Colossians 1.11-20, Luke 23.33-43
The Sunday next before Advent / Christ the King
Sunday 20 November 2016, West Camel, Weston Bampfylde
Brian D McLaren:
What we have in the Bible, I'd suggest, is something better than "timeless truths" - namely, timely truths: windows into how God becomes known to people, little by little over time, "through the prophets," but then, climactically and uniquely, "in his Son." [1]
N.T. Wright:
It has been slowly dawning on me over many years that there is a fundamental problem deep at the heart of Christian faith and practice as I have known them. This problem can be summarized quite easily: we have all forgotten what the four gospels are about. Yes, they’re about Jesus, but what exactly are they saying about Jesus? Yes, they’re about God, but what precisely are they saying about God? Yes, they’re about the beginnings of what later became known as Christianity, but what are they saying about that strange new movement, and how do they resource it for its life and work?
…The question, then, is not only: Can we learn to read the gospels better, more in tune with what their original writers intended? It is also: Can we discover, by doing this, a new vision for Gods mission in the world, in and through Jesus, and then now! in and through his followers? And, in doing so, can we grow closer together in mission and life, in faith and hope, and even in love? Might a fresh reading of the gospels, in other words, clear the way for renewed efforts in mission and unity? Is that what it would look like if we really believed that the living God was king on earth as in heaven?
That, after all, is the story all four gospels tell: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. The story that the four evangelists tell is the story of how God became king. [2]
How did that happen? When did that happen?
Read entire chapter of Brian D. McLaren, We Make The Road By Walking, Chapter 33, The Uprising Begins (Easter Sunday), including this extract:
... It’s dark when we reach Jerusalem. Between this day’s sunrise and today’s sunset, our world has been changed forever. Everything is new. From now on, whenever we break the bread and drink the wine, we will know that we are not alone. The risen Christ is with us, among us, and within us—just as he was today, even though we didn’t recognize him. Resurrection has begun. We are part of something rare, something precious, something utterly revolutionary.
It feels like an uprising. An uprising of hope, not hate. An uprising armed with love, not weapons. An uprising that shouts a joyful promise of life and peace, not angry threats of hostility and death. It’s an uprising of outstretched hands, not clenched fists. It’s the “someday” we have always dreamed of, emerging in the present, rising up among us and within us. It’s so different from what we expected—so much better. This is what it means to be alive, truly alive. This is what it means to be en route, walking the road to a new and better day. Let’s tell the others: the Lord is risen! He is risen, indeed! [3]
And the kingdoms of this world, the kingdoms of death and destruction, have truly fallen, now and for all time - for now Jesus, our God, has become our King.
Notes
[1] Brian D. McLaren, You Probably Don't Remember, brianmclaren.net archives.
[2] N.T. Wright, How God Became King: The Forgotten Story of the Gospels, pp. ix-xi. Quoted in Paul Neuchterlein, Girardian Lectionary, Christ the King Sunday - Year C.
[3] Brian D. McLaren, We Make The Road By Walking, Chapter 33, The Uprising Begins (Easter Sunday), extract from brianmclaren.net.
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