This week’s Readings and Sermon for the Sunday before Advent - The Feast of Christ the King
The Collect for This Week
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. Amen
The Post Communion Prayer for this week
Stir up, O Lord, the wills of your faithful people; that they, plenteously bringing forth the fruit of good works, may by you be plenteously rewarded; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
Psalm 46
1 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble; 2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth be moved, and though the mountains tremble in the heart of the sea; 3 Though the waters rage and swell, and though the mountains quake at the towering seas. 4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place of the dwelling of the Most High. 5 God is in the midst of her; therefore shall she not be removed; God shall help her at the break of day. 6 The nations are in uproar and the kingdoms are shaken, but God utters his voice and the earth shall melt away. 7 The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our stronghold. 8 Come and behold the works of the Lord, what destruction he has wrought upon the earth. 9 He makes wars to cease in all the world; he shatters the bow and snaps the spear and burns the chariots in the fire. 10 ‘Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations; I will be exalted in the earth.’ 11 The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our stronghold.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning is now and shall be forever. Amen
The Old Testament Reading for this Sunday is taken from the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah, Chapter 23, verses 1 to 6
1 Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! says the Lord. 2 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. 3 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. 4 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. 5 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. 6 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.’
This is the Word of the Lord Thanks be to God
The New Testament reading for this Sunday is taken from the Letter St Paul to the Colossians, Chapter 1 verses 11 to 20
11 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 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light. 13 He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. 15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; 16 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. 17 He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 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. 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 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.
This is the Word of the Lord Thanks be to God
The Gospel reading for this Sunday is taken from the Gospel of St Luke, Chapter 23, verses 33 to 43
Hear the Gospel of our Lord, Jesus Christ, according to Luke Glory to You, o Lord !
33 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. [[ 34 Then Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.’]] And they cast lots to divide his clothing. 35 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!’ 36 The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine, 37 and saying, ‘If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!’ 38 There was also an inscription over him, ‘This is the King of the Jews.’ 39 One of the criminals who were hanged there kept deriding him and saying, ‘Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us!’ 40 But the other rebuked him, saying, ‘Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41 And we indeed have been condemned justly, for we are getting what we deserve for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong.’ 42 Then he said, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’ 43 He replied, ‘Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.’
This is the Gospel of the Lord. Praise to You, o Christ !
Note :All readings are shared from the Church of England Lectionary App and are subject to copyright . © The Archbishop’s Council
The sermon this week is delivered by Rev. Samuel Hameem
“May my words and my thoughts be acceptable to you O Lord, my refuge and my redeemer amen.”
If we carefully study the Holy Bible from beginning to end, we see that the Lord Jesus is given many titles in the Bible, and these titles appear to us in many places in both the New and Old Testaments, both clearly and in many places hidden. If we talk about the titles of Jesus in the Bible, then sometimes we find him as a shepherd, sometimes he is the commander of the army of God. Sometimes he appears as the reflection of God, sometimes he appears as the saviour. In some places in the Bible, he is called the Son of David, and in others, he appears as the Son of God. In some places, he appears to us as God in human form, working for us, in some places, he appears to us as a Jewish teacher, conversing with people, and in some places, he appears to us as the Alpha and Omega. If we were to list the titles of Jesus in Bible, we would need a good amount of time, and believe me, this list would grow longer and longer, and among all these titles, we are celebrating one title in our churches today.
This Sunday is also important because it is the last Sunday of the church calendar, because from next Sunday, which is the first Sunday of Advent, we will begin the new church calendar, which will then end on the same Sunday next year, Christ the King. Today, on this Sunday, as we are celebrating Christ the King, it is a natural question that can come to mind that, why do we Christians believe that Christ is a King, and what does it mean to us, and what impact it can bring to our personal, church, family, social lives.
If we could see clearly, the answer to all these questions lies within the reading we just heard today from Gospel according to Luke. Well, this reading we mostly heard and think about in the days of Lent, or on the service of the Good Friday, but just before the start of Advent, and especially on the Christ the King Sunday, this text just brings this whole thing on a new level, because if we read this whole chapter from which we have are today’s Gospel reading, in the beginning we could see that after his arrest, Jesus is brought before Pilate, then he brought before Herod, and then again before Pilate, where he is sentenced to death by crucifixion, and today's reading also presents the scenario where Jesus is crucified, and with him are two other people who are given the same punishment that Jesus was given, but because of their sins and actions.
Then in today’s Gospel reading we could see a discourse between these two men who were hanging there on the cross with Jesus, where one man tells Jesus to save himself and save us too, while the other person says the exact opposite. And Jesus makes a promise to the other person, that today you will be with me in paradise.
This phrase of Jesus, this promise of his, fully reflects that he is a king who died on the cross for our sins, this statement of his explains that he can do something that is beyond the capacity of any ordinary or a special human being.
Jesus promised this man that today you will be with me in paradise. This was not an ordinary promise, because, the word Jesus used here for paradise, comes from a Persian word that means ‘garden’. It was used in pre-Christian Greek translation of the Old Testament (the Septuagint) for the Garden of Eden. In the New Testament, it refers to the place of bliss and rest,
And the authority to do this lies solely with God, and if we study the Bible, and especially the Old Testament, we see that in many places God has introduced himself as King. Sometimes he appears as the king of the whole world, sometimes he introduces himself as the king of Israel, and Christ Jesus is God in human form, that is why he is God, and that is why he has the power and authority to do and say all that Jesus promised to that man on the cross.
Today's passage is also unique in that the incident we heard in this passage is found only in Luke's Gospel account, as Matthew and Mark have mentioned both individuals, but we only find the mention of this thief going to paradise in Luke's Gospel account, and according to Luke, one of the two men had a change of his heart. And Luke picks up the story when one of them, seeing Jesus forgive his executioners determined that Jesus could be trusted.
And Jesus is the trustworthy of all, and that is why he is our King, he is the king and ruler of all, and he earn his kingship his teaching and preaching, by his earthly life, and by giving his life for us on the cross, and he also, by his resurrection from the grave sealed His kingship, and through His ascension into heaven kept His kingship alive in our hearts and gave us the living hope that He would come to judge us and take us into His heavenly kingdom.
But for this to happen, it is necessary that we acknowledge Jesus as our King and Ruler and surrender our lives, that is, our individual, family, and church lives, to Him so that He may be the King and Ruler of our lives and guide us in every matter and every work.
If we recall today's Gospel account in our minds, we see that above the cross of Jesus there was a sign that read, 'The King of the Jews.' If we look at our own lives, we also have a sign that people read by our actions and words, on which is written, 'We are Christians.' The sign on Jesus' cross was to mock and humiliate him, but this sign on us is to proclaim his name and spread his glory.
Now the question is, is my life witnessing His kingship? When people look at me, do they see Jesus, His teachings, His death on the cross, His resurrection from the grave, and the living hope of His return? When people look at me, do they see who the owner, the king, of my life is?
Let us, now that we are busy preparing for Christmas, now that we are entering the Advent season, reflect on these questions and, looking into our own lives, bring ourselves to the cross of Jesus, and pray to Him for any weakness we may have.
May God bless you all.
Amen.