Sunday

Opening Verse of Scripture Psalm 139

O LORD, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.

Collect Prayer for the Day—Before we read we pray

Stir up, O Lord, the wills of your faithful people, that they, bringing forth the fruit of good works, may by you be richly rewarded: through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

Eternal Father, whose Son Jesus Christ ascended to the throne of heaven that he might rule over all things as Lord and King: keep the Church in the unity of the Spirit and in the bond of peace, and bring the whole created order to worship at his feet; who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. CW

God the Father, help us to hear the call of Christ the King and to follow in his service, whose kingdom has no end; for he reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, one glory. All Amen. CW

First Bible Reading Jeremiah 23:1-6

Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! says the LORD. Therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who shepherd my people: It is you who have scattered my flock, and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. So I will attend to you for your evil doings, says the LORD. Then I myself will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the lands where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. I will raise up shepherds over them who will shepherd them, and they shall not fear any longer, or be dismayed, nor shall any be missing, says the LORD.

The days are surely coming, says the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The LORD is our righteousness.’ NRSV

Second Reading Colossians 1: 10-20

Brothers and sisters: May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers – all things have been created through him and for him. He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross. NRSV

Gospel Reading Luke 23: 33-43

When they came to the place that is called The Skull, they crucified Jesus there with the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. Then Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.’ And they cast lots to divide his clothing. And the people stood by, watching; but the leaders scoffed at him, saying, ‘He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Messiah of God, his chosen one!’ The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine, and saying, ‘If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!’ There was also an inscription over him, ‘This is the King of the Jews.’ One of the criminals who were hanged there kept deriding him and saying, ‘Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us!’ But the other rebuked him, saying, ‘Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed have been condemned justly, for we are getting what we deserve for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong.’ Then he said, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’ Jesus replied, ‘Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.’ NRSV 

Post Communion Prayer

Stir up, we beseech thee, O Lord, the wills of thy faithful people; that they, plenteously bringing forth the fruit of good works, may of thee be plenteously rewarded; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Commentary  The Crucified King

In our Lent course earlier this year we contemplated the image of Jesus on the cross between the two criminals, our gospel reading for today. As the criminals on the crosses either side of Him encounter Christ, one of them appears to mock Christ, not accepting who he was himself, or who Jesus was. We contrast this with the other one who cries out to Jesus, from the depths of distress, accepting who he was (we indeed have been condemned justly) and accepting and revealing once again who Jesus is. Jesus, even in His deepest agony listened to the crucified and frightened thief and spoke words of love and consolation to him in his hour of death. Just as He hears us when we speak to him about our deepest fears. He continues to speak words of life to a dying world and offers hope in what seem like hopeless situations. Staring into the abyss of the nothingness without God the criminal has done nothing to deserve being with Christ in His Kingdom, His love and His mercy, none of us have, but the penitent criminal also understood, however dimly and incompletely that somehow, forgiveness was available through the love and life that was expressed on the cross next to him if he chose to receive it. 

We know forgiveness can be hard. In our world we more often demand justice and retribution, sometimes which is just only thinly veiled human revenge and come-uppance. And all the time we look for revenge and retribution, we find forgiveness, of others and of ourselves, just a hard and bitter struggle. On the cross, Jesus demonstrates what is it like to forgive and to be forgiven. Because He Himself is dying the death that He is, His forgiveness has an authority about it which worldly forces would never understand or comprehend. Jesus seems to be in a position of utter helplessness and powerlessness. Jesus offers His life to the Father so that others could have life. Sin is defeated and forgiveness flows into the world. In forgiving the criminal, Jesus proclaims and demonstrates that His forgiveness is available to all, who, like the criminal, ‘turn to him’. Our encounters with Jesus, and with each other, reveal who we are. The questions we need to ask ourselves is, ‘Do we accept what is revealed or not?’ And having accepted it, do we choose to receive the forgiveness, however incomprehensible, that is available to all.

In a way, the reading about Jesus on the cross is slightly ironic for the Sunday when we celebrate Christ the King. What sort of King is this that hangs bloodied, naked and suffering on a cross. Where are the richness and robes, the pomp and ceremony, and all the crowds which would normally be associated with the death of a king? The reading from Colossians would seem to pick up on this strange theme. Jesus is the image, literally the icon, of the invisible God. One of the ways of understanding icons is that they are windows through which we can see a little bit of God. So is this crucified body, labelled Jesus Christ, King of the Jews, the image of God we want or imagine? Once again, Jesus has turned people’s understanding of the world upside down. For the battered body on the cross is the King, just as he is ironically but prophetically described on the notice attached to His cross, the Messiah who God has sent into His world, for the Jews and all people. 

When our own Queen died, when people were speaking about their own personal reflections of the her it was amazing to hear just how many of them had actually met the Queen in person. Even so, it was probably a relatively small percentage of the whole population, and this was a person who went out of her way to meet and greet as many people as possible. In historical times, and certainly in the times of the bible, monarchs were much more remote, far away from the people they sought to reign over, keeping their power and authority close to them. But in Jesus, exemplified by His time on the cross, we see a King who was not far away and remote, He is here with us, in the midst of all our suffering and mess, hanging with us because of His love and care for us and wanting to share the source of His power with everyone. Some people may recall the lyrics of the powerful Bette Midler song ‘From a Distance’ which speaks of God watching us from a distance. God may indeed be watching us from a distance, but He is also here with us now, through His powerful and uncontrollable Spirit, very close, so close He’s even part of our inner being. That is the all-powerful, compassionate, forgiving and welcoming King we have among us.

Jesus hanging on the cross as King also reveals another aspect of His diving Kingship. Earthy Kings and Queens and rulers ultimately pass away and die, either through heroic battle or, more commonly, through a wide range of more mundane causes. None of them could defeat the sure and certain death that would come to them all. And if the cross was the end of the story, then Jesus would have been the same. But it wasn’t. The cross wasn’t the end but the beginning of a Kingly reign that would never end as Christ the King defeated death as he rose again. The crown of thorns did indeed become the crown of glory. The Davidic king of whom Jeremiah writes, though seemingly mocked and taunted at the crucifixion, in royal and glorious splendour, embodies God’s image, fulfils His promise, and is life and hope itself.

Meditation Christ the King

As we come to the end of the time between All Saints Day and Advent, sometimes known as the Kingdom Season, we begin to look forward to Advent and the new Church Year. It’s a time where we move from looking back and remembering to looking forward. In the last two weeks we’ve looked back with thanks and gratitude to all the Saints that have gone before us, and, last week, we remembered those who lived and died in His service and the service of their country and others. We look back and remember so we do not forget. Over the coming weeks we’ll begin to look forward as we remind ourselves of the inheritance and hope we have in Christ, His final return in glory and His infant birth as He became incarnate and announced God’s Kingdom to all who would hear. Today we celebrate Christ the King, a king who welcomes all into His Kingdom, already teeming with the saints that have gone before us, those we know and those we don’t know yet.  He gently and graciously welcomes all into His realm, into His house and eternal dwelling, whatever our background or circumstances. To those who accept His offer of welcome, He also invites to share and reflect His kingly splendour and majesty, so that all people can come to know and experience God’s love, peace, and acceptance.    Sam Cappleman

Hymns

• Rejoice the Lord is King (Tune Gopsal)
• Make way
• Thou didst leave thy throne (Tune Margaret)
• O Lord my God
• From the squalor

Prayers for Sunday and the week ahead

Gracious God, look upon a sinner who is yet created in your image. Look upon a disciple into whose heart you gaze. Look upon a child who longs to love you with a heart yet more perfect, and looking, forgive, and gazing, pardon and bless; for your truth and your mercy's sake. Amen Francois Fenelon, 1651-1715 

Loving Heavenly Father I thank you for this new day, for its promise, its challenge and its opportunity. I have little to give you this day, but within my trembling hand I give you this will of mine and things that seem small, for you alone, O Lord, understand that when I yield Thee this I yield Thee all. So may my life this day, in all I think, speak or do, shew forth the mind of Christ. Amen.

God our Friend and protector, as we go through life help us to offer a hand of love and friendship to all in need. As our lives develop, like the seasons , spring when we blossom in our own ways, summer when we are full of the joys of young life, autumn when we hope to pass on the wisdom we have learnt, winter when we need the comfort of your presence at the closing of our days. Mmay we remember to thank you in our prayers for all your many blessings and help throughout our lives.

Heavenly Father we thank you for the gift of life and for loving each one of us, just as we are. Now that we are elderly and less mobile, we have more time to sit and think. We give thanks for the gift of memory, whether of happy or sad occasions, memories precious to us all. And, even if we cannot remember what happened yesterday, we can ponder over our youthful days and be thankful. Amen.

Creator God, we thank you that through the centuries you have given to men and women the gift of creativity. We think of all musicians and the music that inspires and brings us close to you. We thank you for artists, as we gaze on their work we marvel at the details and the beauty of the colours. We think of the poet and his words, which can help and heal, and of the craftsmen, who have given such beautiful carving and buildings. Thank you too for those who use their creative gifts in leadership, creating order out of chaos and in building up broken relationships. O God you are the master craftsman and we would pray that we may use our own creative gifts for your honour and glory. In Jesus Name, Amen.

Additional Resources 

Commentary

Today is the last Sunday in the church calendar, next week we begin Advent. The special theme for today in the church year is a celebration of Jesus as King brought to us by Pius XI in 1925, only in 1970 was it moved from October to the last Sunday before Advent. It is a good theme for today because our Bible reading from Luke has the words fixed over Jesus on the cross THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS. 

Of course today is also named Stir Up Sunday and we have that beautiful collect prayer with the words ‘Stir up O Lord the will of thy faithful people.’ 

Today is a day when we are meant to encourage each other, when we remind ourselves that Christ is our King. It is a day when we draw close to Advent, that season in which we prepare ourselves for the coming of King Jesus at Christmas. 

What does the Kingship of Jesus mean? Jesus said 'My Kingdom is not of this world, ' it is totally and radically different from any other kingship, it is not one of coercion, it is not imposed. The kingdom of Jesus is about love, justice and mercy. This kingdom will come in all of its fullness at a day in the future and it will never end, it has already arrived in the hearts of those who show allegiance to Jesus the King. Those who serve him pray 'Thy Kingdom come...' and they know that in Jesus they have found the one who is Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end of all that is. He has been from the beginning of time itself and he will be with them forever.

Of course the last thing we think of kingship is crucifixion and suffering. So the words inscribed over Jesus are mocking and part of a tragic irony, to call a man on a cross a king is a cruel joke. No wonder Pilate must have laughed when Jesus was referred to as a king, for Pilate, Jesus could not be a king, because he did not fit the mould of a king. Kings are powerful figures, they demand respect and get it. When Pilate put ‘King of the Jews’ over Jesus, it was not in recognition of the kingship of Jesus, it was rather a mockery, Kings did not belong on crosses. 

Yet as Christians we see in this episode not a tragedy but a triumph. Jesus on the cross redefines what it means to be a king. Power is seen in the very powerlessness which allowed Christ the King to be killed. Jesus on the cross challenges our ideas about God and in a sense he redefines the human idea of what God is. The Old Testament idea of a powerful God who helped people win battles and who ordered the genocide of the conquered people is gone. In its place we have a God in Jesus who to some might be regarded as a cissy. Jesus spends his time caring for the weak and frail, cries at funerals and ends up being tortured and stuck up on the cross. This is not the ideal of great leadership which has inspired other human kings. The crucifixion confronts our normal expectations with a new way. Make no mistake, Jesus was a radical, he was a revolutionary of that there can be no doubt, but he was not the kind of revolutionary that Pilate was used to dealing with, in characters like Barabbas.

So what was the kingship of Jesus like? Jesus was not harmless and neither was he only concerned with the inner or spiritual world, he was truly subversive. In this Gospel of Luke, Jesus begins by addressing Israel's hopes of liberation. The songs of the birth narratives are full of it. Jesus marches into the synagogue to link his mission to Isaiah 61 in 4:16-20. He announces good news to the poor, to the hungry and to those who weep. He asserts and expresses the value of those considered valueless. He gathers people and announces change. Jesus is not announcing a message of personal enlightenment, to make us personally enriched; neither is he promising a utopia at another time and in another place. Rather he is announcing change and embodying it already in himself and in his community. This is dangerous for those with a vested interest in the status quo, no wonder that so many people were threatened by him and wanted him dead.

To affirm that Jesus is king is to affirm a different kind of kingship. But it is not a weak kingship or one which abdicates into an inner or spiritual world. Jesus was enormously powerful and assertive. He did not come to create a set of doormats, but to spread a revolution of love and grace, which entailed identifying and embodying a new kind of power and priority. The feast of Christ the King is a challenge to us all because the kingdom which he brings places some considerable challenges to us all. The saviour of all humankind is a man hanging on a cross, yet still the king, opening the gates of his kingdom to the bewildered, misled, rabble around him. I ponder on whether these words of Jesus from the cross are the most powerful words in all scripture, surely the cross is the central feature of our faith, the words spoken there hold extraordinary power. How can a king call forgiveness upon those who drive nails into his hand and hang him to die ? Make no mistake about what is taking place here, the one by whom all things were created - things in heaven and on earth, who has supremacy over all things, is making peace through his death even on those who kill him. While human kings gain power in order reign over us, Jesus in his kingship demonstrates his authority by showing his forgiveness and love for his people, so much so that he gave his life for us. 

Do we take the kingship of Jesus seriously? Do we think of Jesus as our King? Or do we think that his kingship is something for the future and so no of much concern to us now? Today we ask this question of ourselves, to whom or what do we give our allegiance? Who holds dominion over us? What are we living for? What energizes and gives meaning to our lives each day? We pray in the Lord’s Prayer ‘thy kingdom come.’ This prayer is not supposed to be a prayer asking God to bring the world to an end. Rather it is asking that God’s kingdom would be established in our lives. The kingship of Christ is something which Jesus expects us to be able to share now. This will happen if we let our lives be the place where God’s reign extends. Today, above all days perhaps, is the day when we are encouraged to own Christ in our hearts. Today we stir one another up and we remind ourselves that Jesus should be king of every part of our lives, our manners, our behaviour towards other people, are decisions about important life choices. Charles Royden 

Meditation

In the summer I went to Amalfi Cathedral, the resting place for the relics of St Andrew the Apostle, it is his day on November 30. It was an uplifting experience not least because I thanked God to still be alive after travelling the coastal road with Italian drivers. Saint Andrew is believed to have been crucified on a saltire (X-shaped) cross in Patras, Greece. Around 357, Roman emperor Constantine had his remains transferred to the Church of the Holy Apostles, Constantinople. During the Fourth Crusade, Cardinal Pietro Capuano (Peter of Capua) took the saint’s remains to Amalfi. The relics arrived on 8 May 1208 and were placed in the crypt of the Cathedral of St Andrew. It is vital to remember the saints and to honour their sacrifice for us. The saints encourage us to be faithful, they help ’Stir us up’ and as we remember their sacrifice we too are encouraged to live lives of holiness. Not everybody appreciates relics but for some they are helpful because it is important to treat with respect and reverence something which physically connects us with those we love who have died. The physical reminder helps us to focus upon the reality of the saint and as we honour them we honour God who has made the person holy. Charles Royden 

Meditation 

One of our greatest Prime Ministers born in 1874 was Winston Churchill. He played an enormous part in leading Britain through the Second World War. He said this about relating to people

You haven't learned life's lesson very well if you haven't noticed that you can decide the reaction you want of people in advance. It's unbelievably simple. If you want them to smile, smile first. If you want them to take an interest in you, take an interest in them first. If you want to make them nervous, become nervous yourself. If you want them to shout and raise their voices, raise yours and shout. If you want them to strike you, strike first. It's as simple as that. People will treat you like you treat them. It's no secret. Look about you. You can prove it with the next person you meet. 

Meditation 

God does not rejoice at the death of sinners. On seeing the destruction of the Egyptians the angels wanted to break forth in song. But God silenced them saying: 'The work of my hands is drowning in the sea, and you desire to sing songs!' Talmud 

Though we descend from those redeemed from brutal Egypt, and we have ourselves rejoiced to see oppressors overcome, yet our triumph is diminiched by the slaughter of the foe, as the wine within the cup is lessened when we pour ten drops for the plagues upon Egypt.

Passover Haggadah.

Prayers for Sunday and the week ahead 

Draw near to your flock, O Shepherd of Israel, that we may rejoice at the sound of your voice; walk through the darkest shadows at your bidding and climb the rugged steeps under your protection. May we come at the last to the sight of your unclouded beauty where, in the glory of eternal light, you are worshipped for evermore. Bede Jarrett, 1881-1934

Eternal God, in whose perfect realm no sword is drawn but the sword of justice, and no strength known but the strength of love: guide and inspire all who seek your kingdom, that peoples and nations may find their security in the love which casts out fear; through Jesus Christ our Saviour. Amen.

Gracious God we pray for ourselves, that we might remember who is in control in creation, who it is who holds together all things. So may we give complete control to you of our lives. Help us to entrust to you our fears and worries and to rest ourselves in Christ Jesus. Help us to grow in faith, to rejoice always in what you have done, to submit our will and our plans to your will and your plan for our lives. Amen