So we head into these last few weeks looking back so that we might see the path ahead. Drawing a bit on the structure of the liturgical year and a bit on Psalm 145 (see Psalm 145:1-5, 17-21), we consider what God has done, what that tells us about who God is, and what that means for what is to come.
* * *
The church year starts over on the first Sunday of Advent. Which means we are in the final few weeks of the Christian year. This liturgical year is cyclical in nature - each year takes us through the same periods of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection.
We begin the Christian year in anticipation of the coming of Jesus into the world. We look not only to his birth but also to his return. Then we end the Christian year with our recognition of the Reign of Christ. We celebrate the glory of the risen Jesus and his continued presence in our lives.
So as we approach these final days of the church year, we remember the past even as we look ahead.
As we consider this, I am struck by how we look at the history of God’s relationship with humanity. Our Bibles tell the story of this relationship — or at least part of the story. The Bible covers the beginning of time into the second century following Jesus. For those of us that are Christians the story culminates with the ministry of Jesus and then we get a relatively brief glimpse of the many ways those that Jesus had taught continued that ministry, at least for the next hundred or so years.
In the last few weeks of our Church year, we approach the end of Jesus’ time with us on Earth. We hear some of his final teachings. We remember his life here among us even as we come full circle to anxiously await his coming.
So it is an ending of sorts. But it is not a true end. Jesus didn’t come to us and say, “Here, let me do this thing for you. Great. See ya.” He promised to continue to be a presence in our lives. He promised the gift of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God that continues to strengthen and guide us. Like Obi-Wan telling Luke about the Force, Jesus promised to be with us always.
So we come to the end of the church year, but it is also a beginning. As November rolls into December, we start over again. In Advent we look not only to the expectation surrounding the baby that has come, that is already in the world. But we also look with expectation to all that is still to come. We look for the final fulfillment of all that God has promised us. We look forward with anticipation to the kingdom of God.
Jesus told us he was ushering in the kingdom of God, so it is already here. But we know from experience that we do not live as if the kingdom is already here. We do not live in mutual harmony. Our lives and our world are full of conflict. We do not love one another as we should. We do not care about the needs of others. We have made idols of our own creations — our money, our status, our possessions.
And so the kingdom exists in a liminal state, a state of being and not yet being at the same time.
So we read these stories to remind us of what is meant to be. We read these stories to remind us of God’s promises, of all that Jesus taught us, of the great acts that God has done for us.
When we look to Psalm 145, we are reminded of the mighty acts of God. This Psalm sings praise to God for all that God has done — for God’s creation, for God’s grace, for God’s glory, for God’s power. It is as if the Psalmist cannot say enough about all that God has done. “God has thought of everything and has provided for all people.”¹
Not only that, but we are reminded that God’s faithfulness is not limited to past deeds. God is righteous, not God was righteous. God is faithful, not God was faithful. We remember what God has done so that we might be reminded of who God is. God is today what we have seen of God in the past. God is righteous and faithful. God hears the cries of the needy. God meets our needs. God protects us. All of these are things that God has done and that God continues to do.
God so loved us that God chose to come down and live among us as one of us. Even though we have given God ample reason to turn away, God continues to show up, continues to welcome and love us, continues to offer us grace and mercy. God’s love for us is relentless, continuing to pursue us when we have fallen away.
This is what God has done. God has created a world and put us in it to live and to enjoy its beauty. God has provided us with all that we need for food and shelter. God has provided us with companionship. God has shown us the ultimate example of love and forgiveness.
As we think about all that God has done, as we approach the end of our church year, we know that the end is only a beginning.
As we put our old life behind us…
As we put away our greed, our selfishness, our self-centeredness…
As we put away our violence, our grudges, our inability to love…
As we take off our old garments and put on the likeness of Christ, we see the world anew. We see the beauty that God has surrounded us with. We see the family and friends that God has given us. And finally we come to see that all of the world is our family. Through Christ we are all brothers and sisters, united by the continuing presence of the Holy Spirit to live in this world as Jesus did while he lived among us.
This is what God has done, but it is also who God is.
With this reminder of who God is, what God has done and what God continues to do, may we live as Jesus lived and love as Jesus loved, offering God’s grace and mercy to others just as it has been offered to us.
-----------------------------
¹Kimberly Bracken Long, “Connecting the Psalm with Scripture and Worship,” Connections: A Lectionary Commentary for Preaching and Worship: Year C, Volume 3 (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2019), 467.