Dear BPCWA worshipper, Last week, we looked at God as a King. We mustn’t just think of this as mere imagery since it is a reality and God is indeed King. In fact, God is the Supreme King who appoints kings.  He is unparalleled when compared to the kings of this earth. When we see the pomp and majesty attributed to the kings and queens of this world, we must realise that God must be accorded infinitely greater. So, this week, we will see how we, as His subjects, should respond to God, our eternal King. In a world that increasingly resists hierarchical structures and authority, the past weeks’ events offered a rare glimpse of the obligation of subjects toward their monarch.

Reverence towards my King. Through the television cameras, we saw the honour and respect of subjects toward their monarch, such as at the accession ceremony of the new king, where the bustling crowd fell silent before the king-to-be entered the hall. At an address of the king to the Parliament, the crowd stood while trumpeters heralded the arrival of the king’s party as he entered Westminster Hall. Certainly, a scene like this must cause us to realise how we ought to prepare for our Worship Services. God reminds us how we ought to come before Him in worship “But the LORD is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him” (Hab 2:20). Silence is part of giving reverence to God. Even the world knows and recognises that in their ceremonies. At the recent church services attended by the royals, guests (many of whom were VIPs themselves) would arrive early, some hours, before the king-to-be entered the hall. What is then our attitude towards the Worship services, in fact, any meetings with the King of kings? When we are able to do otherwise (not because we were held up at work or due to traffic), do we rush in just on time or even late for the services? Is that honourable? They were early because they planned ahead. In much of the TV footage, we also saw the deep curtseys, bows, and salutes of the subjects to their monarch as they passed. These are formal gestures to show respect to another of a higher rank. We are reminded that God expects Christ to receive such obeisance too, for “God also hath highly exalted him . . . 10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth” (Phil 2:9-10). We are probably familiar with this verse, but we may not be so familiar with the action that it describes, especially in our world of casualness and unqualified “equality”. Such honour is often deemed to be passé and unnecessarily formal. The higher the power, the greater honour and respect must be shown. So, the highest reverence must be given to our King of kings of the earth. Daniel, Stephen, Peter, Paul, and others knelt in prayer. “O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker” (Ps 95:6). It is a posture of humility and submission, and even Jesus Christ, who “thought it not robbery to be equal with God” (Phil 2:6), in this human form on earth, would kneel in prayer before His Father (Lu 22:41). Let the recent event be a model and stir us afresh about how we ought to come with great reverence, carefulness, and humility before God! How many of us would kneel (or have ever knelt) in prayer before God if we were physically able to? Why bother with the formality, you may think? Well, it certainly reminds us of our status before this High God of Heaven and earth. It is a posture of humility and subjection before One who is of a higher power. But even if not physically in that posture, let us remember that that must be the posture of our hearts – not just at times of personal prayers but also at public congregational prayers and throughout our worship of Him. Adults, no matter what your position in life, you are coming before the Supreme Ruler who has power over life and death.  Reverence God – with your stillness, timeliness, posture, and even with your dressing. Parents, teach your children reverence from young. Although worship is so convenient, let us remember that God is always worthy of and expects reverence from His subjects. Moreover, the convenience should remind us of the unspeakable invitation into this glorious presence and the immense privilege of access!

Serve my King. We also saw how dedicated the nation was in serving the late Queen. The Grenadier guards were flown back from duty offshore to be at the ceremonies. Soldiers would stand guard at the vigil service even till they faint! The police force from around the country was called up together for the funeral. Details were worked out to the minutest degree and responses to changes were swift and prompt. How does this compare to our service to our King? When we serve in the church, we are actually serving God, our King. Are we ready to go through inconvenience to the point of fatigue in our service to God?  Do we take the careful effort to think through what is needed, plan ahead, and monitor to ensure that things are going well and to ensure that things are done well? Or is our service and responsiveness for our King’s service not even of a standard that we would dare offer to our bosses at work? The late Queen’s loyal staff and aides also formed part of the procession – many of whom had served her for decades in faithful service. We saw glimpses of an era that is almost gone today, where those who serve served with full devotion. During the pandemic, selected staff formed a “HMS Bubble” to isolate with the Queen for periods.  To these, it was truly a privilege to be entrusted to serve the Queen in such a manner, though behind the scenes. While we are quick to mouth that it is a “privilege to serve Him”, let it be truly reflective of our heart. Let us be ready to go through great lengths and sacrifices to serve especially behind the scenes where no one would see. As long as my King sees and knows, as long as He is pleased, as long as His cause is protected, His work can progress, that is sufficient for me because that’s what I care for. It is in fact insufficient even to say that the next time we serve in the church, let us do it with the zeal, enthusiasm, and commitment as we would if it were a service to His Royal Highness. This is because our God is the King of kings, and what we offer to Him must far surpass anything that we would offer in service to even the highest power on earth. Let us remember that in our service, big or small.

Love for my King. The queues that formed at the recent funeral of the queen have been quite unparalleled in modern times. Despite warnings that the queues to just file past the Queen’s coffin may be up to 24 hours, many came, braving the cold, tiredness, lack of sleep, and hunger. When interviewed, many said that it was the least that they could do for the Queen’s years of faithful service. Despite being a monarch that many had never even seen, their emotions were written on their faces as they filed past the coffin, many with tears. Why go through all that trouble for one who was dead and would never know who was even there? Love. Yet, for many Christians, the thought of doing something for God requiring much less inconvenience is just “too much”. Where there is love, it is never “too much” to have to drive “so far”, stay “so late”, lose out on an hour’s sleep, or delay eating by a while just so that we can attend a meeting or serve at church. “Sacrifices” that we wouldn’t think twice about going through if it were for our children or our loved ones. The reason why we won’t do it when it comes to God’s things? Simply because we lack the devotion and love for Him. We are quick to deny our Lord for our own protection, convenience, and comfort. Let us also learn from the devotion that the disciples offered to their crucified Saviour who went beyond personal costs just to embalm their Lord’s body. Love will take you places and do things despite personal sacrifice and loss. Many would jump at the opportunity to just be in the queue to see the Queen, how much more to be able to do something for her while she was living? We serve the living King. But few would be as concerned to do something for their Heavenly King, to please Him, to honour Him, to serve Him. How is your love for Him these days? The next time you think that it is “too troublesome” to seek and serve Him, then may those memories of the people queuing up to see the coffin reawaken your conscience. If you are tempted to give excuses, be honest to say instead – I do not love my Living King as I ought, and I don’t care for Him enough to do this for Him, and the people of the world love their Queen more than I love the Lamb on the Throne Who once came and died for me. If this is reflective of our current love for our Heavenly King, who loved us and gave Himself for us and let us be honest and realise how despicable we are for not loving Him as we ought to. Let us determine in our hearts today to pledge our undying love for our King and to show it in deeds and not just words till we meet Him face to face! The greatest way to prove our love to our King is when we are alive and yet imperfect, rather than when we are in heaven and sinlessly perfect.

As we have reflected on the greatness of our God, and often sing “Crown Him with Many Crowns”, so let us be true and crown Him the Lord of our lives. We who deserved nothing but have been made heirs together with Christ owe Him our all. He rules over us with righteousness, and His banner over us is love. Our King saved, protects, and sustains us. The least we could do is to return to Him our hearts, our service, our worship, and our lifelong loving devotion.  To give Him anything less than that is treason and dereliction of duty.

Yours in our Lord’s service,
Pastor