postID: 6995; title: The Last Sunday after Pentecost: Christ the King
groupKey: secondary
groupKey: other
The Last Sunday after Pentecost: Christ the King
Almighty and everlasting God, whose will it is to restore all things in thy well-beloved Son, the King of kings and Lord of lords: Mercifully grant that the peoples of the earth, divided and enslaved by sin, may be freed and brought together under his most gracious rule; who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (Proper 29)
Array
(
[date] => 2015-11-22 16:00:00
[scope] =>
[year] =>
[month] =>
[post_id] => 1316
[series_id] =>
[day_titles_only] =>
[exclusive] => 1
[return] => formatted
[formatted] =>
[show_date] =>
[show_meta] =>
[show_content] => 1
[admin] =>
[debug] => 1
[filter_types] => Array
(
[0] => primary
[1] => secondary
)
[type_labels] => Array
(
[primary] => Primary
[secondary] => Secondary
[other] => Other
)
[the_date] => 2015-11-22 16:00:00
)
3 post(s) found for dateStr : 2015-11-22postID: 330177 (Cecilia – Patron Saint of Musicians)
--- getDisplayDates ---
litdate post_id: 330177; date_type: fixed; year: 2015
fixed_date_str: November 22
fixed_date_str (mod): November 22 2015
formattedFixedDateStr: 2015-11-22
=> check date_assignments.
dateAssigned: 2025-11-22 (2025)
yearAssigned (2025) does NOT match year (2015)
displayDates for postID: 330177/year: 2015
Array
(
[0] => 2015-11-22
)
postPriority: 999postID: 6964 (The Twenty-Sixth Sunday After Pentecost)
--- getDisplayDates ---
litdate post_id: 6964; date_type: variable; year: 2015
Variable date => check date_calculations.
=> check date_assignments.
=> NO date_assignments found for postID: 6964
displayDates for postID: 6964/year: 2015
Array
(
[0] => 2015-11-22
)
postPriority: 3postID: 6995 (The Last Sunday after Pentecost: Christ the King)
--- getDisplayDates ---
litdate post_id: 6995; date_type: variable; year: 2015
Variable date => check date_calculations.
=> check date_assignments.
=> NO date_assignments found for postID: 6995
displayDates for postID: 6995/year: 2015
Array
(
[0] => 2015-11-22
)
postPriority: 1primaryPost found for date: 2015-11-22 with ID: 6995 (The Last Sunday after Pentecost: Christ the King)
The Last Sunday after Pentecost: Christ the King
Array
(
[date] => 2015-11-22 16:00:00
[scope] =>
[year] =>
[month] =>
[post_id] => 1316
[series_id] =>
[day_titles_only] =>
[exclusive] => 1
[return] => simple
[formatted] =>
[show_date] =>
[show_meta] =>
[show_content] => 1
[admin] =>
[debug] => 1
[filter_types] => Array
(
[0] => primary
[1] => secondary
)
[type_labels] => Array
(
[primary] => Primary
[secondary] => Secondary
[other] => Other
)
[the_date] => 2015-11-22 16:00:00
)
3 post(s) found for dateStr : 2015-11-22postID: 330177 (Cecilia – Patron Saint of Musicians)
--- getDisplayDates ---
litdate post_id: 330177; date_type: fixed; year: 2015
fixed_date_str: November 22
fixed_date_str (mod): November 22 2015
formattedFixedDateStr: 2015-11-22
=> check date_assignments.
dateAssigned: 2025-11-22 (2025)
yearAssigned (2025) does NOT match year (2015)
displayDates for postID: 330177/year: 2015
Array
(
[0] => 2015-11-22
)
postPriority: 999postID: 6964 (The Twenty-Sixth Sunday After Pentecost)
--- getDisplayDates ---
litdate post_id: 6964; date_type: variable; year: 2015
Variable date => check date_calculations.
=> check date_assignments.
=> NO date_assignments found for postID: 6964
displayDates for postID: 6964/year: 2015
Array
(
[0] => 2015-11-22
)
postPriority: 3postID: 6995 (The Last Sunday after Pentecost: Christ the King)
--- getDisplayDates ---
litdate post_id: 6995; date_type: variable; year: 2015
Variable date => check date_calculations.
=> check date_assignments.
=> NO date_assignments found for postID: 6995
displayDates for postID: 6995/year: 2015
Array
(
[0] => 2015-11-22
)
postPriority: 1primaryPost found for date: 2015-11-22 with ID: 6995 (The Last Sunday after Pentecost: Christ the King)
The reading_id [153951] is already in the array.
reading found matching title 'Luke 19:11-27' with ID: 153410
The reading_id [153410] is already in the array.
No update needed.
Scripture citation(s): Zechariah 9:9-16; Luke 19:11-27
A Sermon by
The Rev. Canon Carl Turner
on
Zechariah 9:9-16; Luke 19:11-27
✛
Rejoice, Daughter Zion
Array
(
[0] => 60740
[1] => 60757
)
book: [Array
(
[0] => 60740
)
] (reading_id: 153951)bbook_id: 60740
The bbook_id [60740] is already in the array.
book: [Array ( [0] => 60757 ) ] (reading_id: 153410)
bbook_id: 60757
The bbook_id [60757] is already in the array.
No update needed for sermon_bbooks.
There is a great feast in our two readings today on this feast of Christ the King. Our Old Testament lesson speaks of a Savior – a king who is triumphant and yet humble who will bring peace to the nations and whose dominion will be the whole earth. But whose King shall he be? He is the King of the daughter Zion or daughter Jerusalem. But who is ‘daughter Zion’?
In 597BC, the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar, ended the siege of Jerusalem and deported thousands of the inhabitants of Jerusalem to Babylon. This was a very shrewd move – the Royal Family, the nobility, key military advisors and officers but possibly even more importantly, all people with a skill were deported. This left behind a remnant – not the remnant that the prophet Isaiah refers to as returning to Jerusalem – but a remnant who lived in abject poverty and who were of no interest to the King of Assyria. It has been suggested that, like all great cities, Jerusalem had a shantytown built outside its walls.
Of course, this is true of many cities in the world even today – they attract numbers of homeless, the poor and refugees. Johannesburg, Brasilia or Mumbai; Hong Kong and even Madrid.
These shantytowns, built on the outskirts of cities where there is real wealth and power, highlight the stark contrasts within society between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have-nots’. These shantytowns often have no clean water, proper sanitation or even bricks and mortar to make dwellings.
Ancient Jerusalem was no exception to this; just like a modern city, Jerusalem had its shantytown, built outside the city wall where the poor, the homeless, the outcasts, the refugees lived and not afforded the security of the city wall. It was a dramatic contrast to the rich and powerful buildings within the city with the Temple standing far above. Some biblical scholars believe that this shantytown had a name:
Daughter Zion.
If this is true, then the prophecies of the Old Testament concerning the ‘Daughter of Zion’ take on new and powerful meaning; for redemption will not come through the powerful, the rich or, indeed, those who live within the safety of the walls of Jerusalem. Instead, God will turn everything upside down. God will choose the poor in order to make his voice heard.
The great prophets looked for a Savior who would come as a great King in the line of King David – like a warrior; like the one who had made Israel strong and rich. One who would raise up the army of Israel and assert her independence once more. But when God was born in a cave and preached peace, few, at first, recognized him. But who did recognize him? The poor, the outcast, the prostitute, the tax- collector, the sinner, the leper, the widows who had nothing, and the little children. They recognized him. But, then again, the prophecies were given to the daughter of Zion – to the poor and marginalized – to those without power.
When the walls of Jerusalem were destroyed for the last time, the distinction between those who lived in the shantytown and those who lived within the walls was also broken down.
And our second lesson today is significant also. The context is important; Jesus is at the home of Zacchaeus, the tax collector with whom he had decided to stay. And while he is there he is teaching and he gives them a parable. Now this parable is significant for one particular reason – it is probably the only parable that Jesus told that was based on an historical event. With the death of Herod the Great, the Romans divided the kingdom between his three sons: Herod Antipas, Philip, and Archelaus (Herod the Great’s daughter Salome was also given some cities). However, in order to claim royal power, they had to petition Rome and Archelaus went to Rome to receive authority from the Emperor Augustus. As he was travelling, a deputation of 50 Jews also went to Rome to petition that Archelaus not be given royal power. The emperor granted Archelaus power but not the title King and he returned in triumph. Thus, this parable of Jesus is charged with danger; Jesus is in the house of a tax collector who has decided to give up his defrauding ways. Jesus has already praised God for this – “The Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.” But now, as he spoke, many would have understood the historical circumstances for this parable.
Luke tells us that there is expectation in the room and this is the reason for the parable: “because he was near Jerusalem, and because they supposed that the kingdom of God was to appear immediately.” But did they really understand? The parable could have several interpretations but, let us imagine, if Jesus is the nobleman, then, he expects much of the members of his kingdom; those who made money for the nobleman in the parable were praised, but their reward was to have even more work to do – ‘take charge of ten cities, of five cities…’ and then there is the message for those who are lazy or fearful; the little that they have will be taken away. This is the imperative of the Gospel – ‘The Kingdom of God has come very close to you.’ Now is the time for making choices.
Within a few short days, those who accompanied Jesus into Jerusalem changed their shout from Hosanna to the Son of David to ‘Crucify him’. The Kingdom of God was imminent but it did not arrive in the way they expected; Jesus had told his disciples and others that so many times. His Kingdom was not to be found in human power or human ambition. Archelaus came back from Rome with an inscription that gave him power; Jesus was also given an inscription, but it was nailed above his head as he lay dying on the Cross. The Cross and the Resurrection of Jesus ushered in the beginning of the reign of God over all things. The power of the cross is, therefore, the antithesis of human power and human ambition, for the power of Christ’s kingdom is found in weakness and not in strength; in love and not in anger; in forgiveness not in condemnation; in service and not in domination.
