By Stephen Green
First published in Christian Voice May 2011
Luke 22:25 And he said unto them, The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and they that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors.
26 But ye shall not be so: but he that is greatest among you, let him be as the younger; and he that is chief, as he that doth serve.
27 For whether is greater, he that sitteth at meat, or he that serveth? is not he that sitteth at meat? but I am among you as he that serveth.
It was highly significant that the royal couple William and Catherine should compose a prayer to be read out by the Bishop of London in his sermon on their wedding day. This is what they prayed:
‘God our Father, we thank you for our families; for the love that we share and for the joy of our marriage.
‘In the busyness of each day keep our eyes fixed on what is real and important in life and help us to be generous with our time and love and energy.
‘Strengthened by our union help us to serve and comfort those who suffer. We ask this in the Spirit of Jesus Christ. Amen.’
COMFORT THOSE WHO SUFFER
They have begun by thanking God, whom they have acknowledged as their Father, for the blessings of their families, their love and their joy. Then they have prayed to keep their priorities right and to be generous in every way. Importantly, they have asked God to help them to serve and to comfort the suffering and they have asked it all in the Spirit of Jesus Christ.
The expression ‘comfort those who suffer’ reminds us of Jeremiah’s prophecy of the return ofIsrael:
Jer 31:13: Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, both young men and old together: for I will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort them, and make them rejoice from their sorrow.
Paul’s words to the Thessalonians:
1Thess 5:14 Now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly, comfort the feebleminded, support the weak, be patient toward all.
And Isaiah’s prophecy of the ministry of the Messiah:
Isa 61:1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;
2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;
3 To appoint unto them that mourn in Sion, to give unto them beauty for Ashes, the oil of joy for morning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.
4 And they shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations.
THE GREATEST SHALL BE AS THE LEAST
It was the late Sir Edward Heath who said in 1970 from the steps of10 Downing Street, ‘To govern is to serve.’ This is not the place to ask whether he lived up to that declaration; it is difficult not to fall short of our ideals in government. But the sentiment he expressed was most certainly informed by the words of Jesus Christ in Luke 22.
The concept of service is one which our monarch honours not least in the distribution of Maundy money, which finds its origin in our Lord’s washing of his disciples feet. And the paradox that the greatest shall be as the least, the master shall serve, the lowly shall be exalted, the meek shall inherit the earth finds its culmination in our Lord’s words in Matthew:
Matt 20:28: Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.
God gave himself for us, as a perfect design example of the greatest becoming the least and through that act of service being restored and glorified again. Christ’s sacrifice echoes a theme which runs all the way through scripture. In Mary’s song of praise God hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree (Luke1:52). Our Lord was not inventing a new doctrine. The psalm says:
Psalm 37:11: But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.
It could be difficult, humanly speaking, for the Duke and Duchess ofCambridgeto have the humility to come down from their lofty position and fulfil the hopes of their prayer. But that is precisely why they have prayed and we believe the grace of God will enable them and that God does indeed answer prayer.
Psalm 37:5: Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.
THE VIRTUE OF HUMILITY
The Bible is particularly keen to impress the virtue of humility on leaders. Paul in Romans 13 places the King under the authority of God. He is the minister of God, Paul writes. Human authority derives from Almighty God. Those were radical words at the time and they are radical words today.
King David in his last recorded speech remembered this:
Sam 23:3: The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me, He that ruleth over mean must be just, ruling asin the fear of God.
WhenIsraeldemanded a King, Samuel warned them of the tendency of Kings to oppress. No doubt he had in mind the warnings given to the future king in Deuteronomy not to multiply silver and gold, not to lift up his heart above his brethren, and above all to learn to fear the Lord his God by copying and studying the law of God (Deut 17:17-20). The king who keeps God’s commandments, we read, will prolong his days and those of his children.
In many ways, the Royal wedding service has come from a more traditionalist point of view than is fashionable amongst the ruling class today. Indeed, the concept of service itself is not exactly the flavour of the month. The evangelical awakening fostered Victorian philanthropy and our duty to serve became part of the Protestant work ethic. This Godly philosophy spread throughout the whole of society. Our civil service was the envy of the world and copied throughout the Commonwealth.
TARGETS REPLACED SERVICE
Until very recently we still thought we could rely upon those in public service to serve. Perhaps the only place where the ideal of service still persists is in the process of being elected to public office. Those seeking positions as members of parliament and especially as councillors find that to be voted in, particularly when trying to overturn another party’s majority, it is usually necessary to spend the four-year term leading up to the election making themselves available to the local community, taking uop local issues, helping with housing benefit, agitating for the fixing of street lights and paving stones. To be the chief in the community it is necessary to be among the people as one who serves.
But for permanent publ;ic sector staff, sadly, when the neo-conservative enthusiasm for targets moved in across theAtlanticlike a storm, it replaced the virtue of service by self-interest. What will benefit the community swiftly became subservient to that which would benefit the Department as the meeting of targets brought financial rewards to the organisation.
Social service used to be done in the community by middle-aged women, who gave their time as freely as William and Catherine prayed they would give theirs. Today, social services is a career and people seem only to care when they are paid to do so. Of course those same middle-aged women were able to give their time so freely because their husbands brought home a living wage and taxation was much lower than it is today. Arguably, the unpaid social workers of yesterday delivered a more understanding and compassionate service than the university-educated, politically-correct employees of County Hall.
Needless to say, the biblical injunction to do justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with thy God (Micah 6:8) has gone with the idea of service in our brave new secular world where everyone is out for himself, a law unto himself, there is no such thing as a society, and the family has been redefined to be two or more individuals who share a fridge.
A RETURN TO THE OLD PATHS
That is why we can be thankful and enthusiastic about the recent Royal wedding on so many levels. There were the three most influential leaders declaring and proclaiming the beauty and solemnity of marriage. We heard arguably the greatest Christian church in our land outside the cathedrals ringing with praises to God. We heard prayers made in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And above all, we heard the second in line to the throne and his bride pray in the spirit of Jesus Christ to serve the people and comfort those who suffer. We saw in that moment a declaration of faith from a man and a woman who will God willing one day be King and Queen. May the Lord uphold them, deepen and quicken their faith, bring those alongside them who will teach and encourage them, and bring their noble prayer to fruition.
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