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.
Reflections of a Christian 