Long Live The King
Sermon
Sermons on the Second Readings
Series III, Cycle B
Object:
I was just a little shy of my fifth birthday, so all the images are not completely clear. We were in the cinema watching the newsreels on the screen. This was in the days before most of us had televisions in our homes. My brother and I would go to the cinema on Saturday mornings to watch cartoons and movies such as the Sign of Zorro. But first there were the newsreels, solemn voices reciting the great happenings of the time. I have forgotten many of those events, but some have remained fixed in my mind until this very day.
I remember, with a voice more solemn than usual, the announcer telling us of the death of the king -- the king who had led his people to victory in World War II; the king who had come to symbolize bravery and perseverance; the king who had ruler over a mighty empire and seen its dissolution; the king who had not even wanted to be king and became so only after his brother had left the throne to marry the woman he loved. That king was now dead. I watched the newsreel as the herald, dressed in his ornate uniform, came to the front of Buckingham Palace and read the proclamation of the king's passing.
Such a proclamation announces not only the death of the king but also the accession of the next monarch through the use of these ancient words, "The king is dead. Long live the king." With these words it is announced that this is not to be the end but the beginning; that the death of one monarch will not be the end of the story or of kingly rule; that there will be continuity down through the ages. Elizabeth ascended to the throne to reign as monarch until that day when those ancient words are heard again, "The queen is dead. Long live the king."
While there is continuity, we also acknowledge that there is still an ending and a beginning. Our lives are made up of a whole series of endings and beginnings. Each passing event marked sometimes with joy and sometimes with sorrow. There are endings and beginnings that come when single people choose to begin a new life together in marriage. There are endings and beginnings when couples have children; when families bring those children for baptism, surely one of the most profound symbols of endings and beginnings. There are the endings and beginnings of graduations, promotions, and transfers; and there is for all of us the ending of this mortal life and the hoped-for beginning of an eternal life with Christ Jesus our Lord.
Such endings and beginnings are not just personal events. In our nation, we have elections that bring an end to one era and signal the beginning of the next. Around the globe we see the collapse of systems of government and the rise of new ones. For all of these there is a beginning and an end. Our lives of faith are also governed by such beginnings and endings. Each year the calendar of the church rolls on bringing us endings and beginnings. Today, on this festival of Christ the King, we celebrate the end of the church's year and signal the start of a new season of hope and expectation with the coming of Advent.
This celebration of Christ the King is about more than endings and beginnings. This Christ the King Sunday is about more than the continuity of monarchs as in England. This Christ the King Sunday is about more than just the end of the church year. Indeed, this Christ the King Sunday is about more than the simple human need of marking the passing of time from one event to the next. The king of whom John speaks in the words of the book of Revelation is a king who supercedes the boundaries of endings and beginnings. This king and his kingdom are not marked by the changing of time or the passing of seasons and this kingdom does not rely for its continuity on a succession of monarchs. Rather, this kingdom John speaks of is not limited to time or space but rather, is found in that which is beyond time and space where there is no ending or beginning. In this kingdom he who was and he who is, is also he who is to come again -- past, present, and future all in one king who reigns forever.
Indeed, as John tells us, it is this Christ the King who has transcended time and space to become the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. The one who bears such titles, the one who sits enthroned in the heavens, and the one who has seven spirits before that throne. This one is not bound by beginning and endings. For a faithful witness is one who has come to us from the beginning of time beyond time to identify with us in the humanness of our time. The firstborn of the dead is that person who is not bound by the ending of death as we are but rather has the liberating power of new life. The ruler of the kings of the earth is one who is not bound by the passing of monarchs where the cry goes up, "The king is dead. Long live the king." Instead, this king rules over all kings from the beginning of our time until its very end in that reign of glory that has no end. This kingdom is not bound by those marks of our time that we call endings and beginnings. Rather, this kingdom, as Jesus says in the gospel, "is not from this world" a kingdom not bound by our human understanding of that which ends and begins.
Christ is the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead and the ruler of the kings of the earth. Christ is ruler of his kingdom. Christ now calls us now to be priests in that kingdom of God. Because Christ is our king, we are called to serve until he returns in glory to claim the kingdom that is his. In the endings and beginnings of our everyday lives -- births, marriages, baptisms, and deaths, we mark the passing of the ages until the king returns. In such endings and beginnings of our lives, we are called to be faithful witnesses to a skeptical world that the king will come again in spite of all our doubts.
There is an ancient myth that the greatest of English kings, Arthur of the Round Table, will return again in England's hour of greatest need. This myth is still rooted in time and place and requires an ending and a beginning. But, the return of Christ to reign over all will be something far greater, for this kingdom will come from the one who was, who is, and who is to come. Christ says that he is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, the end and the beginning. Endings and beginnings are for us as humans to mark the passing of our lives and of our ages. We have a king who reigns over us, who has always reigned over us, and who will reign over us, when this world ceases to exist. When he comes, as come he will, we will not hear some herald cry that the king is dead, long live the king. Instead, we will hear that the king who comes is the king without ending and beginning, the king who was, who is, and who is to come. So like heralds of the kingdom let us raise our voices and proclaim, "The king lives. Long live the king." Amen.
I remember, with a voice more solemn than usual, the announcer telling us of the death of the king -- the king who had led his people to victory in World War II; the king who had come to symbolize bravery and perseverance; the king who had ruler over a mighty empire and seen its dissolution; the king who had not even wanted to be king and became so only after his brother had left the throne to marry the woman he loved. That king was now dead. I watched the newsreel as the herald, dressed in his ornate uniform, came to the front of Buckingham Palace and read the proclamation of the king's passing.
Such a proclamation announces not only the death of the king but also the accession of the next monarch through the use of these ancient words, "The king is dead. Long live the king." With these words it is announced that this is not to be the end but the beginning; that the death of one monarch will not be the end of the story or of kingly rule; that there will be continuity down through the ages. Elizabeth ascended to the throne to reign as monarch until that day when those ancient words are heard again, "The queen is dead. Long live the king."
While there is continuity, we also acknowledge that there is still an ending and a beginning. Our lives are made up of a whole series of endings and beginnings. Each passing event marked sometimes with joy and sometimes with sorrow. There are endings and beginnings that come when single people choose to begin a new life together in marriage. There are endings and beginnings when couples have children; when families bring those children for baptism, surely one of the most profound symbols of endings and beginnings. There are the endings and beginnings of graduations, promotions, and transfers; and there is for all of us the ending of this mortal life and the hoped-for beginning of an eternal life with Christ Jesus our Lord.
Such endings and beginnings are not just personal events. In our nation, we have elections that bring an end to one era and signal the beginning of the next. Around the globe we see the collapse of systems of government and the rise of new ones. For all of these there is a beginning and an end. Our lives of faith are also governed by such beginnings and endings. Each year the calendar of the church rolls on bringing us endings and beginnings. Today, on this festival of Christ the King, we celebrate the end of the church's year and signal the start of a new season of hope and expectation with the coming of Advent.
This celebration of Christ the King is about more than endings and beginnings. This Christ the King Sunday is about more than the continuity of monarchs as in England. This Christ the King Sunday is about more than just the end of the church year. Indeed, this Christ the King Sunday is about more than the simple human need of marking the passing of time from one event to the next. The king of whom John speaks in the words of the book of Revelation is a king who supercedes the boundaries of endings and beginnings. This king and his kingdom are not marked by the changing of time or the passing of seasons and this kingdom does not rely for its continuity on a succession of monarchs. Rather, this kingdom John speaks of is not limited to time or space but rather, is found in that which is beyond time and space where there is no ending or beginning. In this kingdom he who was and he who is, is also he who is to come again -- past, present, and future all in one king who reigns forever.
Indeed, as John tells us, it is this Christ the King who has transcended time and space to become the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. The one who bears such titles, the one who sits enthroned in the heavens, and the one who has seven spirits before that throne. This one is not bound by beginning and endings. For a faithful witness is one who has come to us from the beginning of time beyond time to identify with us in the humanness of our time. The firstborn of the dead is that person who is not bound by the ending of death as we are but rather has the liberating power of new life. The ruler of the kings of the earth is one who is not bound by the passing of monarchs where the cry goes up, "The king is dead. Long live the king." Instead, this king rules over all kings from the beginning of our time until its very end in that reign of glory that has no end. This kingdom is not bound by those marks of our time that we call endings and beginnings. Rather, this kingdom, as Jesus says in the gospel, "is not from this world" a kingdom not bound by our human understanding of that which ends and begins.
Christ is the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead and the ruler of the kings of the earth. Christ is ruler of his kingdom. Christ now calls us now to be priests in that kingdom of God. Because Christ is our king, we are called to serve until he returns in glory to claim the kingdom that is his. In the endings and beginnings of our everyday lives -- births, marriages, baptisms, and deaths, we mark the passing of the ages until the king returns. In such endings and beginnings of our lives, we are called to be faithful witnesses to a skeptical world that the king will come again in spite of all our doubts.
There is an ancient myth that the greatest of English kings, Arthur of the Round Table, will return again in England's hour of greatest need. This myth is still rooted in time and place and requires an ending and a beginning. But, the return of Christ to reign over all will be something far greater, for this kingdom will come from the one who was, who is, and who is to come. Christ says that he is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, the end and the beginning. Endings and beginnings are for us as humans to mark the passing of our lives and of our ages. We have a king who reigns over us, who has always reigned over us, and who will reign over us, when this world ceases to exist. When he comes, as come he will, we will not hear some herald cry that the king is dead, long live the king. Instead, we will hear that the king who comes is the king without ending and beginning, the king who was, who is, and who is to come. So like heralds of the kingdom let us raise our voices and proclaim, "The king lives. Long live the king." Amen.
