Year C Proper 28 - Christ the King Sunday - November 20, 2022
What King Do You Follow?
I am a marching band mom, and to my surprise, a terribly dedicated one. See, I attended a small Catholic high school with friends exclusively from other small Catholic high schools. My college was an urban commuter campus without sports. I had zero contact with marching bands. When my eldest leapt into the high school band scene I was shocked by the expansive swell of national pride I experienced. After four and a half years of enduring outdoor football games and competitions, it still gets me when they march onto the field in militaristic uniforms and 19th century hats.
Marching bands are uniquely American. No other sport in the world supports hundreds of non-athletes in uniforms, equipment, and training simply to have them pump up the crowd. Even tiny bands of 10 instruments suit up, rehearse as hard as the football team, and lead us game after game in the Star Spangled Banner and team songs.
Despite our anthem’s controversial history, it communicates our ideal American identity: the land of the free and the home of the brave. Free of the tyranny of monarchs and dictators and home to brave citizens voting leaders in and out always expecting the transfer of power to be more than amicable.
So, I find Christ the King Sunday uncomfortable. I’ve never desired a king and reject obedience to a genetic monarch.
There’s a familiar Anglican hymn, Crown him with many crowns (494), which we will be singing at the end of service today. The first time I heard it in a worship service it gave me pause:
4 Crown him of lords the Lord,
who over all doth reign,
who once on earth, the incarnate Word,
for ransomed sinners slain,
now lives in realms of light,
where saints with angels sing
their songs before him day and night,
their God, Redeemer, King.
I get squirmy when monarchs double as religious leaders or religious leaders become dictators. King Charles III technically selects and appoints the Archbishop of Canterbury. King Salman of Saudi Arabia is the “Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques”. Pope Francis I functions as head of a theocracy – with more control than the Ayatollah in Iran.
1 Crown him with many crowns,
the Lamb upon his throne;
Hark! how the heavenly anthem drowns
all music but its own;
awake, my soul, and sing
of him who died for thee,
and hail him as thy matchless King
through all eternity.
“…of him who died for thee” is that the role of a King? In addition to the follies of genetically conferred power, I don’t understand the intimate attachment to monarchs. The birthday of Emperor Naruhito of Japan is a national holiday and Great Britain has new coins, and stamps, and government insignia because of a new king. I am enthusiastic for the candidates I vote into office, but I don’t want them embossed on my quarters. Christ dwells intimately in my life, is he my King?
2 Crown him the Son of God
before the worlds began,
and ye, who tread where he hath trod,
crown him the Son of man;
who every grief hath known
that wrings the human breast,
and takes and bears them for his own,
that all in him may rest.
Monarchies are not necessarily tyrannical, they are distracting. Can I claim I serve a King? Well, Jesus flipped monarchy upside down. He invites our obedience by his humility. From birth to death our Divine King ceded all his power to us. When we proved rebellious and followed “shepherds who destroy and scatter us” his salvation poured out anyway, with forgiveness, welcome, and love.
3 Crown him the Lord of life,
who triumphed over the grave,
and rose victorious in the strife
for those he came to save;
his glories now we sing
who died, and rose on high,
who died, eternal life to bring,
and lives that death may die. Amen.
Today, we join our dear Margot in baptismal vows and pledging our devotion to God, Christ, and his Gospel. When you leave, meditate on these vows, examine your life, and consider where you offer your loyalty. What King do you follow?
5 Crown him the Lord of heaven,
enthroned in worlds above;
crown him the King, to whom is given,
the wondrous name of Love.
Crown him with many crowns,
as thrones before him fall,
crown him, ye kings, with many crowns,
for he is King of all. Amen
The Very Rev. Vanessa E. B. Clark+