Christ The King / Proper 29
Devotional
Water From the Well
Lectionary Devotional For Cycle A
Object:
And he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.
-- Ephesians 1:22-23
If Christ is king and you take what happened to his body as a reflection of the world's response to the incarnation, does this suggest what we might anticipate in the church as Christ's body? He came not to dominate but to serve, and the church is called to serve others rather than exercise power over them. Jesus rejected attempts to make him king, and the church is called to reject the same temptation of assuming the reigns of power. Jesus fed the hungry, healed the sick, included the excluded, was tender to children, and rejected pompous piety. Does this provide parameters for the ministry of the church? Jesus' body was scourged by soldiers and left hanging on the cross. Any observer would have concluded that Jesus' body was weak and helpless before the world.
In an age that disparages the church, what does it mean that the church is Christ's body, "the fullness of him who fills all in all"? Some have tried to respond to this challenge by separating the institutional, or visible, church from the true church. If the church is the "body of Christ," is it possible that the church, with all its visible flaws, is Christ crucified and that its failings are the wounds of Christ bleeding in the world? Are those who claim Christ as Lord but abandon the church similar to the disciples who ran away at Jesus' arrest? Is the manic busyness, the power plays, petty jealousies, and the dullness and lethargy of so many churches part of Christ's woundedness? To know the "hope to which we are called," the "richness of his glorious inheritance," and the "immeasurable greatness of God's power," do we have to understand the resurrection as God's empowerment of Christ's body? How do we rediscover the power of Christ as king in a body that appears weak? Is it possible that to fully acknowledge Christ as king over all "rule and authority," we have to follow Christ's exhibition of authority as servant?
-- Ephesians 1:22-23
If Christ is king and you take what happened to his body as a reflection of the world's response to the incarnation, does this suggest what we might anticipate in the church as Christ's body? He came not to dominate but to serve, and the church is called to serve others rather than exercise power over them. Jesus rejected attempts to make him king, and the church is called to reject the same temptation of assuming the reigns of power. Jesus fed the hungry, healed the sick, included the excluded, was tender to children, and rejected pompous piety. Does this provide parameters for the ministry of the church? Jesus' body was scourged by soldiers and left hanging on the cross. Any observer would have concluded that Jesus' body was weak and helpless before the world.
In an age that disparages the church, what does it mean that the church is Christ's body, "the fullness of him who fills all in all"? Some have tried to respond to this challenge by separating the institutional, or visible, church from the true church. If the church is the "body of Christ," is it possible that the church, with all its visible flaws, is Christ crucified and that its failings are the wounds of Christ bleeding in the world? Are those who claim Christ as Lord but abandon the church similar to the disciples who ran away at Jesus' arrest? Is the manic busyness, the power plays, petty jealousies, and the dullness and lethargy of so many churches part of Christ's woundedness? To know the "hope to which we are called," the "richness of his glorious inheritance," and the "immeasurable greatness of God's power," do we have to understand the resurrection as God's empowerment of Christ's body? How do we rediscover the power of Christ as king in a body that appears weak? Is it possible that to fully acknowledge Christ as king over all "rule and authority," we have to follow Christ's exhibition of authority as servant?
