Sermon for the Service of National Mourning for Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II

Sermon originally given 11 September 2022 at St. Alban’s Church, Coventry

No matter how old someone is, I don’t think we can ever be fully ready for the death of someone we hold dear. And although it really makes no sense that so many people could be heartbroken over the death of a person they didn’t actually know personally, I know countless people are grieving at the death of Her Majesty, the Queen. Some might assume that as American-born, I would be a raging republican and unattached to the death of a person some saw as a symbol of imperialism. But Her Majesty was for me a symbol of so much more. On a personal level, she was the Queen I swore allegiance to when I became a British citizen and when I was ordained. She was my Queen. Two days after the attack on the twin towers in the United States 21 years ago today, the Queen instructed the Royal Guard to break tradition and play the American National Anthem at the changing of the guard to show her support for and solidarity with grieving Americans. This is only one of many stories where the Queen showed her support for people from around the world, so as French President Macron said, for the world over, she was THE Queen. And most of us have only ever known a world with Elizabeth as the Queen. There were people who saw her as just a symbol of monarchy or leadership, but in her life she was not only Queen, she was also a devoted wife, a loving mother and grandmother, and, perhaps most importantly for her, a faithful Christian. This is the image of the Queen that remains the strongest for me. The countless times she referenced her faith and belief in Jesus Christ, and the way she showed her faith in kindness and warmth with the millions of people she would meet. 

When the sad news broke about her death, I’m sure many of you noticed a rainbow appeared over Buckingham palace and Windsor castle. A rainbow, a reminder for Christians of God’s promises. How truly appropriate. On her 21st birthday, the then Princess Elizabeth made a promise to serve her people throughout her life, and she renewed that promise at her coronation. Over the course of her 70-year reign, she strove to live up to that promise. She didn’t necessarily get everything right, but she always tried to do the best with the situations she faced, and tried to be a servant to and for the people. During her Christmas messages over the years, she would often point to her model of servant leadership, Jesus Christ. The King of Kings, who Queen Elizabeth explicitly spoke of time and again as the rock of her faith. Her life of service which we can hear reflected in the Gospel reading when Jesus says he came to fulfil the will of his father. The Queen tried her best to also fulfil the will of God, loving her neighbour and carrying out her duties to the best of her abilities. 

In our Gospel reading, we also heard about the bread of life. This does not refer to literal bread, but the nourishment we receive from our faith in Christ Jesus. This is the nourishment which sustained the Queen throughout her life, and the nourishment that we Christians gain through our faith especially in challenging times, such as times of loss and grief. There are references throughout the Bible to the sustenance we gain from God, including from our Old Testament reading today, which says ‘The Lord is my portion’. If we just hold on to our faith, we can be supported through all the trials of life. 

My heart goes out to the royal family at this time. It must be incredibly difficult to continue with their daily business, unable to properly stop and have some space for themselves. I can’t imagine having to move on with business without a second to mourn the loss of their beloved matriarch. But for all who grieve, comfort can be found in God’s promises. ‘I will raise you up on the last day.’ This is not the end, and we will meet again one happy day. And her Majesty can at long last lay down her crown at the feet of our heavenly King.

But for now, we look to the future, to a new world where the Queen is no longer. I pray that King Charles III will follow closely in his mother’s footsteps, that he will use her as a model of Christian leadership. I pray that he will practice servant leadership, and that he will find sustenance in his Christian faith. All things come to an end, and we grieve the loss of our Queen. But let us look with hope to the new day that has come. 

God save the King.

Sermon on John 6:35-59

Sermon on John 6:35-59
Given 13 February 2022 at St. Alban’s Church, Coventry

Flesh and blood and bread. Today’s Gospel reading is pretty meaty, both literally and metaphorically. So how can we go about sinking our teeth into it? Okay, I’m done with the puns. But this is a really difficult passage to grapple with. Not only is there the constant repetition of bread and flesh and blood, but it could also be interpreted as a fairly exclusivist reading, suggesting that only those who partake in a eucharistic celebration are worthy of eternal life. But I suggest a different interpretation. Since we know that Jesus was a devout Jew, it doesn’t make sense that he would ever encourage people to drink blood as drinking blood is against Levitical law. And Jesus came to fulfill the law, not destroy it. So instead, I think the scholar Tom Wright was correct in his explanation that we drink the blood of Christ in that we profit from his death, his blood which was shed because of us. In our eucharistic prayers, it is said ‘this is my blood, which is shed for you’, so it is the death of Christ we remember. Christ saying ‘drink my blood’ could also be understood as him telling us ‘benefit from my death’, which we have done. We have benefitted because we have eternal life.

The reading begins with the first ‘I am’ statement in John’s Gospel, with Jesus saying ‘I am the bread of life.’ Last week Reverend Zoe talked to us about life, explaining that God came to give us abundant life without any conditions or restrictions, regardless of our faith or belief. She explained that healing can lead to a longer life, but that is not the life that God has planned for us. God has more than a mortal, temporary life planned for us, but an eternal life. I found her words so moving, and I’m sure those of you who know me won’t be surprised that I cried while listening to them. I cried thinking of all the prayers of healing I’ve said, and all the prayers I thought had been left unanswered when healing didn’t come. I cried because it was the first time I heard someone stand at the front of a church and proclaim that faith does not dictate healing, and a lack of healing does not mean a lack of faith. Nor does it mean God is absent or apathetic. You may be familiar with God’s three answers to prayer: Yes, no, and not yet. But there is another aspect of how God answers prayers. Sometimes God answers prayers in ways we could never imagine or understand. Sometimes we think we have an answer, but hindsight eventually tells us things weren’t quite what we thought. Because even in moments of our greatest sorrows, God is with us. And this is why the Psalmist says we shall continually praise God. Even when we don’t feel especially praiseworthy, our Creator continues to be with us and guide us.

Jesus saying he is the bread of life is a reminder that God nourishes and sustains us. In our moments of feeling empty with what the world has to offer, Jesus is with us to fulfill our needs. When we feel drained of all energy, Jesus can help us survive another day. Of course, at this point, I’m talking about spiritual hunger, so once again, this gets a bit complicated. Archbishop Desmond Tutu once said, ‘the Good News to a hungry person is bread.’ In this case, he was referring to physical, consumable bread to sustain physical life. If you are spiritually hungry, then Jesus saying ‘I am the bread of life’ gives you the sustenance you need spiritually. But how is it Good News to tell a hungry person Jesus is the bread of life and only offer our hopes and prayers? How can a hungry person see that God provides abundantly for all of creation?

I think the answer should be obvious. When we drink the blood of Christ, we become one with him. And in so doing, we become the Good News. Jesus didn’t only say, ‘I am the bread of life’, he also said ‘feed the hungry.’ It is not enough that we pray for God’s blessing, we must also be God’s blessing. 

But, there are a lot of hungry mouths to feed. And we are only human. So maybe it is asking too much. The thing is, you don’t have to save everyone, Jesus already did that. So if you can only help one person, or pick up one piece of litter, or write one letter to your MP, or give one homeless person a meal, or stop using electricity for one hour, or do any one simple thing, then you have saved something. You don’t have to make big gestures to be the Good News. It’s not about massive changes, it’s about setting an example. Because when someone sees you feed that homeless person, or pick up that litter, then they get an idea. And the next day they might feed another homeless person or pick up more litter. And maybe the one letter you wrote to your MP was the one that tipped them over the edge to do the right thing and become a voice for the voiceless. The Gospel is a movement and each of us can be the ripples to create a world-changing wave. We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us, and all it takes is one small act of kindness. 

In the Lord’s Prayer, we pray for our daily bread. Jesus, the bread of life is our daily bread. We also pray for the will of God to be done, and who else can do the will of God but those of us who feed on the daily bread. And as we go out, having been spiritually nourished, we can realise our prayer to bring the kingdom of God to earth. We can be the Good News on earth, and by our small actions help to bring all of creation back to being very good.