Sermon preached at St. Andrew's Church of Scotland in Rome on September 25, 2022 in memory of HM Queen Elizabeth II

Two weeks ago, the world bid farewell to one of the greatest leaders of the 20th and 21st centuries. Queen Elizabeth II reigned for 70 years. She was crowned in a world ruled by men, she oversaw scientific and humanitarian achievements. 

Her first prime minister was Sir Winston Churchill, she helped disestablishing the British Empire and oversaw the formation of the Commonwealth of Nations; she helped to bring an end to apartheid in South Africa, she witnessed the first man on the moon, she flew on the supersonic Concorde, she even used social media. 

She reigned without error for 70 years; years of service and dedication to her people. Queen Elizabeth II was a woman like no other. A true and strong leader who promised to serve her people until the end - which is exactly what she did.

The late Queen was also a strong believer. She was the Supreme Governor of the Church of England, and when in Scotland, she upheld the Presbyterian faith of the Church of Scotland, and indeed, she died as one.

She was also a Christian servant, like many of us - when she was anointed Queen, she accepted a role of prominence, a role that gives immense responsibility - the orb she held was a cross of both power and servanthood. 

To me, she was a great example of a devoted Christian; many will remember her Christmas messages, deeply rooted in the Gospel - lately, her Easter message too. She never failed to deliver Christ’s word of resurrection life. 

Two favorite quotes of the late Queen remind me of her strong faith: Genuine human happiness and satisfaction lie more in giving than receiving; more in serving than in being served and We can surely be grateful that, two thousand years after the birth of Jesus, so many of us are able to draw inspiration from his life and message, and to find in him a source of strength and courage. 

Last week, over half of the world’s population watched her funeral either on tv or on some other form of media. It was a grand service, something whose grandeur we might not witness for the rest of our lives. The service reminded us that she belonged in history with the great women of ages past; Elizabeth I, Victoria. 

However, if one payed attention to the funeral itself, taking away the beauty of the music, architecture, pageantry - one would have noticed that the words of the Book of Common Prayer of the Church of England did not refer to her as Queen, but as a mere woman, Elizabeth, perished like many others before her. 

This was made even more real when her crown, orb and sceptre were placed on the altar at the end of the last service at St. George's Windsor. What does that signify? 

It signifies that even a great person such as her, anointed by God... was also a simple saint like many of us who walk on this earth, and that finally she joined the great company of heaven, together with our dear ones; the simplest and poorest, the smartest and richest. The late Queen was always aware of that and her faith remains a testimony of this.

The funeral was marked by the colors purple and white, one representing royalty since time immemorial, the other representing the resurrection - this is how the rich man in today’s Gospel was dressed too. On the other hand, we have poor Lazarus, finding himself in the poorest state of human conditions. 

In the end both died, the poor Lazarus was taken up by angels, the other one ended up in Hades, begging for help from Lazarus. The moral of the story is that Luke warns us to not exceed in our lives without being considerate of our neighbor.

How are we considerate of our neighbor? There are many themes besides wealth that can apply to this. How can we feast or travel or enjoy our comfortable Western lives without being considerate of the environment for example. How do we respect our neighbor? Sometimes it is about making the right political choice, casting down the right vote - taking that decision that will enable our least unfortunate neighbor to benefit from our decision. 

That can mean not doing business with a certain company, not buying their products, not electing a certain leader and of course not exploiting our planet earth and this very fragile ecosystem in which we all belong. 

Mistreating our planet means that someone else, somewhere else might lose their livelihoods. It’s difficult to try and be sensitive about these issues, and the late Queen certainly was, today King Charles III brings forth those ideas.

We don’t have to be kings or queens in order to make a difference though, our help can come in our own personal ways. Each small brick helps building the collective mansion in which we all belong.

I am not intending to turn this into a memorial service, but I think it is important to remember the great events and people of history. Especially those that contributed to the common good and our collective faith in an important manner - and in this case, what I also admire is that in a way it is easier to relate to her than to other holier figures. 

Realistically, she was a Christian we can all identify with - she was a mother, her children didn’t always behave, she didn’t profess her faith from the pulpit, but from the pew. I really appreciated this.

Why does half the world respect this wealthy elderly woman so much? Because she worked hard, cared about her neighbor and she never feasted lavishly - at least not in the way that our character in the Gospel did. Jesus wants to remind us to be good stewards of creation and of our more vulnerable sister or brother, he doesn’t want us to become puritans. 

There is one thing for certain, our time on earth here is very short. I am still young but I am more than a quarter of century old, I know time goes very quickly. I remember being a teenager like it was yesterday, when I felt powerful... but it all goes very quickly. We are not remembered for our bad deeds but for our good ones. We have to use our time on earth at our own advantage.

If there is something not going right in our lives we should try and fix it. Why not make that phone call to that relative of friend who’s a bit aggressive, he probably suffered a lot. Why not make the most out of our planet without spoiling it? If we were all to make certain kind of changes collectively, the world would be a much better place.

If you think, well, what if I am nice and then my neighbour is rude in return? What if I stop using plastic and then my neighbor throws his trash in the street? What is my portion all for? Why should I vote if they’re all bad? It is this kind of mentality which doesn’t allow us to strive for the common good and find a good solution to many of our common problems. 

We don’t have to be kings or queens, or presidents or senators, or astronauts, singers or artists to make a change. We are more powerful than that, ultimately. It is together that we are strong in Christ, it is together that Christ is in us, as the body; the Church. There is no time to fight earthly battles, because in the end we all become dust - crowns will be deposed, academic titles will be no more, money will be no more - queens and maids will be equal, as we have seen very well last week. 

We witnessed history; Queen Elizabeth II joined Elizabeth I, Victoria and all the great women of history but ultimately what is it that happened? A woman joined her father, mother, sister and husband in a relatively common tomb.

One of the late Queen’s favorite hymns used during her Platinum Jubilee also happens to be one of my favorite hymns. It is a hymn that reminds us of our frailty and that we only have but a short time. It is in this short time that we should try and make a change. We are all servants of one another, we are all children of God - together, we are Christ’s body. Let us make this together happen so that we may see the final day. We will wither, but our home remains steady to welcome us in.

To all life thou givest— 

to both great and small;

In all life thou livest, the true life of all; 

We blossom and flourish as leaves on the tree, 

And wither and perish—

but nought changeth thee.