For
Sunday, November 24, 2024, Readings: Daniel 7:7-9, 13-14; Psalm 93, Matthew
Fox*,
John
18:33-37
After this I saw in the visions by night a fourth beast, terrifying and dreadful and exceedingly strong. It had great iron teeth and was devouring, breaking in pieces, and stamping what was left with its feet…As I watched, thrones were set in place, and an Ancient One took his throne… I saw one like a human being coming with the clouds of heaven. And he came to the Ancient One…To him was given dominion and glory and kingship… His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not pass away, and his kingship is one that shall never be destroyed. [Daniel 7:7a,9a,13-14b]
Your testimonies are very sure, and holiness adorns your house,
O Lord, for ever and for evermore. [Psalm 93:6]
Listen to the Cosmic Christ, to Cosmic Wisdom calling all the
children of God together…I am tired of your religious wars, your sectarian
divisions, your crusading spirits that arise from disharmony. I long for
harmony. If there must be competition, let it take place at the level of shared
gifts and bountiful outpouring of wisdom. Pray together. Create harmony and
healing together. [A Reading from Matthew Fox*]
Jesus
answered, “My kingdom is not from this world…I came into the world, to testify
to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.” [John
18:36a, 37b]
The Season of
Creation originated in the Anglican Church of South Africa and was
formalized in 2008. It is designed for us to explore our faith from a Creation
perspective. For more information see:
Week VI's
Theme is:
Christ the King
We have arrived at
the final Sunday in the Season of Creation which is also the Last Sunday
after Pentecost in the Revised Common Lectionary, both of which
celebrate Christ the King. Coming next week, we begin the Season of Advent, a
time of anticipation mixed with the preparation of heart and soul for the birth
of the Child in whom the fullness of God is pleased to dwell.
This
week our first reading is from the Book of Daniel. It is an often strange and
apocalyptic book. Many of us know the story of Daniel in the Lion’s Den
but we don’t often hear readings from Daniel in our regular Lectionary
schedule. Michael I. Chan, writing for Working Preacher, says that Chapter
7 is a significant shift in the book…In contrast…the previous chapter where
dangerous animals posed a threat to an individual, the beasts in Chapter
7 represent a cosmic and political menace. Would that I had time and space
to say more but perhaps those words are enough for these current days! For this
moment, I’m struck by the appearance of one like a human being coming to
the Ancient One [also known in other translations as the Ancient of Days] and given
dominion and glory and kingship…one that will not pass away…one that shall not
be destroyed. Although interpreted primarily by and for a Jewish
understanding, it speaks to me here of Jesus in John’s Gospel saying My
kingdom is not of this world.
For its original audience, today’s Psalm,
also from the Hebrew [Old] Testament, proclaimed the power and eternity of
the Creator, yet in our Christian sense of it, the language, The Lord
is King, applies equally to Christ as King. And, as in the piece from
Daniel, in verse 6, the Psalm parallels John’s Gospel when again by declaring Your
testimonies are very sure, and holiness adorns your house, O Lord, for ever and
for evermore.
Our next reading is from Matthew
Fox, a prolific writer who is now an Episcopal priest. He was expelled from his
Roman Catholic Dominican Order in 1991, after multiple clashings with the then
Cardinal Ratzinger who was the Prefect for the Doctrine of the Congregation of
the Faith, before he became Pope Benedict XVI. Fox’s book, The Coming of the
Cosmic Christ, was written in 1988 and his expulsion for a variety of given
reasons essentially deemed much of his work, especially in Creation Theology,
as not conforming to the Doctrinal mandates of the official “Congregation.” Yet
for Episcopal and other readers, including many who are Catholic, Fox’s writing
has illuminated a sense of spirituality and connectedness to Creation and in
this particular sense, The Cosmic Christ. His words calling all the children
of God together speak deeply to me. Drink of my wisdom from your own
unique well… Cease using religion to divide… I personally recoil
from absolutism and certainty in faith matters when it shuts out only new
understandings in personal spiritual growth, it too often allows sanctions and
even violence for those not in lock step. Who am I to know how God in Christ is
revealed in another culture, in another faith tradition that is one of love and
accepting of differing paths that will lead us each to the God of All
beyond this world?
For me, the crux of this Sunday’s lessons is the
moment in John’s Gospel when Jesus tells Pilate that My kingdom is not of this world…Everyone
who belongs to the truth listens to my voice [John
18:37b]. Are we listening? Do we hear it? Even more interestingly to me, is
that what comes next is not in our appointed reading and I wish it was. Perhaps
because, especially in these fraught times, it is even more difficult for us to
understand and answer. In verse 38 ~ Pilate asked him What is truth? We
are not given the answer from Jesus here. How
do we answer? How do we live it?
* A reading from the writings of Matthew Fox: “Listen to the Cosmic
Christ, to Cosmic Wisdom calling all the children of God together: "Come
children, drink of my waters which are all common waters. They are free and
available to all my children. Drink of my wisdom from your own unique well. Let
the Taoists drink and the Muslims drink; let the Jews drink and the Buddhists
drink; let the Christians drink and let the native peoples drink. And then tell
me: What have you drunk? How deeply have you imbibed my refreshment? What wet
and running wisdom drips from inside you to the outside? What have you to share
with others of my wisdom and harmonious living, of the dripping of the oils of
compassion and the lubricants of your common anointings as my images, my other
"Christs," my co-creators of wisdom on earth? I am tired of your
religious wars, your sectarian divisions, your crusading spirits that arise
from disharmony. I long for harmony. If there must be competition, let it take
place at the level of shared gifts and bountiful outpouring of wisdom. Pray
together. Create harmony and healing together. Celebrate, praise, and thank
together. Cease using religion to divide. Use it for its purpose, to reconnect
to Mother Earth, to blessings, to the underground river that I am and that you
all share. And cease scandalizing the young by your indifference to these
awesome blessings, by your competition, and your boredom. Praise one another.
Praise the earth. In doing so, you praise me." [Matthew Fox, The
Coming of the Cosmic Christ, Harper and Row, San Francisco, 1988]
LET
US, GOD’S PEOPLE, PRAY
Leader: ~ O Lord Forever
and Forevermore, fill us daily with the wonders of this Universe and turn us
always toward Christ in whose Kingdom we are forgiven and saved. Teach our
hearts again, to make Your love visible in all that we are, through all the
blessings we share in You.
O Christ of the Cosmos
RESPONSE:
Keep
us in Your Truth
~
O Lord Forever and for Evermore, for all who are governed by political power or
throne, by force or dominion, on our planet, in our country, and in our
community, we implore You to infuse the wisdom, sanity, and humanity of Christ Jesus
into all who lead Your people. We pray especially for: add your
own petitions
O Christ of the Cosmos
Keep us in Your Truth
~
O Lord Forever and for Evermore, send healing grace to all who suffer in
spirit, mind, or body, and compassion to all who give them care. We now join
our hearts to pray for those in need… add your own petitions
O Christ of the Cosmos
Keep us in Your Truth
~
O Lord Forever and for Evermore, ease the grief of those who mourn, as the
souls of our cherished departed arise from earthly death into the ceaseless joy
of Your Kingdom beyond This World. We pray especially for: add your own
petitions
O Christ of the Cosmos
Keep us in Your Truth
~
O Lord Forever and for Evermore, we pause in this moment to
offer You our other heartfelt thanksgivings, intercessions, petitions, and
memorials, aloud or silently… add your own petitions
O Christ of the Cosmos
Keep us in Your Truth
~
O Lord Forever and for Evermore, empower the spirits of those who lead us in
Your Church through Your Word and Sacraments, with the peace, unity, and truth
of Christ’s all-encompassing love. We pray especially for: add your own
petitions
O Christ of the Cosmos
Keep
us in Your Truth
The
Celebrant adds: Christ
of All Peoples, our Alpha and Omega, rescue us from the power of darkness
and transform our anxieties into fruitful action. Keep us striving toward Your
purpose as we offer our labors to soothe the sufferings of humanity near and
far. We ask through Jesus our Christ, the Faithful Witness; and the Holy
Spirit, the very Breath of Love; who together with You are our One God, “for
ever and for evermore.” Amen.
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