Last year, we introduced a new resource to help you prepare for the time of giving and taking communion in your Hope Avenue. These are meaningful formational practices that we can plan with care and intentionality.

The Communion and Offering Starters are posted a month ahead, like the sermon resources. Below are the November starters. In case you missed it: October Starters are here.

How to Use This Resource

An outline is provided for you to use as a guide, followed by a sample script. Both the offering moment and communion can be presented as a short reflection before the congregation participates. Here’s how to use it effectively:

• Scripture Reflection: Include the relevant Scripture to root the offering and communion in biblical teaching.
• Key Point and Invitation: Briefly highlight the theme’s key point and offer an invitation that connects the theme to the practice.
• Prayer: Include a short prayer that aligns with the theme. Invite God to bless the gifts and the givers. Ask God to bless the bread and the wine and the partakers.
• Logistics: Explain the process; this helps everyone know how they can participate. For giving, indicate whether baskets will be passed, if there are designated offering boxes, or if digital options like text-to-give or web giving are available. Clearly explain how the communion elements will be shared and that participation is voluntary.
• Encouragement: For the giving moment, invite congregants to reflect on their role in supporting the church’s mission, reminding them that their gifts impact both local and global ministry. For communion, encourage congregants to express gratitude for Jesus’ love poured out for us and the unity present in the body of Christ.

For more information, see Church Hack: Offering and Church Hack: Communion

Offering

November Theme: Providing a Place of Refuge

Scripture Focus: Psalm 107:4–7 NRSVA

Key Point: Many are crying out to the Lord, seeking light in the midst of darkness, hope in the midst of despair, refuge in the midst of wandering. God invites them to take refuge in his Body, the Church.

Invitation: May our congregation be a place of refuge for those seeking delivery, light, and spiritual sustenance. May we be the place God leads them to.

Sample Script

The psalmist seemed to be talking about our era and our neighborhood when he wrote the following:

Some wandered in desert wastes, finding no way to an inhabited town; hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted within them. Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress; he led them by a straight way, until they reached an inhabited town. Psalm 107:4–7 NRSVA

This certainly describes society today. There is so much confusion, so much darkness, leading to so many questions. It may seem as though the psalmist is describing your life. You may find yourself in darkness, longing for light. You may be spiritually hungry and thirsty, searching for answers. You cry out to God for deliverance, and where does he lead you? To himself, to his body, to this congregation. In his body, we see his light and discover that we can walk out of darkness with him. In his body, we partake of his Word and find our spiritual hunger satisfied. In his body, we experience deliverance.

Friends, this is what we pray our giving provides for others. May our missions and our ministries be part of our kingdom living as we share his love and life with others. May the Lord lead them by a straight way right to this home, where they can find answers to their questions, where they can see light in the midst of darkness, and where they can meet others who willingly join them on a journey to living in and for him.

Prayer

Communion

November Theme: Taste and See the Goodness of God

Scripture Focus: Psalm 34:6–8 NRSVA

Key Point: Through eating the bread and drinking the fruit of the vine, we use taste to be reminded of the goodness of God.

Invitation: Taste the bread and be reminded that Christ is in you. Taste the fruit of the vine and be reminded of your forgiveness and redemption. Each time we participate in communion we are reliving the words of Psalm 34:8: “Oh taste and see that the Lord is good; happy are those who take refuge in him.”

Sample Script

All through the scriptures, we see that God understands what life is like. He knows we face good and bad times. He knows we have good and bad memories. He knows we’ve gone through trials and experienced blessings. He knows our sorrow and joy, pain and peace. The psalmist wrote of the many emotions we face. And the consistent message through the Psalms is to turn to God.

Jesus himself experienced all the emotions we face. He had sorrow and joy, pain and peace, weakness and strength. He laughed and he cried. And he continually looked to the Father for whatever he needed.

In Psalm 34, the psalmist is sharing a time when God delivered him from trouble.

This poor soul cried and was heard by the Lord and was saved from every trouble. The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him and delivers them. O taste and see that the Lord is good; happy are those who take refuge in him. Psalm 34:6–8 NRSVA

When we taste the bread of communion, we are using one of our senses to remember that God is good. He is the bread of life who gives his life for us so that we can live in him.

When we taste the fruit of the vine, we are using the same sense to remember that God is merciful. He has forgiven us, redeemed us, and adopted us as his own.

Come to the table and taste and see that the Lord is good.

Prayer

Psalm 107:1–7, 33–37 • Joshua 3:7–17 • 1 Thessalonians 2:9–13 • Matthew 23:1–12

Our theme is God is our true teacher, Father, and instructor. In Joshua, priests lead the nation of ancient Israel into the Jordan River at flood time. As their feet touch the edge of the river, the water backs up, making a clear path for the people to walk across and into the promised land. The presence of God is with them, and he will clear the way before them. The psalmist proclaims in Psalm 107 the redemption of the Lord. The psalmist declares how God changes rivers into desert and a wilderness into a pool of water. The Lord will lead his people into a safe habitation and provide for them there. The apostle Paul tells the believers in Thessalonica how they worked diligently night and day to share the good news. They encouraged the believers to walk in a way that was worthy of God, since God’s word, which they received, accomplishes its perfect work in their lives. In the Gospel passage, Jesus speaks to the crowd and his disciples, we see the limitations of human leaders. Praise God there is One perfect, faithful leader we can trust. The theme for this Sunday is only one God is teacher, Father, and instructor.

Reminder: This introductory paragraph is intended to show how the four RCL selections for this week are connected and to assist the preacher prepare the sermon. It is not intended to be included in the sermon.

How to use this sermon resource.

God is our true Teacher, Father, and Instructor

Matthew 23:1–12 ESV

People of various nations value and use honorific titles in their everyday language. These titles address a person respectfully according to their social standing. For example, the nation of Japan has a system of speech, keishō. It has suffixes and prefixes which are used to show respect and special treatment. How such words are used define relationships and point to a person’s social standing.

In many cultures, a person’s social standing is often considered very important. It determines whether the person receives honor, special treatment, or authority over others. Someone who is of high standing is often given special attention and high value. Those of low standing are often neglected, abused, or treated with indifference.

This common thread was evident in the culture of Jesus’ day too. Specifically, it permeated the religious culture of the ancient Jewish people. The religious elite studied and taught their Scriptures (the Old Testament). They also enforced the Mosaic law (the law of Moses). They held positions of power and authority in their community.

These leaders may have had sincere devotion to God. But many of them pridefully enjoyed the status, authority, wealth, and power which came along with their position. Instead of pointing the people to God, they drew attention to themselves. In our passage for this Sunday, Jesus turns their attention back to who God is and what this means for us.

¹ Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, ² “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, ³ so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice. ⁴ They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. ⁵ They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, ⁶ and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues ⁷ and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by others. ⁸ But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers. ⁹ And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. ¹⁰ Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Christ. ¹¹ The greatest among you shall be your servant. ¹² Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. Matthew 23:1–12 ESV

We can learn a lot about God in this passage. But before we look at Jesus’ words, let’s get some background. The scribes were the lawyers who studied and interpreted the Old Testament scriptures. The Pharisees were part of the religious elite who held positions of power in the community.

These religious leaders took the Law of Moses very seriously. The Mosaic Law is the body of laws and commandments that God gave to Israel through Moses in the Old Testament. (We talked about this last month when our sermons focused on the book of Exodus.) But over time, many additional teachings, called the oral tradition, were passed down alongside that written law.

Imagine a family recipe that was never written down. Each generation teaches the next how to make it. The recipe becomes a tradition even though it isn’t in a cookbook. Oral tradition worked much the same way, passed from person to person by word of mouth.

In Jesus’ day, religious leaders had not only the written Law of Moses but also many teachings and interpretations that had been passed down orally for generations. This collection of practices was passed down by memory and instruction and were not in the Bible itself.

For example, strict ritual washing was practiced. There were many rules about what could or could not be done on the seventh-day Sabbath. Tithing, or paying 10% of one’s income, was broken down into detailed instructions about counting out herbs and spices.

The problem was not tradition itself. The problem was that many of these added rules became a heavy burden. Instead of helping people draw closer to God, they made faithful life feel exhausting, complicated, and nearly impossible to follow.

People sought to keep the oral tradition, but it did not draw people closer to God. Instead, these teachings made life more difficult than what God intended. Jesus said the scribes and Pharisees “tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people’s shoulders” (verse 4).

Jesus Teaches a Better Way

Jesus told the crowd to obey what the Pharisees and scribes instructed them to do. He encouraged them to obey God’s law of love.

But the people were not to follow these leaders’ example or traditions, because their actions were hypocritical. Jesus pointed out that these leaders had one main concern: to be publicly elevated and venerated. And these leaders wanted to tell the people what to do, even though they did not do it themselves. They were showing off. They were hypocrites full of pride

Notice that Jesus did not tell the crowds to disobey God. He told them to follow what they were being instructed that was from the Scriptures. But the other, the teachings made by humans, to promote human values and positions — Jesus told them not to follow this example.

In other words, Jesus was telling them not to build their identity around public honor, special titles, or positions of authority. Instead of seeking recognition from others, they were to turn their attention back to the triune God.

Then Jesus specifically addresses three titles commonly used by these leaders: rabbi, father, and instructor. In each case, he redirects the crowd away from human status and toward God. God is our true teacher, Father, and instructor.

God is Teacher

Jesus begins with the title of rabbi (“my great one,” “master”):

But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers. Matthew 23:8 ESV

In the first century, the word “rabbi” meant something different than it did a few decades later. The original word was commonly used as a title of respect for a teacher or master, especially one who taught and interpreted the Scriptures. They passed judgments on people’s concerns and questions. Jesus says, “there is only one teacher and you are all brothers” (v. 8). Your Bible might say this teacher is the Christ or Messiah. But that is not in the original Greek — it has been added in some translations.

In the Gospels, Jesus is often called rabbi or teacher by his followers. Before his death, Jesus also told his disciples the Holy Spirit would come. And that the Spirit would teach them all things and bring all that Jesus had taught them to their remembrance (John 14:26).

When Jesus says, you are all siblings (brothers), it speaks to our equality and unity with one another. And the Spirit makes this possible through Christ (John 17:23; Gal. 3:28). So, this statement by Jesus, points to the work of the Spirit, not just his own ministry as rabbi or teacher.

God is Father

Next, Jesus tells the crowd:

And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. Matthew 23:9 ESV

The title Father belonged uniquely to God. Jesus came to help people know God not as a distant ruler, but as a Father. In the Old Testament, God was sometimes called the Father of Israel as a nation, but people did not usually speak of him as their own Father in a personal way.

Jesus, however, spoke of God as his Father. He shared a unique relationship with him and taught his followers to know God as Father as well. This was shocking to many of the religious leaders because Jesus was claiming a relationship with God that no one else had.

By calling God his Father, Jesus was revealing who he truly was. He was not just a teacher or a prophet. He was the Son of God, equal with the Father and sent by him into the world.

In everyday life, every human person has a father. And we often call our human fathers by the name “Father” or “Dad” or “Papa”. [You may wish to use what is appropriate in your context.]

Jesus wasn’t saying we can’t call our human fathers these names. What he was saying was for us not to seek to be elevated to a “father” status — a status that only our heavenly Father holds. Our supreme adoration and desire for approval should be to God alone. And God is our heavenly Father.

God is Instructor or Leader

Lastly, Jesus tells his listeners:

Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Christ. Matthew 23:10 ESV

Jesus reminds the crowd that they only have one instructor. He is the Christ or Messiah (the one sent by God to rescue his people). Jesus was instructing them about who God is and who they are in him. Jesus the Christ is the one perfectly faithful instructor, not those who are just trying to gain the people’s attention and adoration.

Jesus holds the spiritual leaders of his day up against the lens of the triune God. God is our true teacher, Father, and instructor. The Spirit unites all people as brothers and sisters. All are equal and all are taught by Jesus in the Spirit. The only leader-father they are to look to and hold in affection is their heavenly Father. And their only true instructor and leader is Jesus Christ, the One who would soon humbly lay down his life.

Leadership Jesus’ Way

Then Jesus hits the bottom line when it comes to positions of leadership or teaching:

The greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. Matthew 23:11–12 ESV

Jesus shows them the divine reality of true leadership: greatness is expressed through humble service. A faithful leader does not seek applause, status, or control over others. Rather, a faithful leader serves others in humility. Jesus does not merely teach this way; he lives it.

In the final days before his crucifixion, Jesus went willingly toward Jerusalem. There, the leaders would arrest him on false charges, mock him, torture him, and hand him over to be crucified.

And Jesus allowed them to do this. Jesus humbled himself to the point of sacrificing his own life on behalf of all. This sinless person, Jesus Christ, willingly died for the sake of all humanity. He did this so we might all be freed from evil, sin, and death and be given new life.

Jesus teaches that leaders are to offer humble service. Then he shows the profound difference between self-promotion and the self-giving love of God.

The Son of God set aside for a time the privileges of divinity (God’s being) in order to join us in our humanity. He lived a truly human life in faithful obedience to his heavenly Father. And he offered himself for all in humble sacrifice on the cross to free us from evil, sin, and death.

And Jesus rose from the grave, bringing all humanity home to his heavenly Father. And then he sent the Spirit so we could all by faith participate in his own relationship with his Father in the Spirit.

God is our true teacher, Father, and instructor. He comes for us in Jesus Christ, humbling himself as a human being, allowing himself to be crucified for us. And Jesus, who went all the way down into death itself, is exalted by his heavenly Father to his right hand in glory. Our heavenly Father brings each of us into his own life through Jesus Christ in the Spirit. And he teaches us all things through Jesus in the Spirit, leading us in his paths.

Humble Leadership is a Walk of Faith

Jesus, our High Priest, entered into the gates of death for each of us. He stepped into the crucible of death, allowing himself to be crucified. He entered death and came out the other side.

He rose again, delivering us from death, evil, and sin. He brought us through the dangerous waters of death into the glorious light of new life in him. Now we are all able to walk safely into the promised land of God’s kingdom.

In Christ, we enter God’s kingdom. By faith, we begin now to participate in Jesus’ life with his heavenly Father in the Spirit. The Spirit begins now to build new settlements. Christ’s holy ways of living, his godliness, and truth are built into areas formerly given over to sin and selfishness. We begin to live out Jesus’ triumph over sin, evil, and death in this world.

Through Jesus, in our homes and in our communities, we live Christlike lives of humble service and faithful obedience. By the Spirit, we reflect the truth of who Jesus is as Lord and Savior of all. Rather than lifting ourselves up, Jesus works through us to lift up those around us.

Jesus Christ Includes Us

Our life in Christ is not a heavy burden laid upon us. It is not strictly keeping rules and rituals in order to gain God’s favor. Rather, it is Christ living his own life in us by the Holy Spirit. It is his life with our heavenly Father that we participate in as we live our everyday lives.

We can live humbly and serve others because that is who Jesus is and who we are in him. Jesus lives in us by the Holy Spirit. So, empowered by the Spirit, we can serve humbly and live in right relationship with God and others.

We do not need titles or special recognition. We can learn from one another, be taught by one another, as inspired by the Spirit, because we know we are all one in Christ Jesus. We believe that God is our true teacher, Father, and instructor. And we can trust him to lead and guide us into all truth.

We can rely on God to teach us whatever we need to know. We can trust him to grow us up into who he created us to be in Jesus by the Spirit. We can rest in Jesus’ finished work, in God’s approval, recognition, and status given to us in him. The Spirit helps us to recognize when we are tempted to gain praise, worth, or value in other, human ways. Jesus reminds us then to turn away from all of this and to keep our focus on our triune God.

Our faith is in God — Father, Son, and Spirit — and God is faithful to finish what he has begun in us. Jesus has finished in humble service all that needs to be done for our salvation. And he reigns in glory now and forever. And he reigns in our hearts and lives by the Spirit as we trust in him. We are held in Jesus’ arms, secure in the Father’s love, and comforted by the Spirit’s peace, now and into eternity.

One last time, hear the good news in this passage:

⁸ But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers. ⁹ And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. ¹⁰ Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Christ. (verses 8–10)

You have one teacher, the Spirit.
You have one Father in heaven.
You have one instructor, Jesus Christ.

There is only one faithful teacher, Father, and instructor — the Holy Trinity.

And if you remember only one thing from this sermon, let it be this:

¹¹ The greatest among you shall be your servant. ¹² Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. (verse 11–12)

Jesus is the One who descended to earth, becoming a servant.
Jesus is greatest among us, yet he humbled himself all the way to the cross.
Jesus is the One whom the Father exalted to sit at his right hand in heaven.

Go Deeper Philippians 2:5–11: What did the Son of God give up in order to bring humanity home to the Father? What does this tell us about who Jesus Christ is?

Small Group Discussion Questions

Psalm 78:1–7 . Joshua 24:1–3a, 14–25 . I Thessalonians 4:13–18 . Matthew 25:1–13

This week’s theme is he who promised is faithful. In our call to worship psalm, we have the psalmist urging Israel to pass the story of God’s faithfulness from generation to generation so that hope in his promises remains alive. In Joshua, we have the people of Israel gathered at Shechem where Joshua rehearses God’s faithfulness to every promise he made to Abraham, reminding them that their entire history is the evidence of a God who keeps his word. In 1 Thessalonians, we have Paul anchoring grieving believers in the faithfulness of a God who raised Jesus from the dead and promised that those who belong to him will not be left behind. And in our pericope in Matthew, Jesus tells a parable about a bridegroom whose arrival is certain, illustrating that those who truly trust his promise will be found ready when he comes.

Reminder: This introductory paragraph is intended to show how the four RCL selections for this week are connected and to assist the preacher prepare the sermon. It is not intended to be included in the sermon.

How to use this sermon resource.

He Who Promised is Faithful

Matthew 25:1–13 NIV

[Read or ask someone to read the passage.]

“At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise. The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep. At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’ Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’ ‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’ But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut. Later the others also came. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’ But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’ Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.” Matthew 25:1–13 NIV

Introduction

One of the oldest and most beloved stories ever told is the Greek epic known as The Odyssey, written by a poet named Homer nearly three thousand years ago and read across virtually every culture and continent on earth ever since. At its heart it is a story about a man named Odysseus who goes off to fight in a great war and spends twenty years trying to find his way home to his wife Penelope and his son.

Twenty years is a long time to wait. As the years stretched on, most people around Penelope assumed Odysseus was never coming back. A crowd of men known as the suitors moved into his home, ate his food, drank his wine, and lived as though the master of the house was never returning. They had decided the promise of his return was worthless and lived accordingly.

But Penelope never stopped believing. She waited. She held onto the reality of her husband’s promised return even when everything around her suggested she was foolish to do so. She inhabited the promise even in the long silence of his absence.

And then one day, unexpectedly, in a form no one recognized at first, Odysseus came home. His return was both a moment of joyful reunion for those who had remained faithful and a moment of profound consequence for those who had lived as though he was never coming back.¹

He came back. Exactly as he said he would. This story resonates because we long for others to faithfully keep their promises. Don’t we?

Every promise creates a season of waiting. And what we do while we wait often reveals what we truly believe about the one who made the promise.

How do we live while we are waiting for a promise to be fulfilled? Jesus tells a parable about ten young women with lamps to help us answer that very question.

Jesus begins our parable this morning with words that should immediately tell us something important is coming: the kingdom of heaven is like this. What follows is more than just a nice story. It is a window into how the kingdom of God (an expression used by the other gospel writers) actually works. So let us lean in and listen carefully.

Already Included — The Grace That Goes Before Us

“At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise.” Matthew 25:1–2 NIV

Now when Jesus talks about the kingdom of heaven, also called the kingdom of God, he is not talking about a country with borders or a place you go when you die. He is talking about what life looks like wherever God is in charge and his love is the way things work. And here is the remarkable thing, Jesus kept insisting that this kingdom was not far away. It had arrived. It was breaking into the world right in front of them; it was in their midst — in him.

The first thing worth noticing in this parable is something easy to miss because we tend to jump straight to the difference between the wise and foolish virgins. But before we get to that difference there is something far more important to establish. All ten virgins are already at the wedding. All ten of them were invited. All ten are carrying lamps, waiting for the same bridegroom, part of the same wedding party.

Jesus does not open this parable with insiders and outsiders. He opens it with ten people who have all received the same invitation and are all standing in the same place. Whatever else this parable will go on to say, it starts here, with an invitation to every one of them before the story even gets moving.

This is absolutely critical to understanding what Jesus is illustrating about the kingdom of God. The kingdom is not a place you earn your way into through effort and achievement. It is more like a party that has already been thrown on your behalf — a celebration that was always intended to include you — a grace that went before you ever knew you needed it.

There is an important difference between being invited to something and being included in something. An invitation can be declined; it assumes you are on the outside being asked to come in. But inclusion means something has already been done on your behalf. Grace has already gone ahead and made a place for you. This parable assumes that gracious initiative as it invites us to consider what it means to live in the light of the Bridegroom’s coming.

Before we ever seek him, God is already seeking us. This is the pattern of the whole New Testament. God moves first. The Father sent his Son into a world that wasn’t asking for him. Grace showed up before we ever knew we needed it.

This is what the Son of God accomplished when he came into our world, lived among us, died for us, and rose again. The Father’s heart has always been turned toward every person on this earth. The Son made that love visible and real in his own body. And what he accomplished was not a partial or conditional inclusion; it was a complete and total “yes” spoken over all of humanity. He who promised is faithful and his faithfulness has already reached everyone in this story before it even begins.

So, grace has already reached them all, and in that situation, there is something that distinguishes the wise virgins from the foolish ones, the oil. The wise took oil in jars along with their lamps while the foolish took their lamps but no oil.

The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. Matthew 25:3–4 NIV

Many Christians throughout the centuries have seen in this oil a picture of the living, sustaining presence of God’s Spirit within us. And while we want to be careful not to force a meaning onto every detail of a parable, that analogy has something important to commend it. However we understand the symbolism of the oil, it clearly represents something that cannot be borrowed at the last minute.

It speaks of the difference between knowing about God and actually living with him. Between being familiar with the idea of grace and genuinely drawing from that grace day by day. And that is precisely the kind of life Jesus promised when he told his disciples he would send them a helper after his departure. The Spirit takes the grace the Father purposed and the Son accomplished and makes it real and alive and personal within each one of us.

The kingdom of God is overflowing with grace. And we subjectively experience that grace by trusting and receiving it. The difference Jesus highlights is not that one group earned the Bridegroom’s favor while the other did not. The difference is that one group was living in readiness for his coming, while the other was not. The rest of the New Testament helps us understand that this readiness is not something we manufacture ourselves. It is the work of the Holy Spirit, who continually draws us into the life of Christ and keeps us participating in the grace the Father has given through the Son.

The Tragedy of Untouched Grace

At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’ Matthew 25:6 NIV

The midnight cry changes everything. Up to this point all ten virgins have been waiting together. Notice Jesus does not condemn them for falling asleep. The long wait is simply what human beings experience. That is not the problem. The problem surfaces the moment the lamps need trimming and the oil begins to run out, because it is only in the moment of crisis that what has been true all along becomes visible.

The delay in this parable is not a sign of the bridegroom’s unfaithfulness. It is simply the nature of the wait, and it is precisely in the long wait that the difference between becomes apparent. The kingdom of God does not always come on our timeline or in the form we expect. Think about how God has consistently moved throughout history — through a burning bush in a desert, through a teenage girl in an obscure village, through a cross that looked like defeat but was the greatest victory in human history. God comes in ways that confound our expectations. And those who have been living within that reality, drawing from the oil — are ready whenever he comes.

Robert Farrar Capon, a theologian who spent much of his life preaching and writing about Jesus’ parables, consistently argued that these kingdom parables are not primarily about God’s rejection of people but about the tragedy of people refusing what has already been freely given. Capon proposes that in these parables of judgment that the only outsiders at the end of Jesus’s stories were always shown as insiders at the beginning. Capon refers to this principle as “inclusion before exclusion”.²

Let’s hear that again because it’s important. The tragedy is not that God rejects people but when people refuse what God has already freely given. The grace of God is always the governing reality, the party is already happening, the bridegroom has already claimed his own. The emphasis of the story is not on a reluctant bridegroom looking for reasons to exclude people. Rather, it emphasizes the heartbreaking reality that some arrive unprepared for the relationship and celebration the bridegroom has been calling them toward all along.

When their lamps go out, the foolish virgins revert to a transactional mindset. Instead of simply waiting in the dark and trusting the Bridegroom’s goodness, in a sense, they run off to buy their way back in. Their failure is defaulting to their own preparation instead of relying fully on the grace they have already received — the faith and trust in the free grace of the Bridegroom.

This is the tragedy of untouched grace. Not a grace that was withheld or insufficient, but a grace that is all around the foolish virgins, available and abundant and freely given, and yet never truly drawn from. Never truly embraced or lived out in experience. The Father always purposed their inclusion. The Son accomplished everything necessary to secure it. The Spirit was present and ready to sustain them through the long night of waiting. He who promised is faithful.

However we understand the symbolism of the oil, it clearly represents something that cannot be borrowed at the last minute. Jesus is pointing us toward a genuine participation in the life he gives rather than merely carrying the outward appearance of faith. The Father purposed it. The Son secured it. The Spirit makes it real within each one of us.

And it is right here in the middle of this tragedy that the missional heartbeat of this parable begins to beat loudly for those of us who are trusting the Bridegroom’s return. Because if grace is this abundant, if the kingdom is this saturated with the love of the Father, if the Spirit is this available to every single person, then we who have been given this good news cannot keep it to ourselves. The wise virgins could not share their oil just as we cannot share our personal participation in his grace. But, we can share the news that the bridegroom is coming, that the party is real, and that the grace of God has already gone before every person we will ever meet. That is the mission we have been invited into — not a mission of condemnation or ultimatum, but a mission of joyful announcement. Come and see — the bridegroom keeps his promises — and grace has already made a place for you.

The Tragedy of a Refused Party

But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut. Matthew 25:10 NIV

The door was shut. These words have been used throughout history to paint a picture of a God who gleefully bars the door against those who failed to meet his standards. But that is not what is happening here.

The shut door is not the story of divine rejection. It is the story of a refused party. Grace was always available. The oil was always there. The Spirit was always present and ready to sustain. And yet, by their own way of living, the foolish virgins had positioned themselves outside the reality of what was always theirs.

“Later the others also came. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’ “But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’ Matthew 25:11–12 NIV

Jesus isn’t inviting us to imagine a God eager to reject. He is revealing the tragedy of failing to live within the life the Bridegroom shares with us.

This is the deepest tragedy in the parable. Not that the foolish virgins were wicked. Not that they were immoral or irreligious. It’s tragic that they were so close to the party, so near to the grace, so present at the wedding, and yet never truly inside the reality of what the bridegroom had always been offering them.

Like Penelope in the Odyssey the wise virgins sustained their faithfulness not through sheer willpower or moral superiority but by living within the reality of the bridegroom’s promise. They oriented their lives around the certainty of his return. That daily inhabiting of the promise, that simple drawing from the oil was what kept their lamps burning through the long night of waiting.

So here is my gentle encouragement to all of us as we leave this parable. Be among the wise. Not by trying harder or striving more. That was never what made them wise. Be among those who simply keep drawing from the oil that has already been given. Wake up each morning and receive the grace that is already yours. Lean into the presence of the Spirit who is already with you. Live each ordinary day within the reality that the Bridegroom is coming and that his promise to you is unshakeable. That is all the wise virgins did. They did not perform. They did not earn. They simply lived within what they had been given day after day, through the long night of waiting until the cry rang out and the celebration began. We can be sure that he who promised is faithful.

The kingdom of God is filled with a grace that goes before us. It was purposed by the Father before the foundations of the world. It was secured by the Son on the cross and confirmed in the empty tomb. It is made real and personal within each one of us by the Spirit who is always present, always available, always ready to fill our lamps to overflowing.

He who promised is faithful. The bridegroom is coming. And this — this is the breathtaking good news at the heart of this parable and at the heart of the entire gospel: the party is not a distant dream or a faint possibility. It is a certainty. It has already been prepared. It is already overflowing with a grace that has gone before every single person on this earth. The door is open. The oil is available. The Spirit is present. So, enter in and join in the party.

• The Odyssey by Homer Plot Summary | LitCharts
• Robert Farrar Capon, Kingdom, Grace, Judgment: Paradox, Outrage, and Vindication in the Parables of Jesus Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2022), 491.

Small Group Discussion Questions

Psalm 123:1–4 . Judges 4:1–7 . I Thessalonians 5:1–11 . Matthew 25:14–30

This week’s theme is God gives before he asks. In our Psalm, the people lift their eyes to God in helpless dependence, trusting only in the mercy of the Master’s hand already extended toward them. In Judges, God announces Israel’s deliverance through Deborah before a single soldier has moved. In 1 Thessalonians, Paul reminds believers that God has already appointed them to salvation through Christ’s death and resurrection, their destiny settled before they did anything to earn it. And in our pericope in Matthew, the master lavishes his own extraordinary wealth on his servants before asking anything of them, inviting the faithful not into mere reward but into the fullness of his own joy.

Reminder: This introductory paragraph is intended to show how the four RCL selections for this week are connected and to assist the preacher prepare the sermon. It is not intended to be included in the sermon.

How to use this sermon resource.

God Gives Before He Asks

Matthew 25:14–30 ESV

[Read of ask someone to read the passage.]

“For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master’s money. Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here, I have made five talents more.’ his master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here, I have made two talents more.’ his master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what is yours.’ But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'” Matthew 25:14–30 ESV

Introduction

Near the beginning of Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables is a scene that has moved generations of readers to tears. A man named Jean Valjean has just been released from nineteen years of brutal imprisonment. His crime was stealing a loaf of bread to feed his sister’s starving children. Nineteen years for a loaf of bread. A hungry young man was imprisoned and returned a hardened, bitter one. Everything in Valjean’s experience taught him about how the world works. You are watched. You are measured. You are punished. Every debt is collected in full.

Then one night a bishop takes him in. He feeds him at his own table and gives him a warm bed. But in the middle of the night, Valjean repays this kindness by stealing the bishop’s silver and slipping out into the darkness. He doesn’t get far. The police catch him, and in the morning, they drag him back to the bishop’s door, fully expecting to send him back to prison for life.

What happens next changes everything. The bishop looks at Valjean and says, in effect, my friend, I am so glad you came back. You forgot the best pieces. And he places his silver candlesticks, the most valuable things he owns, into the hands of the man who robbed him.

Valjean stands there holding a fortune he cannot comprehend. He came expecting judgment and received a gift. He came braced for the harsh master his whole life had taught him to expect, and instead he met generosity that asked for nothing in advance. It nearly broke him. And then it remade him.¹

Hold onto that image, because the parable Jesus tells in our text is about three servants who receive lavish gifts from their master. Two of them learn to live inside the gift. One of them, like Valjean early in his journey, is blinded by the image of a harsh master he has constructed in his mind. And the difference between them is the difference between joy and darkness.

The Gift Comes First

“For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away.” Matthew 25:14–15 ESV

Notice carefully how this story begins. Before anyone is asked to do anything, the master gives. He calls his servants together and entrusts his property to them,. his wealth,. his treasure.

We need to feel the scope of this. A single talent was worth roughly twenty years of wages for an ordinary worker.² Twenty years. This wasn’t a coin you were likely to lose in the cushions of your couch. So, the servant who received five talents was handed something like a century of income. Even the servant who received one talent was holding two decades of wages in his hands. The master literally poured out fortunes.

And here is what we must not miss. He gave first. He attached no conditions, no contracts, no instructions, no threats. He simply placed his own wealth into their hands and went on his journey. The gift came before any request, before any performance, before any accounting.

This is the pattern of God from the very beginning. God gives before he asks. He created a world full of beauty and handed it to humanity before we had done a single thing. He called Abraham and promised to bless him before Abraham did anything. He delivered Israel out of Egypt before he gave them a single commandment at Sinai. The rescue came first; the response came second. And then the Father gave us his own Son while we were still far from him. The gift always comes first. As Paul writes to the Romans,

God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8 NIV

So, what are the talents in this parable? Be careful here, because the flattest reading turns this into a story about using your natural abilities, and then the sermon becomes a pep talk about maximizing your potential. But the talents are not the servants’ own abilities. The text is clear. This is the master’s property, wealth, and treasure, freely placed into their hands.

What is God’s greatest treasure entrusted to us? It is grace, which is the love and favor of God given to us as a free gift, never earned and never withdrawn. Grace is the Father loving you before you ever loved him. Grace is the Son giving his life for you before you ever asked him to. Grace is the Spirit dwelling with you, day after day, making the love of God real in your life. That is the treasure. That is what has been placed into your hands. The riches of God’s own life, entrusted to ordinary servants like you and me.

 Living Freely Within the Gift

He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. Matthew 25:16–17 ESV

See what the first two servants did? The text says the one with five talents went at once and traded with them. At once. No hesitation, no anxiety, no committee meetings. He took his master’s enormous wealth out into the open market and put it to work. The servant with two talents did the same.

These servants were risking someone else’s fortune. Trading in the ancient world was not safe. Ships sank. Markets failed. Ventures collapsed. Thieves stole treasures. And yet these two servants handled their master’s treasure with open hands and apparent fearlessness. How could they do that?

They knew their master. They knew his character. They knew he was generous, because they were holding the evidence of his generosity in their hands. A master who freely gives away fortunes is not a master who will crush you for an honest venture that goes sideways. Their freedom flowed directly from their picture of the giver. Because they trusted his goodness, they could live boldly with his gift.

God gives before he asks. And this is exactly how grace works. People who know that God is for them live differently than people who suspect God is against them. People who know they are loved take holy risks. They forgive, because they have been forgiven. They give generously, because they have received generously. They share the love of God with their neighbors, because they know there is always more where that came from. Grace received becomes grace in motion. The gift was never meant to sit still; it was meant to move and multiply and bless.

Then the master returns, and we reach one of the most beautiful moments in all of Jesus’ parables. Both servants come forward, and both hear the identical words:

His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master. Matthew 25:23 ESV

Consider “being faithful over a little”, or as the ISV puts it, “trustworthy with a small amount”. How shocking that statement would be to the servants who had been entrusted with an immense fortune! Clearly the master had something more in mind than finances. Notice two things. First, the master praises faithfulness, not results. The servant with five talents and the servant with two talents produce different amounts, yet they receive exactly the same commendation, word for word. God has never once compared you to another. Faithfulness with what you were given is the whole measure.

Second, look at the reward. It is not a salary. It is not a bonus. It is an invitation. Enter into the joy of your master. This is the first time in the gospel that anyone had been invited to share in the joy of the master. The reward for living within the gift is the Giver himself, and the servant’s own happiness thrown open like a door. This is where the parable becomes noticeably Trinitarian, which is the life of God as Father, Son, and Spirit. From all eternity, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit have lived in unbroken delight in one another. Joy is not something God has; joy is something God is. And the astonishing claim of the gospel is that through Jesus, the Father invites us into that very joy, and by the Spirit we begin to taste it now. The gift and the Giver were never two separate things. To receive the treasure is to be welcomed into the joy of the Giver: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

The Tragedy of Imagining a Hard Master

Then comes the third servant, and the whole atmosphere of the story changes. He steps forward, hands back the buried talent, and explains himself:

Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Matthew 25:24–25 ESV

Listen to that explanation carefully, because everything is in it. I knew you to be a hard man. So, I was afraid. So, I hid.

There is the whole tragedy in three steps. A false picture of the master produced fear. Fear produced burial or hiding. His failure did not begin with his hands; it began with his picture of his master.

And here is the question the parable presses on us: was his picture true? Is the master of this story a hard man? He freely handed out fortunes. He attached no conditions. He celebrated faithfulness over results. He invited his servants into his own joy. Nothing in this story matches the servant’s description.

The master who was demanding, taking where he hadn’t given, existed in one place only, the servant’s imagination. He hid from a master who never existed and missed the master who actually did exist.

And notice the bitter irony. The servant who believed in a bookkeeping master became the only bookkeeper in the story. “Here, you have what is yours”, he says, as if closing an account. He kept the ledger balanced. He lost nothing, risked nothing, owed nothing. By the standards of the false master he believed in, he did everything right. And he missed everything that mattered. The God who gives before he asks invites us into his joy, not into his ledger. The third servant chose the ledger, and the ledger cannot lead anywhere except the dark.

Robert Farrar Capon put it this way:

Here, therefore, as in the Laborers in the Vineyard, it is only the bookkeeping of unfaith that is condemned; the rest of the story is about the unaccountable, even irresponsible joy of the Lord who just wants everybody to be joyful with him.³

That is exactly right. The master’s response to the third servant is not the explosion of a harsh god finally showing his true colors. It is the sorrow of a generous lord handing a man the only thing he ever insisted on having, which was a world without grace.

…. cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ Matthew 25:30 ESV

Jesus’ warning is sobering. Life apart from God’s grace is darkness. The servant’s fear has become the world he chooses to inhabit. Having rejected the master’s generosity, he experiences only the darkness his false picture of the master could produce. He believed in a hard master, and in the end, that is the only master he had left himself with.

This is where Jean Valjean and the third servant part ways. Both men began in the same place. Both had been taught by life to expect a harsh master. But when grace was placed into Valjean’s hands, he let it shatter his false picture. He let the candlesticks tell him the truth about the giver. The third servant held the same kind of evidence, a fortune freely given, and refused to let it speak. He clung to the hard master in his head against all the generosity in his hands.

So, the question this parable asks each of us is simple and searching. What do you believe about the Giver? Because how you live with God’s gift depends entirely on what you believe about him. If somewhere deep down you suspect God is a hard task master, you will bury things. You will bury your gifts, your honesty, your prayers, your heart.

But if you come to see the Father that Jesus came to reveal, the Father who gives his treasure away before we have done anything at all, whose Son went to a cross for us, whose Spirit pours that love into our hearts, then you will begin to live freely, openly, and even boldly with everything he has placed in your hands.

Here is an encouragement as we leave this parable. This week, refuse to bury the gift. Not by straining or striving, but by trusting the character of the One who gives it. Forgive someone, and trust there is more mercy where that came from. Give generously, and trust there is more provision. Share the love of God with someone who has only ever known hard masters, and trust there is more grace. Live like people holding candlesticks.

Because here is the good news. The Master of this story is not waiting at the end of time with a ledger. He has already given you his treasure. He gave his Son before you ever asked. He gives his Spirit without earning the gift. God gives before he asks, and he has never once asked for anything he did not first supply. The accounts have been settled in Jesus Christ. The fortune is already in your hands. And the door the Master holds open is not the door to an audit; it is the door to a celebration. Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your Master.

• The Bishop’s Candlesticks Symbol in Les Misérables | LitCharts
• Lee Harmon’s Blog – Matthew 25:25, How Much is a Talent? – October 17, 2011, 07:00
• Robert Farrar Capon, Kingdom, Grace, Judgment: Paradox, Outrage, and Vindication in the Parables of Jesus (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2022), 503.

Small Group Discussion Questions

Psalm 100:1–5 • Ezekiel 34:11–16, 20–24 • Ephesians 1:15–23 • Matthew 25:31–46

Our theme today is the King fills all in all. Our scripture readings echo this theme. Psalm 100 reminds us that following God includes joy: finding joy in God’s creation, in ourselves and others created in the image of God, and in receiving mercy and kindness from God. In Ezekiel 34, we read about a “rescue mission,” where God intervenes for those who are being hurt by others. The Gospel account in Matthew 25:31–46 expands on this idea of a rescue mission for those who are suffering at the hands of the strong and powerful. This passage encourages us to remember that God has rescued us through the life and death of Jesus. And in our sermon text, Ephesians 1:15–23, God shows us the big reality that changes the way we see everything: Jesus Christ has authority over everything.

Reminder: This introductory paragraph is intended to show how the four RCL selections for this week are connected and to assist the preacher prepare the sermon. It is not intended to be included in the sermon.

How to use this sermon resource.

The King Fills All in All

Ephesians 1:15–23 NRSVUE

Today we celebrate Reign of Christ Sunday, also called Christ the King Sunday. It’s the last Sunday of the liturgical year, which we also call the worship calendar. It’s like New Year’s Eve, where we look back on the previous year. How has Christ been at work among us? And we look forward to the future with assurance in Jesus Christ, our King.

Today we’ll talk about what it means that Jesus Christ is King. When we say Jesus reigns as King, we mean he rules over all creation, has authority over all things. But if that is true, an honest question immediately arises: Why does the world still seem so broken? If Christ reigns, why is there still suffering, violence, loneliness, and death?

That’s the tension of Reign of Christ Sunday. Tension isn’t bad. Sometimes we may reach a misguided conclusion in our attempt to relieve the tension.

There is a popular, motivational story that is told to encourage people when they feel overwhelmed by the size of a problem. Just like we may feel when we see the amount of suffering in the world. This widely told story is adapted from Loren Eiseley’s essay “The Star Thrower,” and it goes like this:

A child walks along a shore covered in thousands of stranded starfish washed up by the tide. One by one, the child picks them up and throws them back into the ocean so they will not die. An adult sees this and asks why the child bothers, saying they cannot all be saved; the task is impossible. The child bends down, tosses another starfish into the water and says, “It made a difference for that one!”

The starfish tale encourages people not to let the scale of a crisis stop them from doing good. But the starfish thrower story risks shrinking the gospel by establishing this logic: The world has enormous problems. But our small actions can make a difference. Now go do some good.

It says you cannot fix the whole world, but you can change the outcome for a single person or situation. That’s a good humanitarian message. But the gospel is infinitely bigger! The gospel message is not us saving the world one “starfish” at a time. In Christ, God has saved us! And God has called us to a holy life because of God’s own purpose and grace (1 Timothy 1:9).

So, do we help our neighbors and try to relieve suffering? Absolutely! But we do it as participation within God’s mission that Christ has already secured.

Paul does not ignore this tension in writing to the Ephesians. Instead, he invites us to see reality differently. The rest of this passage is Paul’s prayer that God would open the eyes of our hearts so we can recognize a deeper truth: Christ’s reign is already real, even when it is not yet fully visible.

Christ is the King who fills all in all. Today we’ll explore what that means and why it gives us hope.

¹⁵ I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, and for this reason ¹⁶ I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers, ¹⁷ that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, ¹⁸ so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may perceive what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, ¹⁹ and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power. ²⁰ God put this power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, ²¹ far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come. ²² And he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church, ²³ which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. Ephesians 1:15–23 NRSVUE

Fills all in all

Let’s begin at the end; Paul ends this incredible proclamation of the gospel with “him who fills all in all.” What does “fills all in all” mean?

We may not immediately understand it. Its meaning is much richer and deeper than simply, “Jesus is everywhere.”

Paul has just built toward an extraordinary proclamation: God raised Jesus from death, seated him above every other rule and authority, placed everything under his feet, and gave him as head over everything “not only in this age but also in the age to come” (in other words, forever).

Then comes the astonishing phrase: Christ “fills all in all.”

To say Christ “fills all in all” means there is no corner of creation beyond his life-giving reign. His kingdom is not waiting for us to establish it. The Father has already raised and exalted the Son over every power. Jesus is already King. And by the Spirit, the risen Christ is present and at work in his creation, bringing everything toward the fullness God intends.

Already / Not Yet

Christ is King. But when we look at the world, it does not always look like a kingdom ruled by Christ. That is the tension we named earlier: if Jesus reigns, why do suffering, violence, loneliness, injustice, and death still seem so present?

Reign of Christ Sunday points us to the already / not yet shape of Christian hope. Christ’s reign is already real, but we do not yet see or experience its fullness. The problem is not that Jesus only reigns privately in Christian hearts now and will reign over creation later. Ephesians 1 says something much bigger: God has already raised Jesus from the dead, seated him above every power, placed all things under his feet, and made him head over all things.

So, Paul’s answer to the tension is not, “One day Christ will finally become King.” His prayer is that God would open the eyes of our hearts so we can see the reign that is already present and the future that is already secure in Jesus Christ.

The future is not when Jesus finally becomes King. The future is when the reign that is already his becomes fully visible throughout a renewed creation. We are still waiting for the day when every wound is healed, every injustice is put right, and death itself is no more. But we are not waiting for Jesus to begin his reign. Jesus Christ already reigns.

That is why Christians dare to hope even when the world does not look hopeful. Our hope does not depend on our ability to stay hopeful. God has already acted. Death has encountered the King and could not hold him. The King fills all in all.

And Paul does not leave this reign floating above us as an abstract doctrine. He tells us this exalted King has been given for the Church.

For the Church

Verse 22 says, “And [the Father] has put all things under [Christ’s] feet and has made him the head over all things for the Church.”

That little word for matters. Paul does not simply say that Christ is head over all things. He says Christ is head over all things for the Church. In other words, the universal reign of Christ is not distant from us. It is not an abstract doctrine floating above our lives. The risen Jesus reigns for the good of his people.

Hear that again: Jesus Christ reigns for us. Every power is beneath him. Every authority is under his feet. Nothing in our lives lies outside his loving rule. The King who fills all in all is not using his authority merely to display power. He reigns in love, for redemption, for healing, for the good of his Body.

And that moves us beyond individual encouragement. Christ does not reign only over isolated believers. He is forming a people. Paul says the Church is Christ’s Body, “the fullness of him who fills all in all.” The risen King gathers different cultures, personalities, generations, experiences, and gifts into one shared life. The Spirit does not erase those differences. The Spirit draws them into the life of Jesus Christ.

But we need to be careful here. When Paul calls the Church Christ’s fullness, he is not saying Jesus is incomplete without us. Christ is already raised, exalted, seated above every power, and given as head over all things. He lacks nothing. The Church is not the source of Christ’s fullness.

Rather, the Church is the place where Christ’s fullness overflows. The exalted Christ, who fills all things, fills the Church with his own life. The Church is his Body because it receives its life from him as its head. His love, mercy, reconciliation, generosity, and hope become visible in and through his people.

So, Christ already reigns. Christ fills all in all. And the Church participates in the life and work of the King who is already present and active in the world.

Starfish Throwers

So, let’s return to the starfish story from the beginning.

There is something beautiful in that story. It tells us not to become numb in the face of suffering. It reminds us that small acts of mercy matter. Feeding one hungry person matters. Visiting one lonely person matters. Forgiving one wound, welcoming one stranger, sitting beside one grieving neighbor — these things matter.

But the gospel gives us a deeper reason for doing them. We do not serve because Christ’s kingdom depends on us. We do not love our neighbors because we are trying to save the world one starfish at a time. We serve because the kingdom already belongs to Christ. The King fills all in all.

That means when we do good, we are not bringing Jesus into a place where he was absent. By the Spirit, we are joining the risen Jesus in the places where he is already present and at work. Our good works are not our attempt to make God’s mission succeed. They are our participation in the mission Jesus has already secured.

We are not carrying the burden of fixing the whole world. We are being drawn into the life and love of the King who is making all things new. When we feed the hungry, welcome the lonely, work for justice, forgive, reconcile, create beauty, care for creation, or sit with the suffering, we are bearing witness to the reign that is already real, even though it is not yet fully visible.

Jesus describes that mission in Luke 4: good news to the poor, freedom for captives, sight for the blind, release for the oppressed, and the year of the Lord’s favor. That is not a side project of the kingdom. That is what the reign of Christ looks like as it breaks into the world through his Spirit and his people.

So, the starfish story can encourage us, but it cannot carry our hope. Our hope is not that we can make enough of a difference to overcome the brokenness of the world. Our hope is that Jesus Christ is Lord, that death has already been defeated in him, and that the Spirit is opening our eyes and drawing us into his ongoing ministry.

We still see war, suffering, loneliness, injustice, and death. We cannot always see Christ’s reign clearly. That is why Paul prays that the eyes of our hearts would be opened. He wants us to see beneath what appears to be true to what God has declared eternally true: death does not reign. Fear does not reign. Violence does not reign. No earthly ruler or power has the final word. Jesus Christ reigns.

So yes, we throw the starfish. We do the good that is before us. But we do it without pretending the future rests in our hands. The future rests in the hands of the risen Jesus. And because Christ already reigns, our acts of mercy become signs of his kingdom, witnesses to his presence, and joyful participation in his mission.

The King fills all in all.

Reign of Christ Sunday

So, what is true because Christ is King?

It is true that we are not waiting for Jesus to become Lord. The Father has already raised the Son from the dead and seated him above every rule and authority, every power and dominion, every name that is named. Christ does not reign only in heaven while earth waits for him to take interest. He reigns over all creation, and there is no corner of this wounded world beyond his life-giving rule.

It is true that the brokenness we see is real, but it is not ultimate. Suffering is real. Violence is real. Loneliness, injustice, and death are real. The tears of creation are not imaginary. But they do not have the final word. Death has already encountered the risen King and could not hold him. The powers of this age still rage, but they do not reign. Christ reigns.

And it is true that our good works matter, not because the kingdom depends on us, but because the King invites us to participate in what he is already doing. So yes, we throw the starfish. We feed the hungry. We welcome the lonely. We forgive, reconcile, work for justice, care for creation, and sit with the suffering. But we do these things without pretending that the future rests in our hands. We do them because the future rests in the hands of Jesus Christ.

That is the answer to the tension we began with. If Christ reigns, why does the world still look so broken? Because his reign is already real, but not yet fully visible. Because we still wait for the day when every wound is healed, every injustice is put right, and death itself is no more. But we do not wait as people who are abandoned to the powers of this age. We wait as people whose King has already been raised, already exalted, already given as head over all things for the Church.

So, lift up your hearts. It is true that the Church belongs to this King. We are not a scattered group of people trying to keep hope alive by our own strength. We are Christ’s Body, filled by the One who fills all in all. The Father gives us wisdom. The Spirit opens the eyes of our hearts. The risen Son gives us hope — not wishful thinking, not denial, but hope anchored in what God has already done in Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ is King. And the King fills all in all.

Small Group Discussion Questions