Day Thirty-Two | March 30 THIRTY-TWO

Unflinching Loyalty

There is a moment etched in my mind, a moment that happened in the spring of my sophomore year in high school in 1973. I had a horrible year that year. Things were just out of sync, and I was trying too hard to be liked. My identity had been wrapped up in student politics, but I had lost two elections in a six-week period. I will never forget something that happened the day I lost the second race. I went home and was really down in the dumps. I was sitting on the back porch of our house when a miracle happened. Friends started showing up unannounced and unplanned. Four or five of them came over, and we just laughed and joked and made plans for the weekend. Not once were school elections mentioned. Not once did my defeats come up. And as I enjoyed that moment, it dawned on me: they were not my friends because of what I did. They liked me for being me. And they showed up without being asked. That is loyalty.

Loyalty is defined by traits like devotion, fidelity in duty, a firm allegiance, and constancy. These are the very traits that bound Jesus to His disciples. They lived, traveled, and shared ministry together. They witnessed first-hand not only what Jesus taught, but how He lived it in relation to others. Through their time together, a deep loyalty was born to their Lord. On that fateful last night together, Jesus warned Peter that, before the morning came, he would deny Him three times. Peter’s response showed the fidelity in his heart: “Even though I must die with you, I will not deny you.” Peter would fail that day. But that failure was not final. He would go onto to model that loyalty that Jesus envisioned and would become the great leader of the Christian movement.

That is why Christianity is not an individual expression of faith. It is born in community. It is developed in shared adventures of ministry. When we strive to live like Jesus, a deep loyalty is born in us. Loyalty to each other and to our Lord. We become friends who show up. Friends who others can trust. We try to build an authentic community of love that leads people to knowing Jesus as Lord.

During Queen Victoria’s coronation festivities, she attended a performance of Handel’s “Messiah.” It was announced that, as was traditional, everyone with the exception of the queen would stand at the beginning of the “Hallelujah Chorus.” As was commanded when the chorus began, everyone rose with their heads bowed out of respect. As the choir sang those famous words, the queen was deeply moved. Her lips trembled, tears came to her eyes, and her body shook. Finally, as the chorus reached its pinnacle with the words “KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS,” the queen couldn’t remain seated any longer. She rose to her feet and did something no reigning monarch had ever done before: when Queen Victoria stood, she removed her crown. She wanted to signal her highest loyalty. She wanted to bear witness to that fact that Jesus Christ was indeed King of kings, and Lord of lords. Maybe that is what loyalty asks of us. To lay down our crowns and to recognize that Jesus is the Lord of our lives. To lay down our crowns and commit to serving and loving each other. To lay down our crowns and build a community of love and grace in this world.