If there is one thing I admired about Queen Elizabeth II during her reign it was her devotion to service of her country at the expense of herself.
We saw this throughout her reign where she vowed to serve "for as long as she lived, pledging her life to the service of her people and asking God's help to make good on that vow".
The key word in that quote is "with God's help". As Christian's we are called to serve one another in love through the power of the Holy Spirit. This is what Jesus referred to as "the helper" (John 15:26).
For the Queen, her love of her country and her God was bound up in the very institution she represented and this institution itself is highly symbolic of the love that Christ has for his church.
Let's start with the title that has now passed to her son, King Charles III. King Charles is now the Defender of the Faith and Supreme Governor of the Church of England. This title dates back to 1521 when King Henry VIII was the defender of the Catholic faith against Martin Luther.
With Henry VIII's decision to break from Rome and start the Church of England, the faith being defended changed to the Protestant faith and the title passed on to all his heirs.
One of the roles of the British monarch is to preserve the Protestant faith and it is very much spiritual. Personally, I believe reflects the will of Christ for his nation.
For example, the monarch is crowned in an abbey, not at the Houses of Parliament or even Buckingham Palace and the person who puts the crown on their head is not a politician or a public servant but the Archbishop of Canterbury.
The sovereign is not appointed; they are anointed. They are crowned to set them apart for service.
The monarch's role as head of state has evolved over hundreds of years and is beyond politics – the Crown is officially politically neutral and its roles in government are mostly ceremonial. In the case of Britain, the monarchy is an important focus of national identity.
For Christians our identity is of course in Christ but I believe that constitutionally the sovereign can help to provide a spiritual sense of identity. This was especially the case with Queen Elizabeth II, who used her annual Christmas Day speeches to talk about the story of the birth of Jesus and what it meant to her personally.
Although the Commonwealth is up made of many religions and cultures, the sovereign as Supreme Governor and Defender of the Faith is intended to act as a type of spiritual head that draws people together as Christ intends for all of us to dwell in unity.
We see this in the Psalms, when the psalmist writes "how pleasing it is when God's people live together in unity" (Psalm 133:1).
The Sovereign is to lead that nation together in unity and again, the ability of the monarchy to do that was seen in the death of the Queen when people across the four nations of the UK united in their grief.
The Sovereign also gives a sense of stability and continuity. Our God never changes and in a sense the monarchy represents that by upholding tradition and serving for the duration of their life, far outlasting successive governments and prime ministers.
During the reign of Elizabeth II, we saw turmoil, conflict and a pandemic but the monarch's guiding hand never changed.
God the Father through the power of the Holy Spirit does the same in our lives. Our lives may be full of turmoil but his hand slowly guides, protects us and get us through what we might face.
In the annual Honours Lists – in which the monarch awards MBEs and OBEs, the sovereign recognises success and excellence, and people serving the common good with their God-given talents.
Even the use of crowns is biblical. The Apostle Paul mentions the Crown of Righteousness and in fact there are five crowns mentioned in scripture as rewards for "faithfulness in this life". We see references to these all throughout the New Testament.
Of course these crowns are heavenly and obviously the Sovereign does not give out crowns, but they do give rewards and recognition to people who serve and achieve with distinction, very much like how our Lord rewards those who remain faithful in this life, whether it's the Crown of Righteousness (2 Timothy 4:8) or the Crown of Life (James 1:12).
And of course, the British Royal Family is known for its strong support to voluntary service, with various members lending their patronage to hundreds of charities.
As Christians we too are committed to voluntary service. The Apostle Paul throughout his ministry received his payment through manual labour. His ministry was voluntary but it was financed by a his day job of tent making
Much Christian work is done voluntarily because we want to serve, and we would rather serve than be served. Of course we have an obligation to bless those who bless us but blessing others without any reward is a big part of Christianity.
One last thing worth mentioning is the support shown by less senior extended members of the royal family. In an ideal world a Christian's work is supported by their family. We know this is not always the case in our broken world, especially for our persecuted brothers and sisters who can be rejected by their own family. But what we read in scripture through the line of Abraham going right down to Jesus was that they taught their children the ways of the Lord and to serve one another.
The monarchy models this in the way they pass on traditions to their heirs, traditions which historically have been Christian.
Through the British Empire, the royal family's Christian faith played an important role in the spread of Christianity all over the world so in a way, we can even thank them for this as well as their legacy of service to God and country.
