BURTON JOYCE
COMMUNITY CHURCH
in association with
Sunday 28th November 2021
A service written by Rev Sue Edwards (chaplain at Queens and City Hospitals) for Women against Violence Sunday, adapted by Phil for BJCC. Hymns are from Songs of Fellowship (SoF)
On the brink of Advent, we are reminded of the nature of the one who is to come. We call him 'king' but his kingdom is very different from what people expect. The Gospel passage (John 18: 33-37) reminds us that God's kingdom is not one of power through violence (the model of kingship in Jesus' time); rather it is one where truth, life, and right relationships are valued. Elsewhere in John's Gospel, we learn that Christ has friends, not servants and so subverts the notion of status.
Call to Worship
Come to the God who, in Christ, welcomes all. Bring to God all you are and long to be. Entrust to God your burdens, hopes and fears.
Let us worship God with a hymn of his never-ending love for us all.
Hymn SoF 377: Love divine, all loves excelling
Opening Prayer
We worship you, the God of love:
You hold the world in tender embrace. You feel the hurt and sorrow we bear. You comfort the wounded heart.
We thank you, in Jesus Christ, that you held women in high esteem.
You understood their heartaches. You inspired their love and trust.
We praise you, Spirit of truth:
You uncover the lies and distortions. You name the violence in our hearts. You seek to transform the pain.
O God, reveal the persistent wrong in our lives, the reality we choose to ignore; the abuse we tolerate of other people. Change hearts and lives, that your image may grow in us and in those we love. Amen.
All: We believe that power should not be used against one another;
that, women and men should live in safety; that no-one should harm another; that, women and men should know the constancy of love;
that, women and men should feel secure; that no-one should have violence used against them; that, women and men should feel free to speak out; that no-one should constrain or deny the truth; that, women and men should grow towards wholeness; that no-one should restrict another’s growth. In the name of Christ, Amen.
We sing of the human and divine Jesus in our next hymn.
Hymn SoF 390: Meekness and Majesty
Today’s Readings:
Daniel 7:9-10 and 13-14
John 18: 33-37
Message
There is a story about the king of one of the monarchies in Europe. One Sunday, on a trip through his kingdom, he decided to attend worship at a small country church. He was all by himself and he sat down quietly and began to pray. A woman came and interrupted him, claimed that he was sitting in her seat and told him to move. So, he quietly moved to another pew and sat down again. At the end of the service, the minister announced the presence of the king and asked him to say a few words. What did that woman feel then!
This is the same question we as Christians face today:
Do we recognise our king?
The idea of Jesus as King is hard to take seriously. It is, for most of us, perhaps, an image that belongs in stories that begin: “Once upon a time, in a land far, far away...” Apart from Queen Elizabeth, most of us only know of Kings and Queens in history books.
In our Gospel story today, Pilate asks Jesus if he is the king of the Jews. Pilate only knew one kind of king, a king with power and authority. He served the most powerful king in the world, Caesar. To Pilate, Jesus did not look like a king. This bruised and beaten man that stood before him could not seriously be taken as a King. So, when Jesus says: “My kingdom is not from this world”, I imagine it really had Pilate thinking and maybe even worried.
In our world, there is so much corruption and greed. In the kingdom that Jesus is talking about, it is different. It is about serving, loving, forgiving, healing, giving and, for Jesus, sacrificing his life for others. His power is truth, faith, hope and love, life itself.
It wasn’t what people were expecting.
On the last Sunday of the church year, we celebrate Jesus as our King. He is the one who defies the kings of his day and who welcomes all people. It seems appropriate that this is also Women against Violence Sunday and I welcome the opportunity to say: “Haven’t we forgotten why Jesus came and the way he wanted us to live?”
We proclaim a kingdom where the first shall be last and the last shall be first. We speak of power in weakness, strength in loss, and life in giving it away. We recognise that Jesus is the one who offers us life. Contrary to what people might think, true power belongs to God and it is offered on behalf of the powerless and vulnerable.
So, let us determine to follow God’s way in a new kingdom, right here, right now, where all people will be as one. We claim Christ as King, the Servant King, now and forevermore. Amen.
Hymn SoF 120: From heaven you came (Servant King)
Meditation - Prayer of Confession and Intercession
If you wish, you can use: a candle and a cross or a cross drawn on paper; a stone and some quiet music. Otherwise, just read the words
Let us come to God in prayer, for ourselves and others.
Take hold of your stone in the palm of your hand.
This is you - your life - complete with good and bad things. Facing you are the positives: things you're happy for others to see and know. Facing down are the negatives: experiences, realities you hide away.
Pause
Find a rough part of the stone and feel the pain etched into your life, characteristics you'd rather not have, ways of life that are wrong.
Feel the outline of your stone to find a point or edge and recognize the hurt you cause others and the harm you do them.
In the quiet, let God reveal the conflict and sorrows in your heart.
Silence
When you are ready, lay your stone at the cross, asking forgiveness for all that mars the image of Christ in yourself and your loved ones
O God, who revealed in your Son that your kingdom is not from this world, take from us the addictions, power and violence, which so grievously wound you and our loved ones. Transform us in your love. We look to God to save us and heal us from all that tries to harm us.
As we pray for all who suffer harm, light a candle in solidarity with people everywhere who are abused in body, mind or spirit.
O God, who shows us in Jesus Christ how your kingdom will come in love and justice and peace, be present for all who are suffering abuse or are having to witness the suffering caused. May they know your supportive presence. We pray for your liberating kingdom to come in truth, hope and love. Amen.
Hymn SoF 533: The King of love my shepherd is
Blessing
Let us spread the hope of Christ's kingdom so that everyone we meet sees the Light of Christ in us. Amen
Closing words from Longing for Light by Bernadette Farrell:
Many the gift, many the people
Many the hearts that yearn to belong
Let us be servants to one another
Making Your kingdom come
Christ, be our light!
Shine in our hearts.
Shine through the darkness.
Christ, be our light!
Shine in Your church gathered today. AMEN
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