclaims words of forgiveness from the cross…a love that sets us free, from the entanglement and enslavement of sin in our worldly lives… a merciful love that sets us free to hope and trust in God’s goodness and love… and a powerful love that reconciles us to God, one another, and all of creation…

Let our prayer and our hope ever be for the reign of God’s love, God’s kingdom…to come here on earth…as in heaven…

And now, as we come to the close of this church year, let us prepare our hearts and our minds and our lives for the new year ahead, by confessing our sins against God and our neighbor, through the words of this hymn…

Let us pray:

HYMN after sermon: (L) 176 – An Evening Prayer

 Recording by Mahalia Jackson

1        If I have wounded any soul today,

          If I have caused one foot to go astray,

          If I have walked in my own willful way,

                   Dear Lord, forgive!

 

2        If I have uttered idle words or vain,

          If I have turned aside from want or pain,

          Lest I offend some other through the strain,

                   Dear Lord, forgive!

 

3        If I have been perverse, or hard, or cold,

          If I have longed for shelter in the fold,

          When thou hast given me some fort to hold,

                   Dear Lord, forgive!

 

4        Forgive the sins I have confessed to thee;

          Forgive the secret sins I do not see;

          O guide me, love me, and my keeper be.

                   Dear Lord, forgive! Amen.