Welcome to the online service of worship for Sunday 22 November - Christ the King

The YouTube playlist may be found here Or view below.....

  

MAYFIELD SALISBURY PARISH CHURCH

EDINBURGH

Sunday Services of Public Worship: 10.15am
Worship Online from 8.00am Onwards Every Sunday

Sunday 22 November 2020

 

 Christ the King

 

POEM FOR THE FEAST OF CHRIST THE KING

See how this infant boy
lifted himself down
into his humble crèche
and laid his tender glove of skin
against splintered wood—
found refuge in a rack
of straw—home
that chilly dawn,
in sweetest silage,
those shriven stalks.

This outcast king lifted
himself high upon his savage cross,
extended the regal banner
of his bones, draping himself
upon his throne—his battered feet,
his wounded hands not fastened
there by nails but sewn
by the strictest thorn of love.

Pamela Cranston

 

 

AS A DIVERSE PEOPLE, THE CHURCH GATHERS TO WORSHIP ALMIGHTY GOD

 

Welcome  The Revd Dr George Whyte

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. I bid you welcome to this service from Mayfield Salisbury Parish Church whether you are listening or watching on-line or you are gathered here in the sanctuary. On this last Sunday of the Christian Year we along with Christians across the Western World mark the day which is entitled The Reign of Christ the King.  In our service we will ask what this means for us in these difficult and darkening days.

We keep a moment’s silence as we prepare for worship

 

Silence

 

Let us worship God.

 

Call to Prayer

From you, Bethlehem, will come a king for me, one whose origins are far back in the past. He will rise up to lead Israel in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord. (Micah 5:2-4). Let us pray.

 

Prayer
God of all eternity, you come to us in the sharp focus of the here and now.
God of every place, you stand close beside us – and beside others we do not know nor care for.
For love all-embracing which gathers together those scattered across years and miles, we bring this time of praise.
Father, we have wandered far and wide seeking satisfaction in that which does not last.
We bring division to your flock pressing home our advantage over the weak.
We drive away the different and the fragile.
We make prey of those for whom we should pray.
Father, forgive us.

The graceful and merciful Lord
grant you pardon and remission of all your sins,
time for amendment of life,
and the grace and comfort of the Holy Spirit.

God of love,
your Son gave us a new commandment,
that we should love one another,
even as you love us,
the unworthy and the wandering.
Give us a mind forgetful of past ill-will
and a heart to love one another;
through the same Jesus Christ,
your Son, our Saviour.

The Collect 
Almighty and everlasting God, it is your will to restore all things in your well-beloved Son, our Lord and King. Grant that the peoples of the earth, now divided and enslaved by sin, may be freed and brought together under his gentle and loving rule; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

 

Children’s Address  Hillary Leslie

Good morning everyone! I hope you’ve all had a good week at school and are having a nice rest over the weekend.

I grew up in the United States, and if I were back home in Pennsylvania right now, I’d be looking forward to a Thanksgiving dinner this week. Our Thanksgiving dinner is very similar to your Christmas dinner, but with a few different traditional foods – I wonder if you know any of the food we eat at a Thanksgiving dinner? (I bet any of you who have been to a Youth Group Thanksgiving dinner will know!)

While the food is a really important part of the holiday, as well as the family we get to share that meal with, the most important part of the day is taking the time to show thanks and gratitude for all of the blessings in our lives – not just for that Thanksgiving Day, but by looking over the year since we last celebrated Thanksgiving. Showing gratitude is an action when we express our thanks and show appreciation for something and share kindness in return. It is not a temporary feeling, but a deep feeling that stays with us.

Now this year will look very different for Americans celebrating apart from their families and it has me thinking that our Christmas dinner in Scotland will also look very different this year. We might not be able to share that day and that meal with all of the family and friends we are used to seeing. We might feel really sad and that’s okay. But even with the difficult circumstances that surround our holidays this year, there is a lot to be grateful for if we change the way we see it.

God tells us that everything is a gift from God, even some of the really sad and difficult things. And God is with us in those sad and difficult moments. I like to picture it this way – when we can’t see the good in a sad situation, or the gratefulness for something difficult, we can put on our ‘gratitude glasses’ to change the way we see it.

When we look through our ‘gratitude glasses,’ we can look at something difficult like not being able to see all of our family on Christmas Day and find thankfulness for smart phones and computers that help us stay connected through the internet. Or for new family traditions that might be created this year. Or maybe we will find gratitude for having more time to watch Christmas movies on the TV! Putting on our ‘gratitude glasses’ helps us to find a little bit of joy even when we feel sad.

When we take the time to pay attention to all that there is to be grateful for in our lives, we will find more joy. And when we find joy, we will become more loving and generous to those around us who are also in need of love and joy this year.

May we all remember to put on our gratitude glasses this holiday season and find joy in a difficult year, so that we may spread that joy and love with all those who need it, too.  Maybe you and your family would even like to challenge yourselves to write down one thing you are each grateful for every day between now and Christmas. I would love to hear what you put on your list!

Let’s close our eyes and pray together:

Dear God,
Thank you for all of the blessings you give us
Help us to put on our gratitude glasses
So we can find joy in all things
And share that joy with others this Christmas
In Jesus’ name, Amen.

 

 

HYMN 279   Make way, make way, for Christ the King

Make way, make way, for Christ the King
in splendour arrives;
fling wide the gates and welcome him
into your lives.

Make way, (make way),
make way, (make way),
for the King of kings;
(for the King of kings);
make way, (make way),
make way, (make way),
and let his kingdom in.

He comes the broken hearts to heal,
the prisoners to free;
the deaf shall hear, the lame shall dance,
the blind shall see.

And those who mourn with heavy hearts,
who weep and sigh,
with laughter, joy, and royal crown
he’ll beautify.

We call you now to worship him
as Lord of all,
to have no gods before him,
their thrones must fall!

Graham Kendrick (b.1950)
Sung by Stuart Mitchell and Julie Morrice

 

 

WE LISTEN FOR THE SPIRIT OF GOD IN SCRIPTURE

  

Reading    Ezekiel 34:11 - 16, 20 - 24     NRSVA    Walter Thomson

  

Reading  St Matthew 25:31 - 46    NRSVA    Kay McIntosh DCS

 

Reflection   Revd Dr George Whyte

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our strength and our redeemer. Amen.

This Sunday marks the end of the Christian Year before we swing into another cycle next week with the start of Advent.

It is marked in our lectionary with the heading of The Reign of Christ the King.  Matthew’s Gospel offers us the Last Judgement and, from long before, the prophet Ezekiel lays out the images on which Matthew’s Jesus would draw for his teaching. 

Matthew, like all writers, is of his time and place and background. As are his audience.

He writes for Jewish Converts. He may have been a rabbi judging by his teaching style.  Some scholars think that this word picture of the Last Judgement is all Matthew’s work rather than a record of what Jesus said directly.  No other Gospel writer repeats the narrative and the imagery fits a Matthew so well – it draws on the images of Jewish apocalyptic – that literature of despair when nothing it seems can be done and longs for the day when God intervenes to sort everything out. It also fits in with that Old Testament view of resurrection and judgement as being a rather more communal event. And, of course, it stands in the tradition which maintained that there is only one God who chose one people as his witness – so it mattered how that group behaved amongst itself and it would be in that company that the fulfilment of all things would be prefigured.

Matthew sets its first telling in what we now call Holy Week.  But he uses it first some fifty or more years later to his congregation which may not have been much bigger than the one gathered here. As Helen commented last Sunday, they are beginning to feel the cold blast of resentment and the threat of persecution.  They are looking for the the return of the Christ. The first audience think that the end is really nigh and that will be the final resolution.

Matthew tells it as a rabbi would – a story with some exaggerated features, two impossibly stereotypical goodies and baddies to highlight the point and a punchy ending.  

You’ll notice that in the story both the sheep and the goat are surprised by what the Son of Man says.

The sheep can’t believe that what they have been doing is remarkable – and neither do the goats.

Matthew preaching to these early Christians some years after the Romans have destroyed the Jerusalem Temple in 70AD is of course saying something about their present day even as he paints a picture of the end of time.

The sheep and the goats have the raised eyebrows and the gaping mouths of those who have not really considered their behaviour in this very short time before Jesus returned.

In the interval they have all done as they saw fit and now in this drama they are suddenly and unexpectedly set before the King who picks between them based on the choices they had made. Sheep and goats had just been waiting for the end of the day and they are both astonished that how they spent their waiting time should determine their fate. 

Perhaps wrongly we have learned not to expect Jesus back anytime soon.

So how do we hear it all these years later in our culture and in our current predicament?

What Matthew holds before us is an idea of divine authority which is not about the power to enforce behaviour. His Christ the King is not an autocrat enforcing good or preventing bad but a shepherd, who in the style of middle-eastern husbandry, goes ahead of his mixed flock and leads them both sheep and goats.

He calls us to follow but he does not compel.

This account of the Last Judgement at the end of another year when the Church has told the story of Jesus Christ from beginning to end – patriarchs and prophets, John the Baptist and Mary, shepherds and wisemen, fishermen and tax collectors and house keepers, swindlers and adulterers, beggars and prostitutes, Pharisees and Saducees, Centurion, Governor, Soldier all interact with the Nazarene.

People then and now can make of him what they will.

Some of us some of the time are drawn in by the story. We want to live as he lived, we see in his selfless defenceless ways the glimpse of another life. We choose to follow, to do as he did.

At our best we feed the hungry, give water to the thirsty. We are hospitable and charitable because this now seems the right way to live. It is copycat selflessness. At our best we step into the good news as the gospel is repeated and the symbols of bread and wine are shared. We do so not to be rewarded for the ordinary acts of kindness but because when the spirit blows through us it seems the only right thing to do.

Most of the time.  Well some of the time.

In the Last Judgement this is named as of eternal significance.

Others and we at other times have seen the needs but turned away, passed by on the other side.

As is sensible.

We worship on a Sunday and we put in our offering and we receive the signs that point to salvation. And that is enough. Otherwise we live in the big bad world where people are always trying to take a loan of you; where the inadequate ask for what they should have earned themselves; where the prisoner gets the justice they deserved. And with a sharp turn of the heel we and they avoid contamination by the sick. 

In Matthew’s story this inaction is dragged up in the accusation. Inaction which had been an option set before them, a free choice from which they had not been barred.

This is nature of the Kingdom which Jesus had first announced as he preached in Nazareth.

One where the King can’t – doesn’t want to – make you do anything.

It is a community where you are free to come and go. It is not fenced in by elaborate rules with consequential penalties for the rule breaker. Indeed the rule breaker often seems to be more comfortable.

The King of this Kingdom is not 'almighty' in the sense that he can pull the strings and make us dance.

Now it seems to me that is precisely the God that we need in a pandemic. The one who is powerless. Who cannot keep the virus out of my lungs. Who long ago could not stop the soldiers driving in the nails. Who in the waiting days offers me the free choice about how I should behave.

Let me tell you why.

The God who can pull this puppet’s strings, who can make things happen, who can order our behaviour can be blamed for the disaster that is still unfolding across the globe. The powerful-but-fickle God who lets one live and one die is guilty. The God who can work the world from the back is firmly on the charge sheet for what has happened and is happening. That God would have no place in Matthew’s picture of the Last Judgement where the astonished sheep and goats are called to account, much to their surprise, for how they had chosen to behave out in the field when they were at liberty to do as they pleased.

The God who controls is above the fray and is not with me in the struggles of this life.

We are, I believe, free range creatures. Both sheep and goat at different times.

We have been offered a King to follow but he can’t make us do what he wants.

He can only show us.

He can demonstrate how to live life but he can’t even hold on to his own never mind mould ours to some standard shape against our will.

He can take the lead and when we don’t follow he can come and look for us to give a second chance. But then it’s still up to us.

The natural world from hurricane to virus does its thing and only the God who is not above these things can be with me when disaster strikes.

'The King of Love my shepherd is' as the hymn would have it.

Is this not what love is?

Loving is the opposite of controlling.

Controlling is, of course, cheaper than loving – if you can pull it off then there is far less in the way of sacrifice and the constant danger that the object of your love will not love you back.

Love is sharing in the pain, knowing the frailty and the weakness of the other who, like you, is made in the image of God with the freedom to be themselves.

When the Son of Man comes in his glory and with all his angels he will know how it has been for me for he has walked this dangerous road before me and tried and failed and died.

And rose again.

I am very happy to end this year of particular trials knowing that there is beside me and before me that love which both searches me out and lets me be.

And if I can be what love wants me to be then no virus can take my life.

 

RESPONSE TO THE SPIRIT OF GOD WITHIN

 

Anthem   O God my King

Words: Psalm 145: 1,3,8 and 21
Music: John Amner (1579 to 1641)

O God, my King: I will magnify thee, and praise thy Name for ever and ever.  Great is the Lord, and marvellous worthy to be praised: there is no end of his greatness. The Lord is gracious and merciful: long-suffering and of great goodness.  My mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord: and let all flesh give thanks unto his holy Name for ever and ever.

 

Thanksgiving and Intercession   Revd Dr George Whyte

Shepherd King, we, who wander as much as we follow,
bring our thanks for the love which never fails.
In gratitude we make our offerings:
Money transferred by our bank
Resolve to do better in a new week
Renewed longing to stick closer by your side

Accept what little we bring and use these tokens
in the Kingdom’s cause.

As the days still shorten and this year of plague drags on
we pray for those confined by restrictions, by fear of infection,
by dread of what the future may mean for their livelihood.
We ask that they may feel the soft warm breeze of hopefulness.

We pray for the church caught in the pandemic storm and stripped
of the familiar songs and company, threatened by the loss of her
treasured cargo of habit and custom, yet hauling on board spiritual
refugees caught up in the casting of the internet.
We ask for this company courage and persistence.

We pray for those in government who must make decisions where the
consequences are always mixed, where harms must be balanced, where
science can assist but never finally choose the way we must go.
We ask for them wisdom and carefulness and consistency.

We pray for our own loved ones.
For the sick who need healing.
For the bereaved who need comfort.
For the despairing who need encouragement.
For the terrified who are denied the comforting touch.
We name them in the quietness.

Eternal God, we know that unseen around is the great company
of the saints – the men and women who in their day chose to follow
the Shepherd King. May we draw inspiration from their example
so that in our day we may walk where he calls.

We ask these things in his name and in his words we pray together and say:

The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

 

BENEDICTION   Revd Dr George Whyte

God’s blessing be yours,
and well may it befall you;
Christ’s blessing be yours,
and well may you be treated;
the Spirit’s blessing be yours,
and well may you spend your lives,
each day that you rise up,
each night that you lie down.

 

HYMN 825 Amen

Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen.

      

INTIMATIONS

WELCOME  We very much welcome the Revd Dr George Whyte who will lead us in worship today. We also welcome organist, Philip Sawyer, who returns to cover Kate Pearson’s holiday time.

 

TODAY’S ANTHEM MUSIC The Seventeenth century composer, John Amner was born in Ely and was organist and clergyman at the Cathedral there. The forthright psalm setting from before the Civil War combines robust chordal sections with polyphonic passages as are appropriate for the text.

 

PASTORAL CARE  Do you now feel that you would like to have your own pastoral visitor? Or would you like someone to phone you over the winter months? Please get in touch with me and I will organise an appropriate match for you with one of our pastoral care team. Kay McIntosh.  Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Phone: 0790 326 6307

 

YOUTH NEWS 

Youth Group: Sunday 22 November we will meet on Zoom for our 'Thanksgiving Baking and Breaking Bread' night! We will be making shortbread together and talking about food poverty - please contact Hillary for the recipe. All ages at 7.00pm. For Zoom log-in information, please contact Hillary.

12-16+ in-person Sunday School: The 12-16+ group will be holding in-person meetings fortnightly in the Bill McDonald Hall at 10:15am. Our next meeting will be on Sunday 29 November Bookings must be made by Thursday 26 November at 6.00pm. For information about the meetings and how to book a spot for your young person, please contact Hillary or visit our 'Youth Resources' page on the church website: www.mayfieldsalisbury.org/youth

Youth Fundraiser: Our Youth Group is joining forces to fundraise for Social Bite over the months of November and December. Due to the current covid restrictions, we are unable to attend or host a sleep out this year, and instead will be setting our own individual or family challenges and goals. For more information please go to our Justgiving team page: Mayfield Salisbury Youth Team Page

 

ONLINE OFFERING / DONATION The Church is very grateful to all those who give by standing order enabling us to maintain a large portion of our income through these difficult times. We now offer the ability to contribute to our work electronically through the ‘give.net’ facility which appears on the home page of the Church’s website. This provides the possibility of adding Gift Aid to donations. There is also a direct link to the new system which is: www.give.net/20311853       Hugh Somerville, Free Will Offerings Treasurer

 

GIFT SERVICES 2020 During ALL of NOVEMBER, you may bring your donation to the Sunday morning service when a decorated box will be available in the West Vestibule (ie as you enter by the one-way system). In addition, a member of the team will be available on Wednesday mornings throughout November in the Newington Room between 10.00am – 11.00am to receive your contribution. 

STOPOVER: The Stopover Hostel has 16 beds for teens who are homeless. The occupants will be mainly boys/youths, but there are a few girls, too. Our box will contain toiletries and age-appropriate items of new clothing - tee-shirts, beanies, gloves. We also try to include some games and books, together with a football.

STOP PRESS The Covid committee have agreed to an extra collection for those not coming to Sunday worship or able to leave work on a Wednesday. This will be on the evening of Friday 27 November between 7.00-8.00pm. Please bring your donation for any of the recipients along then to the West Mayfield entrance.

Many, many appropriate gifts have been received from the congregation so far. Thank you all. I have also been shopping with the cash donations and amassed a sizeable collection of stuffed toys, dolls in boxes, football accessories and age-appropriate games.

Anne Graham 667 6331 

MIDWEEK PEACE AND PRAYERS ***NEW***

10.00am – 11.00am every Wednesday in the Sanctuary, commencing 18 November.

• Have you been considering visiting the sanctuary for Five Minutes’ Peace on a Wednesday evening but are deterred by the dark and the cold?

• Are you missing Tuesday Morning Prayers?

If so, then we have good news! Mayfield Salisbury are launching a new midweek daytime initiative which will combine these two activities! During the winter months, members of the congregation will have the opportunity to spend a time of silent prayer/meditation in the sanctuary during daylight hours and also participate in worship and fellowship in communal prayers led by our Pastoral Assistant Kay McIntosh.

• 10:00 - 10:30am Prayers led by Kay McIntosh

• 10:30 - 11:00am Sanctuary open for silent meditation and private prayer

If you wish to, please feel free to bring along your own bible and pew cushion.

Come along for either or both this Wednesday.

 

THANK YOU FOR OUR PRESENCE AT THE SERVICES  The church will be open at 10.00 on Sunday mornings for those who have booked to come to the service.

Please note that there may be member(s) of the congregation who are exempt on health grounds from wearing a mask. If this applies to you, it would be helpful if you wear a lanyard or badge. If you would like to bring a cushion to place in your pew, please feel free to do so but do take it home with you.

At the close of the service, please remain in your place until stewards invite you to leave at the end of the closing voluntary, and maintain social distancing as you leave the church premises.

Booking system:

Phone: On Wednesdays, from 11.00am to 1.00pm, you may reserve a space by phoning the Church Office (0131 667 1522).

Internet: We would encourage anyone with internet access to use the Eventbrite booking system, which will be open from 4pm on Wednesdays. The system can be accessed from our website via this link: www.mayfieldsalisbury.org/attend

 

E-MAIL INFORMATION LISTS

Mayfield Salisbury Parish Church maintains several email lists to help distribute information throughout the congregation. Stay up-to-date on news, programs, and events at Mayfield Salisbury Parish Church with our email listsThe lists are as follows:

0930 Service list  Information pertaining to the Sunday 0930am All-Age Worship and related events.

Youth Newsletter Hillary Leslie, our Youth Worker, sends out a Youth Newsletter to parents of P6 - S6 youth. This keeps the parents and their kids in the loop about important youthrelated events and activities

Congregational list
General information relevant to the entire congregation. This includes general news, notices of lectures & special events and, importantly, details on the forthcoming ministerial vacancy.

Grapevine list The parish magazine, Grapevine, which is sent out seven times per year in PDF format.

If you sre interested in receiving any of these emails, please email me direct at the address supplied. If, after reflection, you change your mind I can remove your address from the list quickly - just let me know. Your information is secure and will not be shared with any third party. All emails are sent out privately to you only in a bcc’d (address not visible to others) email.  William Mearns Church Manager 0780 801 1234  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

CORNERSTONE BOOKSHOP If you are looking for a book to help you on your inward journey, expand your knowledge of Christian history, doctrine or the Bible, then visit Cornerstone Bookshop, St John's Terrace, (under St John's Episcopal Church), Princes Street, Edinburgh.   EH2 4BJ www.cornerstonebooks.org.uk

 

See www.pray-as-you-go.org 

 

Forthcoming Deadlines

Order of service for next week: Thursday at 6.00pm.

Next Grapevine: Friday 27 November at 6.00pm.

Please send submissions to the Church Manager, William Mearns.

Phone: 0780 801 1234 or email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

***

Copyright Notices

SCRIPTURE QUOTATIONS are from New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright © 1989, 1995 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission.  All rights reserved worldwide.

Mayfield Salisbury Parish Church holds a CCLI Streaming License: #88916

Images – Some courtesy of Pixabay

***

 Social Media

www.facebook.com/MayfieldSalisbury

www.youtube.com/user/MayfieldSalisbChurch

www.flickr.com/photos/98063709@N06/

Youth Instagram: the.msyg

 www.mayfieldsalisbury.org

 

Scottish Charity Number SC000785