The disciples struggled to understand the salvation that Jesus offered.  What Jesus offers us is a kingdom that is both in the here-and-now and in the age to come, which can be a difficult place to stand.

 

READING

Matthew 22:34-46

When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” He said to him, “’You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”

Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them this question: “What do you think of the Messiah? Whose son is he?” They said to him, “The son of David.” He said to them, “How is it then that David by the Spirit calls him Lord, saying,

‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand,  until I put your enemies under your feet”’?

If David thus calls him Lord, how can he be his son?” No one was able to give him an answer, nor from that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions

 

PRAYERS

As a people entrusted with the proclamation of good news, let us offer our prayers and thanksgivings to God,  

+ Let us pray that we may love our neighbor as ourselves, sacrificing personal comforts to provide shelter for the poor, sound education for all children, psychiatric care for those suffering from mental illness, living wages to employees, and respite for those who attend to those living with illness.  

+ That our personal trials may be seen as pathways to faithfulness, roads upon which we walk in order to gain a deeper understanding of God’s enduring love.  

+ That peace may reign throughout the world, loosening the chains of incessant poverty, political imprisonment, religious persecution, and the abuse of power that raises a few to prosperity at the expense of the masses.  

+ That we may do the work and ministry that reflect God’s reign, knowing that we may not see beyond our offerings or the fruit of our labors.  

+ For a renewed commitment to righteousness and peace, that we may join with the leaders of the nations in seeking ways to promote harmony in warring lands, and mutual respect across cultures, races, and languages.

+ That we may put aside any vengeance of heart, so that we may offer to one another true forgiveness and amendment of ways.  Amen.

Adapted from: Intercessions Year A: Keyed to the Themes of the Revised Common Lectionary © 2011 by Geralyn Wolf.

 

MUSIC

Jerusalem, My Happy Home ·

J Michael Thompson · The Schola Cantorum of St. Peter's in the Loop

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ySssVj7XCs

 

Of the Father’s Lover begotten

ChurchFolk, from College Church in Wheaton

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chLMSiozhL8

 

Rejoice the Lord is King (instrumental)

iMusico_David

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmZSaSnzpkY

 

The King Shall Come

Trevor Thomson

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMPUAhDHljw