Minister’s letter – June 2018
Dear friends,
I know this is the June newsletter but, as I type, it is the day just after the Royal Wedding and I can’t pass up the opportunity to mention it. I don’t know if you lapped it all up yesterday or had had enough of all the fuss by then, but one thing is for certain: as a country, we do love our pomp and ceremony – and, truth be told, we do it well.
It’s hard to put a finger on it, but there’s something about the pageantry, about the sense of history, about the idea that dreams can come true – that an ordinary girl from a fairly unremarkable background can be become a princess (or at least a duchess) – that appeals to something in us that would like our own situations to be better – or more glamorous – or just other from what they are. To be sure, we don’t think like that all the time and I doubt there’s even one of us who would really want to be a ‘royal’ or a celebrity or to win the lottery to the tune of millions. The reality would be very different from the dream and I suspect we would be quickly disillusioned.
Still, we like to have people to look up to, people who can be role models and that’s not a bad thing. We like to have something or someone to strive after. We just need to ensure that our idols don’t turn out to have feet of clay.
There are many people who have lived lives that are worthy of emulating. Think of Mother Teresa. When she died she left behind all her worldly possessions: a bucket and a change of sari—the complete opposite of what society promotes where possessions equal happiness. Or what of Stormzy, a cool black rapper unafraid to sing his faith through his lyrics? Not so many singers would be comfortable laying out their belief knowing it could lose them popularity in the ever-changing music scene. Or the sports men and women, past and present, who have been prepared to declare their Christianity, to put it before their chance for personal glory? Or those men and women of faith, unknown except to their families and friends, who have lived quiet lives of integrity and honour, never looking for recognition or self-gratification?
Whoever might appeal to us, there’s One role model who will never let us down, One whom to follow means a total change of priorities in our lives: Jesus, the king with a difference; Jesus, the king who spurned the trappings of royalty. Impossible to imagine him riding in a golden carriage drawn by four gleaming Windsor Greys, surrounded by a guard of Blues and Royals, he who rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, who bore no crown save one of thorns, who wore no luxurious garments except a borrowed purple robe. A king whose kingdom turns everything upside down. A king who asks us to think again about what really matters and how we should live our lives.
I wish Harry and Meghan well. I hope they will be happy together. I hope that they allow space in their marriage for the love of God to bless it. I am sure they will work hard at all that is involved in being modern-day royals and I hope that in doing so they will know that they are living lives of purpose, doing work they can be proud of. But when it comes to princes and kings, it’s the Prince of Peace and the King of Heaven I’m planning on following for the rest of my days.
With every blessing,
Sharon