EARLIER in the summertime my spouse and I attended the funeral of a pricey buddy. He was in his nineties and through the previous few years had turn out to be more and more frail, though mentally lively. He and his late spouse had introduced up six adopted kids in a cheerful dwelling. He had been a profitable businessman, working within the subject of finance. Nevertheless the primary function of his life was that he was a Christian and deeply dedicated to his native Baptist church, which was the rock on which he constructed his life.
Throughout his final years he repeatedly mentioned demise along with his minister, however in a optimistic means. He longed to shake off his drained outdated physique, and was eagerly anticipating heaven.
His funeral was blissful and casual: on the request of the household nobody wore black. We sang joyous hymns which had been his favourites, with the studying of acquainted scriptures. Tearful homilies got by kids and grandchildren, recounting blissful and humorous reminiscences. The sermon delivered by his minister was highly effective and optimistic, preaching the gospel by which he had lived his life. The minister emphasised that we weren’t there to venerate a physique, however respectfully to eliminate it. Our buddy now not wanted it and had been trying ahead to his new heavenly physique which is the hope of all Christians.
Which brings me to the demise of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. It’s well-known that she too was a Christian with deep religion and dedication, and that this religion was her tenet as she accepted the sovereignty of God over her life.
Nevertheless I’ve been upset in the way in which that her religion has been offered during the last week, largely in fairly boring phrases of responsibility and self-sacrifice with frequent reference to her vow made in her ‘salad days’ when she was twenty-one. These components are, after all, a part of being a Christian, however there may be a lot extra to the Christian expertise. As St Paul summarised it, ‘And now these three stay: religion, hope and love. However the biggest of those is love.’ (New Worldwide Model)
I watched the granite expressions on the faces of her household as they processed up the Royal Mile in Edinburgh. This was comprehensible since that they had just lately misplaced their beloved mom. Nevertheless as soon as in St Giles Cathedral issues had been little higher. I do know it was billed as a time for reflection, not a funeral, however the dourness continued.
The primary lesson, a well known textual content within the fairly problematical E book of Ecclesiastes, was delivered by Scotland’s First Minister trying suitably extreme and who, I perceive, will not be a believer. So this was protocol, not religion. I cheered up a bit when the subsequent lesson was introduced from St Paul’s letter to the Romans, chapter eight. This explicit textual content is without doubt one of the treasures of the Church (actual treasure, not bits and baubles). Nevertheless the minister learn it in such a means as to suck all life and which means out of it.
The hymns had been simple, however it was clear that they had been unfamiliar to most of the congregation. Varied anthems had been sung by the choir however, ‘For individuals who like that form of factor,’ mentioned Miss Brodie, ‘that’s the form of factor they like.’
As to the eulogy, the established church buildings by no means miss a possibility to overlook a possibility. With hundreds of thousands, presumably billions, watching worldwide, what a possibility to incorporate a quick easy rationalization of the idea of the Queen’s religion because the minister did at my buddy’s funeral: that’s, the gospel. What we obtained was largely a rehash of what the secular reporters had been saying specializing in dedication to responsibility and so forth with a reference to the knowledge of Solomon. This was a bit unlucky since Solomon, regardless of all his knowledge, ended up a ineffective king, as any biblical scholar is aware of.
In fact I perceive {that a} memorial to a revered Queen can’t be as free and casual as was my buddy’s funeral, since there are numerous social and political points to be thought of. However in view of her real religion I’d have hoped for a bit extra pleasure and celebration and rather less distress.
I don’t mourn the demise of the Queen; I’m merely glad that God took her when she was prepared after a protracted and significant life. There are those that say that she held on that lengthy solely in order that she might do away with Boris Johnson. (I count on this sentence shall be edited out, however I couldn’t resist it!)
St Paul once more, as he contemplates his approaching ‘departure’ in his second letter to Timothy: ‘I’ve fought the great struggle, I’ve completed the race, I’ve stored the religion. Now there may be in retailer for me the crown of righteousness which the Lord will award me.’ (NIV)
I firmly imagine that this sums up Her Majesty’s life and that she can have gained such a crown, far larger than the bits of steel and glass positioned on her coffin.
