Crowning the King
Summary
Jesus' parable of the Last Judgment is illustrated with a story. A woman wakes up realizing that she's been told to crown the King but has no idea where to find him. In her search that day, she encounters a beggar and an old woman being thrown out on the street, and uses the crown she's been given to get food for one and housing for the other. At the end of the day she feels that she's failed in the task she was given, but is reminded of the King's words to those on his right in the text.
"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory."
Those words came to her just as she was waking up, in those last moments of sleep. She had heard them before. But there were other words too, words that weren't just memory. They couldn't have come from inside her head. And they were so strange - absurd really - but so clear! "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, you are to place the crown on his head."
"Me?" she asked, waking suddenly and sitting up. "Me?" And slowly it faded. Of course it was only a dream. A very vivid one, but still a dream. And a good thing, too! How could anyone crown the king of the universe? She remembered seeing part of an old film of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth with all the pomp and ritual and solemn language, everyone knowing exactly what to do, and the tremendous music: "And all the people rejoiced, and said, 'God save the King. Long live the King. May the King live forever.'"1
And that would be mere play compared with the responsibility of crowning the King of everything. Administering the oath of office to the president of the United States would be a thousand times easier than that. Her voice would crack, her knees would give way, she would faint at the very sight of the King of kings. No, it had been just a dream -
Except that a crown was lying on her night table.
It wasn'
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