Readings for the Feast of Christ the King, the Last Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 29 – Year C – Track 2)
This sermon was preached at Christ Episcopal Church in Eureka CA on November 23, 2025.
I’d like to begin by teaching you a simple chant, inspired by today’s psalm, a chant we sing at the beginning of our Centering Prayer before we move into a half-hour long time of prayerful meditation on Tuesday nights. We will sing it together at the end of my homily as we enter into a brief time of silence together.
Be still and know that I am God.
Be still and know that I am.
Be still and know.
Be still.
Be.
Let’s try it together: Be still….
This is inspired by the verse from Psalm 46: “Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted in the earth.” A holy and powerful invitation for us on this feast day of Christ the King, a feast that marks the end of the liturgical year; and, this year, marks the end of our three-year lectionary, our three-year journey through Matthew, Mark, and Luke (with John sprinkled in during Lent and Easter and other holy days), a journey that began back in November 2022, when we first started reading Matthew’s Gospel. It’s also worth noting that this year marks the 100th anniversary of this feast day, which was established back in 1925 by Pope Pius XI in the wake of the Great War and amidst the rise of atheism and fascism.
The psalm’s call to “Be still and know God is God” is an invitation to pause and reflect on these last three years and to consider the ways that Christ’s love shepherded us and guided us even during challenges, difficulties, and loss.[1] Over these last three years, we’ve lost some beloved church family members: Fr. David Shewmaker, Laura Rose, Daniel Hafer, and Howard Gardner. Just as we journeyed with Jesus on the road to Jerusalem in Matthew, Mark and Luke so too did Jesus journey with us on our Via Dolorosas, walking alongside us in our own pain and suffering and grief.
The psalm invites us to rest in God’s love and to trust that Love will continue to reign supreme as we face an unknown future.[2] While the future may be full of uncertainties, we can remain certain that Christ’s love will ultimately triumph and win the day. In the end, all powers and principalities will kneel before the throne of Love; and when divine compassion is finally crowned, we will live in the paradise that Jesus promised to the thief on the cross, the thief who said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
This reading from Luke really might be the pinnacle revelation of all the Gospels, the revelation of Christ’s compassionate and hope-filled presence (“Father, forgive them”) during the most hopeless, dark, humiliating, and excruciating death. Even as he, an innocent man, hangs on a cross among criminals, mocked and spat upon, we are invited to be still and know that God is God, that love reigns supreme, that Christ was and is and ever shall be King. In that stillness, we can experience a foretaste of the promised paradise: “Today, you will be with me in paradise.”
Let us be still and rest in God’s reigning love, the love that has held us over these last three years and the love that will remain with us forever, even into paradise. Let’s enjoy a foretaste of that paradise now in our collective stillness. Be still and know that I am God…..
[1] In Hebrew, the word for “Be still” is harpoo which means “let go”: what do you need to let go of and relinquish from these last three years? In Latin the word is “vacate” where we get the word “vacation” and it means “relax,” “take a break,” “take some time off,” “rest.”
[2] While some suggest rejecting the term “king” because of its patriarchal overtones, I want to keep it by applying it to the only one who truly deserves the title: Jesus Christ, the one who extends compassion to those who are crucifying him.
DANIEL DeFOREST LONDON 