Yesterday, November 26, was Christ the King Sunday on the Liturgical Calendar. I preached a message entitled “All In,” taken from Luke 9:57–62.
In the Gospel text, Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem to be crucified. A man, not knowing why Jesus is heading to Jerusalem, meets Jesus on the road and offers to follow Him wherever He goes.
Jesus replied, ‘Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.’ (Lk 9:58).
Following Jesus means that one must be willing to live with insecurity and restlessness.
Saying that we want to follow Jesus is impressive. But, we must understand that it is not always a comfortable thing to do. Foxes run to their dens and birds run to their nests when they feel threatened and when they are tired. Following Jesus means that one must be willing to live with insecurity and restlessness.
Image: James Tissot, Wikimedia Commons
Jesus is about the business of reconciliation. Our Faith demands that we be willing to make sacrifices for the sake of the cause of Christ. Following His agenda is not meant to be comfortable. To be agents of reconciliation means that we must be willing to live with the necessary discomfort to bring it about.
There are so many factions in our world. Jesus died to mend the brokenness. The Cross of Christ symbolizes vertical reconciliation as well as a horizontal one. The vertical symbol of the Cross is about reconciling humankind to God. Horizontal reconciliation has to do with mending broken human relationships.
How is your relationship with the Lord? How is your relationship with others? Christ cares about both!
May we bolster the courage to follow Christ in His mission of reconciliation in a broken world.
Mark G. Boyer and Matthew S. Ver Miller, Human Wholeness: A Spirituality of Relationship (Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2015), 72 pages. Mark G. Boyer (Roman Catholic priest and college professor at Missouri State University) and Matthew S. Ver Miller (psychologist and life-coach) write from their experience in relationship, which began as mentor and mentee,…
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