Sunday November 21 Reign of Christ
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Psalm 145
Praise to God because God cares for the oppressed and feeds all creation—God is praised everywhere.
Isaiah 19: 19-25 What’s Isaiah about?
The poet is writing about seven hundred years before Jesus at the time Assyria conquered the northern half of the land. He imagines an incredible event—that Egypt will abandon the religion of the pyramids and follow the true God of justice, the God of Israel, and that Assyria will do the same, and that Israel will be the link-pin binding these super-powers together under God’s leadership.
Can we imagine God utterly transforming the relationships between nations of our day so the nations act together for justice for the world, its creatures and the least important people? Do we dare hold that vision as possible? On this week of the Reign of Christ whose reign do we long for?
The poet’s vision of countries coming to Jerusalem to worship may have given rise to Matthew’s story of the wise men coming from the east to worship Jesus at his birth.
Luke 19: 11-27 What’s Luke about?
Jesus tells this parable about the talents immediately before entering Jerusalem, a few days before he is crucified. The parable is about how slaves who invested much money are doubly rewarded and a slave who simply saved the money is punished. The story seems to suggest that God rewards those who are given lots of money, and punishes the poor for not investing, and slaughters those who reject God. It doesn’t seem to express the care Jesus usually expresses for the poor.
But notice that what happens in the parable is exactly what the Roman empire is doing—rewarding the rich and crushing the poor; much as happens today. The parable is alerting the disciples to what the Roman empire is about to do to Jesus. Shortly Jesus will enter Jerusalem on a borrowed donkey—he is so poor he doesn’t even own a donkey. Jesus is the poor servant in the parable who refused to take part in profiteering and is slaughtered for not participating in exploitation. Those who said they didn’t want the oppressive rule of Rome are the disciples who will soon have to decide which emperor they wish to serve—the reign of Christ or the reign of violent Caesar.
The choice of which empire we serve remains the same in our time: is it the reign of Christ?
This week’s collect:
Almighty and everlasting God,
whose will it is to restore all things
in your well-beloved Son, our Lord and King,
grant that the peoples of the earth,
now divided and enslaved by sin,
may be freed and brought together
under his gentle and loving rule;
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.
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