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Morning Devotion for the Season after Pentecost

September 26, 2022

Invitatory

Thus says the high and lofty One who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy, “I dwell in the high and holy place and also with the one who has a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble and to revive the heart of the contrite.”

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son: and to the Holy Ghost;

As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end. Amen.

Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness: Come let us adore him.

Reading - 1 Timothy 2:1-7

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings should be made for everyone, for kings and all who are in high positions, so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity. This is right and is acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For

        there is one God; 

                there is also one mediator between God and humankind,

        Christ Jesus, himself human,

                who gave himself a ransom for all

—this was attested at the right time. For this I was appointed a herald and an apostle (I am telling the truth,* I am not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.

Meditation - Winnie Smith

Like many of you, I’m sure, I have been captivated by coverage of the death of Queen Elizabeth II. I have a family of English majors and a mother who warned a succession of bosses that she would request bereavement leave on the occasion of the queen’s inevitable death. The Queen and her family always felt a bit like extended members of my own.

While I watched with awe and delight the pomp and circumstance surrounding last Monday’s funeral and committal services, I was also struck by my discomfort with it all. An American raised with a clear concept of separation of church and state, I struggle with the notion of one person serving as head of state and head of the Church. All my life, words such as  “sovereign” and “kingship” have been reserved for religion: only to describe God and Christ. So I had difficulty with the jewel-encrusted symbols of the late Queen: the orb, scepter, and Imperial Crown. These stunning items, known as the instruments of state, were affixed to the top of her casket throughout the long week of lying in state, funeral service, and public processions. At the end of the committal, the last public rite, they were removed and placed on the high altar of St. George’s Chapel, moments before the coffin descended into the Royal Vault. God, we were meant to infer from this rite, reigns supreme over even the world’s most beloved monarch. Stripped of her instruments of state, Elizabeth - not the Queen - was laid to her eternal rest.

It was a striking display. Watching, I wondered how the Queen, a woman of deep Christian faith, could reconcile her own wealth and position while professing to believe in a God who reigns over all.

It’s possible that Queen Elizabeth, who is said to have overseen the planning of every detail of the past weeks, showed us this reconciliation herself, through the rite I just described as well as in her selection of hymns such as “The day thou gavest, Lord, is ended.” The last stanza:  “So be it, Lord; thy throne shall never, like earth’s proud empires, pass away; thy kingdom stands, and grows forever, till all thy creatures own thy sway.”

Earth’s proud empires will pass away; what will stand forever is God’s kingdom. That is why the Queen was committed to God’s care and keeping not as her majesty but as his servant Elizabeth. In the Kingdom of Heaven, she is simply another beloved child of God. And that is why, in today’s reading from 1 Timothy, we are called to pray for all - monarchs, presidents, prime ministers, justices of the court, and those who ostensibly have no power at all. Because ultimately, each of us is powerless in the face of Almighty God. I am grateful for that powerlessness because it means that the exhausting quest for influence and success here on earth will one day be meaningless. On that day, may we all lead the life described in 1 Timothy: “a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity.”

The Lord's Prayer

Our Father, who art in heaven,

    hallowed be thy Name,

    thy kingdom come,

    thy will be done,

        on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our trespasses,

    as we forgive those

        who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation,

    but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom,

    and the power, and the glory

   for ever and ever. Amen.