Every pastor and writer has been seeking
appropriate words to interpret the post-election malaise or ebullience, and
each seeks to galvanize empathy, healing, and ways forward for the common
good. One of our pastors sought to help
frame the varied emotions of our congregation, and her willingness to speak to
the range of feelings was constructive.
I think it is very
helpful that less than two weeks after the election we celebrate the Reign of
Christ on November 20. Winding up the
Christian year, this Sunday illumines the God’s ultimate sovereignty over human
affairs. Human rulers will come and go, while
God’s providential governance endures.
The prophetic text
warns shepherds who scatter the flock, negligent in their leadership, that God
will not tolerate their evil doings without correction (Jeremiah 23:1-4). “The days are surely coming, says the Lord,
when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king
and deal wisely, and shall executive justice and righteousness in the land” (v.
5).
The Benedictus from Luke echoes the
prophecy, promising that
By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on
high will break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and the
shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace (Luke 1:78-79).
The long awaited mighty savior will embody God’s mercy and
liberating power.
A third lectionary
reading reflects the post-resurrection awareness that in Christ, God’s purposes
of redemption will be accomplished.
Probably an early hymn, Colossians 1:15-20 portrays the extent of
Christ’s rule.
Christ is the image
of the invisible God, the first born of all creation; for
in Christ all things in heaven and on earth were
created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers
or powers—all things have been created through Christ and for Christ. Christ is before all things, and in Christ
all things hold together. Christ is the
head of the body, the church, and is the beginning, the firstborn from the
dead, so that Christ might come to have first place in everything. For in Christ all the fullness of God was
pleased to dwell, and through Christ God was pleased to reconcile to Godself
all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of
the cross.
The sweep of eternality is in evidence here. Through Christ, God creates the enduring
structures of governing, and those temporal “thrones, dominions, or powers,”
which may function in opposition to God’s rule, will not endure. God’s reign, however, will establish justice
and peace.
God is not absent
from the temporal machinations of human rulers, and their power is not
absolute. Besides the checks and
balances of our constitutional system, God works for good with those who love God and are called according to God’s
purposes. And we can be assured, Christ
does not have to run every four years and does not have term limits.
Molly T. Marshall
Central prepares leaders to work for the common good.
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