Grace Notes 2021-11-10

The Church Year is winding down. The last month is the month of November. In fact, the New Church Year actually begins on Sunday, November 28, the First Sunday in Advent. I have a good friend, a fellow Lutheran Pastor, who likes to make a big deal out of the fact that the Church Calendar Year is different than the secular calendar. As he points out, people of faith mark time differently. And we know of a more significant time than the mere passing of seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years, and so on. We know of something called eternity, which in Christ is more than duration, but a certain fullness.

There are, by the way, two words in the Greek for time. One is chronos and the other is kairos. Chronos is what we usually think of as time. It has to do with the transition from one moment to the next. It lends itself to being measured. Kairos, on the other hand, has to do with certain seasons and their significance.

What is particularly arresting about the end of the Church Year is the emphasis on the passing of our present age in anticipation of the coming age. I speak here of Christ’s return at the end of the age, and the consummation of his kingdom. This will involve a new heaven and earth, the end of all evil, and the restoration of creation to the fullness and beauty intended by the Creator.

And so, on November 14, the Twenty-Fifth Sunday after Pentecost, the Gospel Lesson will feature our Lord Jesus speaking of the signs of the closing of this present sinful age. And then on November 21, Christ the King Sunday, we will hear of our Lord Jesus on trial before Pontius Pilate. There he will argue that his kingdom is not of this world. It belongs to another order altogether. It is that kingdom that baptized believers will inherit from the heavenly Father.

Since You Asked…

Are announcements necessary? And should they be included as a part of the liturgy?

Not all announcements are necessary! Nor should they be allowed to disrupt the rhythmic flow of the service. It is likewise important that announcements be kept to a minimum. But certain announcements are important. Information that will enhance participation in the worship, information pertaining to further Christian service, and information for regarding further opportunities for spiritual edification are such announcements of importance, and they are worthwhile to promote publicly to the assembly. We have chosen the beginning of the worship service as the most helpful and least disruptive placement for announcements.