Service sheet (pdf)
Baildon Methodist Church will be receiving/have received toys this year during Friday and Saturday (20th/21st), which will be delivered to Windhill Community Association for distribution. Saltaire were ahead of the game and received toys a few Sundays ago. Other circuit churches will have different ways of sharing and giving at this time, such as Allerton’s 151 Challenge for Action for Children.
Today we think about where we might find the King. We might be surprised.
Call to worship
As a Call to Worship today we look to Paul’s Prayer at Ephesians 1:15-19“I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love] towards all the saints, and for this reason I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers. I 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, so 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, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power.”
Let us pray: Father of glory, grant us your spirit of wisdom and revelation as we worship this day, and lead us to that hope to which you have called us, in Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
Song
You might like to sing, or reflect on the words of, Hymn StF 185, by Charles Silvester Horne, Sing we the King who is coming to reign.Reflection
We need to be in our seventies to remember when the United Kingdom had a King. George VI, father of Queen Elizabeth II, passed away on 6th February 1952. The world is very different now, not least in the way both media and public view people in positions of authority. There is a sense in which Prince Charles, when he becomes King (Charles III?), will have to earn the respect of his subjects in a way his grandfather could not have imagined.
For us, the term ‘king’ might take us into history in an off-with-his-head kind of way, or into a world of children’s stories and nursery rhymes. We might find ourselves in the world of Shakespeare, or Middle Earth, or Camelot. Then again, for some the king can only be Elvis!
So how do we understand ‘Christ the King’? Two things to say. Firstly, about Kings. We need to imagine a degree of authority vested in one person very different from anything we experience in today’s world. In the biblical world the King was appointed (and often anointed) by God. In some sense the King ruled in God’s stead. If the KIng spoke, it was done. For the Jewish leaders of Jesus’ day, King David was the historic King extraordinaire. And the long awaited Messiah for whom they looked would be of David’s line and ilk. They had expectations.
Secondly, about Christ. Christos is the Greek for Messiah. When Jesus of Nazareth, who called himself Son of Man, was labelled Christ, the expectations fixed on him. Which didn’t work for those Jewish leaders, who opposed him all the way to the cross. But also didn’t work for Jesus, who inverted and undermined them. His way was not that of power and conquest, but of peace, prayer, service. There are always surprises for those who enter the Court of Christ the King.
For us, the term ‘king’ might take us into history in an off-with-his-head kind of way, or into a world of children’s stories and nursery rhymes. We might find ourselves in the world of Shakespeare, or Middle Earth, or Camelot. Then again, for some the king can only be Elvis!
So how do we understand ‘Christ the King’? Two things to say. Firstly, about Kings. We need to imagine a degree of authority vested in one person very different from anything we experience in today’s world. In the biblical world the King was appointed (and often anointed) by God. In some sense the King ruled in God’s stead. If the KIng spoke, it was done. For the Jewish leaders of Jesus’ day, King David was the historic King extraordinaire. And the long awaited Messiah for whom they looked would be of David’s line and ilk. They had expectations.
Secondly, about Christ. Christos is the Greek for Messiah. When Jesus of Nazareth, who called himself Son of Man, was labelled Christ, the expectations fixed on him. Which didn’t work for those Jewish leaders, who opposed him all the way to the cross. But also didn’t work for Jesus, who inverted and undermined them. His way was not that of power and conquest, but of peace, prayer, service. There are always surprises for those who enter the Court of Christ the King.
Reading. Matthew 25:31-46
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. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, 33 and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. 34 Then 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; 35 for 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, 36 I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.” 37 Then 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? 38 And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? 39 And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?” 40 And 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.” 41 Then 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; 42 for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I 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.” 44 Then 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?” 45 Then 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.” 46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.’Song
We use as a prayerful reflection, StF 256, When I needed a neighbour, were you there?
Reflection
This passage from the end of Matthew 25 is the conclusion of the gospel-writer’s collection of the teaching of Jesus. Matthew has five sections at the heart of his gospel, perhaps shaping his work like the five books of Moses at the beginning of the Old Testament, the Pentateuch. Each section consists of events in Jesus’ ministry leading into blocks of teaching. The first teaching block began with the Beatitudes, ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit…’ (Matthew 5), and this story of ‘those who are blessed by my Father’ seems to bookend it appropriately. The next chapter will see the betrayal and arrest of Jesus, as teaching is replaced by dramatic action.
Not that Matthew 25 lacks drama! We have a cast including all the angels and a stage lit with heavenly glory. We have a dramatic setting of the scene, with righteous and unrighteous portrayed as sheep and goats about to be separated. We have a parallel device, wherein being blessed or cursed depends, not on prosperity, success, status, whether worldly or religious, but rather on how compassionate, generous, self-less, vulnerable a person was prepared to be. And we have the major dramatic twist that sees judgement about compassion, generosity, selflessness and vulnerability made on the basis of how the person responded to the king in disguise. ‘I was hungry…I was thirsty…I was a stranger…I needed clothes…I was sick…I was in prison.’ ‘When did we see you hungry and feed you…?’ the subjects ask - ‘And 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.”’
The drama is not limited to the content, for the effect is dramatic too, as it challenges any complacency we might find in ourselves as Christian disciples. We might believe all the right things, have all the right words, say the best prayers, tick all the religious boxes that are going, but we cannot be blessed if we have missed the king in disguise, and left him alone with an empty stomach, parched throat, bare feet and fever, if he is locked away and forgotten. There is a principle here, clear to see as the drama unfolds - we miss out on blessing when we fail to bless. When we bless others, we discover we are blessed. Here are the beatitudes in action.
Notice too where the King is to be found. Oh, he comes in glory with the nations gathered before him, as we would expect of a King. The King will reign. We sing his praises. But his coronation will come by way of service offered to his brokenness, and his crown will be made of thorns. For now, we find him in the stateless refugee with her family on the road, in the hungry child desperate for a school dinner, in the village drying up as the climate warms, in the person imprisoned by others’ prejudice and hostility. Then 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.”
And there’s a final twist, like in the best novels, when you think you’ve got it and then suddenly something unexpected happens as the last page turns. For the king in disguise isn’t in disguise. Disguise is pretending, dressing up (or down), and being what you are not. The King on the cross is the King. He isn’t not being the King for an afternoon, he isn’t hiding in his loincloth and thorny crown until the morning comes and all is well. The King on the cross is the King. Which means if you are hungry, when I am thirsty, when you don’t know where to turn, when I am stripped of dignity, the King is here with us, for he is Immanuel, God with us. If you have a covid fever, if furlough threatens to become unemployment, if you can’t be visited in the care home, if you’re exhausted, the King on the cross is the King, here with us. We are blessed by his presence, and whatever our circumstance we still have the capacity to bless.
Not that Matthew 25 lacks drama! We have a cast including all the angels and a stage lit with heavenly glory. We have a dramatic setting of the scene, with righteous and unrighteous portrayed as sheep and goats about to be separated. We have a parallel device, wherein being blessed or cursed depends, not on prosperity, success, status, whether worldly or religious, but rather on how compassionate, generous, self-less, vulnerable a person was prepared to be. And we have the major dramatic twist that sees judgement about compassion, generosity, selflessness and vulnerability made on the basis of how the person responded to the king in disguise. ‘I was hungry…I was thirsty…I was a stranger…I needed clothes…I was sick…I was in prison.’ ‘When did we see you hungry and feed you…?’ the subjects ask - ‘And 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.”’
The drama is not limited to the content, for the effect is dramatic too, as it challenges any complacency we might find in ourselves as Christian disciples. We might believe all the right things, have all the right words, say the best prayers, tick all the religious boxes that are going, but we cannot be blessed if we have missed the king in disguise, and left him alone with an empty stomach, parched throat, bare feet and fever, if he is locked away and forgotten. There is a principle here, clear to see as the drama unfolds - we miss out on blessing when we fail to bless. When we bless others, we discover we are blessed. Here are the beatitudes in action.
Notice too where the King is to be found. Oh, he comes in glory with the nations gathered before him, as we would expect of a King. The King will reign. We sing his praises. But his coronation will come by way of service offered to his brokenness, and his crown will be made of thorns. For now, we find him in the stateless refugee with her family on the road, in the hungry child desperate for a school dinner, in the village drying up as the climate warms, in the person imprisoned by others’ prejudice and hostility. Then 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.”
And there’s a final twist, like in the best novels, when you think you’ve got it and then suddenly something unexpected happens as the last page turns. For the king in disguise isn’t in disguise. Disguise is pretending, dressing up (or down), and being what you are not. The King on the cross is the King. He isn’t not being the King for an afternoon, he isn’t hiding in his loincloth and thorny crown until the morning comes and all is well. The King on the cross is the King. Which means if you are hungry, when I am thirsty, when you don’t know where to turn, when I am stripped of dignity, the King is here with us, for he is Immanuel, God with us. If you have a covid fever, if furlough threatens to become unemployment, if you can’t be visited in the care home, if you’re exhausted, the King on the cross is the King, here with us. We are blessed by his presence, and whatever our circumstance we still have the capacity to bless.
Song
You might like to sing, or reflect on the words of Graham Kendrick’s song StF 362, Meekness and majesty.
Reflection
My involvement with the Immanuel project began in 2015, when a local preacher brought along a small group of people from Immanuel to conduct worship with him.
At our church in Shipley, North Bradford, we heard of fractured lives being healed and families restored. Testimonies from a woman who was a recovering heroin addict, who with support from a Christian organisation had completed rehabilitation and begun a new family life. From a thirty something man who had been a drug and drink driver who caused the death of another young man. He too, while still recovering had found a safe space with Immanuel. His path there had been steered by the mother of his victim, a Christian meeting with him in prison and forgiving him.
The next day I was at the project and have volunteered since then. The people who are served by the project come from diverse backgrounds and have a variety of needs. Among the services provided are good food, breakfast, and lunch. Clothing, hairdressing, and chiropody. It is a stopping off point for the NHS Bevan Health mobile surgery and a place where several support agencies can link up with those in need of their assistance. Some of the team will make hospital and prison visits and a system has been set up to hold next of kin information for vulnerable people in the event of emergency or death.
At Immanuel Jesus’ words In Matthew25: 31-46, are alive in action. Immanuel, God with us. Yes, a living Jesus in the heart of our city.
I have been changed by time spent with people it is easy to overlook. I have learned to listen more and better. I have been able, by God’s grace to become tee-total. I have seen and felt, physically, emotionally, and spiritually the Holy Spirit revealing to me and in me, Christ’s raw compassion. It is sometimes exhausting. The prayer-full support of team members is welcome and essential to me.
I have seen the faith of the team rewarded over and again as needs have been met. Often at the last minute, but always met.
During lockdown, I’ve been unable to help out, but the project has continued. Providing take away meals to the people taken off the streets to various hotels and others. This at the same time as moving into new, permanent premises in the city centre.
God loves the Immanuel project. It reflects His Son Jesus. I meet Him there, in the volunteers, in the guests and in the place itself. I can’t wait to get back.
Tim Billingsley. November 2020
Praying for others, and ourselves
Father of glory, we bring our prayers now in the name of your Son, Immanuel, God with us.We praise you for the principle of blessing we experience in your kingdom, that when we bless, then we ourselves are blessed. We thank you for those who, this week, we have been able to bless, and from whom we have received blessing. We ask that your spirit might guide us in the week ahead to those you would have us serve, with whom you dwell.
Father of glory, give your Spirit, that hope might be known.
We pray for those who will receive the toys and gifts we bring in this season. We pray for those agencies, such as Windhill Community Association, Bradford North and Metropolitan Food Banks, Action for Children, and others, with whom we partner in our giving.
We pray for those who will receive the toys and gifts we bring in this season. We pray for those agencies, such as Windhill Community Association, Bradford North and Metropolitan Food Banks, Action for Children, and others, with whom we partner in our giving.
Father of glory, give your Spirit, that hope might be known.
We pray for the Immanuel Project and all its staff, volunteers and guests, rejoicing in Tim’s testimony and commitment.
We pray for the Immanuel Project and all its staff, volunteers and guests, rejoicing in Tim’s testimony and commitment.
Father of glory, give your Spirit, that hope might be known.
We pray for any folk we know who are facing times of difficulty, whether through illness, anxiety or loss. As we hold them in quietness, and ask God to bless, we open ourselves to how we might be part of that blessing by our words and generous actions.
We pray for any folk we know who are facing times of difficulty, whether through illness, anxiety or loss. As we hold them in quietness, and ask God to bless, we open ourselves to how we might be part of that blessing by our words and generous actions.
Father of glory, give your Spirit, that hope might be known.
We bring our prayers together, as we pray, with all God’s people, the Lord’s Prayer.
We bring our prayers together, as we pray, with all God’s people, the Lord’s Prayer.
Song
Please close with another Graham Kendrick hymn, (StF 272) The Servant King.
‘I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, but the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them with justice.’ Ezekiel 34:16
We bless one another, and those we have named in our prayers this day, as we share the Grace:
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us all, now and evermore. Amen.
(CCLI 79951. Service prepared by Rev’d Nick Blundell.)
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