Good and Faithful Servant 

‘Well done, good and faithful servant!’
(Matthew 25:21) 

On Thursday September the 8th, 2022, it was with profound sadness that the nation learned of the death of Her Majesty The Queen, at Balmoral, aged 96. On Monday September the 19th, millions around the UK, Commonwealth and the world, will gather to say a final farewell and thank you, to our beloved Queen Elizabeth II. 

There was a poignance in her passing that evoked a strange and sudden wave of emotion in many of us. As the hours and days passed, news crews around the world interviewed many as they tried to process and understand such a deep sense of personal loss, for someone who for so many of us, had not actually met in person, yet it felt like we were grieving the loss of a family member. 

So what could give rise to such a reaction? Perhaps, as Boris Johnson said in his recent tribute, she had become to many ‘a changeless human reference point.' Through decades of change, she had remained a constant, and throughout her reign showed us, time and time again, what it is to give, to love and to serve. 

However, this ‘changeless human reference point’ was just that - human. For all her regality she was by no means immortal or invincible. She, like all of us, had a beginning and an end. So how could she possibly manage for all those decades to love and serve in such great capacity as she did? 

I believe she was able to remain a constant because she knew the one, and was empowered by the one, who is the constant. Our cornerstone, our sure and steadfast hope, our ever present help in times of need, the everlasting changeless one, our defender, redeemer, restorer and rock, our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. 

Without doubt it was her deep love for Jesus, and her dependence on Him, to sustain and guide her throughout her reign, and her willingness to put Him first and foremost, that fuelled such love and dedication of duty, right to the very end. Whether people realise it or not, it was in fact the love of Jesus in her that drew them in, captivating and awakening that same desire to both be loved and to love as she had. 

When we look back over the decades of her reign we will remember her constancy, her faithfulness to duty, her servant heart, and her many wise words of comfort during times of uncertainty. But above all I hope we remember her great faith in Jesus, who Himself came ‘not to be served, but to serve’ (Matthew 20:28) and how she sought to live and lead by His example. A life driven by duty, and sustained by her faith in the one who was, and is, and is to come. 

So I shall close by saying thank you and farewell to our ‘good and faithful servant’, and in the tender-hearted words of our newly proclaimed King Charles III “May flights of angels sing thee to thy rest."

All my hope on God is founded;
He doth still my trust renew.
Me through change and chance he guideth,
only good and only true.
God unknown, He alone
Calls my heart to be his own.
Amen.