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WAREHAM UNITED REFORMED CHURCH

Consecration of Kings

Dear Friends,

'Hail to the Lord's anointed, great David's greater son'. The hymn, of
course, refers to Jesus the Saviour, the King of Kings. In Luke 4:18-19,
Jesus reads in the synagogue:

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor....
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour.

Then Jesus identifies himself with the scripture, which causes
outrage in the town.

In May another King will be anointed, King Charles III. Like his mother,
Queen Elizabeth, the King will undergo this most sacred of procedures.
The anointing, or Act of Consecration, is often done in secret. Queen
Elizabeth was divested of her robes, and wore only a simple white shift,
when the ceremony was performed by the Archbishop, under a canopy,
so out of sight of the congregation. This part of the coronation service
was not televised to the millions of people watching on TV.

1 Kings 1: 39 describes the coronation of King Solomon:

There the priest Zadok took the horn of oil from the tent and anointed
Solomon. Then they blew the trumpet and all the people said, ' Long live
King Solomon'.

Similar words, from Handel's 'Zadok the Priest', have been sung at this
sacred moment from the time of King George II.

The anointing is comparable to a sacrament, like baptism, and is an
outward sign of inward grace. It is considered so powerful a moment that
it should spiritually sustain the person for the rest of their life.

Let us all pray that our new King and Queen will be sustained by their
faith, and be a force for good in our troubled world.

Every blessing Janet
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