So we have had our days of Diamond Jubilee celebration. It has been ludicrously expensive, faintly cheesy at times (especially if you were watching some of the BBC coverage) and probably incomprehensible to most people from outside the commonwealth, but it has revealed something about the British and the institution at the centre of British life.
I am not an ardent royalist and I don't go along with the idea that these few days alone make it great to be British. But when I see the levels of genuine devotion displayed this weekend it does make me think that there are a lot worse things that a nation could unite around than a hereditary constitutional monarchy. Did we need a thousand boat Thames River pageant? Probably not. Could we have done without Sir Cliff, Sir Elton and Sir Paul straining their ageing vocal chords (and our ears)? Yes we undoubtedly could. But would this nation be better off as a republic? On balance I think, probably not.
If the small group of royals who appeared on the balcony to wave to the crowds at the end of the celebration represent the future scale of monarchy without all the other hangers on then it demonstrates that this institution is adapting to its future, less extravagant role and doing so at a time when every other institution in national life is suffering from chronic distrust and decline. Somehow an incredibly privileged family have demonstrated an ability to truly connect with ordinary people and win their support without changing their essential character.
Is there a lesson here for the church, I wonder? We may not, indeed we must not change our essential message because it is a message which is and will always be necessary and relevant but we must find ways to live and breathe and share that message in our communities. We must dispense with the hangers on of unnecessary tradition, enlightenment rationalism and postmodern attempts at relevance and reconnect the gospel message with real people. We need to be 'good news' in our communities and share good news with those around us. We have it to share. The irony is that we have had a tendency in church to keep what makes us irrelevant and discard the necessary gospel truth in the dogged pursuit of relevance.
The Queen's sixty years have shown us what kind of impact single minded devotion to the service of a cause can have. Christians are called to single minded devotion to the service of Jesus Christ. He was single minded in his devotion to serve God and achieve our salvation. He deserves no less than our whole lives in glad service to him.
I still have problems with enforced flag waving. The first verse of 'I vow to thee my country' is nothing short of an invitation to idolatry. Just having a royal servant like Elizabeth II does not mean that being British is any better than being French or Chinese or Peruvian. But there are worse things to bring about a national celebration than an avowedly Christian woman who has served her God and her country with loyalty and, at times, courage for sixty years.
I only have three pleas for the next such royal occasion. Try to make it slightly less expensive, leave the boats out of it and please, please, please let Sir Cliff, Sir Elton and Sir Paul fade away into retirement.
