Praying Together 24th November 2024

Sunday before Advent

Christ the King

Below is the very first ‘Praying together’ in March 2020, written in the concern of the unknown potential effect of the virus called Covid -19. Today, that virus is still around – but globally, there are now additional threats we have to face. On this Sunday – the feast of Christ the King, we ask for the faith of Simeon, that the coming Messiah will bring peace to a troubled world.

Collect

Lord God, whose blessed Son our Saviour gave his back to His tormentors but did not hide his face from shame: Give us grace to endure the sufferings of this present time with sure confidence in the glory that shall be revealed; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Luke 2: 25 – 35

Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; this man was righteous and devout, looking forward to the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit rested on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. Guided by the Spirit, Simeon came into the temple; and when
the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him what was customary under the law, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying, ‘Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.’

And the child’s father and mother were amazed at what was being said about him. Then Simeon blessed them and said to his mother Mary, ‘This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed—and a sword will pierce your own soul too.’

Simeon gives us a lesson in patience, hope and faith; he has trusted in the Holy Spirit’s promise. It must have been very difficult to maintain that trust – living in a country under occupation by a pagan army, seeing the elders of the Temple and his own King happy to be little more than the Roman governor’s puppets for the sake of an easy life – there must have been times when his faith was stretched thin. But that faith was rewarded in the fulfilment of the promise that he would see and proclaim the Lord’s Messiah.

We are living in a difficult time ourselves – uncertainty about the future, fear of illness, separation from our families – wondering how long this pandemic will last, and perhaps even more fearful of what the long term social and economic effects will be.

That is why Simeon’s example in scripture is so important. It offers us encouragement and the promise that whatever our circumstances, we can hold on to the promise of salvation through the child brought to the temple by his parents, the child who will become the man who climbs a cross for our sake.

Tis grace has brought me safe thus far
And grace will lead me home.

*****

Today as we celebrate the coming of Christ the King, we dread turning on the TV news – war, violence, cruelty, the refusal to accept that we have to (MUST) change our behaviour if we are to prevent climate disaster.

The temptation is to despair. But we won’t. Because we know how it ends:

To him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood, and made us to be a kingdom, priests serving^* his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

Look! He is coming with the clouds; every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and on his account all the tribes of the earth will wail. So it is to be. Amen.

‘I am the Alpha and the Omega’, says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.