In King David we see a man of both triumph and woe. This crafty king rose in status by toppling Goliath, yet King David would not be the king who would go on to defeat death. His last song in Second Samuel reminds us that time restricts even a king\u2019s human walk on earth. On Christ the King Sunday, however, King David\u2019s last song prepares us to welcome the Christ child into the world \u2013 the everlasting King whose song still rings in churches, homes and communities throughout the world. In our preparation for Advent, this reading helps us to see that God\u2019s leadership in the world is<\/em> everlasting and that God\u2019s continued leadership on earth through Christ transcends human limitation.<\/p>\n\n When I was a teenager, my church youth leaders took my friends and me on a number of outings. During these trips, our leaders gave us free reign to listen to whatever music we wanted along the way. As we made our way to the museum, the camp ground, the soup kitchen, etc., we shouted popular songs at the top of our lungs. Often, the car ride was the most memorable part of the trip.<\/p>\n\n I\u2019ve lost touch with most of my friends from youth group and my taste in music has changed, but every now and then, I hear one of the songs that my friends and I used to sing on our outings and feel a deep sense of rootedness despite our physical separation. These memories keep me united with the God who is beyond touch, time and, thankfully, my teenaged preference in music.<\/p>\n\n While we cannot pinpoint the exact derivation of Psalm 132, a song often grouped in a collection called \u201cascent psalms\u201d (Ps 120-134), we have evidence that it might have originated on pilgrim journeys to Jerusalem. By remembering King David through song, the ancient Israelites recalled the many ways that God worked through David\u2019s life. These memories created an everlasting image of kingship that would continue in the life, death and perpetual memory of Christ that we celebrate today.<\/p>\n\n \u201cI am the Alpha and the Omega,\u201d says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come.<\/em><\/p>\n\n I wonder why the writer of Revelation doesn\u2019t not proclaim that God is all the letters of the Greek alphabet. Wouldn\u2019t this help us imagine the God who is as well as the God who was and is to come? This image of God \u2013 the one who is today \u2013 is the hardest for me to locate on a daily basis. Christ came to earth to model the God who is, but sometimes I get so lost in my own what is<\/em> \u2013 school assignments, projects around the house, business meetings \u2013 that I lose sight of the greater GOD WHO IS<\/em>. Only when I live fully into the life of community \u2013 the church without walls of service, friendship and family \u2013 I am reminded of God\u2019s daily presence in my life.<\/p>\n\n Immediately following this passage, Pilate asks Jesus: \u201cWhat is the truth?\u201d What is the truth? Well, we never receive a direct answer to this question. The unanswered question lingers in our minds as Pilate walks to consult \u201cthe Jews.\u201d (Here, I place \u201cJews\u201d in quotations to emphasize how the Gospel of John refers to Jesus\u2019 opponents, in general, as \u201cthe Jews.\u201d John does not use the term in an anti-Semitic way.)<\/p>\n\n I wonder what Pilate was thinking each time he walked back and forth between Jesus and the crowd of shouting Jews. Who is this man who proclaims to be from another world, and why is he in my headquarters? Or: Why can\u2019t these people manage their own judgment and punishment? Here, John\u2019s gospel portrays \u201cthe truth\u201d as an unanswerable question sandwiched between Jesus and his opponents.<\/p>\n\n Today, we acknowledge a truth in Christ that can be hard to explain to our friends, neighbors and global family. Pilate\u2019s movement back and forth between Jesus and the crowd mimics our own struggle to live into such a truth.<\/p>\n\n 2 Samuel 23:1-7 In King David we see a man of both triumph and woe. This crafty king rose in status by toppling Goliath, yet King David would not be the king who would go on to defeat death. His last song in Second Samuel reminds us that time restricts even a king\u2019s human walk…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":201221,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_tec_requires_first_save":true,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_tribe_blocks_recurrence_rules":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_description":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_exclusions":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[23,52,33,3],"tags":[328],"class_list":["post-766611","bible_study","type-bible_study","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bible-studies","category-sermons-that-work","category-the-season-after-pentecost","category-worship-and-prayer-menu","tag-christ-the-king-b"],"acf":[],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":23,"label":"Bible Studies"},{"value":52,"label":"Sermons That Work"},{"value":33,"label":"The Season After Pentecost"},{"value":3,"label":"worship_and_prayer_menu"}],"post_tag":[{"value":328,"label":"Christ the King B"}]},"featured_image_src_large":false,"author_info":[],"comment_info":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bible_study\/766611","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bible_study"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/bible_study"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bible_study\/766611\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":951676,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bible_study\/766611\/revisions\/951676"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=766611"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=766611"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=766611"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n\t
Psalm 132:1-13, (14-19)<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n
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Revelation 1:4b-8<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n
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John 18:33-37<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n
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