Year's End

Today is the last Sunday of the "Church Year." Next week we begin again with the story of Advent starting us off on another round of following Jesus through his life and teachings. At the end of the "secular" year in a few weeks we will stop to look back and see what has occurred in the past 12 months and what might happen in the next 12.

At the end of the "Church Year" we look ahead. Looking back isn't what the church and the faith is all about. Not in the sense we do it on New Year's Eve/Day. Here we have spent a year "looking back" at Jesus and seeing what he had to say, what he did, who he was, and what he calls us to do. Today, the end of the year reminds us that this story isn't finished. As we look ahead we look all the way ahead to the final and total and eternal "end" that we call the Second Coming. We do so by calling today

Christ the King Sunday.

But we don't do that with the pageantry found among earthly kings. We do it by showing the criteria that Jesus (and therefore God) saw as the reason he will be the eternal King. Today's Gospel lesson is the same lesson we use on Passion Sunday/Good Friday. The Passion of Jesus is what makes Him King. Not the greatness of his miracles. Not the way he overturned the tables of the moneychangers. Not even the way he stood up to the religious and governmental leaders.

He became King as he wore the Crown of Thorns. He became king when he said in all finality and trust-

Not my will but Your's be done.

And in the end, when it was finished, He became King.

So today we remember what Jesus has been for these past 2000 years and will be for all time. When, how, where that will become visible and earthly with a new heaven and new earth no one- not even the Son- knows. So don't waste your time - or mine - with trying to figure it out. That only keeps us de-focused from what it is we are to be about- the people of the King.