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Nov. 22, 09. Christ the King, Lectionary 34, Hartmut Fege, D.Min. MLC – Ocean I
don’t believe in coincidences. Here
we are at the last day of the liturgical year, the Sunday before Advent. We
straddle the old with one foot in the past and the other not quite in the
future. Two
weeks ago on I stood before a room full of Veterans in Mel
had called that day to tell me that we got the o.k. to move into our new
building. Coincidence? That
day, at the VFW was a Vet from WWII, Russell Briggs, who led us in “ The
text of our Gospel reading for today was discovered on a little slip of paper 3 ½ inches long and
2 ½ inches wide with seven lines of writing on each side. As
with much that on the surface of things seems insignificant, this little
fragment of papyrus is one of the earliest fragments ever found and is dated
between 125-150 AD. The
manuscript ends with these words “legei
outo Pliatoes ti estin aletheia?” Pilate says to him what is truth? Standing
before the Sovereign of Rome, Jesus answers For
this I was born, and for this I came into the world to testify to the truth.
Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice. (Jn.18-37). Coincidence?
We
are here today because there is something about this story that speaks the
truth about our existence. Today
on the Eve of Thanksgiving, we have much to be thankful for. The
German word for gift is GABE – and the word for homework is Aufgabe. Which is another way of saying that with
every gift comes homework… Gabe/Aufgabe… What
is truth? At
our last leadership team meeting in the Grange, there was a discussion about
whether the church is a business or something more. We
have a mortgage. We
have assets and liabilities. We
pay taxes, at least until we can convince Caesar that we are tax exempt. We
have utility bills. We have income and we have out-go. We have overhead. We
are a business, except for one very important difference. Unlike
a business we have no product to sell, unless you want to go back to days of
Martin Luther when the church was selling salvation. Then
it was called an Indulgence. We
exist for one purpose and one purpose only, and for that countless before us
died rather than deny that purpose... The
Greek word for truth is ALEITHIA. In the original context it was used when a
statue was covered until the day of dedication when it was unveiled, and the
citizens of What
John’s Gospel is saying, when he quotes Jesus: For this
I was born and for this I came into the world to testify to the truth, is that
Jesus is the unveiling of God. John is saying go ahead and look … take a good
look! And
what do you see? Pontius
Pilate asks, What is truth? Poets,
politicians, philosophers, theologians, all have been answering that question
forever… Jesus
doesn’t answer Pilate. He just stands there. The
truth is there are no coincidences. The
truth is that of all the places you could be right now, you are here. The
truth for many of us is that on this last Sunday of the Liturgical Year we are
home. The
truth is that this building is no better or no worse than The
truth is, that truth is not an opinion, and neither is it a fact. We
may disagree about facts but we will die for a truth. Just
ask any mother of any soldier who did not come home from a war. The
truth is that we are in the business of telling the truth and the truth of that
is that it is a matter of life or death. The
truth is that we live in a world that would rather we be quiet. The
truth is that none of us are self-made. We
are all God-made. The
truth is whether it is the Widow who drops her last penny into the collection
plate or the rich who give what’s left over. Both
give because they are part of something bigger than themselves – the only
difference is the Widow who drops in her penny knows it, and the other has no
idea. The
truth is, that is why we celebrate Christ the King Sunday, and not "We
finally got this building Sunday." Amen |
