In the past week the doors of our churches have been open to groups including local businesses and uniformed groups as well as individuals from school children to care home residents all leaving their messages to Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in our Books of Condolence. One message in particular stood out for me; from a woman who wrote that the Queen had been “Our one constant that has seen so many monumental changes throughout the world.”
That message recognises that we live in troubled times and times of great change, specifically at present with a new Prime Minister and a new King in short succession. So, as a nation, we face hard economic challenges amidst constitutional and political upheaval. Writing about this situation for the BBC, Mark Easton has said: “There are questions about the values that underpin our governance, about what democracy and the rule of law should mean in a Britain adjusting to a new relationship with the wider world; what tolerance and fairness should look like in a country fearing severe hardship in a cost-of-living crisis; a kingdom unconvinced in some quarters that it even wants to remain as a single sovereign nation.”
We are facing some of those questions because Queen Elizabeth is no longer with us. The Queen has been a point of stability in our nation; our one constant as the message in our Book of Condolence said or, as one of those interviewed on the TV News put it, the Queen has “always been a constant, a real stable pillar” or as one TV commentator said, “We’d got used to thinking she was immortal.” For many of us, she has been the only monarch we have known. From Winston Churchill, to Liz Truss, 15 prime ministers have served the queen throughout her reign of 70 years. So, while prime ministers came and went, the Queen was always there, a point of continuity in political change to the extent, as several commentators have said, we, therefore, thought she might go on for ever. In terms of her character, she has exemplified the saying, ‘Keep calm and carry on’ and has, therefore, been a point of calm – an anchor – for many in the storms of life. In terms of her role, she has been a point of stability as representative for the traditions, freedoms and responsibilities of our history and our system of parliamentary government.
The Queen was able to be an anchor for others because she saw God as her anchor. She said, “For me, the life of Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace … is an inspiration and an anchor in my life.” For her, “the teachings of Christ” and her “own personal accountability before God” provided the framework through which she tried to lead her life. She also spoke of the way prayer sustained her. In 1992, in a speech to mark the 40th anniversary of her accession, she thanked all those who had prayed for her and said that those prayers ‘sustained me through all these years’.
Like the Queen, King Charles III has also highlighted the inspiration that his faith provides in speaking of the Church of England - the Church in which his “own faith is so deeply rooted.” He said that: “In that faith, and the values it inspires, I have been brought up to cherish a sense of duty to others, and to hold in the greatest respect the precious traditions, freedoms and responsibilities of our unique history and our system of parliamentary government.” He then went on to say that: “As the Queen herself did with such unswerving devotion, I too now solemnly pledge myself, throughout the remaining time God grants me, to uphold the constitutional principles at the heart of our nation.” He ended by saying that, “in carrying out the heavy task that has been laid upon me, and to which I now dedicate what remains to me of my life, I pray for the guidance and help of almighty God.”
There’s a hymn that asks:
“Will your anchor hold in the storms of life,
When the clouds unfold their wings of strife?
When the strong tides lift, and the cables strain,
Will your anchor drift or firm remain?”
I am regularly meeting people at present who are essentially asking themselves that very question as life becomes more challenging and some of what we had previously viewed as certainties have been stripped away from us. When some of the basics in life, such as food and warmth, are threatened or become unaffordable, we begin to question the ability of the state and the private sector to provide and start to wonder whether God’s provision and support might actually be something we need.
In 1947, in her 21st birthday speech, Queen Elizabeth prayed, that God would help her to make good her vow to devote the whole of her life to the service of her people. She spoke often about how she asked for God’s help in undertaking her highly important role. She knew that she needed great strength to be able to serve others in the way to which she had committed.
She also saw the way in which Jesus provides an example for us of how to live an unselfish life in circumstances of adversity, saying in her 2008 Christmas Broadcast: “I hope that, like me, you will be comforted by the example of Jesus of Nazareth who, often in circumstances of great adversity, managed to live an outgoing, unselfish and sacrificial life … He makes it clear that genuine human happiness and satisfaction lie more in giving than receiving; more in serving than in being served.” His example was the reason why, in her 2020 Christmas Broadcast, she said, “We continue to … draw comfort that - even on the darkest nights - there is hope in the new dawn.”
The life of Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace was an inspiration and an anchor in the life of Queen Elizabeth. She was able to be an anchor – a point of stability – for others because Jesus was her anchor; an anchor that held and proved firm in the storms of life. As we face increasing storms without the example of Her Majesty, holding onto the anchor to which she held might be worth considering; doing so was certainly something she commended.
God is an anchor that holds firm not only for the present but also for the future, as Queen Elizabeth is now experiencing herself. Our Bible reading tonight (Revelation 21.1-7) speaks of the new heaven and new earth that God will create where there will be no more death, mourning, crying and pain. God’s promise is that we will inherit these things, living for eternity on earth with God’s kingdom come as it is in heaven where God will be our God and we will be God’s children. That reality is what Queen Elizabeth now experiences. Her anchor held firm in the storms of life and has drawn her through those storms into eternal rest.
“Will your anchor hold in the storms of life,
When the clouds unfold their wings of strife?
When the strong tides lift, and the cables strain,
Will your anchor drift or firm remain?”
The Queen has been “a constant, a real stable pillar,” a centre of calm, a point of stability, an anchor in the storms of life, for us. For her, however, it was the life of Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, was inspiration and anchor in her life. May it be so for us too. Amen.
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Audrey Assad - Abide With Me.
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