Ah, Christ the King Sunday. Reign of Christ Sunday. Last Sunday of the liturgical calendar. The day no one knows what to do with. What just happened here? Sunday. Another One Of These Again? Sunday. It’s Almost Advent! Sunday. Thanksgiving Sunday.
So many different names for this one…
Where are you, liturgically? Lectionarily? Musically?
Perhaps you’re pondering just what more the sheep could want than to be cared for by the most attentive shepherd ever recorded (thanks, Ezekiel, for the imagery!).
Perhaps you’re ending the liturgical year on a bang, making a joyful noise to the Lord and entering his courts with thanksgiving.
Maybe you’re pondering our inheritance, giving thanks for the work of ministry, or wondering just what it means that Christ is head of the church…(oh, Ephesians, could you pack any more stuff into so relatively few verses?)
Or are you working on that perennial favorite, the sheep and the goats?
Perhaps you have a Thanksgiving theme with an off-lectionary text–what are you working with?
Over at my (Teri) church, we’re pondering Christ the King through the lens of the Lion King and part of the Matthew reading. Never let it be said that we can’t use our imaginations!
So–what are you pondering this week? What prayers do you need? What litanies are you writing? What hopes and dreams are you exploring? What music do you need?
Put your ideas, your sparks, your beautiful turns of phrase and your words that still need work…we want it all!…in the comments, and let’s get this liturgy party started!
Sheep and Goats for us. But also a build up of excitemetn for our annual Advent Outreach campaign. WE partner with 4 or 5 agencies in town, ask them what sort of stuff they need, and then give the list to the congregation. Between cash and in-kind gifts we give 1000’s of dollars to these agencies (some of the cash has been building up all year through our 2nd offering for the Outreach fund on the first Sunday of each month)
One of my favorite Thanksgiving books has nothing to do with the holiday. The Table Where Rich People Sit by Byrd Baylor (Simon & Schuster, 1994) is about a little girl frustrated because her parents don’t have high-paying jobs, but after a conversation around their favorite table, she comes to see that not all riches are monetary. This would make a great Sunday School lesson or Youth Group discussion…not just for the little kids.
i *think* sheep and goats using Ezekiel to shake up how we think about that story. The Feasting on the Word sunday school class has had some great conversations around Matthew that will end up in the sermon – and the liturgy – particualry related to the relationship between belief and action and the king who welcomes ALL.
We’re looking at the rarified hope for a great shepherd-king like Ezekiel describes, knowing of the power and goodness of this king. It was a great hope for the Diaspora in Babylon to know that Jehoiachin was released from prison and to think that he might lead them home again. It is a little bit of a year in review for us and a review of our church’s history to build up our hope for the future. Our church is small and dwindled in size, and so has our town. They have a new pastor and have been finding more time to do mission and ministry again.