Living in the Interim - Christ the King Sunday, 2023

The interim. The in-between time. The time between what is and what will be. That’s what Christ the King Sunday speaks to.

In the latter verses of 1 Corinthians 13, the apostle Paul spoke of living in the interim. “For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known” (1 Corinthians 13:12, emphasis added). In this verse, the apostle drew a contrast between what is (now) and what will be (then)—seeing, knowing. He spoke of living in the interim—the time before what will be displaces what is and becomes a reality. He then identified three resources we draw on for living in the interim—faith, hope, love. “And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love” (1 Corinthians 13:13).

Faith speaks of our trust in God and God’s faithfulness. It is the basis of how we relate to God. It is how we access the grace God offers. “For by grace you have been saved through faith” (Ephesians 2:8, emphasis added). Faith means we believe (trust) God is who Jesus revealed God to be. We trust the steadfast, faithful love of God that claims us as beloved children, knowing such love never waivers (steadfast) or ever gives up on us or abandons us (faithful). We trust the gift of God’s grace expressed in God’s forgiveness. We believe in and trust the ways of God that Jesus taught—grace and forgiveness rather than merit-based, deserving-oriented thinking and living; a servant spirit in which power is used to serve; viewing and valuing, accepting and embracing every person as a beloved child of God. Faith means we build our lives on these truths, allowing them to guide how we think and live. (Note: faith is more than believing. Faith is believing something is true and acting on that belief.) In the interim, we live by faith.

Love—loving as Jesus loved—is what our faith produces. Loving as Jesus loved is what happens in us as we live in relationship with God as beloved children, as we live as followers of Jesus, learning the ways of God he taught. The Spirit works in us, transforming our hearts and minds, leading us to love as Jesus loved. The Spirit works through us so that we love those whom Jesus loved. In the interim, we love as Jesus loved; we love those Jesus loved.

But what about hope? What is hope? How does it shape how we live in the interim?

Hope is about the future. It is the forward look of faith. Hope is faith looking beyond what is to what God has promised will be. Hope gives us a glimpse of what will be because of the faithful love of God.

Hope is about the present. Hope is what empowers us to be faithful in the midst of what is. The vision of what will be guides us in living the ways of God today. As we live the ways of God in the midst of what is, we contribute to bringing what will be into reality.

Hope is rooted in God, in God’s faithfulness, in God’s steadfast, faithful love. It is a quiet assurance, a settled confidence that God will do what God has promised. Before God is through, what is will give way to what will be. What God has promised will become a reality.

Hope empowers us to live in what is— in the interim—as we wait for what will be. Hope encourages and sustains us as we deal with the unrelenting challenge of what is. Hope guides us as we live the ways of God in the interim.

Hope—like faith and love—is a vital resource for us as the followers of Christ as we live in what is—in the interim—waiting for what will be.

Hope is the theme of Christ the King Sunday—or, if you prefer, the Reign of Christ Sunday. This last Sunday of the liturgical year invites us to look beyond what is to what will be. It reminds us of the vision of a God-shaped world—what will be. In doing so, it calls us to give ourselves anew to being God’s partner in bringing into reality what will be when “the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea” (Isaiah 11:9).