Proper 29C  (Col 1:11-20 and Luke 23:33-43)  11/21/2010

This morning we gather on the last Sunday of the church year. And as the church year comes to an end, we hear what we might call the end of the story of Christ’s public ministry – his imminent death on the cross. But like many things that come to an end, whether the church year or the public ministry of Christ, the “end” often does not mark the final word to be said but merely serves to point toward a new beginning. This last Sunday of the church year is celebrated on our calendar as the day of Christ the King. As the story of Jesus comes to a close, we remember that Christ came into the world, a world that was and is broken and fallen and in need of help. A world that is yearning for all that Christ has to offer (a world waiting for the gifts of the Only Son of God), but a world that abandons Jesus all the same. And if our abandonment was the end of the story we would surely be the worse for it, but Christ is King; Christ is the Victor over sin and over death itself, and Christ is our King and Savior. Today we come to the end and stop for a moment to reflect on the saving work of Christ because through Christ we are forgiven and redeemed. But what does that mean to us as we live out our lives…that we are “forgiven and redeemed?” Continue reading →