Christ Our King

As Christians, we have dual citizenship – we are citizens of our country, yet we are also citizens of another kingdom, the invisible and spiritual kingdom of heaven! Through natural birth we become citizens of this country. In baptism we become members of God’s kingdom with all its privileges and obligations. In baptism we are anointed as priests, prophets and kings. As priests we are called to worship. As prophets we are called to live and witness to the gospel; as kings, we share in the Kingship of Christ, who said, “I have come not to be served – but to serve and to give my life as a ransom for all.” (Matthew 20:27-29) We exercise our kingship as Jesus does – by serving people! A religion that is limited to obtaining blessings for ourselves, with few consequences in daily life, is not the religion of Jesus Christ. Wherever we find people in need we are called to serve them; at home, at work, wherever we encounter people and whether we find them loveable or not. That is what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ. That is what it means to be “a royal nation of priests in the service of God our Father.” Every time we reach out and help a person in need, we are exercising our priesthood; we are following the one who laid down his life in service to all people. In helping others we are giving thanks for all our blessings and we are preparing ourselves to hear the words of Jesus Christ our King when he will call us home: “Come you blessed of my Father and receive the kingdom prepared for you…for I was hungry and you gave me to eat, thirsty and you gave me drink…in prison and you visited me.” (Matthew 25:34-36)

Let Us Give Thanks

In a few days we will be celebrating a great national event – Thanksgiving. Families come together to celebrate this national holiday, and feast on turkey and pigskin.

What are we thankful for? Like the first people who came to this land, the fundamental reason for Thanksgiving was to celebrate the freedom this new land offered. Then there were the many blessings of a bountiful land; truly a land flowing with milk and honey. Thanksgiving is a time to pause and give thanks for our many blessings! Many people in our world do not have the freedom or the prosperity available to the people of this country. It might be good for us to pause and reflect on the fact that just by an accident of faith, many wonderful blessings fall into our lap. So often we take them for granted, or believe that because we are here and enjoy the bounty of this land, we are better than others in our world who are less fortunate!

The question for us might be, “How do we give thanks?” One of the best ways to give thanks is to share with those who are less fortunate! When we stop and think about it, we can say: “How fortunate, how blessed we are!” As people of faith we believe that God has blessed us so that we in turn can bless others. That blessing is within the grasp of each one of us. Let this Thanksgiving not just be a matter of words, but also of action. How do we share our blessings? The answer to that question will say a lot about how well we appreciate them!