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

Oftentimes we are complicit in evil through participation in human systems we give little heed to.  Jesus reminds us that our complicity is a choice; a choice with far-reaching consequences.

READING                                                                                                                         

Matthew 22:15-22

The Pharisees went and plotted to entrap Jesus in what he said. So they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and teach the way of God in accordance with truth, and show deference to no one; for you do not regard people with partiality. Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?” But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites? Show me the coin used for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius. Then he said to them, “Whose head is this, and whose title?” They answered, “The emperor’s.” Then he said to them, “Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” When they heard this, they were amazed; and they left him and went away.

PRAYERS

Pondering the relationship between our duties to God and our duties as citizens, let us pray for ourselves and for the whole world.

That all in our community may know what is God’s and what is Caesar’s, and may have the courage so to live.

That God will guide our country, its leaders, and its citizens, that justice, mercy and peace will be our highest values.

That the leaders of the church may preach the gospel not merely in words but in the mighty power of the Holy Spirit.

That each of us, following Jesus, may be truthful, courting no one’s favor, but living with simplicity and candor.

That through the faith, love, and constancy of Christians, God’s glory might be made manifest for all people.

That all the people in the church may live their faith and labor in love for the poor, the homeless, the imprisoned, the persecuted, and the sick, and that by God’s power the suffering of all may be relieved.

O God, ruler of all, grant that our nation and its citizens may respond to your call, and that we may live out all civic virtues in honesty and integrity.  We ask this in the name of Jesus, your Son and our Lord. Amen.

MUSIC

King Herod’s Song

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gYguaIBlLw

Brooke Howard,a sophomore at NYU's ETW sings King Herod's song from Jesus Christ Superstar at NYU 2009.

Every time I feel the Spirit

Roger McGuin

FMA

Seek ye first the kingdom of God

The VGK-Sarepta Children Choir at Bellville SDA Church

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FuurRAJkZY

Lord’s prayer in Aramaic

Archimandrite Seraphim & parishioners in Qanda, Georgia Assyrian Orthodox Church

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKTqp55q7CE

God's work surrounds us and yet we choose to not see it, preferring to rely on ourselves in the false belief we are self-sufficient.

READINGS

Exodus 17:1-7

From the wilderness of Sin the whole congregation of the Israelites journeyed by stages, as the Lord commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. The people quarreled with Moses, and said, “Give us water to drink.” Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?” But the people thirsted there for water; and the people complained against Moses and said, “Why did you bring us out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and livestock with thirst?” So Moses cried out to the Lord, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.” The Lord said to Moses, “Go on ahead of the people, and take some of the elders of Israel with you; take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. I will be standing there in front of you on the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it, so that the people may drink.” Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. He called the place Massah and Meribah, because the Israelites quarreled and tested the Lord, saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”

Matthew 21:23-32

When Jesus entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him as he was teaching, and said, “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” Jesus said to them, “I will also ask you one question; if you tell me the answer, then I will also tell you by what authority I do these things. Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?” And they argued with one another, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ But if we say, ‘Of human origin,’ we are afraid of the crowd; for all regard John as a prophet.” So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And he said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.

“What do you think? A man had two sons; he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ He answered, ‘I will not’; but later he changed his mind and went. The father went to the second and said the same; and he answered, ‘I go, sir’; but he did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him; and even after you saw it, you did not change your minds and believe him.

PRAYERS

In turning to the ways of God our lives are saved from the grip of the Evil One, and the humility of love lightens our path.  With grateful hearts we pray…

For the grace to move from grumbling to shared responsibility, from accusation to a search for truth, from humiliation and shame to God’s compassion and mercy; let us pray. Lord, hear our prayer.

That we may bear witness to the wonderful works of God, so that our children and the generations to come may walk in the path of faith and announce the mystery of faith through their lives; let us pray. Lord, hear our prayer.

That we may bend the knee of our hearts to those who live in despair and great need, knowing that they are Christ to us, a gift of the Holy Spirit who fills us with compassion, and transforms the way we live; let us pray. Lord, hear our prayer.

For those who work at night, staying awake while others sleep, guarding our streets, and healing the sick, that they may labor in safety and receive the rest that prepares them for another r