November 20, 2022

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This Week’s Sermon

Art in the Christian Tradition

Christ the Judge .
Angelico, fra, approximately 1400-1455

Pantocrator, God the Son, as the Creator of the Universe

Christ on the Cross Between the Two Thieves .
Cranach, Lucas, 1472-1553

Crucifixion from Rabula Gospel

Dismas
Mims, Thomas Puryear, 1906-1975

Luke 23:39b vs. Luke 23:42

Both criminals ask to be saved:

• The first does so out of unbelief (v. 39), but the second does so out of faith (v. 42):

• The first acknowledges no wrong and criticizes Jesus. The second acknowledges his guilt and Jesus’ innocence.

• The first wants only to be freed from his cross so that he can resume life as he has known it. The second asks for Jesus to remember him when Jesus comes into his kingdom—a much more significant vision of salvation.

• The first received nothing, but the second received all that he asked.

Luke 23:41B

This is one of the several testimonies to Jesus’ innocence. Luke tells of similar testimony from Pilate (LUKE 23:4,14,22) and Herod (LUKE 23:15). At the conclusion of the crucifixion, the centurion in charge will testify, “Certainly this man was innocent” (LUKE 23:47).

Luke 23:42

This is a remarkable statement considering the circumstances. This second criminal recognizes that Jesus’ crucifixion is not going to compromise what Jesus has come to do. The criminal doesn’t expect Jesus to save him from crucifixion, but he nevertheless anticipates that Jesus is due to inherit a kingdom, the precise nature of which he does not specify and presumably does not understand. In the next verse, Jesus will call his kingdom “Paradise,” but that goes far beyond what this criminal understands in this verse. The criminal’s appeal is that, when Jesus comes into his kingdom, he should remember this one who was crucified with him.

A SERMON FOR EVERY SUNDAY

SOURCE: A Sermon for Every Sunday

Proper 29C (OT34)

Jim Somerville

King of the Hill

When I was a kid, we used to play a game on the school playground called “King of the Hill.” You’ve probably played it before. Some people call it “King of the Mountain,” or “King of the Castle,” but for us it was always “King of the Hill” and this is how we played it. Somebody would climb up on a mound of dirt at one corner of the playground and shout: “I’m King of the Hill!” which was an invitation to everyone else to come and try to push him off. Kids would come running across the playground, whooping and yelling, and—especially in winter, when we were wearing heavy coats that provided lots of padding—it was just good, clean fun. Whoever was on top at any given time was the King of the Hill and usually it didn’t last very long, but it was wonderful when you were up there. For a few seconds at least you were master of all you surveyed.

But let’s put it in perspective. It was a playground game. You might come home and tell your Mom and Dad that you got to be king of the hill for a little while that day but you probably wouldn’t see it in the next morning’s newspaper. No front-page articles announcing: “Local boy becomes king of the hill!” And when I was playing the game, it was on a playground at some elementary school in Boone County, West Virginia, which is hardly the center of the universe. Other than the few kids who had played the game with me that day, nobody knew or cared that for one brief, shining moment I had been king.

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JOURNEY WITH JESUS

A King Like No Other

By Debie Thomas. — 2019

Proper 29C (OT34)

This week, the Church celebrates “Christ the King” or “Reign of Christ” Sunday. It’s a hinge week between the liturgical seasons of Ordinary Time and Advent, when we pause to reflect on the meaning of Christ’s kingship before we delve into the mysteries of light and darkness, hope and lament, prophecy and Incarnation.

Given the pomp and circumstance we typically associate with kings, we might turn to the lectionary this week, expecting to find passages that sound, well, kingly. Something glorious from the Book of Revelation, perhaps, about Jesus sitting on his throne, decked out in splendid robes and a jeweled crown. Or something majestic from Isaiah: “A son will be given to us, and the government will rest upon his shoulders.” Or at least a shiny moment from one of the Gospels: Jesus transfigured on the mountaintop. Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. Jesus emerging from the waters of baptism, heaven thundering in his ears.

LECTIONARY ESSAY INDEX

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PROGRESSIVE CHRISTIAN

Proper 29C (OT34)

Universality and Intimacy

By Bruce Epperly — 2013

At first glance, there is something anachronistic about claiming Christological superiority in a postmodern age of seekers, multiple faiths, and self-described spiritual but not religious persons. Need universality lead to imperialism? Can we claim universality in terms of God’s presence in the ministry and mission Jesus of Nazareth in a world of multiple truth claims? Can the universal be balanced by the particularity of our own faith perspective?

PROGRESSIVE CHRISTIAN FEEDS

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SERMON WRITER

Luke 23:33-43 Humble Savior, Exalted Lord (McLarty)

Sermon Luke 23:33-43 Humble Savior, Exalted Lord Check out these helpful resources Biblical Commentary Children's Sermons Hymn Lists Luke 23:33-43 Humble Savior, Exalted Lord By Dr. Philip W. McLarty If you're liturgically minded, you know that

Sermon Writer