GLEANINGS from the Daily Office – Posers and Casting Crowns

GLEANINGS (from the Daily Office) – Posers and Casting Crowns – Year One, Proper 25, Tuesday, October 27, 2015, Revelation 4:1-11

“they cast their crowns before the throne”

Life rewards some with crowns. We enthrone movie stars, athletes, titans of business. Around the world, real monarchs still reign. And quietly some of us make ourselves royalty in our own minds.

In our part of the world we have our monarch wanna be’s. But our chief challenge is not being subjected to tyranny. We are not inclined to submit anyway, even to legitimate authority. We dismiss elected officials out of hand. And some, strike that, many deserve to be dissed and more. Tarred and feathered comes to mind. So does prison. But I digress.

We are more defined by “to each his own” than “taking one for the team.” Our immediate challenge is not tyranny, subjecting or being subjected. It is yielding or submitting to a cause greater than ourselves. The requisite humility is not easily produced in an entitlement culture. After all, we call 911 when McDonald’s leave our fries out of the bag.

But in the presence of Jesus, we fall down and toss our crowns before the one true King. The elders likely represent the universal church. And they prostrate themselves and cast their crowns before the throne. Posing as if we are in charge can no longer be sustained.

If only! If only! Come Lord Jesus.

–Frodo: “I wish none of this had happened.” Gandalf: “So do all who live to see such times, but that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.”–