The Joshua Victor Theory

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Today marks the Last Sunday of the Church Year, which focuses again on Jesus’ Kingship. And Jesus’ Kingship is shown through the cross. The prayer of the day today states that Jesus reigns among us by the preaching of the cross. Unlike any earthly kings or powers, Jesus’ rule is marked by His self-sacrifice on the cross, His defeat of the grave, and the constant preaching of this good news, that has gone on for 2,000 years, spreading His reign to the ends of the earth. No other king has or ever will rule in this way. This understanding encircles the whole church year—we always watch for and live under the reign of our crucified and risen King. What brought Jesus to this cross? It’s startling to realize that Jesus’ teachings and His love brought Him there. The other two criminals were brought there by their evildoing, as one eventually admitted. But Jesus came innocently and voluntaril...

            In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. We live in an automated age. A long list of conveniences relieve the drudgery of daily work, or simplify our daily tasks. We have automatic dishwashers to do our dishes, automatic sprinklers to water our yards, autopilot mechanisms that steer airplanes over long flights, automatic self-cleaning ovens, automatic coffee machines, automatic apps that send our pictures and files into “the Cloud”, and all sorts of other modern innovations that supposedly simplify our lives. Well in today’s reading we discover a much older innovation, a much older “automatic system” that has been at work for ages. It is the kingdom of God. How is it automatic, you ask?             Jesus tells a parable, that the kingdom of God is like a man scattering seed on the ground. Waking and sleeping, the farmer passes his days, and the seed s...