"Do not let your hearts be troubled."
If we know anything at all about life in this year of grace 2023, it is surely that many hearts and many minds are troubled indeed. To find unequivocally good news anywhere is incredibly hard…Wars and rumours of wars, the climate crisis, the cost of living crisis, the refugee crisis (three crises on that scale feels like some kind of a record) plus the struggles of the NHS and strikes in profusion. We have no shortage of things to trouble us, and those widespread feelings of disquiet are surely part of why some voices have proclaimed that this weekend of Coronation celebrations is completely out of step with the reality of life for most people. It’s hard not to sympathise with those who suggest that this is really not the time for a colossal party, particularly if you are ambivalent about all that is being celebrated.
After all, we are seeing so many national and international institutions failing. Things we had believed in – that ours is a hospitable country that always seeks to welcome those in need, that we can always expect to find integrity in public life, that our national institutions in Church and State can be relied upon to meet our needs when the chips are down – are inevitably challenged by the evidence of life around us.
Listen!
Our Earth is degenerate in these later days; there are signs that the world is speedily coming to an end; bribery and corruption are common; children no longer obey their parents; every man wants to write a book and the end of the world is evidently approaching."
OK. Those words allegedly come from Assyria in the year 2800BC – and while that source may not be entirely accurate either, you’ll recognise the general drift. Since time immemorial, there has been much to trouble our hearts…and if you seek your security in any of the institutions that have been created to bolster society – Church, State or monarchy, - then you can expect to be disappointed.
You see it’s all a question of where you place your belief, and your allegiance.
Believe in God. Believe also in me
It’s striking that today’s gospel, offering reassurance to so many grieving families, provided the text for Archbishop Justin’s sermon to a grieving nation at the last great state occasion, the funeral of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Speaking then, he drew inspiration from Queen Elizabeth’s strong Christian faith, the foundation of her life of loving service. Church of England convention demands that in this Easter season if we are only having 2 Sunday readings we must always include Acts alongside the gospel. Today that’s rather a shame, as the alternative from the first letter of Peter sets out the theme of Christ as sure foundation, and invites us to “come to him, a living stone” so that we may be set apart, our identity taken up into his as we become
“A chosen race, a royal priesthood…once not a people, now God’s people”
This is to be our foundation too. It’s not about how well we follow, but whose way.
I am the way, says Jesus, …come and walk in it, tread my path of welcome, forgiveness, reconciliation and service.
That’s an invitation for each and every one, great or small.
And what might this way look like for you and me today?
Yesterday’s coronation began with a child…
‘Your Majesty, as children of the kingdom of God, we welcome you in the name of the king of kings.’
And the King replied in his name – the name of Jesus, the name of the king of kings – and after his example, ‘I come not to be served but to serve.’
And that’s it.
For us and for him.
That service which is perfect freedom, the heart of Jesus' leadership, was the first theme of the coronation liturgy…a compelling reminder amid all the pomp and circumstance, that here we saw an individual undertaking to live his life for the sake of others. Being human, Charles will do this more successfully at some times than others…and he bears a huge weight of expectation from so many, whom he will surely disappoint along the way. But the intention is there. As Prince of Wales he lived with the motto “Ich dien” – I serve. Now as monarch he has been charged with that service in so many ways, heavy with symbolism. Whatever your feelings about yesterday’s events, can I invite you to find time soon to stand in our Chapel of Christ the Servant and pray for the man who can never be more than a man, but of whom we ask so much.
But then, can I encourage you to reflect on how that loving service which he has pledged to us, can be made real in your own life as well. This is our calling too.
Ask God what situations and relationships are lined up for you to practice Christ-like living – as the Prayer Book puts it “ that we may do all such good works as thou hast prepared for us to walk in”. Seek out those opportunities, and then get on with doing them. It’s as simple and as challenging as that.
If all that feels beyond you, if you feel too small, too sad, too tired or bewildered to do anything at all, if your heart is indeed deeply troubled then remember that after all the high ceremonies yesterday, the new King and Queen made their way to the altar as we will do shortly, to receive the life that is Christ, offered to us in bread and wine.
In that sacrament there is food for our journey, the food that transforms us, God coming to us that we might come to God and know for ourselves that truth and that life which we can claim now and for eternity.
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