The Servant Queen and the King she serves Paperback – 2016

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In this fresh analysis, Mark Greene, co-author of The Servant Queen and the King she Serves, looks in depth at what the Queen herself says about her faith. What emerges is a compelling picture of a global stateswoman whose private and public lives have been shaped by the Bible and her relationship with Jesus – whose life of sacrifice, service, and compassion is the inspiration and model for hers. The Servant Queen and the King She Serves is designed to be a conversation-starter and a gift from churches to their local communities and from individuals to friends, colleagues and family. As the royal birthday celebrations unfold throughout 2016, talking about the Queen may be one of the easiest and most natural faith-sharing opportunities Christians have and this book will be a great catalyst for conversation. Yn ei hareithiau, yn arbennig adeg y Nadolig, bu i’r Frenhines roi sylw cynyddol i’w ffydd Gristnogol. Byddai’n dychwelyd yn aml at thema gwasanaeth, ac yn hyn o beth yr oedd bywyd Iesu yn batrwm ar gyfer ei bywyd personol. At her coronation she vowed to serve us all and uphold the laws of God. Thank you that she kept the faith.

The Queen marks her 90th birthday this year. To celebrate, Bible Society has joined forces with HOPE and the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity (LICC) to publish a book about the Queen’s Christian faith. The Queen’s Christian faith is well-known. In recent years, Her Majesty has referred to her beliefs in public statements, including Christmas broadcasts. It is because Christ is ‘the Prince of Peace’ (Isaiah 9:6) that we should ‘work to heal old wounds and to abandon prejudice and suspicion’ (1984). So often we have preferred to indulge our individual desires rather than do our duty to love those around us.I have seen at first hand the remarkable results of his, and his wife [Sue Ryder]’s determination to put Christ’s teaching to practical effect.’ In this fresh analysis, Mark Greene, co-author of The Servant Queen and the King she Serves, looks in depth at what the Queen herself said about her faith. What emerges is a compelling picture of a global stateswoman whose private and public lives were shaped by the Bible and her relationship with Jesus – whose life of sacrifice, service, and compassion was the inspiration and model for hers. In a strong statement of faith, the Queen has said that she is ‘very grateful’ to the nation for its prayers for her and that she has felt God’s ‘faithfulness’ during 64 years on the throne. In sum, one of the reasons the Queen follows Christ is because he so clearly and consistently practices what he preaches. In him, word and deed match perfectly. He calls us to do the same. And so, in her speeches to the nation, the Queen echoes his call, encouraging every person to see that they have both a responsibility and an opportunity to contribute to the national good.

A Life of Grace is perfect to share with friends, family, and colleagues who are curious about the Queen’s faith, and to point them to the King this servant queen followed. And so often we have failed to cherish the Scripture that she cherished and have scorned the example of Jesus that she followed. billions of people now follow his [Christ’s] 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, whoever does them and whatever they themselves believe.’ (2016) Her Majesty met millions of people, but in all the footage we’ll watch on loop over the coming days, notice she always gave her attention to the person in front of her. She never seemed in a hurry to move past him or her. It didn’t seem to matter to her whether the person to whom she was speaking was a president or a pauper. She could have enjoyed the wealth and status her position gave her. Instead, she showed us a life of dutiful service in the interest of others, one that treats each person with dignity regardless of status. In that, she gave us a glimpse of the One who left the riches of heaven and made himself nothing, being born in the form of a servant and giving all he had to serve his people. The Bible was central to the start of Queen Elizabeth’s reign when, at her coronation, it was described as “The most valuable thing that this world affords.” Now 64 years later, the role of the Bible and her Christian faith in her reign as Queen has been detailed in a new book to commemorate her 90th birthday, The Servant Queen and the King She Serves.Princess Elizabeth Alexandra Mary of York was born in Mayfair, London April 21, 1926. She was the first child of the future King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, later called the Queen Mother. Princess Elizabeth became heir-apparent after King Edward VIII abdicated and her father King George VI ascended to the throne. For Elizabeth, Christ’s ‘formula’ works in the real world. Indeed, one of the things she admires about Christ’s teaching is that it is practical. Faith in him should lead to works for him, works that have a particular selfless character. As we’ve seen, the Queen’s understanding of her role is deeply shaped by the Jesus of the Bible. It’s not surprising, then, that her vision for the nation and her vision for her people find their roots in a biblical understanding of national purpose and civic service. Her Majesty also alluded to the current problems in the Middle East saying that the world is now experiencing “terrible suffering on an unprecedented scale”. The Servant Queen – and the King she serves’ is a unique gift book being published with Bible Society and LICC as a tribute for the occasion. It uses the Queen’s own words to draw out the central role of her trust in Jesus. For example, the Queen has described Jesus as “an anchor in my life” and a “role-model”.

I ask you all to join me in praying that the hearts and minds of everyone in that troubled Province may be touched with the spirit of Christmas and the message of brotherhood, peace, and goodwill. May tolerance and understanding release the people from terror and put gladness in the place of fear. I leave with you the old message, “On earth peace; goodwill toward men”. No one has ever offered a better formula and I hope that its simple truth may yet take hold of the imagination of all mankind.’ Use our online Bible search tool to read the Bible online, search the Bible and compare Bible verses. There was, however, never any pretence that neighbourliness is easy. She is aware of the pressures and distractions that can lead us away from meeting our responsibilities and is grateful particularly for those who persevere despite the acuteness of their own challenges. She is aware too that ‘love one another as I have loved you’ is not a guru’s suggestion, but a divine command. As she put it, ‘It sounds so simple, yet it proves so hard to obey’ (1995). And obedience to God is important to her because she is conscious of ‘my own accountability before God’ (2000). In these last months of her earthly life, the Queen had suffered with her own “mobility problems.” But not today. Not now. For my monarch was also my sister, and we’ll see her again, standing on steady legs before the throne of the King she knew, loved, and served.Her Majesty the Queen has written the Foreword to a book being published to celebrate her 90th birthday on 21st April this year. The Servant Queen – and the King she serves gives a unique insight into the Queen’s faith in and devotion to Jesus Christ. Indeed, she has written the Foreword – a quite remarkable imprimatur – which is replete with words of devotion, service and love: The problem, as Queen Elizabeth knew, is that such a leader cannot be found in this world. The wonder, as Queen Elizabeth also knew, is that one day he will arrive, coming on the clouds. I speak of a tolerance that is not indifference, but is rather a willingness to recognise the possibility of right in others; of a comradeship that is not just a sentimental journey of good days past, but the certainty that the tried and staunch friends of yesterday are still in truth the same people today; of a love that can rise above anger and is ready to forgive… A new translation is a completely fresh translation into a language that already has Scripture. This is not based on an existing translation, but is a completely new translation, using source texts. The concept of servant leadership has been much explored in management and leadership circles since 1970, when Robert Greenleaf began to popularise it. But it is rare indeed to see anyone who has lived it out as richly and consistently as the Queen, for so long. And rare, too, to find a public figure who so consciously models her leadership on Christ’s pattern (Philippians 2:6-8).

Our Christian faith helps us to sustain those convictions. Christ not only revealed to us the truth in his teachings. He lived by what he believed and gave us the strength to try to do the same – and, finally, on the cross, he showed the supreme example of physical and moral courage.’ (1990) The book was designed to be a conversation-starter and a gift from churches to their local communities. It proved so popular in Britain that the Bible Society reprinted a further 150,000 copies on top of the original 100,000. We need ‘saving from ourselves’. She’s including herself in that. Indeed, there is no sense of moral superiority or judgementalism in her summons to the good or her naming of the human need for forgiveness. Rather, she is clear about her own limitations and need for help.The book is designed to be a conversation-starter and a gift from churches to their local communities and from individuals to friends, colleagues, or family. In an article 'Defender of the faith' Gillan Scott wrote: "Jesus is the Servant King, but Elizabeth perhaps should be known as the servant queen. For not only has she sought to serve us as her people, but she has also chosen to place herself under authority, serving Jesus as her own Lord and Master and seeking to follow in his footsteps." When she came to the throne, the Commonwealth consisted of eight nations. Today, 54 nations and territories, almost all former colonies, are members. How do you turn nations that your own country has conquered, ruled, and exploited for decades into friends? Her focus on Christ also expresses itself in the way she makes explicit connections between the challenging circumstances people face today and Christ’s life – citing, for example, the adverse circumstances of his birth (1956), the displacement and persecution he suffered (2015), or the rejection he experienced (2016). This is in line with the Bible’s pervasive concern for the poor and the marginalised (Deuteronomy 15:11; 24:10-12; Amos 8:4-14), and also with the biblical portrait of Jesus as the God who understands our suffering because he too suffered (Hebrews 2:10). It is because Christ said, ‘Blessed are the peacemakers’ (Matthew 5:9) that she affirmed ordinary people pursuing peace in troubled lands – particularly ‘those who are hardly aware of what they do’ (1995).