Sermon: "Alpha and Omega"
The Right Reverend Charles G. vonRosenberg
Third Bishop of East Tennessee

[This sermon by Bishop vonRosenberg was delivered using the following notes.]

Today marks the end of one church year … the Last Sunday in the season of Pentecost. Next Sunday will begin a new church year … the First Sunday of Advent. Therefore, today we reach the point in the church calendar that is something like New Year’s Eve in the secular calendar. In church, though, we do not sing “Auld Lang Syne” about the past, and we do not make resolutions about the future. Rather, we listen to our Lord. “’I am the Alpha and the Omega,’ says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty” (Rev. 1:8).

The message today, therefore, is fairly simple. As we turn the page on another church year – and as we observe changes in us and all around us – we affirm that the One who is Lord does not change. Our readings today make the message quite clear indeed.

In Daniel, we read of the author’s vision: “I saw one like a human being (or, “like a son of man”) coming with the clouds of heaven. And he came to the Ancient One and was presented before him. To him was given dominion and glory and kingship, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not pass away, and his kingship is one that shall never be destroyed”(7:13-14).

Our psalm for the day repeated a similar theme: “Ever since the world began, your throne has been established; you are from everlasting”(93:3). Indeed, that entire psalm includes many references to the power and majesty of the everlasting kingdom of God Almighty.

The reading from the book of Revelation contains reference to the Alpha and the Omega, which I mentioned earlier. In addition, though, it was there that we also read this greeting: “Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come”(1:4).

The Gospel reading includes these words from Jesus, in response to Pilate: “You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice”(Jn 18:37). Truth is surely one mark of the everlasting kingdom of God. And Christ came into the world as the incarnation of God’s eternal truthfulness.

Finally, listen to some of the words of our collect today: “Almighty and everlasting God, whose will it is to restore all things in your well-beloved Son, the King of kings and Lord of lords; Mercifully grant that the peoples of the earth, divided and enslaved by sin, may be freed and brought together under his most gracious rule.” Thus, words and themes repeated there involve the everlasting kingship of God in Jesus Christ.

Therefore, the testimony of the Bible readings and of the collect today is quite clear. Jesus is Lord! He has been Lord, and he will be Lord. Jesus was Lord last year, and he will be Lord next year … all the way to eternity.

Now, why is this important to us? Why do our readings on this final Sunday of the church year emphasize the eternal kingship of Jesus Christ? It seems to me that the reasons are at least two-fold.

First of all, acknowledging Christ’s eternal kingship helps us get straight about our place in this world. That is, we are not in charge here. Jesus is. We can make mistakes – and we often do. In fact, some Episcopalians think we made a monumental mistake at General Convention last summer. But, whether Convention was right or wrong in its decisions, God is still ultimately in charge.

Thus, as fallible human beings, we say our prayers. We seriously consider decisions we have to make as people trying to be faithful to Jesus. Then, with appropriate humility, we make those decisions, and we go ahead on our journey of faith. Through it all, we give thanks that God is in charge. Only God can claim, “I am the Alpha and the Omega … who is and who was and who is to come.” Long after our feeble attempts to be faithful have been forgotten, God will still be in charge of this creation – and Jesus will still be king. And for that, my friends, thanks be to God!

The second reason for the importance of Christ’s eternal kingship has to do with the effect that affirmation of faith has on us. If God is in charge and if Christ is king, we are given a certain freedom. The fate of the world does not rest on our shoulders. There is comfort in that faith affirmation as well. Also, we appropriately have a sense of hope as a result. That is, there might be a chance that things will work out all right if someone other than myself – or you – is responsible for this world of ours.

Freedom, comfort, and hope – those are not small gifts to possess. If we live in the faith that Christ is king, then such gifts are indeed ours to claim and to live by.

On this particular Sunday, therefore, the time has come for us to say “good bye” to another year in the life of the community that claims to follow Jesus as Lord. The time will soon be upon us to remember once again those events that are central to our lives of faith – the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. As we make this transition from one year to the next, however, we do so in awareness of the God who created us, who saved us, and who sustains us, even now … the One who is the Alpha and the Omega … the One who is and who was and who is to come. This is the same God who we know in Jesus, who we call “Lord,” and who we proclaim as “King”, now and forever. Amen.

Copyright © 2003 The Episcopal Diocese of East Tennessee