Welcome to the
North Wiltshire Methodist Circuit
The
Platinum Jubilee has just finished. Maybe you were avidly glued to the TV
watching all the events. Maybe you dipped into one or two (as we did) or maybe
you weren’t interested at all.
The
Coronation in 1953 was an event watch by millions of people. It was for many
the first time they’d watched anything on television. And those millions would
have seen the Queen swear the Coronation oath. I’m not going to reproduce it
here. It is quite long. (If you want to read it go to https://www.royal.uk/coronation-oath-2-june-1953 ) But one part is this. The Queen was asked
by the then Archbishop of Canterbury:
“Will you to the utmost of your power maintain
the Laws of God and the true profession of the Gospel?”
And she replied “I will”
I
must admit to being a bit ambivalent about the monarchy. Consequently, I didn’t
get caught up in all the flag waving. I find it a bit strange that so much
adulation is poured on one person and one family who are incredibly rich and
live in palaces and castles.
However,
I do have a great deal of respect of Her Majesty the Queen. As she has demonstrated
throughout her reign, she has a strong and sincere Christian faith which has
become clearer each year in recent times during her Christmas Day broadcast.
This is all part of what she declared back in June 1953 at her Coronation.
In
Luke chapter 7 verses 1 – 10 we have the story headed in modern Bibles as “the
faith of the Centurion”. A Centurion as you probably know was an important
Roman soldier. An officer. In the story a certain Centurion sent for Jesus as
the Centurion had a servant who was gravely ill. And the Centurion “valued
the man highly” v2. The Centurion had heard of Jesus being able to heal
people so sent for Jesus.
The
Centurion is an important man “8 For
I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one,
“Go”, and he goes; and that one, “Come”, and he comes. I say to my servant, “Do
this”, and he does it.’
But
when Jesus came to the Centurion the Centurion said “‘Lord, don’t trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to
have you come under my roof. 7 That is why I did not
even consider myself worthy to come to you”
Jesus is really impressed by this man’s humility.
The servant is healed, and Jesus says he is yet to find someone with as great a
faith as the Centurion.
No doubt the Queen can say to people “Come” and
they come or “Do this” and they do it. Nonetheless I believe despite her great
power and influence, she is humble enough to accept Jesus as her Lord and
Saviour.
Welcome to the
North Wiltshire Methodist Circuit
The
Platinum Jubilee has just finished. Maybe you were avidly glued to the TV
watching all the events. Maybe you dipped into one or two (as we did) or maybe
you weren’t interested at all.
The
Coronation in 1953 was an event watch by millions of people. It was for many
the first time they’d watched anything on television. And those millions would
have seen the Queen swear the Coronation oath. I’m not going to reproduce it
here. It is quite long. (If you want to read it go to https://www.royal.uk/coronation-oath-2-june-1953 ) But one part is this. The Queen was asked
by the then Archbishop of Canterbury:
“Will you to the utmost of your power maintain
the Laws of God and the true profession of the Gospel?”
And she replied “I will”
I
must admit to being a bit ambivalent about the monarchy. Consequently, I didn’t
get caught up in all the flag waving. I find it a bit strange that so much
adulation is poured on one person and one family who are incredibly rich and
live in palaces and castles.
However, I do have a great deal of respect of Her Majesty the Queen. As she has demonstrated throughout her reign, she has a strong and sincere Christian faith which has become clearer each year in recent times during her Christmas Day broadcast. This is all part of what she declared back in June 1953 at her Coronation.
In Luke chapter 7 verses 1 – 10 we have the story headed in modern Bibles as “the faith of the Centurion”. A Centurion as you probably know was an important Roman soldier. An officer. In the story a certain Centurion sent for Jesus as the Centurion had a servant who was gravely ill. And the Centurion “valued the man highly” v2. The Centurion had heard of Jesus being able to heal people so sent for Jesus.
The Centurion is an important man “8 For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, “Go”, and he goes; and that one, “Come”, and he comes. I say to my servant, “Do this”, and he does it.’
But when Jesus came to the Centurion the Centurion said “‘Lord, don’t trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. 7 That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you”
Jesus is really impressed by this man’s humility. The servant is healed, and Jesus says he is yet to find someone with as great a faith as the Centurion.
No doubt the Queen can say to people “Come” and they come or “Do this” and they do it. Nonetheless I believe despite her great power and influence, she is humble enough to accept Jesus as her Lord and Saviour.