Proper 29, Friday

We're winding down the days to the end of the Church Year, staying focused on images of Christ the King.

Once more today we read about the triumphal entry into Jerusalem, this time from Luke's perspective, but the collects appointed for Fridays in Morning Prayer provide a poignant counterpoint to the cries of "Hosanna" that rang around Jesus on that first Palm Sunday.

Every Friday morning we pray to "Almighty God, whose most dear Son went not up to joy but first he suffered pain, and entered not into glory before he was crucified" (BCP 99).

Though we proclaim Jesus as Lord, we never lose sight of the cost of that kingship. "Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus," Paul writes, "who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself ... humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death -- even death on a cross" (Phil. 2:5-8).

We also pray to Christ himself, "who stretched out [his] arms of love on the hard wood of the cross that everyone might come within the reach of [his] saving embrace" (BCP 101).

The example that Jesus sets -- the example of complete self-offering -- is what the reign of Christ the King is all about. We belong to a kingdom where we are to "outdo one another in showing respect" (Rom. 12:10) rather than worrying about our own status.

The Friday prayer for mission continues with the desire that Jesus would "so clothe us in [his] spirit that we, reaching forth our hands in love, may bring those who do not know [him] to the knowledge and love of [him]" (BCP 101).

To whom do you need to reach out your hands today? What service or respect do you need to offer freely?

Lord Jesus, King of Kings, quickly come. Amen.