Changed from Glory into Glory: A Symbol of the Best of Us

 

The Revd Matthew P. Cadwell, PhD
The Old North Church, Boston
Memorial Service for Queen Elizabeth II
September 18, 2022

Changed from glory into glory, till in heaven we take our place, till we cast our crowns before thee, lost in wonder, love, and praise.
 
This final line from Charles Wesley’s glorious hymn may be among the most sublime in Christian hymnody. And particularly fitting as we gather this morning, with heavy hearts and hopeful spirits, to gave thanks for the extraordinary and singular life of Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth. For she, too, has been changed from glory into glory, taking her own place in heaven, no longer wearing an earthly crown but instead an heavenly one.
 
I suspect that like me, you found yourself washed by waves of emotion at news of the death of Her Majesty 10 days ago. While we know that no human being lives forever, somehow this time always seemed long in future and this human immortal. Queen Elizabeth had such an abiding, even eternal seeming presence. Just two days before, Her Majesty had accepted the resignation of one Prime Minister and welcomed the next. In the photos from that day in Balmoral Her Majesty appeared especially radiant—no crown or robes of state to distract from a deeper, inner light. Upon reflection, perhaps Her Majesty was anticipating the even greater glory to come on Thursday. Perhaps the glory from heaven was shining through even then, had we only known.
 
It has been moving reading and hearing reflections on Queen Elizabeth’s impact on individual lives. A friend in Toronto, who claimed not to be a royalist, shared a photo on Facebook of a letter she had received from the Queen’s Lady in Waiting, dated 1979. The Lady was commanded (that’s the word used) to thank my friend for the picture she drew as a kindergartner. It’s incredible to think how many such letters must have been sent over 70-years. To children (and adults) across the world, creating lasting bonds of affection.
 
Her Majesty’s more recent adventures with James Bond and tea this summer with Paddington Bear, and their shared appreciation for marmalade sandwiches (we now know what the Queen kept in her handbag all those years), endeared her to young and old alike, when age prevented her from being as publicly visible as she and we might have hoped. The long ques filing past Her Majesty’s coffin, sometimes 24 hours waiting, testify to the profound place Her Majesty secured in the hearts of a rainbow of people, diverse in interests, beliefs, languages, races, and political persuasions.
 
I read or heard somewhere that in Her Majesty’s 70-year reign, Queen Elizabeth is estimated to have met over 2 million people, with a special, unique power, to make them feel special. We know that was true here at Old North. Her Majesty’s visit in 1976 is held in our collective memory as one of our proudest, most significant moments. Many outside our community find it especially ironic, given this church’s role at the start of the American Revolution. That, too, is a proud moment, to be sure. But in visiting, Queen Elizabeth brought a unique kind of magic that she alone possessed. She shone a special, radiant light that has remained with us these 46 years.
 
In announcing the death of Her Majesty, the U.K.’s new Prime Minister Liz Truss reflected that the Second Elizabethan Age had ended, stating that Queen Elizabeth was the rock on which modern Britain was built. The first Elizabeth reigned 44 years. The second, 70 years, overseeing some of the greatest changes and evolutions in world history. Many of them positive, as people across the globe, of different colors, races, and backgrounds claimed right to self-determination, a beginning in the long reckoning with colonialism (this church and its complicated history being one manifestation), important work that has really just begun and will be ongoing far into the future; as women, following the example of the Queen, among others, asserted rights to equal leadership; as science and technology enabled us to soar into the farthest heavens; as we built a new global community and enduring alliances following two devastating world wars. Even the seeming intractable hostility between Britain and Ireland have calmed in the Queen’s time.
 
We’ve also witnessed and created unprecedented environmental destruction. It is fortunate that both King Charles and Prince William are devoted to using their energies to conserve what we can of our natural world, before it’s too late. Their shared passion demonstrates how the monarchy can evolve, finding meaning and impact in each new era, just as Her Late Majesty’s parents, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, gave inspiration and hope as the world was plunged into devastating war. In each successive age, these servants have demonstrated the power of their high calling, which comes not through legislative means, but through example.
 
Doubtless there were multiple occasions when Her Majesty would have wanted to speak out on issues of importance, perhaps even contradicting the positions of her governments. With Prime Ministers as diverse as Churchill, Wilson, Thatcher, Blair, and Johnson there must have been moments of personal disagreement. Her people, too, might have wished, sometimes, that the Queen had taken liberty to speak on issues of significance. But the Queen understood her role, her calling, to be a different one.   
 
Among the most eloquent statements following the Queen’s death was that of Sir Kier Starmer, leader of the Most Loyal Opposition in the House of Commons. I’d like to share from his statement:
 
Nobody under the age of 70 has known anything other than Queen Elizabeth II on the throne. For the vast majority of us, the late Queen has been simply the Queen. The only Queen. Above all else, our Queen. As we mourn her loss, we should also treasure her life. Our longest-serving and greatest ever monarch. Above the clashes of politics, she stood not for what the nation fought over. But what it agreed upon. In crisis, she reassured us. Reminding us that we are all part of something that stretches back through time. A symbol of the best of us….  Every time I had the privilege to meet the late Queen, she would ask the most searching questions because she wanted to understand the lives and struggles of her people. And as Britain changed rapidly around her, this dedication became the still point of our turning world. An example that taught us that whatever the challenges we face, the value of service always endures.   
 
“She stood not for what the nation fought over, but what it agreed upon.” That truth, in particular, has stayed with me. It points to the value of the modern monarchy as it has evolved, and why so many find themselves feeling tremendous loss for someone they hadn’t met or certainly known, but who held a place of inspiration, strength, hope, and example at the center of life. As Sir Kier, says so beautifully, the Queen was a symbol of the best of us.
 
While we did not know Queen Elizabeth’s inner thoughts, what she thought of her several Prime Ministers, the many US presidents she knew, or political debates over seven decades, she did share her Christian faith, through televised Christmas addresses. Addresses not prepared by Her Majesty’s government, but rather expressing her own faith and conviction. In these speeches Her Majesty’s sought to share the inspiration, comfort, and hope that characterizes Christian faith at its best. In 2000 the Queen said: “To many of us our beliefs are of fundamental importance. For me the teachings of Christ and my own personal accountability before God provide a framework in which I try to lead my life.” And in 2014: “For me, the life of Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace… is an inspiration and an anchor in my life. A role model of reconciliation and forgiveness, he stretched out his hands in love, acceptance and healing. Christ’s example has taught me to seek to respect and value all people, of whatever faith or none.’”
 
Assured of Her Majesty’s deep faith, we can be confident that she was received into the glorious arms of the God she followed and sought to serve so steadfastly, as Queen, as Defender of the Faith and Supreme Governor of the Church, as a disciple and follower of Christ. While we won’t have the blessing of seeing her again, Her Majesty’s memory and example of service and devotion, from the beginning of her life to the very end, will stand as inspiration for us all, as we follow our own unique callings and lead our own lives of faith and service.
 
In our Platinum Jubilee celebration a few short months ago, I shared a reflection by Boston Globe columnist David Wilson from the time of Her Majesty’s visit to Boston. He suggested that Queen Elizabeth was “a thread of fine gold in the often-shoddy fabric of our unruly times.” In her life, in her reign, Her Majesty was a golden thread woven into different eras and cultures. Even as there is great hope for those who will follow, none of us will see her like again. And so, we join Paddington and those who loved the late Queen in saying, “Thank you, for everything.”
 
May Her Late Majesty Rest in Peace and Rise in Glory. And may we be inspired by her example. 

Changed from glory into glory, till in heaven we take our place, till we cast our crowns before thee, lost in wonder, love, and praise. 

Amen.
 
© The Revd Matthew P. Cadwell, PhD