Jesus is King - Rector's Rambling for October 27, 2019

We have no king but Caesar”  John 19:15

The phrase above is recorded for us from the mouths of the religious authorities of Jesus’ earthly time.  Having brought Jesus before the governor of Judea, Pontius Pilate, they accused him of all sorts of sedition mainly centered in religious disagreement.  Pilate seems to know better than to meddle in such matters, and looks for a way to let Jesus off with a scourging and admonition.

But the religious authorities were set that Jesus must be put to death for having declared himself the Son of God, in their ears a blasphemy.  In one last attempt at relief Pilate asks why he should crucify their king (they had tried to trip up Pilate with a political charge that Jesus was trying to usurp Rome’s earthly authority with a claim to be an earthly king).

When asked, the Sanhedrin, no friends or admirers of their Roman overlords, reject Jesus and claim Caesar as their own.  A full apostasy on their part.

Today we have a secondary observance of Jesus as Christ the King.  Not an earthly kingdom, as many expected, but King of Kings, and Lord of Lords.  For an explanation of the history and theology of this observance, see the Teaching Notes on page 4.

Jesus is King, and where he desires to rule is in our hearts and in our lives.  His Kingdom is among us as his faithful people, and we worship and adore him as Sovereign over us.  And yet he is also an intimate friend who dwells in hearts, feeds us in His Word and Sacrament, and loves us so much that he died on the cross for us.  So let us submit in love to his most gracious rule!

Hard to be humble - Rector's Rambling for October 20, 2019

“Oh Lord, it's hard to be humble, when you’re perfect in every way.”

Many of you may read that line about and recognize it as an old song from the radio.  I always found it to be funny, the thought that anyone would actually think such a thing.  And yet, at times, we actually act in just such a way.

Where in our lives do we think we are perfect?  Where in our lives do we think that we are almost perfect?  We may be seeing progress in our lives, and maybe even be close to perfection in many ways.    And even Jesus says, “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48).  Perfection is what we should strive for!

So even if the person singing the song isn’t “perfect in every way”, at least he has one part of the statement correct.  It is “hard to be humble”.  Humility rubs at the core of our self-importance and self-preservation, wounds our pride and ego.  Of course, the song is making light of an unrealistic situation, but even in that, there is some truth.

Humility is hard.  But it is VITALLY NECESSARY to the spiritual life.  Even if you are perfect or close to perfect, that cannot be achieved without humility.  You cannot be prideful and be perfect, but just the opposite.  The saints are witness to this fact – they would be the first to tell you how much further they need to go to perfection when to our measure they are so very close!

Things going well?  Give God the glory and credit.  Things not going well?  Thank God and give Him the glory anyway, and ask him for relief in order to glorify Him all the more!  He can use us in either situation to glorify Himself, and in turn we become more holy…closer to the perfection He desires for us.

Feeling the power of prayer - Rector's Rambling for October 13, 2019

It is wonderful to be back home.  I feel that way whenever I return home from travel, but this time it has special poignancy after my adventure this past three weeks.  After emergency surgery in Finland and then having to travel back a week after surgery, it is nice to back at home.

My recovery is not complete by any means, and the chance of my making an appearance today at the 10:00 AM service is probably 50/50 as of this writing on Tuesday afternoon.  And even then it is “light duty” for a while, while I heal and regain my stamina.

But what I do want to do is commend the people of St. John’s for your love, concern and prayers.  At times while lying in the hospital I could palatably feel the prayers of the faithful lifting me up!  Parishioners, social media friends, and neighbors spread the word that Fr. Kelly needs prayer and they ascended with a vengeance.

E-mails, text messages, and Facebook posts of support and encouragement popped up on my phone at random times and made bright a dark time of early recovery.  And how fun it was to even FaceTime with people here all the way in Finland!  Isn’t technology wonderful?

By the way, in the 1860s, our Founder, Henry Porter Baldwin, and first Rector. Fr. Armitage, made a pilgrimage to Israel – not an easy journey in the 19th century.  Governor Baldwin fell deathly ill in Istanbul and the parish found out about it weeks later, by mail, when he was on his way back.  His illness was reported in the New York Times.

I look forward to getting back into full swing in the coming weeks, God willing.  Thank you to all who are pitching in during this time of my recovery.