September 11, 2022 - Psalm 72 - Sermon for the Death of Queen Elizabeth ll
Today I want to acknowledge the event this past week that consumed a lot of radio time, television time and that was all over the Internet.
Of course I am referring to the death of the most well-known person on the planet in contemporary times, Queen Elizabeth ll.
I was on a video call with William, when my sister texted me that the Queen had just died.
Depending on your age perhaps, depending on your view of the Monarchy, depending on how deeply you struggle or how conflicted you might be about the colonial past and present impact on our world, the death of the queen of Canada, the queen of England and the commonwealth will affect you differently.
Comments I read online ranged from deep sorrow and grief to absolute glee, such is the variety of opinions about the monarch.
She was a committed, faithful follower of Jesus. She once said “Jesus Christ lived obscurely for most of his life and never travelled far. He was maligned and rejected by many though he had done no wrong. And yet, billions of people now follow his teachings and find in him the guiding light for their lives. I am one of them because Christ example helps me see the value of doing small things with great love“
You likely don’t know or perhaps care, but I am a loyalist - probably a soft loyalist, much preferring the model of our constitutional parliamentary monarchy over the republican system that dominates the lives of our neighbours to the south.
No government is perfect because all governments are run by people who, like us, are far from perfect.
Very briefly, I appreciate the continuity, the blend of connection with the past and the embrace of the new that the monarchy brings.
There perhaps is also something to be said for having a head of state who is broadly respected and non-politically biased as the chief global representative of our country. That’s already too much detail.
So I just want to knowledge the passing of Canada‘s queen, which of course also entails acknowledging Canada‘s and the commonwealth’s new king, King Charles lll.
When he was the Prince of Wales, King Charles visited the mission as part of his global work through the Prince’s Trust, which works to help youth and veterans, the young and the old.
A number of community members including mission staff met him and spent time with him.
Of course opinions about him cover the full gamut from respect to outright loathing, but I personally choose to give him the benefit of the doubt, particularly given that he was tutored in kingship for 70 years by the Queen, who in my view was an outstanding and admirable human being.
Our first scripture passage today, you might’ve noticed, is a prayer for the king, But as we will see it has strong implications for us as the people of God.
I thought it would be good to spend some time in this passage reflecting on how we, perhaps can pray for the new king of Canada, and also reflecting on the heart of God, as we learn what God expects from a king.
We’re going to look at these 3 truths:
The King should love justice, judge rightly and care for the afflicted and the children of the needy.
The King should command respect by his character, not only by His office.
All nations will be blessed through him, and they will call him blessed.
The King should love justice, judge rightly and care for the afflicted and the children of the needy.
There is a story that can be helpful in understanding this.
A man guilty of a serious crime stood in front of the judge. He was there for the pronouncement of his sentence.
The judge pronounced him guilty, as all the evidence led to this conclusion. The judge then sentenced him for his crime, and his crime being very serious, the penalty was death.
Upon the pronouncement of this sentence, the full impact of his crime,
its impact on others and now its consequences on his old life hit him fully in the face.
He understood that what he did was worthy of death, and now indeed that sentence was passed.
But then something very unusual happened. The judge stood up, took off his royal robes, and walked down to the man and stood beside him.
“I will pay the penalty for your crime”, said the judge to the convicted man. “Justice must be served, and I choose to serve it. You are free to go“.
The judge was handcuffed and taken to a cell to await the consequences. The man who went free, went rejoicing. But he never forgot the price that was paid for his freedom.
A good monarch, a good king is the servant of his subjects. This of course may well sound topsy-turvy to you.
For much of human history kings have been brutal tyrants, unjust, preoccupied with maintaining their power at all costs. We see this sometimes in modern-day politicians.
In 1947 Queen Elizabeth said, while she was still princess: "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."
That imperial family she referred to then is now the Commonwealth of Nations of which can is a part.
Upon her ascension to the throne she said:
"I have in sincerity pledged myself to your service, as so many of you are pledged to mine. Throughout all my life and with all my heart I shall strive to be worthy of your trust."
This ancient psalm, Psalm 72, sets out God’s intended pattern for Kings and Queens:
2 May he judge your people in righteousness, your afflicted ones with justice.
4 May he defend the afflicted among the people and save the children of the needy; may he crush the oppressor.
12 For he will deliver the needy who cry out, the afflicted who have no one to help.
13 He will take pity on the weak and the needy and save the needy from death.
14 He will rescue them from oppression and violence, for precious is their blood in his sight.
Of course the role of the monarchy has changed drastically. It is largely symbolic.
And while elected persons have this same responsibility, Queen Elizabeth, and now her son King Charless lll, could and will serve to be that constant reminder to modern governments in the UK and the Commonwealth of Nations,
that those who live their life in affliction, those who are needy, those with no one to help must have an advocate within the leadership of a nation. Leaders must care for and help the needy. This is God’s heart.
But here, this to, as we will see, applies to us in how we live our lives.
The King should command respect by his character, not only by His office.
This flows from the previous point. With all of the pressures of office and well-funded interest groups plying their wants, the King and his appointed representatives, including in our constitutional monarchy the Prime Minister, will be judged for their actions and in particular how their decisions impact the lives of those struggling in life, with the afflicted, with the poor.
The king needs to live a life dedicated to bettering the lives of others. That’s the most important thing a king or any leader can do.
Of course the way to do this is to remain truly humble. And the key to remaining humble is to acknowledge that there is One greater.
Queen Elizabeth said during her Christmas Message in 2014: "For me, the life of Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, whose birth we celebrate today, is an inspiration and an anchor in my life. A role model of reconciliation and forgiveness, he stretched out his hands in love, acceptance and healing. Christ's example has taught me to seek to respect and value all people of whatever faith or none."
The Queen had Jesus Christ as the anchor of her life and the primary inspiration for her life. She looked to His example sincerely and constantly throughout her life.
So much so that for others, including other who do not share her faith, she herself became an anchor.
Well-known TV host James Corden, himself a Brit, said this the other day as he publicly mourned the Queen’s passing: “She represented stability in a world where it feels like the floor is shaking”
The Queen also spoke of the impact of Jesus’ teachings on her life "For me, as a Christian, one of the most important of these teachings is contained in the parable of the Good Samaritan, when Jesus answers the question, 'Who is my neighbour?' It is a timeless story of a victim of a mugging who was ignored by his own countrymen but helped by a foreigner – and a despised foreigner at that.
The implication drawn by Jesus is clear. Everyone is our neighbour, no matter what race, creed or colour. The need to look after a fellow human being is far more important than any cultural or religious differences." (Christmas message, 2004)
The Queen acquired great wisdom in her life because of her relationship to Jesus. As she took counsel from the Word of God herself, she encouraged others to do the same. She said: To what greater inspiration and counsel can we turn than to the imperishable truth to be found in this treasure house, the Bible?
The Queen was respected, is respected still, for her character, rooted and grounded in the person of Jesus, the teachings of Jesus.
All nations will be blessed through him, and they will call him blessed.
The last point is from verse 17. May his name endure forever; may it continue as long as the sun. Then all nations will be blessed through him, and they will call him blessed.
Here we find the eternal purposes of God converging with temporal human leadership.
Again, this Psalm was written, as indicated in the first verse and throughout, for a human king. But you may have noticed that it also sounds a lot like it’s written about and to Jesus Christ.
Why is that? God intends human leaders to fulfill His purposes for humankind.
God truly cares about justice, he truly cares about human suffering, he truly loves the whole world, meaning, of course, all of the people on the planet.
So God‘s intention is that blessing come to all nations through human leader ship that is established, and like it or not, Scripture says that all authorities exist on earth have been established by God.
Romans 13:1 Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.
Obviously we need to hold the above in respectful tension with the reality that sometimes human governments have been evil, and have needed to be overthrown in order to establish God‘s justice. So yes, it’s a messy business.
But it should be obvious by now that there are limits to human government; that good and bad governments come and go, that differing political philosophies have different ideas about how to make life better for the majority.
It also might be obvious, if you’ve paid a lot of attention, that governments generally focus on making life better for the middle class and the upper classes, and, tragically, don't spend much energy or effort improving a lot of those who are suffering the most.
So of course it is not to human governments that we must look for our ultimate needs.
If we do that, we will be endlessly frustrated, because even if we like how things are going now under the current government, things will likely change, and not for the better, with the next government.
But the reality is that we don’t need to look to human governments, and we are not supposed to look to human governments.
Through our faith in God, we have the extraordinary gift and privilege of looking to Jesus Christ as our Rock, as our Anchor.
While we must pray for human in authority, and I really hope we do, we ultimately look to God for our needs, for our deliverance, for our healing. Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. HE is the King of Kings and the Lord of lords.
Jesus has made a way for us to come into relationship with God, through His precious blood shed on the cross.
There is simply no other way to come to God. As Jesus Himself said: John 14:6 “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
And there’s another thing - and this might be the thing you take home with you and wrestle with the most. Jesus is the King of kings, as I just said.
You, if you trust in Jesus sacrifice for your sins and if you have received Him as your Lord and Saviour, you, it follows, are an adopted child of the King of kings.
God alone fulfills all of the qualities and traits and requirements of a king perfectly. Yet as daughters and sons of God, children of the most high King of the universe, we must also be about the business of the king.
You may have noticed that once King Charles lll was officially appointed, he elevated his son, Prince William and his wife Kate Middleton, to being the new Prince and Princess of Wales.
In that capacity they are to be about the business of the new king. In fact in their relationship to the crown, all of the children and grandchildren of the Queen are to live their lives as representatives of the crown.
In a very real sense we, the adopted children of the most high God and King of the universe, get to be the hands and feet of the king of kings and Lord of lords, who dwells with God the father in glory. We are to be about the business of the king.
And here, briefly, is how our 2nd Scripture passage today connects the dots into our lives.
1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
What does that mean?
It means that the business of your life as a disciple of Jesus is really about the business of the King of kings. Are you trying to bring order into your life, to flee the chaos of addiction?
Ultimately, that’s for the King of kings. Are you pursuing God so that you can know ultimate freedom? That is wise. But it’s important to know the bigger picture.
It will benefit you enormously to overcome those things which hold you down, it will enlarge your life to seek God and pursue His purposes for your life, but there IS a higher purpose for your life: that we each bring honour and glory to our heavenly king.
We will one day dwell in glory, as people whose sins have been forgiven to the blood of Jesus Christ, but for now we have a job to do. How we think of ourselves and what we think of our responsibilities will make all the difference in our lives.
I close with a few quotes from the late Queen Elizabeth ll:
"To many of us our beliefs are of fundamental importance. For me the teachings of Christ and my own personal accountability before God provide a framework in which I try to lead my life. I, like so many of you, have drawn great comfort in difficult times from Christ's words and example." (Christmas message, 2000)
"I know just how much I rely on my own faith to guide me through the good times and the bad. Each day is a new beginning, I know that the only way to live my life is to try to do what is right, to take the long view, to give of my best in all that the day brings, and to put my trust in God. Like others of you who draw inspiration from your own faith, I draw strength from the message of hope in the Christian gospel." (Christmas message, 2002)
May we honour God in our lives.
May we take ourselves seriously as people who have a royal responsibility before our God, the King of kings, Jesus Christ.
May we live our lives knowing that we are to be about the King’s business, so in small ways and in big ways our lives might point others to Jesus, so that our lives might shed light on the goodness and love and power of God. Amen.
