All Souls 2022
I’d like to start this evening by reiterating the welcome Huw extended to you at the start of our service this evening. Whilst you may not wish to be here today – because the very fact that you are here tonight means that you are mourning somebody you have loved who is no longer with us on earth, you are welcome here. You are welcome to worship, or to mourn, or to do both, or do neither. You are welcome to join in, and you are welcome simply to sit, and to just be. This year as a nation, we have all taken part in a prescribed period of mourning for Queen Elizabeth II, and although that period was directed by such public institutions as the Royal Family, the government and the BBC, when it comes to personal mourning, there is no right way to grieve; there is only your way, unique to you.
That may feel an isolating experience sometimes. Grief is often lonely. But tonight, we at St Michael’s are honoured that you have allowed us to share in your experience in this All Soul’s service. Though we do not – and cannot – know how you feel tonight, we can mourn with you. We do mourn with you.
I think this year is an especially hard year to have been affected by the death of someone you love. Whilst we all mourn the death of the late queen – and tonight we remember her as well, and her lasting impact upon us, our country and our world, it is understandable to feel that her death overshadowed all others that have occurred this year. Her funeral was grander than any other I have seen; her prescribed period of mourning longer than any other I have known – the 10 days of National Mourning longer than most of your employers would have given many of you when your own loved one died.
Most years, at the end of December, I watch the regular round-ups of the year that’s passed on TV. I always find myself surprised to hear of the deaths of one or two celebrities that occurred within the last 12 months; the news of their deaths having been overshadowed by some other major news event that occurred at the same time. This year, I imagine, will be an extreme case. In the eyes of the world, no death this year – no death within the last 50 years, I imagine – has been as important as that of Queen Elizabeth’s.
But that isn’t the case.
Not to you – the death of Queen Elizabeth II is not the most important death of the past however many years to you.
And not to God either. I might allow the weight of the world to steal my focus, and let the deaths of a number of minor celebrities pass me by, but God sees them all. Jesus tells us that not even a tiny sparrow falls to the ground without God noticing. And can you imagine how infinitely more God cares for you than for a sparrow? Can you imagine how infinitely more God cares for those whom you love than for a sparrow? We human beings may have favourites, or believe that one person is more important, more special or more worthy than another, but to God, every life is equally holy, and every death is equally sacred. And whether your loved one lived in a palace in London, or in a bungalow down the road, and whether their funeral was attended by presidents and princes, and watched by millions around the world, or whether it was attended by the priest and a handful of people at the very most, they were loved - so very loved - not just by you, but by the God who made them, and then, at last, welcomed them home into his everlasting presence.
Queen Elizabeth may have been afforded all the pomp and ceremony of our kingdom in the aftermath of her death, but I can promise you this – when your loved one died, they were afforded all the pomp and ceremony of the kingdom of God when they were welcomed into Heaven.
And what a welcome that will have been; taken by the hand, not by Paddington Bear, but by Christ the Redeemer. Gently leading them into the presence of God, just as he will do for us all one day, to be reunited with all those whom we have loved and who have gone before us, to worship and continue to love, and to simply sit and just be.
Amen.
Comments
Post a Comment