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Words From the Middle

At the intersection of Sacred and Profane

2020/11/22

Serving the King

Christ the King Sunday is the last Sunday in the liturgical year. It doesn’t lead, at least not always, to the kind of introspection December 31st can. This year it led me to think about what it means to serve a monarch.

If we are thinking in terms of a “traditional” monarch, an historical king like Henry VIII of England or queen like Isabella of Spain, the first thing to strike most of us is probably the obedience owed to the monarch’ss orders. When you serve someone who holds the possibility of beheading you over you, you obey. This isn’t an issue with a constitutional monarch like Canada has but the word “king” does tend to bring up those sorts of thoughts. It shouldn’t surprise us if we have similar concerns when we think of Christ the King.

All this got me thinking about the other direction of responsibilities between monarch and subject. Leaving aside the occasional psychopath, monarchs through the years have felt obligations to their subjects and have acted on those obligations. It wasn’t a symmetrical relationship by any means but the kings and queens we remember as the “good” ones were those who made good on what their subjects expected from them.

All that got me thinking about the relationship we have with God, specifically in our relationship with Christ the King. I found Paul’s letter to the Ephesians surprisingly fruitful and the sermon comes directly from Ephesians 1:15-23. As always, I’d be happy to hear what you think about the sermon.

 

“Serving the King” Knox and St. Mark’s Presbyterian joint service (to download, right click and select “Save Link As . . .”)

https://s3.amazonaws.com/wftm.media/wp-content/uploads/20201122124706/201122_Joint_Online.mp3

Blessings,

Article by Barry / Pentecost, Preaching, Sunday, Year A / Christ the King, Ephesians, king, monarch, preaching, queen, Reign of Christ, serving Leave a Comment

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