Remember the Creator - A Saviour with the power to Forgive
Notes
Transcript
Intro
Intro
Pray
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II said this in her 2016 Christmas Speech
“Jesus Christ lived obscurely for most of his life, and never travelled far. He was maligned and rejected by many, though he had done no wrong. And yet, billions of people now follow his teaching and find in him the guiding light for their lives. I am one of them because Christ's example helps me see the value of doing small things with great love.”
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
the longest ever reigning British Monarch, of over 70 years.
Important enough to warrant 2 birthdays each year
Respected enough to be the only person in Britain allowed to drive on public roads without a license and travel without a passport!
Privileged enough to own her first house at just 6 years old in the grounds of the largest royal palace in the world - Windsor Castle
Unique enough to own an elephant, 2 giant turtles a jaguar and 2 sloths - all gifts from world leaders
humorous enough that On a low-key trip to Scotland, she met some American tourists while walking. When the tourists asked if she lived locally, she mentioned that she had a house nearby, and when asked if she’d ever met the Queen she simply pointed at her security guard and said, “No, but he has!”
Intelligent enough to have studied constitutional history and law as well as Theology with the Arch bishop of Canterbury.
Elegant enough to have dresses and clothing made personally for her.
Worthy and honoured enough to have servants and staff in all her residences - she even has her own poet.
Significant enough to be essential in the the forming of governments and installing 15 prime ministers.
Confident enough to have made over 150 visits to foreign countries.
Practical enough to have driven and repaired military vehicles in WW2.
Hard working enough to have averaged over 300 royal engagements every single year for all 70 years of her reign - on top of all her other duties.
Admired enough to have had sat for over well over 100 portraits of herself
popular enough to receive 70 000 letters a year
Eloquent enough to be making speeches that the world listens to - making her first radio broadcast aged just 14.
Powerful enough - controlling £28 billion worth of Royal assets and have a personal fortune of £500million!
Influential enough that millions and millions of people have looked up to her for 70 years.
We could go on.
Every privilege and honour and authority,
every material need,
every wisdom and knowledge at her beckon call
this has all rested upon her majesty throughout her life.
With ALL that this world has to offer in her hands - who does she admire and seek to model her life upon?
“Jesus Christ lived obscurely for most of his life, and never travelled far. He was maligned and rejected by many, though he had done no wrong. And yet, billions of people now follow his teaching and find in him the guiding light for their lives.
It seems odd to follow a maligned and rejected man - when you have so much more.
Pause
Everything is Meaningless
Everything is Meaningless
Here at Grace Church we recently stared a new sermon series in Ecclesiastes - a book that looks upon all that this ‘world and life’ offers and says
‘Meaningless! Meaningless!’ says the Teacher. ‘Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.’
The passage which we were going to look at today
- but we’ve moved to next week so we can pause and reflect on the life of Queen Elizabeth -
finds the ‘teacher -the author’ of this book his search for meaning in life - through great achievements.
Both intellectual and pleasurable, and material.
At times his achievments sound not dissimilar to the Queens achievements - although he’s more immoral than our Queen it seems.
I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself and planted vineyards. I made gardens and parks and planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. I made reservoirs to water groves of flourishing trees. I bought male and female slaves and had other slaves who were born in my house. I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me. I amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces. I acquired male and female singers, and a harem as well—the delights of a man’s heart. I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me. In all this my wisdom stayed with me. I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my labour, and this was the reward for all my toil.
but
Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind. nothing was gained under the sun.
The teacher knows that whatever we seek after in this life makes no difference in the ‘light of death’.
He was wise enough to see that a life lived now,
with no thought for the unavoidable reality of death - is no life at all - in fact it’s meaningless
- it’s like chasing after the wind!
You just cant do it!
He tried instead of pleasures to pursue great wisdom and knowledge but simply discovered...
For with much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief.
Wisdom and knowledge does not find meaning and comfort - it makes you more aware of the pain in this life.
So, ultimately, says the teacher...
I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me. And who knows whether that person will be wise or foolish? Yet they will have control over all the fruit of my toil into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun. This too is meaningless.
This is not so much a discredit on those who inherit what we leave behind,
more of a ‘how has it had meaning for me as I face death?’
It doesn’t is the answer.
All the Queens life achievements, work and wisdom are meaningless to her in light of her death.
Pause
It will be the same for each of us here today as well.
I think the Queen understood this tension of life.
Her Majesty demonstrated and spoke not of her achievements and privileges, but of her duty and service.
Her joy was in the ‘work she did’ under God - not in the ‘things she achieved’ for herself.
In effect she was always...
Living in the Light of Death
Living in the Light of Death
Being the most powerful person in our country - to whom all citizens were to bow - She still bowed herself to the ALL Mighty King of all,
Why? Because she lived in preparation for death.
She knew that all she achieved on earth was meaningless - if when she died she faces God’s judgement and all she had achieved just gets passed to someone else. Extraordinary.
That’s why ‘Jesus’ motivated and inspired her, not her own potential!
She was humble enough to know that the God of this universe - will not welcome her to His heavenly throne simply becasue she is the Queen of England!
But rather even she, like us needs a Saviour King.
She says in another Christmas speeches...
"HISTORY TEACHES US WE..NEED SAVING FROM OURSELVES.
FROM OUR RECKLESSNESS OR OUR GREED.
GOD SENT INTO THE WORLD….
NEITHER A PHILOSOPHER OR A GENERAL.
BUT A SAVIOUR WITH THE POWER TO FORGIVE”
We do not need philosophers to give us more wisdom,
or generals to fight battles and destroy worldly enemies
- we need a ‘saviour with the power to forgive'
To embrace that truth - changes our whole lives.
We no longer strive after our own worldly crowns of power, comfort, wealth, health, relationships,
We now strive to humble ourselves before our God - our Saviour.
We live not for todays achievements in our own strength
- but for the achievement of Jesus - who gave his life in exchange for our own.
Who died at the hands of people like you, me and yes even our late Queen.
Those who have not lived fully and perfectly for the only truly worthy and holy One,
but have instead lived to build our own kingdoms and reject Him!
But - with the help of God - we too - with so much less to loose that Queen Elizabeth
- can bow to the eternal throne of God,
ask for his forgiveness for our rebellion against him - and He - through his Son Jesus -
who pays the price of our sin with his own death - we find our Saviour with the power to forgive.
That is living in the light of our certain death.
The passage we read earlier in the service was from the end of the book of Ecclesiastes and was the passage used at the funeral of the Queen Mother.
It is a call to the nation - to you and I here today - to live life with our death in mind!
When the most powerful Woman in the world dies - it’s wake up call that we are not as significant as we think!
It’s call to use our one earthly life well - not in meaningless pursuits - but in the only hope our world has..
Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, ‘I find no pleasure in them’—
Creator - what an underestimated and glorious title for God.
It predefines the whole reason he is worthy of all praise, honour and glory!
For all is his for he created All - He is the Creator.
Remember Your Creator Now
Remember Your Creator Now
And not when it’s too late - but now! When you are young.
Before the trappings of life distract you - or before - as the teacher now goes on to explain - before the troubles of old age and then death come your way.
- before you have a life full of regrets.
Do it today while the present events and hearing God’s word today spur you to see the meaningless of life without God your creator as your Lord and God.
Remember your creator...
before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars grow dark, and the clouds return after the rain;
Or think of your life like a great old house - in decline,
Remember your Creator now, not...
when the keepers of the house tremble, and the strong men stoop, when the grinders cease because they are few, and those looking through the windows grow dim; when the doors to the street are closed and the sound of grinding fades; when people rise up at the sound of birds, but all their songs grow faint;
It’s a sad but very relatable poem isn’t it.
As age increases our activity reduces - the grinding of grain is no longer heard,
People rise with the sound of birds but their songs grow faint.
Probably an image of our hearing starting to fade.
The very sounds of life around us literally fades away.
We have seen the Queen age with huge dignity - but for the little we have seen we must know she has aged and slowed far more than we were privy to observe!
Her song grew faint as will ours!
Remember your Creator now!
when people are afraid of heights and of dangers in the streets; when the almond tree blossoms and the grasshopper drags itself along and desire no longer is stirred. Then people go to their eternal home and mourners go about the streets.
With age we become afraid of a fall, the jostle of the streets is too much,
like an almond tree turns from dark leaves to pale grey blossom so does our hair,
(if we have any)
as joints stiffen we’re likened to a grasshopper dragging itself along.
People we have known and loved pass away - they enter eternity and we are left here to mourn,
Just as the Queen has done for her husband, and we do today for our Queen.
Or perhaps it’s his own death the ‘teacher is anticipating’ either way it’s a difficult time.
Remember him—before the silver cord is severed, and the golden bowl is broken; before the pitcher is shattered at the spring, and the wheel broken at the well,
Remember the creator,
it only takes one link in the silver chain for the golden lamp to smash to the ground - life is fragile - as we observe all around us as mechanical things fail and break and shatter.
Remember the Creator.
and the dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.
Those famous words
- the dust from which our Creator God created the first human - Adam -
is returned to the dust - and our eternal Spirit - is left to face our God - our Creator.
What will we say to him?
Look at all my achievements, and wealth, and wisdom and hard work?
Look how good I am!?
Not even the Queen would dare say such words to the Creator.
For she knows - as we all know at heart,
‘Meaningless! Meaningless!’ says the Teacher. ‘Everything is meaningless!’
No the Queen will say - I am your humble unworthy servant - Look at What Jesus my saviour has acheievd.
He is...
A Saviour with the Power to Forgive
A Saviour with the Power to Forgive
In Him is the only meaning in life.
He is God our Creator - come down - not as a philosopher to advise us,
or a General to lead our armies to defeat worldly enemies.
Jesus is the Saviour God - with the power to forgive.
Every regret may be laid at His feet.
Every selfish and impure thought,
Every mistake and shameful act.
Every pain and anguish that wrenches our hearts.
He is the Saviour with the Power to forgive - for he is our Creator God.
The only meaning in this life.
Pause
We may chose to live life our own way - dismiss all we’ve heard - neglect to see the Queen’s example and humility to bow to the only true King.
But death will catch us all up - and heaven does not await those who reject the Saviour Jesus
- instead eternal and right judgement for our rebelion awaits.
We need a Saviour with the power to forgive.
remember our Creator today - now.
And when death comes knocking - Jesus will be there to take us by the hand into eternal glory with Him.
I have no doubt that the greatest legacy the Queen would like to leave
- is not one of pomp and glory
- not one of kind and good words about her - however true
not one of riches, wisdom or achievements
- but a legacy of humble repentant people - turning to the Lord Jesus for forgiveness and true hope.
A legacy where she is less and Jesus her Saviour King is more.
If you like - Remember the Creator - our saviour with the power to forgive - before the Queen.
Pray
(use below in the prayer)
Another Quote from Queen Elizabeth II
To what greater inspiration and
counsel can we turn than to the
imperishable truth to be found in
this treasure house, the Bible?
Thank you for the example the queen gave of having everything but choosing you