Crown him with many Crowns

This Sunday (25 November) is the Feast of the Reign of Christ the King, the last Sunday of the Christian year.  Christ the King Sunday may seem an odd holy day, as Christ is King every day and in all eternity; and this is one of those 'ancient holydays' that dates back all the way to the 20th Century.  It serves as a bridge between the end of Ordinary Time (the last few Sundays of which are sometimes called Kingdomtide, though there is little consensus on the length of that sub-season) and Advent, which focuses on themes of the coming (again) of the King.  As many have pointed out, to call Jesus "King" or "Lord" is a far more political statement than is often realized.  It means our fealty and allegiance is given him above all other claims (be they from president, king, emperor, family, friends, ideology, political party or something else).

A while back I ran across the video below from the worship service that took place at the glorious Westminster Abbey (about a decade ago) celebrating the 50th Coronation Anniversary of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II.  The choir leads the people in the great old hymn, Crown Him with Many Crowns.  The image of a sovereign head of state (who does herself wear a crown from time to time) singing Crown Him, the Lamb of God upon his throne, with many crowns is an evocative one for me (remember the stately heavenly liturgy in which those 24 elders around the throne offer their crowns to God in Revelation 4? this scene in Westminster Abbey is but a foretaste).

The video is also a reminder that, when it comes to "traditional/liturgical worship" through hymn singing, the Anglicans know how to "do it big."  While many of my United Methodist friends and colleagues seem to believe that "praise and worship" services are the future of all Christian worship, Anglicanism has remained popular precisely because they do traditional worship well.  The problem with much traditional worship in our local churches is not that it is traditional, but that the preaching, music, and liturgical leadership simply are not of an excellent and uplifting quality, whereas churches starting new ("non-traditional") services typically invest a lot of time and energy in preparing the worship service.