Sermon preached by the Rector on 18 June 20061st Lesson: Proverbs 8:1-16
2nd Lesson: Romans 13:1-10
In
preaching on the monarchy, it's vital to have a well-developed sense of
history. And so, as something of a non-specialist in history, I turned
for inspiration to that slim but magisterial reference work, '1066 And
All That'. As you may recall, the approach of this authoritative tome
is to divide our kings and queens into those who have been 'good' and
those who have been 'bad'. And that's it really. All you need to know
about our nation's past until history came to a full stop with the
publication of this little book back in 1930.
Now we might be
tempted to feel that the authors of '1066 And All That' are guilty of
over-simplifying things. But before we do, it's worth recalling that an
even more authoritative book actually has a rather similar outlook.
For
this is more or less how the kings of ancient Israel are judged in the
historical books of the Bible. We're told in 2 Chronicles chapter 21,
for example, that King Jehoram of Judah 'did evil in the eyes of the
Lord'. After setting out a few details, the chronicler sums him up like
this: 'Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he
reigned in Jerusalem for eight years. He passed away, to no-one's
regret, and was buried in the City of David, but not in the tombs of
the kings.' There can no doubting the message, can there? He was a
'bad' king.
On the other hand, take someone like King Josiah.
We read a few chapters further on that 'He did what was right in the
eyes of the Lord and walked in the ways of his father David, not
turning aside to the right or to the left.' The 'third way' of modern
politics clearly goes back further than perhaps we thought! We're told
that 'He was buried in the tombs of his fathers, and all Judah and
Jerusalem mourned for him. Jeremiah composed laments for Josiah, and to
this day all the men and women singers commemorate Josiah in the
laments.' Jehoram the 'bad' king. Josiah the 'good' king.
Now
there are, of course, many differences between the kings we read about
in the Old Testament and the monarchy we have in Britain today. But one
aspect they have in common is a profound sense of the sacredness of the
task they take on. Many here in church today will recall listening to
the 1953 coronation service on the radio or watching it on a
new-fangled television. As one who was minus 3 at the time, I've had to
make do with reading the text! But however we come to it, it's very
striking to see the extent to which God is involved.
Just as
for us earlier this evening, the words of Handel's great coronation
anthem 'Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anointed Solomon king'
echoed around Westminster Abbey at the most solemn moment in the
service. An irrelevant anachronism? Far from it. Had the words fitted
the music, they could just as easily have sung 'Geoffrey the archbishop
and Alan the dean anointed Elizabeth queen'. Here's what the Archbishop
of Canterbury said at that point:
"O Lord and heavenly Father,
the exalter of the humble and the strength of thy chosen, who by
anointing with Oil didst of old make and consecrate kings, priests, and
prophets, to teach and govern thy people Israel: Bless and sanctify thy
chosen servant Elizabeth, who by our office and ministry is now to be
anointed with this Oil, and consecrated Queen..."
I don't know
what view you take of this aspect of monarchy. But whatever we think
about the significance of the anointing of our kings and queens, the
point is this: just going through a ceremony like this is not enough.
In this as everything else, vital as it is to ask for God's blessing
and anointing, to do so is by itself no guarantee of the outcome.
That's clearly not how it works. After all, back in Old Testament times
Jehoram and all the bad kings were anointed in just the same way as
Josiah and all the good kings. From God's perspective, they all had the
same opportunity to do the job well. His divine help and resources were
available to all of them.
So what is it that makes the
difference? Well, it surely has something to do with the monarch's
attitude to his or her anointed task in relation to God. Throughout
biblical history, the kings of ancient Israel are assessed on the basis
of what they did 'in the eyes of the Lord'. Do they seek to please him
and follow his standards? Or do they pass him by and ignore his laws?
Do they see themselves as the number one, the be all and end all? Or do
they see themselves as subject to a still higher power? In the words of
our second lesson this evening, do they see themselves as 'ministers'
or 'servants' of God?
As we take this opportunity to look back
on the reign so far of Queen Elizabeth the Second, it seems to me that
we have every reason to give thanks for Her Majesty as a 'good' queen.
Not only for what we have seen and heard of her in the public arena.
But also for what we know of the foundations on which her public role
has been built, the evidence she shows of a strong and sustaining inner
life. One of the clearest indications of this very personal aspect of
her life came in her Christmas Broadcast at the end of the year 2000,
when she said this: "For me the teachings of Christ and my personal
accountability before God provide a framework in which I try to lead my
life."
It seems strange to think of Her Majesty the Queen being
accountable to anyone else. But this is perhaps the secret of her
success. This is what continues to give us cause to sing with heart as
well as voice 'God save The Queen!' This is what will ensure that she
goes down in history as a 'good' queen.
In closing, it's worth
extending the point a little. We welcome to this service today a number
of distinguished guests who occupy positions of responsibility in our
community and exercise authority in the name of the Sovereign. Just
suppose that, at some time in the future, our civic leaders were to
feature in an edition of '2006 And All That'. What, at the end of the
day, would lead us to regard them as 'good' rather than 'bad'? The
answer is that we could all do a great deal worse than follow the
example of our Queen. In every walk of life, the teachings of Christ
and a sense of personal accountability before God are a firm foundation
on which to build a life which will earn lasting gratitude, respect and
pride. This is what, today, we can both celebrate in Her Majesty and
aspire to for ourselves. Amen.
© 2006 David Stone
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