The international Lee Abbey Community in Devon sends our condolences to the Royal family on the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second.
We are praying for all, and especially, on the accession of King Charles III, the King and the Queen consort.
This morning in our morning prayers we reflected on the life of the Queen using Mark 10:42-45 – a passage of Scripture she referred to in one of her Christmas broadcasts.
Jesus Christ calls his disciples to the greatness of serving and alludes to the “servant king” of Isaiah 53, mirrored by the Queen in her 21st birthday broadcast: “I declare before you all that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service. God help me to make good my vow, and God bless all of you who are willing to share in it”, a vow which she has consistently, courageously and faithfully lived to the end of her life.
The Queen was anchored by her faith, and yet was humbly open to change with the changing world.
The only book she officially approved, on her 90th birthday, and for which she wrote a foreword was “The Servant Queen and the King she serves” (2016) published by the Bible Society, HOPE and LICC.
In her 2011 Christmas broadcast, she explained that we cannot equip and empower ourselves to serve:
“‘Although we are capable of great acts of kindness, history teaches us that we sometimes need saving from ourselves – from our recklessness or our greed. God sent into the world a unique person – neither a philosopher nor a general, important though they are, but a Saviour, with the power to forgive.”
At this ‘Kairos’ moment, where we are given the opportunity to learn, grow and be transformed, how will we respond?
We give many thanks for the Queen and pray for King Charles III. May God give us grace for our own life of service.
