I would like to thank Greville Mills who has provided the prayers for us today, and who sends his best wishes to you all.

 

Psalm 95

A Call to Worship and Obedience

¹ O come, let us sing to the Lord;
   let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! 
² Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
   let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise! 
³ For the Lord is a great God,
   and a great King above all gods. 
⁴ In his hand are the depths of the earth;
   the heights of the mountains are his also. 
⁵ The sea is his, for he made it,
   and the dry land, which his hands have formed. 

⁶ O come, let us worship and bow down,
   let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker! 
⁷ For he is our God,
   and we are the people of his pasture,
   and the sheep of his hand. 

O that today you would listen to his voice!

 

Hymn – Let all the world in every corner sing www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XBJYphWv4g

1         Let all the world in every corner sing:
           my God and King!
           The heavens are not too high,
           his praise may thither fly;
           the earth is not too low,
           his praises there may grow.
           Let all the world in every corner sing:
           my God and King!

   2      Let all the world in every corner sing:
           my God and King!
           The Church with psalms must shout,
           no door can keep them out;
           but above all, the heart
           must bear the longest part.
           Let all the world in every corner sing:
           my God and King!

George Herbert (1593–1633)

 

Prayer

God with us, enter our hearts and minds as we come before you today.

Though we are in different places right now, we are united as we come to bring our worship to you. You are our Loving Lord; our good shepherd; our God who cares for us; each and every one of us.

You created all things, and you continue to re-create; improving; repairing; continually providing for us. You are generous and forgiving, and compassionate, and you call us to be the same to those we meet. Above all this is that unconditional love that you give to each of us; that undeserved love; that love that we can never fully understand… or repay.

You sent your only Son, Jesus, to be with us on earth; showing us what you’re like; all your qualities displayed and encouraging us to be like him; becoming a disciple; learning from his example – he was Christ, the King, but he came to us as a humble servant, who sacrificed his life so that we could live eternally with you.

He sent the Holy Spirit to be with us; encouraging, inspiring and empowering us to live the life that he showed us… but we are slow to learn and we often stray from the path. We say things that hurt and offend; we do things that contradict our trust in you; we deny you… we destroy and spoil the natural world around us in our greed and haste, and we deny others their rights…

But you are a forgiving God; a good shepherd, who is constantly searching to bring us back into the fold, where we will once more be safe...

We are sorry for all that we get wrong… so restore us and change us, and by your grace, forgive us…. For we ask it in Jesus’ name. Amen.

 

Readings

Ephesians 1:15-23 - Paul’s Prayer

15 I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love towards all the saints, and for this reason ¹⁶I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers. ¹⁷I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, ¹⁸so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, ¹⁹and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power. ²⁰God put this power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, ²¹far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come. ²²And he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church, ²³which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

Matthew 25:31-46 - The Judgement of the Nations

31 ‘When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. ³²All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, ³³and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. ³⁴Then the king will say to those at his right hand, “Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; ³⁵for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, ³⁶I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.” ³⁷Then the righteous will answer him, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? ³⁸And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? ³⁹And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?” ⁴⁰And the king will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.” ⁴¹Then he will say to those at his left hand, “You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; ⁴²for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, ⁴³I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.” ⁴⁴Then they also will answer, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?” ⁴⁵Then he will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.” ⁴⁶And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.’ 

Our next hymn encourages us to recognise Jesus in the faces of those we should be serving.

Hymn – Where can we find you, Lord Jesus our Master

www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOamiaW0b6E

   1      Where can we find you, Lord Jesus our Master?
           We want to serve you, to answer your call.
           Where do you lead us and ask us to follow?
           What should we do in our service to all?

   2      ‘Go to the hungry, to those who have nothing;
           go where the farmlands are empty and bare.
           I broke the bread for the people around me;
           out of my plenty, think what you can share.

   3      ‘Go to the homeless, to those who have nowhere;
           go where my people sleep out in the rain.
           I had no comforts but what others gave me;
           offer them shelter, give ease to their pain.

   4      ‘Go to the outcast, to those who have no-one;
           go where my sheep are rejected and lost.
           I dined with sinners and reached out to lepers;
           go and do likewise, and don’t count the cost.’

   5      Where will we find you, Lord Jesus our Master?
           We are your servants who answer your call.
           You go before us, and there we will follow,
           taking our cross in the service of all.

Allan Charles Dickinson (b. 1954)

How quickly did you work out the larger picture in the background of this hymn?

 

Reflection

I have never been particularly sporty, and therefore games at school was my least favourite subject.  I remember often being lined up as teams were chosen, but I was rarely picked first, and more often left as one of the last, not wanted by either team, but put up with as someone had to have me!  It is still uncomfortable to remember that public trial of rejection.

Today’s gospel reading took me back to those days.  If you are a sheep, the division described is one of affirmation – well done, you have been picked.  But if you are a goat – oh, the shame of rejection!

This reading continues the theme of recent weeks that have warned us of the consequences of our failure to live in the way that God requires.  We like to be reminded of the love of God which is obviously central to our faith, but it can be challenging to be reminded of the unpleasant consequences of our failure to follow in his way.  We don’t like to think about the fate of the goats!

There is a danger that we can use this passage to substantiate a doctrine of predestination.  If you are a sheep, you are a sheep, and if you are a goat, you are a goat, and there is nothing you can do to change that.  We all have opportunity to change our lives and to receive forgiveness for past failings, and so I don’t believe that is what this passage is saying.  In Jesus’ time, shepherds’ flocks were a mixture of both sheep and goats, and at the end of each day they had to be separated, as the sheep were happy to stay outside all night, but the goats needed the warmth of shelter.  Sheep were typically white and goats, typically black, and so for the shepherd, it was a relatively simple task of dividing one from another, despite their mixture in the flock.  Jesus’ words are not aimed at defining whether we are a sheep or a goat, but indicate to us the ease with which God can divide us according to our actions, even though we all live together, intermingled as one society.  This is not the judgement of a distant God, but of one who lives amongst us and knows us intimately.

Judgement is not an easy subject, but Jesus does not gloss over it, and neither should we.  Last week we read of the lazy slave who failed to use the talents that he was given, and the result was that he was thrown “into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth”.  Now, those who have not responded to the needy can expect “eternal punishment”.

Shortly after the transfiguration, Jesus prophesies, “For the Son of Man is to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay everyone for what has been done” - Matthew 16: 27.  There will be no shades of grey, and we will have to account for our actions, on the basis of our response to the needs of those living around us.  On Christ the King Sunday, Jesus is pictured sitting on a throne passing sentence on those for whom judgement has already taken place by their own actions.

It is interesting that for both the sheep and the goats, they were unaware that their actions towards the needy were also actions towards the King, and have been noted.  This speaks to our motivations.  We should not be helping the needy so that it guarantees our salvation, and therefore is to our advantage.  We should do so automatically because they are in need, and we should be ready to share our gifts with others purely because they are fellow human beings.  In this, offers hope to those who serve Christ without knowing him, which might also help us in our thoughts from a previous service about who goes to heaven.  Whilst the New Testament clearly teaches that good deeds by themselves do not guarantee salvation, it also equally affirms that the outworking of a life of faith must give rise to good works, or is of little value.  Judgement is not solely the result of wickedness, but also is the consequence of a lack of compassion for others

Previous parables recorded by Matthew talk about preparedness and the use of our talents, but do not indicate in what direction they should be employed.  It is in this passage that Jesus answers our question, “But how?”.  Jesus does not call for spectacular acts of generosity, but simple acts of kindness that anyone can perform and are capable of achieving.  A place at God’s right hand is not beyond our abilities to achieve, but rests on the compassion we show to each other.

Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.”  May our eyes be open to the presence of the King in the faces of the people we meet in our daily lives.

Amen

Intercessions & Lords Prayer

Loving and compassionate God we thank you for your message come to us today through the readings, and we pray that we may be acceptable members of your kingdom through our responses to those who suffer.

Help us to respond to those who are hungry; that we may feed them, both bodily and spiritually… we pray for all who respond with generosity by donating to Foodbanks and other agencies; who volunteer to collect and distribute food to those who need it…

Help us to respond to those who are thirsty; thirsty for love and understanding; thirsty for friendship; thirsty for knowing of you and what is missing in their lives…

Help us to respond to those who are strangers; someone who is new to an area; refugees fleeing from danger and persecution. May we respond with a welcome; with kindness, understanding, friendship and offers of practical help; help with language, conversation, advice and support… help us take away the suffering and anxiety…

Help us to respond to those who are homeless; giving encouragement and support for agencies who are best placed to help; charities who will give them a room… we can give them a room in our hearts… for many are there not by choice, but as a result of family breakdown or mental illness…

Help us to respond to those who those who are destitute and fallen on hard times; with the pandemic there are likely to be so many more who have lost their jobs and unable to sustain the life they had… help us to build them up and restore their belief in themselves, and maybe find you…

Help us to respond to those who are sick; there are many illnesses that require treatments, and high on our thoughts are those who have contracted Covid-19. But one of the most difficult illnesses going around is loneliness and the mental strain that many people face… even if we cannot physically visit, we can still keep in touch, so help us to maintain contact with the lonely during this time…

Help us to respond to those who are in prison; many are feeling, with the restrictions on their lives at this time, that they are in prison; confined to their homes, or just a room within a home; with limited space and contact with other people; the disabled and bed-bound. Help us to give them freedom by keeping in touch… and with a prayer to ease their feeling…

We pray for our friends in our church… for those at our sister churches of Paulton, Trinity and Chew Stoke, and for those in the rest of the circuit. And we pray for all those going through the Stationing process; for those who have already ‘matched’ and for those still searching… Lord, guide and sustain all involved at this time of concern and uncertainty… knowing that your will be done…

And finally, we pray for ourselves… for our families and those we have concern for…

keep us hoping for a brighter tomorrow; one that involves walking with you by our side, for we know that you are always with us… to the end of the age. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

Let us pray with confidence as our Saviour has taught us

 

Our Father, who art in heaven,

hallowed be thy name;

thy kingdom come;

thy will be done;

on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our trespasses,

as we forgive those who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation;

but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom,

the power, and the glory

for ever and ever.

Amen.

 

Hymn – Christ triumphant, ever reigning www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPXSILECWm0

1         Christ triumphant, ever reigning,
           Saviour, Master, King!
           Lord of heaven, our lives sustaining,
           hear us as we sing:
                Yours the glory and the crown,
                the high renown, the eternal name!

   2      Word incarnate, truth revealing,
           Son of Man on earth!
           Power and majesty concealing
           by your humble birth:

   3      Suffering servant, scorned, ill-treated,
           victim crucified!
           Death is through the cross defeated,
           sinners justified:

   4      Priestly king, enthroned for ever
           high in heaven above!
           Sin and death and hell shall never
           stifle hymns of love:

   5      So, our hearts and voices raising
           through the ages long,
           ceaselessly upon you gazing,
           this shall be our song:

Michael Saward (b. 1932)

Blessing

May Christ the King reign in your hearts, rule our thoughts, and guide us all in the way of compassion and love.

And the blessing of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, be with you, now and forever more.  Amen

 

Hymn to Christ the King - Sarah Hart www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dKX1AKohEA

 

 

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