November 23 2025 Sermon
Let me begin by saying how much I enjoyed my retirement party last evening. I am profoundly grateful to everyone who attended, for those who offered speeches, and for the many people who worked hard in the background such a beautiful event. I look forward in retirement to have the time to put a picture hanger in the wall to hold up the beautiful reproduction of one of the stain glass windows that adorns this beautiful Church. As I stated last evening I know that I have been tremendously blessed to serve here at St Barnabas for the last 5 ¾ years. With you I have enjoyed a taste of the Kingdom of God.
Today, on this final Sunday of the liturgical year, we celebrate this Kingdom as we focus our attention on Christ the King. The Hebrew scriptures of the bible tell us the role of a king is both a divine appointment and a position of significant responsibility. The rights and duties of a king are outlined in various passages of Scripture from which we learn that the king is granted the authority to lead and govern the nation. The king has the right to command the military forces of the nation. The king serves as the highest judge in the land, responsible for ensuring justice and righteousness. The king has the right to manage the nation’s resources, including taxation and the distribution of wealth. The primary duty of the king is to obey God’s commandments and lead the nation in faithfulness to the covenant. The king is expected to uphold justice and righteousness, ensuring that the vulnerable are protected and that the law is applied fairly. The king is called to serve the people, not to exploit them. The king must maintain personal integrity and avoid the pitfalls of power. Throughout the bible, throughout history we see many examples of kings, many have done great things, but all have fallen short of the ideal of king. That is until the coming of Jesus Christ.
In the letter to the Colossians the apostle offers one of the most majestic descriptions of Jesus as king who rules over the kingdom all creation.
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers–all things have been created through him and for him. He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.
In today’s gospel we witness the crucifixion of this great king. As the soldiers nail him to the cross we hear the great king intercede on their behalf, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.”
We witness the great king hanging on a cross under the inscription “This is the King of the Jews.” He is crucified between two criminals. One of those criminals joins with the leaders, the soldiers, the crowd and mock this dying king. Save yourself – and us.
But this King’s instinct is to reach out to those who are at the very end—of life, of their rope, of their ability to care or to function. This king tells us that no one is beyond the reach of God’s mercy. This king employs the cross is the means to making the connection, to know for himself all of the suffering in creation. Relationship, connection, is at the core of this kingdom.
This kind of connection, the kind of forgiveness this king offers, is a challenging notion for many of us. Part of our inability to believe and trust the forgiving power of God’s grace and mercy is our inability to believe that other people deserve mercy. Yet the grace of God as revealed in Jesus’ life, death, resurrection and ascension is a word of forgiveness and deep, abiding love.
One of the criminals, the one depicted in the icon to the left of the cross above the altar, traditionally given the name Dismas, does not presume to ask for forgiveness. He seeks only to be remembered by the dying King. “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
The King replies, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” We too, regardless of our circumstances may utter such a prayer. For with this King, in this kingdom none are forgotten, but come to light. And still more: this kingdom does not come in a distant future; it dawns already, now, “today, here in this place among these people, in this neighbourhood.”
I conclude this, my last sermon as your priest-in-charge with the words written to the Colossians. May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. +