Worth our attention Click a picture to enhance it. Blue text = a clickable linkKey statements made by Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, in his sermon at the Queen's funeral are worth our attention. Here, if you wish to watch for six minutes, is a video of his speech. SurpriseFollowing his short opening prayer, the first sentence in the Archbishops's written text reads: 'The pattern for many leaders is to be exalted in life and forgotten after death. Wow! This is being said to a congregation of leaders. I wonder how many of them winced. Right in the first few words is an attack on exultation and thus on its accoutrements, power and prestige, which many leaders carry about with them just as they carry about their clothes. I was surprised. I thought the first few words would have been a statement about the devotion and graciousness of the late Queen. By contrastThe second sentence doesn't attack. It promises. 'The pattern for all who serve God – famous or obscure, respected or ignored – is that death is the door to glory.' Put more plainly – crudely some would say – serve God in life then at death go to heaven; heaven not being a physical place but life with God and with all those who have served God. Note that the sort of service is not specified. That is left to self-definition by the person who does it. But, according to the Archbishop, the reward is 'for all who serve God.' It doesn't come to those of some selected status or designated ethnicity or specific sexuality. It's for all who serve. What she didArchbishop Selby next led us to 1952. Her Late Majesty famously declared on a 21st birthday broadcast that her whole life would be dedicated to serving the Nation and Commonwealth. Rarely has such a promise been so well kept! Few leaders receive the outpouring of love that we have seen. Jesus – who in our reading (John 14 1-6) does not tell his disciples how to follow, but who to follow – said: "I am the way, the truth and the life". Her Late Majesty's example was not set through her position or her ambition, but through whom she followed.
I was particulary taken by the Archbishop's point that: 'Her allegiance to God was given before any person gave allegiance to her.' Was it that priority, of following the servant God, which motivated her and allowed her, even in difficult times, to serve others all those many years? So manyThat such a huge number of people came out to farewell the Queen was startling. I'm not a great fan of royalty so I was the more startled. All those people standing in queues for hours and hours! Displays of thankfullness are not common. More frequent are displays of demand. Demands for rights, demands for more. Demand displays we see daily in our news viewing. What was this outpouring of gratitude for? Archbishop Selby said: 'The grief of this day – felt not only by the late Queen’s family, but all round the nation, Commonwealth and world – arises from her abundant life and loving service, now gone from us.' A bit furtherI go a bit further than that. There was an element of pilgrimage here. Hundreds of thousands travelled to see the Queen's coffin, whether in the real or through their television screens. It reminded me of the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca. And pilgrimage is an act of worship. Were people worshipping the departed Queen? I think some were getting very close to that. The Archbishop, though, was pointing to the God the Queen worshipped and served. My hope is that many of us will follow his pointing. □ John McInnes Friday 23 September 2022 ##########
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