November 19, 2021
Dear friends in Christ,
This Sunday we reflect on the theology that claims Christ as our King and we see Jesus condemned to death, a reality that challenges all our human understanding of power and authority. Next Sunday we begin Advent, a season that starts in darkness and brings us light, a time that offers the promise of God’s justice and righteousness in a world that does not reflect it. As followers of Jesus we are called to a standard of life that is more than simply the laws of our country, we are called to follow the values of the Kingdom of God.
Regardless of any particular trial, a society in which people believe it necessary and appropriate to take up arms in public streets and to engage in violence is a society that has serious moral failings. Some in our community might see the verdict of the Kyle Rittenhouse trial as an example of innocent until proven guilty and the value of our justice system, others may see it as an example of broken justice and systemic racism. As followers of Jesus we are called to a different way, a way that strives for justice, works for peace, offers love. We are called to name the brokenness in our society and bring healing. We cannot do this work unless we keep the higher calling before us, unless we claim our true citizenship in the kingdom of heaven. Let each one of us not only pray “your Kingdom come,” but work to make that Kingdom visible in our own life by how we show unity and love in times of division and anger.
I invite us to pray as one the prayer found on page 823 of our BCP:
Grant, O God, that your holy and life-giving Spirit may so move every human heart and especially the hearts of the people of this land, that barriers which divide us may crumble, suspicions disappear, and hatreds cease; that our divisions being healed, we may live in justice and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
