Today marks the 70th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II’s accession to the throne. Later this year we’ll celebrate with a Platinum Jubilee- an event never seen before in this country- only 3 monarchs in world history have reigned longer.
At the beginning of June, around the anniversary of her coronation, we’ll celebrate with a 4 day bank holiday, but today we remember the actual day that, at the age of 26, a young mum of 2 and at the time far from home, she learned her father, the King, had died and she was now the monarch.
I can’t even imagine how that must have felt, the combination of the grief and the weight of her new role. Whilst she knew the day would one day come, and George VI had suffered with poor health, he’d seemed well when he’d waved her and Prince Philip off for their tour of Australia; they’d stopped off in Kenya which was where she heard the news.
Now I’m sure there’s a wide breadth of opinions within our congregation about the nature of monarchy and its place within our society but I’m not going to touch on that today, we are The Church of England, we choose to be a part of it, and as such supporting and praying for the Monarch is built into who we are.
On the 60th Jubilee of the accession, the then Archbishop of Canterbury (Rowan Williams) has this to say about her role within the established church:
Since the 16th century, every English monarch has been Supreme Governor of the Church of England, which doesn't mean that the Queen or the King is the head of the Church of England. It simply means they're the final court of appeal. They're the person who makes the final decision about what the Church can do and can't do in law. One of The Queen's other titles is Defender of the Faith…It's tied up with The Queen's role as the senior layperson of the Church of England. But I think that The Queen has made something quite fresh of it. She has, in effect, said that by being the guardian of the Christian faith as held by the Church of England, she establishes a real place for faith in public life...
This is such a unique position for a monarch to have compared to other nations and one which I believe our queen takes incredibly seriously. On her 21st birthday the then Princess Elizabeth said: ‘“There is a motto which has been borne by many of my ancestors – a noble motto, ‘I serve.’” She went on to say “I declare before you all that my whole life whether it be long or short shall be devoted to your service and the service of our great imperial family to which we all belong.’"
Jesus tells the disciples in our gospel reading “the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like one who serves.” And I truly believe that our queen has tried to embody her understanding of servant leadership and to live this out, throughout her life, and that this is fuelled by her own understanding of Christian faith. In her Christmas 2000 message she said “For me the teachings of Christ and personal accountability before God provide a framework in which I try to lead my life.”
And if we return to her 21st birthday message, Elizabeth asked something of us; “I shall not have strength to carry out this resolution [to serve] alone unless you join in with me, as I now invite you to do: I know that your support will be unfailingly given. God help me to make good my vow, and God bless all of you who are willing to share in it.”
What I guess I’m interested in exploring, whether you believe in our system of monarchy or not, is as a community of people who choose to worship in the Established church, with The Queen as the Supreme Governor, what is our role within this invitation? Our role in supporting a very public faith?
Now I love our country but I also believe that under God there are no nations, we all are one people who belong to God, that we were created for God’s own delight and that this love and delight in God’s creation of us is revealed in Jesus Christ, and Jesus was pretty clear that we have responsibilities to each other.
As God’s creation we’re all equal, despite nationality or status, and those with power, authority or influence have the obligation to serve, and be a voice for, those who don’t.
In the Queen’s own service, which now extends to 2.4 billion commonwealth citizens of the most diverse backgrounds, she’s spoken up for tolerance, inclusiveness and mutual respect. In her 2001 Christmas message she declared we need to “overcome differences and misunderstandings by reducing prejudice, ignorance and fear. We all have something to learn from one another, whatever our faith–be it Christian or Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu or Sikh–whatever our background…”
That was 21 years ago and after 2 years of living in the shadow of covid and before that having seen so many countries, including our own, divided by the rhetoric created by elected officials- what can we learn from one who though not elected feels called, as many of us do, by God to fulfil a role of service directed by our faith?
In the words of a sermon preached on the occasion of the Queen’s 90th birthday, "servant leadership is about influence, about shaping the discussion, touching the heart, stretching the mind, motivating action and compassion and engagement in public life. Servant leadership is about the ability to bring people together in common purpose and shared values and a hopeful future. Servant leadership is much like love: the more you give to others, the more flows back to you naturally. This is how to understand the servant leadership of our Queen: her power is in her influence, and this has more to do with service than status. She is a voice that harmonizes the cacophony of voices… a symbol of a common heritage that binds a multitude of nations and peoples into one communion, an authority figure without being authoritarian."
So for me, one way I understand her invitation to join and support her in her public service and public faith, is to ask ourselves: where do I have influence? In what areas of my life can I share the values that my faith and Christ’s teachings instil in me? Where can I show what a living faith in action can do?
Whether this is a wide public platform like this pulpit or a small circle of friends, we each have a place and a space within our lives to spread the values of love, tolerance, listening to each other, inviting conversation rather than division and looking to how, again whether large or small, we can serve those who don’t have any voice or influence or ability to be seen.
I’m sure we can each agree that whilst on the surface we aren’t that different from each other, within this building today there’s going to be a huge variance in our political affiliations, sporting affiliations, theology and so much more, we’re different in so many ways, but love, respect, compassion and the shared values of our shared faith bind us together. And we choose to gather publicly to share in that.
The Queen has achieved something remarkable by the length of her reign; 70 years of service built upon faith. May we share in her resilience and her sense of duty to use our influence in the best way be can, to be leaders in serving our communities and to place Christ at the centre of all things.
