The Luminous Space Podcast | Christ The King

The Reign of Christ / Christ the KingFr. Chad E. JarnaginPsalm 1001 Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth. 2 Worship the Lord with gladness;come into his presence with singing. 3 Know that the Lord is God.It is he that made us, and we are his;we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. 4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving,and his courts with praise.Give thanks to him, bless his name. 5 For the Lord is good;his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations. Today is the final Sunday in the year of the Church... the Reign of Christ / Christ the King. In today’s gospel, Jesus’ final teaching in this section of Matthew is an examen. His instruction is so important that he separates people “as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats” (Matt. 25:32). Essentially, the separation depends on how people in need were treated.Though the Psalm today is short, it is instruction as well. Some think that this is a Psalm of David, others say it is Moses. It is an ancient text, 10th century B.C..Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth. The earth is already making a joyful noise... the trees, the oceans... the way the wind blows... the birds, the sunset, and sunrise. Seeing God in all things and all things in God... the presence of God is everywhere... at all times. We are the ones who are not present. The deep spaces where we learn and gain a bigger perspective is when we can abide with God in the middle of difficulties, suffering, and pain. If God is God of the summits of life, God is the God of the valley of darkness.Verse 3 helps us to remember whose we are. We are God’s... made in our Maker’s image. The sheep of God’s pasture... there is another connection to the gospel today.Verse 4 and 5... 4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise. Give thanks, bless his name. 5 For the Lord is good (this isn’t just good as we know it... it means holy as well); his steadfast love endures forever, and faithfulness to all generations. We give thanks FOR the Lord is good (again, good in the light times and heavy times)... faithful to all generations. God through time and space... past, present, and future.If we trace the meaning of Good, it leads us to Good News... an understanding of a reality that is beyond good as we know it. Holy news... the news that Jesus is found in the darkest days, deepest pain, and even confusion... this is where we find and connect with Christ more than anywhere... and if the Lord is good... and God’s love endures forever, through time and space, we then come to realize that the reality of Jesus is because of this goodness.John 8: 52-58 The Jews said yet you say, ’Whoever keeps my word will never taste death.’ Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? The prophets also died. Who do you claim to be?” Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, he of whom you say, ‘He is our God,’ though you do not know him. But I know him; if I would say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you. But I do know him and I keep his word. Your ancestor Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day; he saw it and was glad.” Then the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, before Abraham was, I am.”This is what the reign of Christ looks like: Remember this from Brennan Manning: Suffering, failure, loneliness, sorrow, discouragement, and death will be part of our journey, but the Kingdom of God will conquer all these horrors. No evil can resist grace forever.We are daughters and sons of our Beloved. Furthermore, our Beloved is ours. May our lives, hands, feet, and mouths go and tell somebody. Thanks be to God. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.