Christ, the Ancient One Forever: 21 November, 2021

Pilate searches for the truth, but he is afraid. He is not afraid of the power of the multitude; his troops protect him. He is not afraid of the power of the emperor; the distance from Rome to Jerusalem protects him. He is not afraid of the power of the king of the Jews; his Roman citizenship protects him. He is not afraid of the truth of power; he is afraid of the power of truth because against the power of truth nothing protects him. –– Edgardo A. Colón-Emeric

John 18:33–37

What is the truth? Christ; he is “the way, and the truth, and the life” (Jn 14:6). This truth is personal and requires not a personal opinion but a personal decision. What is the truth? Christ—"the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.” What is the truth? Christ, the king of the Jews, and also the king of the Romans, the king of the Africans, the king of the Mexicans, the king of the Americans, the king of our fathers, the king of our mothers, the king of our sons, the king of our daughters, our king, your king, my king. “He is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with his truth” (Ps 96:13). What is the truth? Christ. “Therefore, let us celebrate the festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth” (1 Cor 5:8). –– Edgardo A. Colón-Emeric

Revelation 1:4b–8

If the kingdom is in the world here and now [In the NRSV, the word is “dominion” in 1:6a], and if we are part of that kingdom here and now, we must be open to however Christ is breaking into the world. We must remain open to however Christ decides to break into our world. That means practicing awareness of the present moment.

We cannot live in the future, looking only to some beatific moment. But we must live in the present, where Christ is present. If we don’t, we will miss out on what Christ is doing and we will miss out on the many ways we are being called to be the kingdom to those who don’t know Christ and his kingdom.

Katherine Walden, a Christian writer (and founder of the I Lift My Eyes Web Ministries), is quoted as saying on her Web site, “Right now, this very second, this very moment that you spend reading these words is ‘new.’ How you choose to be a steward of that ‘new slate’ is up to you. My fervent prayer is that I never take for granted that gift of ‘newness’ and that I do all in his power granted to me to cherish the potential of ‘all things new.’” We are constantly presented with new and different ways to encounter and live into the kingdom. We must be open to that call, that newness. And in so doing, we acknowledge the king, the Christ, full of mystery and full of life. –– Kathryn Barba Pierce

Daniel 7:9-10, 13–14

If you are asked to describe God, would it not have to be in the same vein we find in this description in the book of Daniel? Thrones, an Ancient One, hair like wool, fiery flames, wheels of fire, ten thousand thousand standing around the throne. It is an indescribable reality, actually, full of marvels that we cannot quite grasp. How can wheels be burning fire? A reign that will never be destroyed? How can that be?

We need this vision as a way into meditating and pondering the eternal power of that very Ancient One who created all that exists and who animates it and who judges and forgives it. This is an image of the Christ who reigns, and it is beautiful.

Let there be plenty of silence in worship on this day to ponder and digest the impossibility to responding to this Ancient One with anything other than gratitude. –– Melinda Quivik

Edgardo A. Colón-Emeric is dean of Duke Divinity School, Irene and William McCutchen Associate Professor of Reconciliation and Theology, and director of the Center for Reconciliation.

Kathy Barba Pierce is an ordained United Methodist pastor and trained spiritual director in Huntersveille, North Carolina.

Melinda Quivik, an ordained ELCA pastor (who served churches in Montana, Michigan, and Minnesota) and former professor of worship and preaching, is the Editor-in-Chief of Liturgy, a writer, and a preaching mentor with Backstory Preaching at backstory-preaching.mn.co.

Homily Service 42, no. 4 (2009): 135–146.