| New Book now Available Here is an anthology of over 1100 brief prayers and thought-starters, for each day of the year, with almost 400 original prayers by Bruce Prewer. Included is both a subject index and an index of authors-- an ecumenical collection of about 300 different sources. |
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| Title: Brief Prayers for Busy People. Author: Bruce D Prewer ISBN 978-1-62880-090-6 Available from Australian Church Resources, web site www.acresources.com.au email service@acresources.com.au or by order from your local book shop or online on amazon. |
Year C, CHRIST the KING
20-26 Nov
Luke 23:33-43
(Sermon
1: “An Unkingly King”)
Colossians 1:
11-20
(Sermon
2: “Celebrating the Unusual”)
Jeremiah 23: 1-6
Luke 1: 68-79
PREPARATION
The grace of our only King, the Lord Jesus Christ, be with you all.
And also with you.
Today is a day when we ask you to turn an idea
upside down -
to firmly take the
word “king” and stand it on its head.
Christ is our King, the monarch of all things,
is that humble, compassionate person who–
never went to university
never wrote a book,
never held any public office,
never had friends in high places,
never travelled out of his tiny country,
never met anyone more important than a provincial governor.
His only crown- a wreath of thorns.
His only throne- two crossed planks of wood.
At his right hand, and at
his left, two dying thieves.
Come, let us celebrate a
remarkable thing;
Jesus of
Nazareth is our incomparable King!.
OR—
My fellow citizens in the realm of God,
today we celebrate the only ruler
to whom we can give undivided
loyalty:
Jesus of
Nazareth, Christ the king!
Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
who has visited and redeemed
our people
and lifted up the trumpet of
salvation,
that being liberated, we might
serve God without fear
with holiness and justice all
the days of our life.
Through the tender mercy of our God
when the Dawn Light from on high
visited us,
to guide our feet in the way
of peace.
PRAYER OF APPROACH
Thank you, loving God, for giving us a king unlike
any other; for rescuing us from all our false ideas of importance, like power,
wealth, mansions, and the glory of armies. By your grace, assist us to get into
the true spirit of things, and to show you a worship which fits your sublime
humility. For your love’s sake.
Amen!
CONFESSION AND ASSURANCE
We come before God in confession, laying our faults
at the feet of Christ.
Let us pray.
To you, Christ
our King:
We bring our
lust for power and set it down before your rejection of power.
We bring our
love of money and place it before your willing poverty.
We bring our
stubborn pride and set it before your utter humility.
We bring our
pay-back mentality and lay it before your mercifulness.
We bring our
desire for self-glory and put before your passion for God’s glory.
We bring our
inveterate self-interest and rest it before your self giving.
We bring all
our vain wisdom and lay it before the “folly” of your cross.
Most merciful God, please forgive us once again.
Enable us to let go of guilt, and to take steps to prevent future debacles.
Correct the distortions in our thinking and feeling, and realign our hopes and
ambitions to your will. Let us become in action as well as intention, the brothers
and sisters of Christ the King.
Amen!
ASSURANCE
My friends, I come to us as the Kings’ herald! Good
news! Wonderful news! God has already forgiven you. Believe it, take it to
heart, and live it! It is for real!
In the name of Christ.
Amen!
PRAYER FOR CHILDREN
To
King Jesus
King Jesus,
carpenter’s son and friend of sinners,
come and rule in our hearts.
King Jesus,
washer of feet and healer of
diseases,
come and rule in our minds.
King Jesus,
nailed to a cross and rising from
a grave,
come and rule in our actions.
King Jesus,
you are wonderful,
you are the greatest!
Forever and ever,
AMEN!
PSALM: LUKE 1: 68-79
Wonderful is the Lord God of Israel,
who has visited and set the
people free,
and has
lifted up the trumpet of salvation
for the
descendants of God’s servant David.
As the prophets preached long ago,
that we should be rescued from
enemies,
and from
the hands of those who hate us,
to live by
the love promised to our forebears.
To keep remembering the holy covenant,
that oath which God made to
father Abraham;
that we,
free from the grasp of enemies,
might serve
God without being afraid
and do good
things in God’s presence
throughout
every day that we live.
And you, little child, will be named
the prophet of the Most High.
For you will go on ahead of the Lord
to prepare
a new path for him,
that people
may know what it is to be free
as all
their sins are forgiven.
This will be the outcome of God’s yearning love,
when the new dawn shall shine on
the heights,
to shed
light on those who crouch in darkness
and in the
deep shadows of death,
to guide
our feet into the way of peace.
© B.D. Prewer 2000
CHRIST THE KING?
Come worship your king
this peasant-child thing
asleep in cradle of straw.
Come pay your respects
and have no regrets
if you step in cow-poo at the
door.
Come worship your king
this carpenter thing
who works timber as smooth as a
glove.
Come see what entails
when hammer and nails
are used in the service of
love.
Come worship your king,
this vagabond thing
who preaches of sheep and fig
trees.
Come touch with your hands
his garment’s frayed bands
and find you are healed from dis-ease.
Come worship your king
this crucified thing
who hangs where the guilty
belong.
Come stand here in awe
and forever adore
the love that will last all
life long.
Come worship your king
this arisen Thing
who serves breakfast to friends
by the sea.
Come
share in this meal
and know it’s for real
that he still dines with you and
with me.
Ó B. D. Prewer 2006 and 2012
COLLECT
God most holy, God most loving, we thank you for
Jesus our unique King. May we see him in the glory of his saving grace, love
him as the hope of our lives, and serve him as that loving Brother who alone can change the
alienation and aggression of the world and bring us to that wondrous
reconciliation where no one is forgotten, and no soul excluded. In his name and
to your eternal praise, we so pray. Lord hear our
prayer.
Amen!
SERMON 1: AN UNKINGLY KING
Luke 23: 33-34
& 23:38
When they came
to the place which is called The Skull, there they crucified Jesus, and the
criminals, one on the right and one on the left. And Jesus said” Father,
forgive them; for they do not know what they do. Luke 23: 33-34
There was also
an inscription over him, written in Greek, Latin and Hebrew: “This is the King
of the Jews.” Luke 23: 38
What should the worldly wise do with an unkingly king? With an unkingly
king who
refuses to take authority over
armies
who will not grant cabinet posts to cronies
who will not, even for one day, live in a palace
who refuses to hate enemies or plot their downfall
who mixes in common crowds without any sense of royal
dignity
who won’t have a bodyguard or wear a safety vest
who refuses to play political games to increase his power
who will not dress in gilded gowns, or wear a jewelled crown
?
What would the worldly wise do with such an unkingly king?
Get rid of him quickly. Very quickly! Dispose of him
before he ruins the fabric of our macho society! If necessary kill the fool.
Publicly humiliate him and then execute him.
Then, sometime after his death (a respectable
interval, mind you) turn him into a heavenly King with a worldly majesty;
get your artists to paint him and your poets to embroider
his name with fine verses
dress him in the rich robes he refused to wear, and place a
beautiful crown on his head
even give him features similar to earthly monarchs that we
serve
give him here on earth courtiers and princely
representatives who live in palaces
bless your armies with his name and loot the cities of your
enemies in his name
And depict him as one who learned from the mistaken
leniency of his first coming;
teach that next time he comes things will be very different
he will come with armies and swords and fire to do the job
properly this time
he will subdue the earth and put all opposition under his
iron boot
no more of that nice guy stuff; next time he’s King for
real!
O dear! O Hell!
With the taste of bitter irony on my tongue, I say
these things.. Because this is what the worldly wise
would do with an unkingly king. To a large degree that is what historically
has happened to Christ Jesus.
THE STARK GOSPEL FOR THIS DAY
I am grateful for the stark Gospel reading that the
Lectionary offers us today. It redefines kingship.
Christ’s kingliness is defined by that lonely,
suffering figure dying on a cross, naked and forsaken, mocked by his enemies,
yet even in his last hours forgiving his murderers comfortingly a criminal who
is dying at his side.
At Golgotha, the worldly-wise way of pride and
violence confronts humility and non-violence, and it is the latter that seems
to lose the contest. Mercy is crucified, dead and buried.
Yet.... yet..... is
it?
NON VIOLENCE
I want look at the story of non-violence in
Christianity.
For the first few centuries in Christianity, a
non-violent Christ was worshipped and followed by believers. Jesus was king,
but a king utterly other than the kind of authority exhibited by the Roman
Emperor, or regional kings and governors. During this springtime of
Christianity, the most popular artistic representations of Christ were as the
crucified One, the Good Shepherd, and sometimes the plain man on the mount of
Transfiguration, glowing with the radiance of God.
It was a period when Christians were given a hard
time under successive waves of persecution. But they did not resist arrest or
form terrorist brigades to fight back. Generally they tried to obey Roman laws
except when those laws conflicted with their first allegiance to their king , Jesus.
People presenting for baptism were carefully sifted.
Those in professions of violence found it hard to become members of the church.
Some men who were already in the army were admitted under strict conditions.
But those not already enlisted, could not first be a Christian and then proceed
to join the army.
Listen to some restrictions contained in a document
called “The Apostolic Tradition” written around the period of 200 AD., for those asking
for baptism.
If a man is a
charioteer, a wrestler, or attends wrestling matches, let him either give it up
or be sent away.
If he is a
gladiator or teaches gladiators to fight, or is a beast fighter, or he is an
official who organises gladiatorial games, let him give it up or be sent away.
If he is a
soldier in position of authority he is not allowed to impose a death sentences;
if he is ordered to do so, let him not carry out the order..... if he does not accept this rule, let him be sent away.
A man who is a
civil magistrate with the power of the sword, one who wears the purple, must
either give up his position or be sent away.
Believers or
candidates who wish to enlist as soldiers are to be sent away, because they
show contempt for God.
Those early Christians worshipped a non-violent
King; a Son of
God who would not use physical power against another but chose the way of
humility and mercy. To be a citizen of Christ’s new kingdom meant to be a
non-violent person in the midst of an extremely violent society.
WHAT CHANGED?
But things were to change.
In a bloody contest for the throne of the Roman
Empire, Constantine emerged as the likely winner in the year 312 and the sole
Emperor in 323. During his military campaigns he embraced a deviant form of
Christianity and his soldiers were treated as if they were warriors of God.
Christianity by Imperial decree was soon made the
state religion. Earthly power was linked with Christ’s power.
Soon the clergy of the church were given legal
authority.
Priests
became magistrates wearing the Roman robe and stole of office.
Bishops
became high court judges with the robe, head gear,
golden ring and throne which went with the office.
In art, the form of Jesus as the crucified criminal,
or as the gentle good shepherd, is replaced by Jesus as an Emperor on a jewel
encrusted throne, seated on the Emperor’s purple cushion, surrounded by the
high officials of state. Jesus the king is now the supreme commander of the
legions of heaven, who was gathering his army for a final assault on the wicked
unbelievers on earth.
The kingship of Jesus had been high-jacked, and
perverted by worldly wise concepts.
Much of that which started
in the era of Constantine, has carried down the centuries. In the art of Italy,
Spain, France, Germany and England, Jesus was often portrayed as an august,
formidable man of supreme power, to be greatly feared. In some cases, even the facial
characteristics of certain monarchs were transferred by fearful court artists
on to the features of Christ the King.
Jesus becomes an unapproachable power freak who was
coming on the clouds of glory
to conquer the world and put right what had not happened in the
first coming. (Incidentally, as Jesus
became more Imperial, Mary became increasingly the subject of devotion from
common people.)
Tragically, Jesus the non-violent, merciful,
power-renouncing person was largely forgotten.
He survived in a few sub groups of the church. For
example, with the Quakers. But on the whole, the Christ-King of
Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant, was nothing like the man who died on a
cross.
WHICH KING WILL WE HAVE?
Today is the festival of Christ the King. We give Jesus our complete allegiance. But
which kind of King will we be worshipping?
It is said that we grow like the thing we
worship. What do we worship?
The Gospel for today takes us back to the centrality
of the cross, to that person of supreme love who even forgave those who killed
him. Above the cross was a notice board which was meant to be ironic humour:
JESUS; KING OF THE JEWS . For us it is surely the very
heart of the truth.
The real power which rules this universe is
long-suffering love. Love rules. Ultimately (for love is a slow process
compared with armies) love will be the only power than remains in heaven and
earth. Love is the only King to which we
must all one day give account.
Our King has not changed. He who says “Come to me, all you who labour and are
heavy laden and I will give you rest” does NOT turn into a tyrant who
yells: “Come and prostrate yourself before me or I will stomp on your like a cockroach!”
The Scripture which says “God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that
the world through him might be saved.” does NOT have a new clause added:
“However, if you don’t get yourself saved before time runs out, then you are going
to get zapped!”
What does the Bible tell us? “Jesus Christ, the same
today, yesterday and forever.”
According to Luke, when the risen Christ is taken up
into heaven, angels comfort the disciples with the words: “This same Jesus will come again.”
Our King remains the one with the crown of thorns.
Who welcomes sinners and eats with them.
THE WAY OF NON VIOLENCE?
Let me explain one thing about myself: I am not a
pacifist; maybe some of you will think that is to my shame. So be it. However,
I do recognise situations where I would resort to violence. (The reasons are
too detailed to explain here and now.)
But I refuse to glorify my very reluctant
non-pacifist position by projecting it on to Jesus. He was not, is not, and
will not be an instrument of violence.
He did not get it wrong the first time, nor is he about to correct a
mistake that some may think he made on his next visit.
He got it right. He is my beautiful King.
He is the only hope for this crazy world. He is the world’s future. His
humble mercy is the way of God.
The final power and authority which outlasts,
outlives and out-celebrates everything else, is LOVE!
If we worship this King, cling to him as to no
other, spend time in his company, then by his grace we be drawn nearer and
nearer our own true destiny and hasten the day when violence and war will be no
more. The love of God in Christ Jesus will be all in all.
SERMON 2: CELEBRATING THE UNUSUAL
Colossians 1:
15-20
This week marks the end of the current Christian
year.
Next Sunday ushers in Advent, the new
year on the church calendar.
We finish this old year with a bang!
We revel in the unusual, life of Christ. Jesus is a
“one-off;” a bizzare kind of royalty. Today we
celebrate “The Festival of Christ the King.” There is no other king in history
like this one whom we love and praise with heart and mind and voice.
Our king Jesus, is
definitely not in the mould of other kings, emperors, governors and presidents.
Today we turn the common idea of king inside out, like a tee shirt with a
flamboyant print on it, and come up with a completely different, and much less
strident colour.. We must turn the word king inside
out if we are to express anything of the truth that belongs to Jesus our King.
TYPICAL KINGS OF THIS EARTH
So let us begin with characteristics of the kings of
history.
Historically king meant absolute power over
subjects,
arbitrary authority over life and
death; the right when the monarch was in a foul mood (and while reaching for
another glass of the choicest wine) to shout: “take him out and behead him.”
Historically kinship included body guards and
armies.
There was a ruthless enforcement of royal decrees.
If a king decided to pick a fight with a neighbouring kingdom, it meant the
young men of the kingdom were forcibly rounded up and sent off to die a slow
and most bloody death in battle, for the sake of the king’s honour.
It meant violent suppression of dissent.
Any view at odds with the king’s was rooted out.
Spies and enforcers, midnight raids, torture chambers and dungeons were the
order of the day.
King implied palaces and luxury apartments.
It meant gold threaded robes, shinning crowns
studded with precious stones, and over-supply of sumptuous meals that were, as
the saying goes, “fit for a king.”
King suggested court jesters.
Comedians who constant created new stunts to divert
his majesty. Minstrels singing exaggerated praises in ballads, and composers
being expected to produce a new orchestral work every week.
It meant gilded throne rooms.
Ah yes, august throne with ambassadors bowing low
and employing fluent flattery, courtiers trying to get as close as they dared,
suppliants offering expensive gifts, and favourites being dubbed Knights or
given a Dukedom.
King meant sheer dominance.
Absolute power, extravagance, lofty arrogance, and
grandiose displays of “pomp and circumstance” to impress the populace and keep
them under the royal foot..
POWER AND SELF GLORY IS NOT CHRIST’S THING
Christ our king has nothing in common with such a
king.
I repeat: nothing in common. Let us jettison
any thought associated with pomp and power. There is no swagger in Jesus. No
imperial manners.
.
Christ is not the man with his finger on the button
of military violence. Christ is not that autocratic kind of king. Never
was, never is, never will be. Political power as we see it wielded in this
crazy old world, is out! The power as exercised by presidents, prime ministers,
ruling juntas and dictators of this world is not Christ’s kind of thing. Never
was, never will be.
Sending conscripts off to die is not his thing.Bullying and overpowering is not his thing. Wealth
and palaces are not his thing. Forcing obedience to
law by armies and guns is not his thing. Having people bow and bribe him for
favours is not his thing. Flamboyant “pomp and circumstance” are not his thing.
Gilded thrones and jewelled crowns are not his thing. Yelling “off with his
head” is certainly not Christ’s thing.
Jesus completely transforms the concept of kingship.
As I said earlier, to arrive at Christ’s kingliness,
we must turn the idea of kingship inside out, like a tee-shirt. Or to change
the images, we must turn the word king upside down, or put it in a vice and
squeeze all the arrogance out of it, or strip it of ostentation and put the
clothing of commoners on it.
THE SINCERITY OF NEW TESTAMENT PRAISE
In the glorious reading we enjoyed today from the
Letter to the Colossians,
we had an extended passage
which glorified Christ. Glorifying our king Jesus does not ever get much better
than this, whether in the rest of the New Testament or in the enobling hymns of 2000 years of Christianity. Let’s hear
some of those majestic words from Colossians again..
Christ is the very image of the
invisible God,
the
first-born of all creation.
For in him all things were created
in heaven
and on earth,
things
visible and invisible,
whether
thrones or empires,
principalities
or other authorities.
He is before all things,
and in him
all things hold together.
He is the head of the body of the
church,
the
beginning and the first-born from the dead,
and in
everything he has no equal.
For in Christ all the fullness of
God
was happy
to come and live,
and through
him all things shall be reconciled,
whether on
earth or in heaven,
making
peace by the blood of his cross.
That is extraordinary praise!
What’s more it is spontaneous praise, coming
straight from overflowing hearts. It stems from love not obedience, from joy
not fear.
This is not at a flattering oration.
Not like those praises given by fearful subjects to
dictators, kings and emperors. Nor like the hollow diplomatic praises spoken to
visiting heads of state by prime ministers and presidents who are intent on
cementing a new trade deal or military alliance. Not even like the more subtle
spiel of parliamentarians who are trying to “butter up” their leader in the
hope of winner a position on the cabinet.
The praise of the New Testament is full-on
sincerity.
This is the real thing! In Colossians, as in
Ephesians and Philippians, we have an outpouring of love-praise from a writer
who had suffered hardship, pain and persecution for his unique King, yet did not look back with regret on one moment of it.
AT THE HEART IS THE CRUCIFIED CHRIST
At the heart is the crucified Christ.
His body broken, his blood poured out in love for
the world. The supra-costly reconciliation of all things.
Humanity reconciled with God by God’s incomparable love. Person reconciled with
person through the saving grace of Christ Jesus..
In everything he has no equal.
For in Christ all the fullness of
God
was happy
to come and live,
and through
him all things shall be reconciled,
whether on
earth or in heaven,
making
peace by the blood of his cross.
This is not a strutting earthly king. Here in
Colossians is a crucified man wearing a crown of thorns. King Jesus. The wounded healer. The bloodied
reconciler. The one who lays down his life for others.
This is Jesus our king, the one who turns all other ideas of kingship inside
out.
Here is the humble son of Mary.
The apprentice of his
earthly father, Joseph the carpenter.
A village man who become an
itinerant preacher and healer.
The fellow who listened to women with an unusual
respect in what was a man’s world
A misunderstood man who
spent nights out on the hills with only heather for a mattress.
Here is a young physician actually touching
untouchable lepers.
A blesser of grubby street
kids (not the same thing as kissing well-washed babies before an election!!)
A dinner guest among the
equivalent of bikies and beach bums.
The saviour trusted by prostitutes and tax
collectors.
Friend of foreigners and
fishermen.
A servant washing the feet
of guests.
The wanted man slipping
through city streets by night.
A soul in agony, praying in an Olive grove.
The young rabbi betrayed by a disciple.
Prisoner in kangaroo court,
abused by the police guards.
Condemned man, mocked, flogged and spat upon.
A victim carrying his own
cross to the Place of the Skull.
The crucified man, speaking
forgiveness on his foes.
A corpse hastily buried in a borrowed tomb,
The stranger walking with men on the road to Emmaus.
A host with wounded hands, cooking a fish breakfast
for his fishermen mates on the shores of Galilee
WORSHIP AND TRUST THIS UNIQUE KING
We have no other king than this one. This same Jesus. This Saviour and Lord who
“lords it over” no one.
Always central is his cross, reconciling love, and
the promise of universal peace.
Please my friends, I beg you, stay true.Yes, I beg you, stay true! Never surrender the
merciful Christ of the New Testament for a later edition. Don’t betray him by
making him into a gorgeously dressed monarch made in the image of our human
arrogance and aggression.
Worship this new type of king, this Jesus, and trust him.
Don’t just pay lip service, but fully trust him and
his example. Commit you ways to him and you shall know his peace, such as the
crass old world cannot give.
In everything he has no equal.
For in Christ all the fullness of
God
was happy
to come and live,
and through
him all things shall be reconciled,
whether on
earth or in heaven,
making
peace by the blood of his cross.
THANKSGIVING
We praise God with a thankful heart.
Let us pray.
We thank you, most Holy Friend, for being so patient
and long-suffering in your work of creation and redemption.
Thanks for the abundance and resilience of the earth
and its life sustaining power;
For the immense variety of trees and flowers and fruits and seeds and
living creatures.
Thanks for that key likeness to yourself that you
have inscribed in the very being of all people;
For the law givers and prophets who saw this clearly and called us to
live with your justice and compassion.
Thanks for the long preparation given before the time was right for
Mary to give birth;
For her first
born child, resting in a manger, to the surprise of men and the glorious amazement of
angels.
Thanks for what Jesus was, said and did; but most of
all for his awful yet wonderful cross;
For all the
benefits of his passion and death, and the vindication of the Easter event
which is still happening today.
Thanks for the space he made in our souls and in the
church for the gift of the Holy Spirit;
For gifts
enhanced and new gifts received in the fellowship of the Body of Christ.
For these special gifts, and all the common ones
that take for granted;
We give your
thanks, Holy Friend;
our Creator, Redeemer and Counsellor. To you belongs
our gratitude, praise and service now and forever. Amen!
INTERCESSIONS
FOR OUR NATION
We pray, Most holy Friend,
for a future where everyone will get a fair go. Where the lucky will not lord
it over the unfortunate, nor the strong force their
will on the weak, nor the clever treat the ordinary as their servants. Please
let justice flow around us like waters, and righteousness like an ever flowing
stream.
FOR WORLD PEACE
Loving God, we ponder a fallen world, with violence
and war , wrecked communities, broken bodies and
shattered minds. We long, we yearn painfully, for that new world where wolf and
lamb shall lie down together and nations learn war no more.
FOR THOSE IN HOSPITAL
Motherly Spirit,, put your
arms around your suffering children, those we name in our minds and many whose
names we will never know. Cradle them through the long hours, and by night
grant them the precious gift of sleep. May they wake up each morning a little
stronger in body and more buoyant in spirit.
FOR THE SORROWING
Saviour of our dear and holy dead, the hardest thing
for us is that we can no longer, see, hear, touch, soothe or kiss our loved
ones. Help us to know that your arms are never closed, and to trust those so
dear to us into the wisdom and tenderness that is truly resurrection and life.
May they have your kiss of peace.
FOR OURSELVES
Implant us, dear Lord, with that miracle of trust
which can transform setbacks into new growth, suffering into deeper compassion
for others, and heavy
duties into the glory of practical praise. Through Christ
Jesus our Redeemer.
SENDING OUT
May Christ the King give you the secret of his
humble contentment.
and the
grace to be thankful for whatever this new week brings.
Be glad for those who encourage you and be civil to
those who offend you,
and learn
when to speak and when to be silent, when to move into action
and when to be still
and pray.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, .the
love.......................
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