Like many I watched the proclamation of Prince Charles as King with great interest. The text of the proclamation ends with an appeal to God which reads: ‘ … beseeching God, by whom kings and queens do reign, to bless His Majesty with long and happy years to reign over us. God save The King.’ In our secular age this passes without comment. Matters of religion are mostly consigned to the private sphere. You don’t mention them in public. Phrases like this one in the proclamation, God, by whom kings and queens do reign, are probably justly a flowery phrase. An anachronism.
But we Christians think differently. We have a different story to tell. It subverts the one generally told. And it happens to be the one the late Queen believed. Let’s hear the words again and weigh them.
God, by whom kings and queens do reign.
This is telling us that political power, however it is exercised and in whatever form, is derived only from God. Humanly exercised power is relative not absolute. This finds clearest expression in the coronation service by the anointing. It was the moment that Queen Elizabeth II treasured above all else, even the crowning. At the end of the day there is only one King and one Kingdom. It is the Kingdom we pray for daily in the Lord’s Prayer, ‘Our Father in heaven …. your Kingdom come.’
As Christians, and as citizens, we respect the earthly government set over us. This goes right back to the earliest days of Christianity. We see it in our reading from the New Testament, from the first Letter to Timothy. Paul writes,
‘First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings should be made for everyone, for kings and all who are in high positions … This is right and is acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour.’
As a Christian community we should regularly intercede for our political representatives and leaders. It is a Christian duty. This does not mean we have to agree with them on everything. Variety of political opinion and political debate are inevitable. We should pray though, as well as argue. We should as Christians pray that our government, at all levels at which it is exercised, mirror the values of God’s eternal Kingdom.
Sometimes governments are so corrupt it becomes the costly Christian duty to oppose them. That is why many Christians around the world today are persecuted. It’s difficult being a Christian in China. North Korea is one of the countries in the world in which it is most dangerous to be a Christian. Dictators do not like their people to acknowledge a higher authority. But Christians do. We do acknowledge a higher authority
The Bible text which sets earthly power and God’s power in the greatest tension is in John’s Gospel. Jesus, under arrest, stands before Pilate. ‘My Kingdom is not from this world’, he tells Pilate. He also tells him, ‘You would have no authority over me if it were not given to you from above.’ All earthly power finds it true authority and source in the power of God’s Kingdom shown to us in Jesus.
Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, supports President Putin and he preaches in terms of Russian World, Holy Russia, indeed of Holy War. It is as though Russia has some special sacred power and authority other countries do not. Back in March, when the war broke out in Ukraine, Orthodox theologians across the orthodox world agreed a statement to condemn this sort of idea. In it they say, ‘ … a kingdom of this world …. (cannot) usurp Christ’s own authority to deliver the kingdom to God the Father’. They declare by their document that no earthly Kingdom is sacred. For the kingdoms of the earth to share in god’s holiness they need to look like Jesus. His Kingship is marked by peace. justice, reconciliation, truth and love.
Prayer, which sets our politics in the presence of almighty God for both his blessing and his judgement, is sorely needed. And it is the role of the Church to offer it.
St Paul writes: I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings should be made for everyone, for kings and all who are in high positions … This is right and is acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour.’
On the eve of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II funeral and as King Charles III begins his reign let us pray for our leaders. They need our prayers indeed. King Charles and all his ministers of state need our prayers. And after all, ‘God save the King’ is a prayer not a mere national slogan.
God save the King!
Service: Canon Bill Croft 18th September 2022. (St John The Baptist Church Peterborough UK)
Referenced Scripture: Amos 8:4-7, Psalm 113, 1 Timothy 2:1-7, Gospel Luke 16: 1-13