Patrick Comerford
Next Sunday, 24 November 2019, is the Sunday before Advent, which the Calendar of the Church of Ireland celebrates as the Kingship of Christ.
The Revised Common Lectionary, as adapted for use in the Church of Ireland, provides two sets of readings for this Sunday, the Continuous readings and the Paired readings.
The Continuous Readings: Jeremiah 23: 1-6; Canticle: Benedictus (Luke 1: 68-79); Colossians 1: 11–20; Luke 23: 33-43. There is a link to the Continuous Readings HERE.
The Paired Readings: Jeremiah 23: 1-6; Psalm 46; Colossians 1: 11-20; Luke 23: 33-43. There is a link to the Continuous Readings HERE.
Sunday 24 November 2019 is also being marked in the Diocese of Limerick and Killaloe as Mission Sunday, when the mission focus is on the Tearfund Ireland Project that supports work with Syrian children between the ages of 6 and 14 who are refugees in Lebanon. These children are not attending school because of the lack of facilities and pressure of numbers.
Introducing the Readings:
These readings, marking the last Sunday in Pentecost, also mark the last Sunday at the end of our journey in the Lectionary with Christ on his journey to Jerusalem. We will begin it all again the following Sunday, but this coming Sunday gives us time to pause and reflect on the fact that we have followed Christ for seven months or so through Saint Luke’s Gospel. We have seen Saint Luke’s distinctive emphases on the poor and their inclusion in the Kingdom, their inclusion among those not normally invited as guests to the great feasts.
In the Gospel reading, we are at the moment when Christ is crucified. The crucifixion is truly emphasised on Good Friday, but on Sunday morning the emphasis is on Christ the King and the request to him by one of the criminals to ‘remember me’ in the kingdom.
Jeremiah 23: 1-6:
In the previous chapters in this book, the Prophet Jeremiah made prophecies about four of the last five kings of Judah. Now, rather than predicting the fate of Zedekiah, the last of these kings, God now speaks through Jeremiah about an ideal future king.
Judah’s kings or shepherds are blamed for destroying and scattering the sheep and for driving them away. They will be punished for your evil doings.
However, God will gather the people back together again, and they will grow in numbers and prosper, and he will see that they are ruled by good kings or shepherds, so that they no longer live in fear or find they are in exile again.
This new kind of king will rule wisely, his reign will be marked by justice and righteousness, and the people (Judah and Israel) will be united.
Christ in Majesty … John Piper’s window in the Chapel of Saint John’s Hospital, LichfieldCanticle: Benedictus (Luke 1: 68-79):
Zechariah was struck mute when he heard that his wife Elizabeth was to give birth to a child in their old age. Later, she gave birth to a son, and his parents have brought him to be circumcised and named.
Elizabeth has favoured the name John, and when Zechariah agrees with her he is ‘filled with the Holy Spirit,’ his speech returns and he speaks ‘this prophecy,’ the song or canticle we know as Benedictus (Book of Common Prayer (2004), pp 107-108, 122). The name comes from the Latin for the opening word of Zechariah’s song, ‘Blessed’ (verse 68).
Zechariah recalls God’s blessings to ‘his people.’ While the verbs in translations are in the past tense, the present is equally appropriate. The tense in Greek shows how God characteristically acts and what he is inaugurating in Christ.
God is to give his people one who will save them from their enemies and from all who hate them. This fulfils the promises made to Abraham and others in the past that they would be rescued from their enemies so that they could serve God in holiness and righteousness.
The child who is blessed in this canticle is Saint John the Baptist. He will be the prophet of the most high, although people who first heard Zechariah may have thought then of Elijah, not knowing yet of the mission of Christ as the long-expected and long-promised ‘mighty saviour.’
John’s mission will be to prepare the way for the Lord, going before him, letting them know of the promise of salvation and forgiveness. Those who live in fear and under threat are promised a new way of living and new life in God’s kingdom, when God’s reign ushers in a time of peace.
Colossians 1: 11-20:
The Epistle to the Colossians was written, according to the text, by the Apostle Paul and Saint Timothy to the Church in Colossae, a small Phrygian city near Laodicea and about 160 km from Ephesus in Asia Minor.
The author or authors have heard how his readers have trust in Christ and of their hope of eternal life. In the face of opposition from false teachers within the Church, Saint Paul prays that God will make them strong so that they are prepared to endure everything. He reminds them how God has rescued us from the power of darkness and brought us into Christ’s kingdom, where we find redemption and forgiveness.
The second part of this reading (verses 15-20) is a hymn praising Christ as the king of this kingdom, listing his royal attributes in poetic form.
Christ is described here as the icon (εἰκών, eikon) of the invisible God: when we look at Christ, we see what God is like. Everything in creation, in heaven and on earth, has been created through him, from angels to humans, rulers and their subjects.
Christ is the head of the Church, the firstborn, the source of life and growth, the beginning of life and creation. ‘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.’
Luke 23: 33-43:
This Gospel reading may seem out of sequence as we approach Advent and prepare for Christmas. However, the Crucifixion is one of the ways in which we see Christ revealed to the world as King, for the Crucifixion is his triumph rather than his defeat, and it leads not to our death but to his Resurrection and our promise of life.
Christ has been betrayed, arrested, mocked, beaten and sentenced to death. He has walked to Calvary, ‘the place that is called the Skull,’ accompanied by Simon of Cyrene, who helped him to carry his cross, two criminals and a some soldiers who crucified him.
On the Cross, Christ continues his ministry of giving forgiveness to those who do not know what they are doing. The division of his clothing fulfils the prophecy in Psalm 22: 18. To be deprived of one’s clothing in the Bible is to lose one’s identity, as happened to prisoners, slaves, prostitutes and damned people.
The mob contemplates what is happening, but the leaders scoff at the Crucified Christ. In an image that draws on Psalm 69: 21, the soldiers offer Christ ‘sour wine,’ which is to have the effect of reviving him and to prolonging his agony on the Cross.
Ironically, the two titles Christ is mocked with – ‘Messiah of God, his chosen one’ and ‘King of the Jews’ – are both true. He refuses to subvert God’s plan by saving himself from a horrible death. One of the two criminals joins with the mob, challenging Jesus to save himself. However, the other criminal responds positively: ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’
Only a king can offer pardon. Christ assures this second criminal of the immediate promise of a place with him in Paradise.
Reflecting on the Gospel Reading:
Three points emerge in this Gospel reading.
First, we note the passage in general functions as a ‘last temptation of Christ’ (verses 33-39).
Second, we see the recognition by the evildoer of Christ’s kingdom (verse 42).
Thirdly, we are challenged to accept that today, this day, σήμερον (símeron), this very day, is the time to respond to the claims the kingdom makes on us (verse 43).
When we think of the Christ’s last temptation, we may think of either The Last Temptation of Christ, the book by Nikos Kazantzakis, or the film, or about the story at the beginning of Christ’s ministry, when he was tempted by Satan into taking a series of short-cuts to glory (see Luke 4: 1-13).
Just as there were three temptations in the wilderness, so there are three of them in this passage. In Luke 4, there was only one speaker – the devil. But in this passage we are introduced to three separate groups or individuals who verbally abuse or challenge Christ: the leaders, the soldiers and the criminals or thieves. Each of them challenges Christ on the same point that the devil made in chapter 4: ‘if indeed you are so great (or are the Messiah or the King of the Jews), you will save yourself out of this predicament.’
Perhaps the temptation here for Christ to act in some way to ‘save himself’ might even be more compelling than it was in Luke 4. First, Luke skilfully uses language that puts Christ’s trials here in the Biblical context of unjust suffering. In verse 35 the high priests are said to ‘mock’ him (ἐξεμυκτήριζον, exemuktérizon), they hold up their noses in derision. This extremely rare verb is used in one other place in this Gospel: Luke 16: 14, where ‘The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all this, and they ridiculed him’ (ἤκουον δὲ ταῦτα πάντα οἱ Φαρισαῖοι φιλάργυροι ὑπάρχοντες καὶ ἐξεμυκτήριζον αὐτόν).
The same word is used in Psalm 22, where those who stand around the oppressed person ‘mock at me; they make mouths at me, they shake their heads’ (Psalm 22: 7).
In that Psalm, the people say:
‘Commit your cause to the Lord; let him deliver –
let him rescue the one in whom he delights!’ (verse 8).
Christ’s suffering and derision here is now placed in the context of another significant Biblical sufferer. Will God now rescue him or will he use his powers to get himself out of this predicament?
Of course, the temptation is even greater because Christ is at the end of his ministry. By having three successive groups of people – the leaders, the soldiers and the criminal – not recognise who he is, the temptation might have been to think his life’s work has been useless. Many people die in near-despair because they feel that all their efforts to effect change are in vain. Christ has spent his entire public ministry doing good, teaching and healing, calling people back to God. If he knew that he did not get through even to the disciples (see Luke 18: 34), how much less might he get through to anyone else.
But true majesty and the genius of power are revealed in those who have it and can use it but only do so sparingly. Christ’s choice here is not to gratify their requests.
Instead, he displays supreme majesty, for he ‘did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave … humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death – even death on a cross. Therefore, God also highly exalted him …’ (Philippians 2: 6-9).
Preparing for Christ’s coming
This Gospel reading may seem to be a little out of sequence on Sunday morning. We are preparing for Christmas, you may think, not for Good Friday and Easter. But we forget that so easily. I hear on all the radio chat shows people already talking about this being the Christmas Season … before Advent has even started. In Britain, people are even talking about a Christmas election, rather than an Advent election.
But Advent is the season of preparation for Christmas, and in the weeks beforehand we even prepare for Advent itself, with Lectionary readings telling us about the Coming of Christ.
We have made Christmas a far-too comfortable story. It was never meant to be, but we have made it comfortable with our Christmas card images of the sweet little baby Jesus, being visited by kings and surrounded by adoring, cute little animals. The reality, of course, is that Christmas was never meant to be a comfortable story like that.
Christmas is a story about poverty and about people who are homeless and rejected and who can find no place to stay.
It is a messy story about a child born surrounded by the filth of animals and the dirt of squalor.
It is a story of shepherds who are involved in dangerous work, staying up all night, out in the winter cold, watching out for wolves and sheep stealers.
It is a story of trickery, deceit and the corruption of political power that eventually leads to a cruel dictator stooping to murder, even the murder of innocent children, to secure his own grip on power.
But those sorts of images do not sell Christmas Cards or help to get the boss drunk under the mistletoe at the office party.
That is why in the weeks before Advent we have readings that remind us about what the coming of Christ into the world means, what the Kingdom of God is like, and how we should prepare for the coming of Christ and the coming of the Kingdom of God.
The Feast of Christ the King
I know of few Anglican churches dedicated to Christ the King, apart from the Church of Christ the King in Gordon Square, Bloomsbury, London, which is now used by Forward in Faith.
Marking the Kingship of Christ on the Sunday before Advent, the Feast of Christ the King is a recent innovation. At the end of 1925, Pope Pius XI published a papal encyclical, Quas Primas, in which he castigated secularism in Europe and declared that the secular powers ought to recognise Christ as King and that the Church needed to recapture this teaching.
At the time, the entire idea of kingship was quickly losing credibility in Western societies, not so much to democracy but to burgeoning fascism – Mussolini was in power in Italy since 1922, and a wave of fascism was about to sweep across central Europe.
The mere mention of kingship and monarchy today may evoke images of either the extravagance of Louis XVI in Versailles, or the anachronism of pretenders in Ruritanian headdress, sashes and medals claiming thrones and privilege in Eastern Europe.
But since 1925, the celebration of Christ the King or the Kingship of Christ has become part of the calendar of the wider Western Church. It took on an ecumenical dimension from 1983 on with its introduction to Anglicans, Lutherans, Methodists and others through the Revised Common Lectionary.
The end of the Church Year
Putting the Christmas trees up too early or hanging up the lights and frosting the windows ahead of Advent do not help to encourage a true Christmas spirit because they help us forget what Advent is all about.
Christ comes not just as a cute cuddly babe wrapped up in the manger and under the floodlights of a front window in a large department store or brand shop in one of our towns or cities.
Marking the Sunday before Advent by crowning Christ as King helps us to focus on Advent from the following Sunday, and Advent is supposed to be a time and a season of preparing for the coming of Christ.
Kingship may not be a good role model in this part of the island or for people living in modern democratic societies where the heads of state are elected. Nor are the models of kingship in history or in contemporary society so good. Let me share three examples:
● We are familiar with a model of monarchy that paradoxically appears to be benign on the one hand and appears aloof and remote on the other hand, at the very apex of a class system defined by birth, title and inherited privilege.
● In other northern European countries, the model of monarchy is portrayed in the media by figureheads who are slightly daft do-gooders, riding around on bicycles in parks and by canals in ways that threaten to rob kingship of majesty, dignity and grace.
● Or, take recently deposed emperors: Halie Selassie, who died in 1975, sat back in luxury as his people starved to death; Emperor Bokassa, who died in 1996, was a tyrant accused of eating his people and having them butchered at whim.
Is it any wonder that some modern translations of the Psalms avoid the word king and talk about God as our governor?
This morning, the Sunday before Advent now gives us time to pause and reflect on the why, over the past few months, we have been following Christ on his journey to Jerusalem. For it is there that he will be revealed in glory as the Son of Man and the King.
Searching questions
Discussing how the Lectionary can at times seem to provide readings that are incongruous or out of season, Canon Giles Fraser – who resigned as Canon Chancellor of Saint Paul’s because of the cathedral’s response to the Occupy protests – wrote in the Church Times some years ago [4 November 2011]: ‘For too long the Church has been obsessed with its own internal workings and with silly arguments about sex. Now is the time for a new debate and a new emphasis. For if we are not fully involved with complex discussions about the relationship between financial justice and the way our financial institutions work, then we might as well give up on being a proper Church and admit that we are the spiritual arm of the heritage industry.’
Describing how the Lectionary can be a cruel mistress, he recalls that the Evensong readings set for what was his last sermon in Saint Paul’s Cathedral included: ‘Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God … But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation’ (Luke 6: 20, 25).
He argues that the ‘whole point of having a lectionary is that it obliges the preacher not to avoid the hard bits of the Bible. Were the readings up to me, I would have chosen something much safer. But that is the whole point of having a lectionary: it stops you retreating into safety. There are some things that just must stay on the agenda, however uncomfortable.’
Conclusions:
This Gospel reading for the Sunday before Advent challenges us in a way that is uncomfortable, but with things that must stay on our agenda as Christians and on the agenda of the Church.
The genius of power is revealed in those who have it and can use it but only do so sparingly. Christ’s choice is not to gratify those who want a worldly king, whether he is benign or barmy. Instead, he displays supreme majesty in his priorities for those who are counted out when it comes to other kingdoms.
Christ rejects all the dysfunctional models of majesty and kingship. He is not coming again as a king who is haughty and aloof, daft and barmy, or despotic and tyrannical. Instead he shows a model of kingship that emphasises what majesty and graciousness should mean for us today – giving priority in the kingdom to the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick, and the prisoner.
As we prepare for Christmas we should be preparing to enjoy time with our families and friends, time for a good winter’s holiday. But we should also remember the reason we have Christmas, the reason Christ came into the world, and the reason he is coming again.
We can look forward to seeing the Christ child in the crib and to singing about him in the carols. But let us also look forward to seeing him in glory. So let us be prepared to see him in the hungry, the thirsty, the unwelcome stranger, those who are naked and vulnerable, those who have no provisions for health care, those who are prisoners, those who have no visitors and those who are lonely and marginalised.
Luke 23: 33-43:
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.’
Liturgical Resources:
Liturgical Colour: White (see Book of Common Prayer, p 62; and the Church of Ireland Directory; Green for the weekdays that follow (Ordinary Time, Year C).
The Collect of the Day:
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 and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
The Collect for Mission:
Almighty God,
who called your Church to witness
that you were in Christ reconciling the world to yourself:
Help us to proclaim the good news of your love,
that all who hear it may be drawn to you;
through him who was lifted up on the cross,
and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Collect of the Word:
Eternal God,
you exalted Jesus Christ to rule over all things,
and have made us instruments of his kingdom:
by your Spirit empower us to love the unloved,
and to minister to all in need,
then at the last bring us to your eternal realm
where we may be welcomed into your everlasting joy
and may worship and adore you for ever:
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reign with you
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
The Post-Communion Prayer:
Stir up, O Lord,
the wills of your faithful people;
that plenteously bearing the fruit of good works
they may by you be plenteously rewarded;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
The Post-Communion Prayer (Mission):
Eternal Giver of love and power,
your Son Jesus Christ has sent us into all the world
to preach the gospel of his kingdom.
Confirm us in this mission,
and help us to live the good news we proclaim;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Suggested Hymns:
Jeremiah 23: 1–6:
250, All hail the power of Jesus’ name
135, O come, O come, Emmanuel
442, Praise the Lord, rise up rejoicing
197, Songs of thankfulness and praise
323, The God of Abraham praise
20, The King of love my shepherd is
Canticle ‘Benedictus’ (Luke 1: 68–79):
685, Blessed be the God of Israel
52, Christ, whose glory fills the skies
119, Come, thou long–expected Jesus
381, God has spoken – by his prophets
706, O bless the God of Israel
Jeremiah 23: 1-6:
250, All hail the power of Jesus’ name
135, O come, O come, Emmanuel
442, Praise the Lord, rise up rejoicing
197, Songs of thankfulness and praise
323, The God of Abraham praise
20, The King of love my shepherd is
Psalm 46:
608, Be still and know that I am God
325, Be still, for the presence of the Lord, the Holy One is here
646, Glorious things of thee are spoken
668, God is our fortress and our rock
12, God is our strength and refuge
92, How sweet the name of Jesus sounds
211, Immortal love for ever full
95, Jesu, priceless treasure
659, Onward, Christian soldiers
Colossians 1: 11-20:
84, Alleluia! raise the anthem
643, Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart
220, Glory be to Jesus
27, God, who stretched the spangled heavens
160, Hark! the herald–angels sings
94, In the name of Jesus
431, Lord, enthroned in heavenly splendour
303, Lord of the Church, we pray for our renewing
619, Lord, teach us how to pray aright
103, O Christ, the same, through all our story’s pages
172, O come, all ye faithful (Adeste, fideles)
60, O Jesus, Lord of heavenly grace
363, O Lord of heaven and earth and sea
306, O Spirit of the living God
675, Peace, perfect peace, in this dark world of sin?
487, Soldiers of Christ, arise
212, The God of Abraham praise
9, There’s a wideness in God’s mercy
373, To God be the glory! Great things he has done!
344, When morning gilds the skies
Luke 23: 33-43:
396, According to thy gracious word
215, Ah, holy Jesu, how hast thou offended
642, Amazing grace (how sweet the sound!)
400, And now, O Father, mindful of the love
459, For all the saints who from their labours rest (verses 1-2, 5-7)
90, Hail Redeemer, King divine
268, Hail, thou once–despisèd Jesus
221, Hark! the voice of love and mercy
417, He gave his life in selfless love
210, Holy God of righteous glory
574, I give you all the honour
617, Jesus, remember me, when you come into your kingdom
698, Jesus, Saviour of the world
275, Look, ye saints, the sight is glorious
429, Lord Jesus Christ, you have come to us
554, Lord Jesus, think on me
456, Lord, you give the great commission
277, Love’s redeeming work is done
227, Man of sorrows! What a name
228, Meekness and majesty
231, My song is love unknown
102, Name of all majesty
673, O Christ, our hope, our heart’s desire
235, O sacred head, sore wounded
557, Rock of ages, cleft for me
239, See Christ was wounded for our sake
241, Sing, my tongue, the glorious battle
444, Soul of my Saviour, sanctify my breast
285, The head that once was crowned with thorns
243, The royal banners forward go
244, There is a green hill far away
114, Thou didst leave thy throne and thy kingly crown
373, To God be the glory! Great things he has done!
245, To mock your reign, O dearest Lord
491, We have a gospel to proclaim
Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org
Material from the Book of Common Prayer is copyright © 2004, Representative Body of the Church of Ireland.
The hymn suggestions are provided in Sing to the Word (2000), edited by Bishop Edward Darling. The hymn numbers refer to the Church of Ireland’s Church Hymnal (5th edition, Oxford: OUP, 2000).
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