What is it that sustains us? That enables us to stand firm, hold fast, carry on through life’s challenges and tribulations? What is our rock, our foundation upon which we stand?
If we are under 70 years old – then the one thing that has been our utter constant has been The Queen. Always there, a figurehead, a certainty, her image everywhere we look, held in our very hands on our coins and notes – the currency of life – and set like a seal on love letters and birthday cards, bank statements and parcels and everything in between on the stamps that allow our communications of all kinds to wing their way between us and across the world.
And there as the Royal Seal of approval on countless products and services to give assurance that these things are worthy and trustworthy whether it’s a jar of jam or a royal Range Rover.
Worthy and trustworthy and true – well that sums up our beloved Queen for sure.
It seems utterly unbelievable that she is gone from us – that we are already saying God save the King……even though we have all been able to see that this day was coming ever closer.
God save the King, because the Queen is now already saved – safe with God, and of course in all our sadness, shock and grief, we cannot but be glad that she has now entered into that rest, so richly and thoroughly deserved, and there to be greeted by the one who until just over a year ago, was, as she described him – ‘her rock, her constant strength and stay’ – her beloved husband, Philip.
And of course, The Queen’s Christian faith was, as she so often expressed, the foundation of everything that she was, and of all she was called to be. At her coronation, it was not the gorgeous robes, the vast crowds and millions watching on tv that stayed with her, but the anointing as monarch – the sign of her divine call in service to us all under God.
And such extraordinary dedication even before that – from the very first – apparent in her words to her people – her remarkable speech aged only 14 to the children of the war, her address on her 21st Birthday that we almost know now by heart, her words on the death of her father and her own accession, spoken from Tree Tops in Kenya, and so many inspiring speeches including her honesty and humanity following the annus horribilis. And of course her often deeply inspiring and comforting words at Christmas, even right up until her appearances with Daniel Craig as James Bond for the 2012 Olympics and of course her wonderful, delightful, sketch with Paddington as part of the fantastic celebrations for her Platinum Jubilee just a few weeks ago.
There is no doubt that she has more than lived up to her words – that her life, be it long or short, would be dedicated to the service of her people, nation and commonwealth – and of course in service to her God.
And its all there in our readings – chosen for services of tribute to our Queen, the Supreme Governor of the Church of England – the words themselves resonating deeply through our own lives, offering profound comfort and assurance and often accompanying the darkest times of our own experiences of loss:
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
‘The Lord is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘therefore I will hope in him.’
My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.
And Jesus’ own words – spoken to comfort his dear friends and prepare them for his death – ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. This is indeed the will of my Father, that all who see the Son and believe in him may have eternal life; and I will raise them up on the last day.’
What is it that sustains us?
This is what sustains us – and sustained The Queen – throughout her long life, throughout her never-failing service and duty offered to us all, throughout all the joys and sorrows of her personal and public life and experience – this is what sustained her – the bread of life, the love of God, the promise of heaven, the power and strength of the One who made all things and who holds all things in life, not just in this passing world, but in the glorious life of eternity.
We give thanks that she enters into that glorious life today and we give thanks for her – words are not enough to express all that we feel – but our hearts and souls know a better way, a song of both lament and exulting hope –
Give rest, O Christ, to your servant, Elizabeth, with the saints: where sorrow and pain are no more, neither sighing, but life everlasting.
Rest eternal grant unto her O Lord
and let light perpetual shine upon her.
May she rest in peace
and rise in glory. Amen.
Thanks be to God.
Homily: Reverend Michelle Dalliston. 9th September 2022. (St John The Baptist Church Peterborough UK)
Referenced Scripture: Lamentations 3:22-26 & 31-33, Psalm 121, St John 6:35-40