Kings and Kingdoms…

Readings are 1 Corinthians 9:19-end and Luke 22:24-30

For those of you who watched the coronation service yesterday, I wonder what moments really stood out to you…

There were many iconic moments, but there are two I want to share with you today. The first was the very beginning of the coronation. The first words spoken were spoken by 14 year old Samuel Strachan, the longest serving boy chorister at the Abbey who said in ringing tones:

Your Majesty,
As children of the Kingdom of God
We welcome you
in the name of the King of kings

To which King Charles replied:

In his name and after his example
I come not to be served
but to serve.

A service of such pomp and circumstance, such historic significance, at which Archbishops, Heads of State, Dukes, Military Leaders and Prime Ministers were present, was opened by a child.

The second moment that made me stop and sit up was when the Archbishop of York blessed the newly crowned King Charles. He used the words of an ancient blessing, found early in the Old Testament, used by God’s children from their days wandering in the desert:

The Lord bless you and keep you
The Lord makes his face to shine upon you
and be gracious unto to you.
The Lord lift up his countenance upon you
and give you peace.

I know this blessing by heart because when I was a very little girl at my first church in Scotland, we used to sing it over newly christened babies as they were carried round the church by the minister. It was our blessing upon them as they officially became citizens of the Kingdom of God. A Kingdom in which the merest scrap of a baby and the King of the United  Kingdom and overseas territories and Head of state for many countries in the Commonwealth stand before God as equal and beloved children.

But more than that, in our Gospel reading today, Jesus tells his followers that if they are to live as citizens of his Kingdom, they will not seek importance and power, but rather become like the youngest and least. In doing so they follow the example of their King who came among us not to be served but to serve.

In his brief homily, the Archbishop of Canterbury dropped this absolute beauty of a line:

His throne was a Cross. His crown was made of thorns. His regalia were the wounds that pierced his body.

In following the King of Kings, as citizens of the Kingdom of God, we must not seek power, privilege and personal interest, but like Paul give our all to serve others and share the love of God.

Because as Paul knows, the crowns and thrones of this world are passing things, but the table, the thrones and the crowns God gives to his children, when we’ve run our race, will last forever.

So today, we do pray for the King and Queen, that they will ever use their position and influence to serve. And we recommit ourselves to the King of Kings, Jesus, to following him in the path of loving service as we trust and hope that one day our crown awaits us in heaven.