Royal Blood Lines
It is not uncommon for people in our culture to have something of a fascination with “The Royals.” You don’t have to be a tabloid reader to have a curiosity for stories about QEII and all the rest. Elizabeth is the monarch and Charles is of course the first successor. But much of the public fascination is elsewhere. Who needs Charles, Prince of Wales, Prince and Great Steward of Scotland, when you can get stories on William and Kate, Duke and Duchess of Cambridge?
Or perhaps the greater popular draw, for now, is the self-determined, separated Harry and Meghan, Duke and Duchess of Sussex. Did you know when Prince Harry and Meghan moved from their Windsor home, Frogmore Cottage to Los Angeles, Princess Eugenie, and hubby, Jack Brooksbank moved in? Or are you like me, and didn’t even know there was a Eugenie or a Frogmore Cottage? I like the move, only because you can now refer to Princess Eugenie as the daughter of Fergie, resident of Frogmore.
Yes, unless you watch the series, The Crown, you are probably like me and don’t follow the British Royal Family. If you are a royal watcher, I apologize for making light, if you are not, I apologize for waxing on. Let’s all get on the same page. We should take an interest in the one royal topic that matters to us all.
Our Lord Jesus carries the royal title, ‘Christ,” – “The Anointed”. He is the Anointed One: anointed as our High Priest, anointed as our Savior, the King of kings. Tomorrow is Christ the King Sunday, the title we give to the Last Sunday after the season of Pentecost. It is the final Sunday in the Liturgical Year. The following Sunday, The First Sunday of Advent, begins the new Church Year. Advent also turns our attention toward Christ as King. He is the King who returns in the Second Coming, the consummation of his victory and the commencement of the unfolding universal reign of Christ. He is also the Prince of Peace, born of Mary. Both the coming of Christ in glory and the birth of Christ, the babe of Bethlehem, get our attention in Advent, so let’s take up the themes in full now, today. Pray now our collect for tomorrow:
Almighty and everlasting God, whose will it is to restore all things in your well-beloved Son, the King of kings and Lord of lords: Mercifully grant that the peoples of the earth, divided and enslaved by sin, may be freed and brought together under his most gracious rule; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
We need this for our divided and enslaved world. We, the human community, need to be brought together. At the same time, you and I can allow Christ to heal us from within. It is his royal blood, shed for us upon the cross that heals us. This is the very thing we want and need a Ruler who is Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the One by whom all things were made.
Christ the King is true God. We look back at the coming of Christ two millennia ago, and we look to Christ’s advent at the end of time. But shall we not look most importantly to the coming of Christ the King now, to rule in our hearts? You have a throne in your heart. If you are anything like me you have to check every day to see whether you have edged Christ off that throne and promoted your ego to rule your life from there.
The Holy Spirit is patient enough to work with us and urge us again to dethrone ourselves, and re-enthrone Christ in our hearts. All it takes is a simple prayer—something as simple as: “O Jesus, you are the anointed King. Reveal your plans for me, and help me submit to your vision. Take first place in my life: take this humble throne within my heart. I place myself at your feet. Amen.” We gladly give Christ that throne in our hearts because Jesus has promised in the end to raise us to his throne. Take time to relish the prayer that follows, the third and fourth verses of the great Advent hymn, Come Thou Long Expected Jesus, Hymn 66:
Born Thy people to deliver, born a child and yet a king,
born to reign in us forever, now Thy gracious kingdom bring.
By Thine own eternal Spirit rule in all our hearts alone;
by Thine all sufficient merit, raise us to Thy glorious throne.