Duais

"Well done, good and faithful servant... Come and share your master’s happiness!" Matthew 25.23

Her Majesty the late Queen Elizabeth was revered across the spectrum of classes and communities within the UK, across the Commonwealth and throughout the world. Here in the multicultural melting-pot which Britain has become, people from around the world with different religious convictions felt comfortable with her being their sovereign lady; all the more remarkable when one considers how she wore her own faith on her arm, so to speak. Perhaps that is what won her the admiration she enjoyed: she stood for something. The gracious yet open manner in which she expressed her Christian belief gave others - whatever their religious commitment - the confidence to embrace theirs.

People will remember Queen Elizabeth in all sorts of capacities - as monarch, of course, yet also as matriarch, sports-woman, confidant of world leaders, Head of the Commonwealth... the list goes on. In time it may be her spiritual leadership that is missed the most. In a society whose rate of change seems to be accelerating exponentially, she loomed large as a steady ship because of her rock solid-trust in Jesus as Lord and Saviour. That she was unashamed to confess and share that trust, especially in her Christmas broadcasts, allows us the comfort of assuming that she is now enjoying the reward awaiting all who serve as witnesses to the crucified and risen Christ. That, more than the plaudits which are pouring in from around the world, will be what matters to her now.