麻豆社

When Charles III made his first address to the nation yesterday evening, we heard a son pay tribute to a mother and a new king honour his predecessor as sovereign. Time and time again, the King spoke of service 鈥� of the service of Elizabeth II and his own pledge to also serve the people, speaking of being brought up in the same Christian faith as his mother and the values it inspires.

A clue as to what is meant by service for a Christian monarch was given during the prayers and reflections from St Paul鈥檚 Cathedral which immediately followed the King鈥檚 address. There was a reading from the Old Testament book of Isaiah, saying 鈥淭he Spirit of the Lord is upon me because the Lord has anointed me鈥�, and that anointed one then reaches out to bring good news to the oppressed, bind up the broken-hearted, and comfort those who mourn. In other words, to serve.

These words of Isaiah are repeated by Jesus when he attends a synagogue in Nazareth. All eyes were fixed on him, the gospel writer Luke recalls, as if people knew that he was reading about himself. There is another version of this dedication to others, related by the Gospel writer, Matthew, who recounts how Jesus described how people will be judged according to how they helped the hungry in need of food, the sick seeking care and prisoners longing for visitors. Those who failed the least of people, Jesus says, failed him.

Every year, Matthew鈥檚 account is one of the readings at the Maundy Thursday service, when the monarch commemorates Jesus鈥� act of humility, washing the feet of his disciples. In medieval times, our kings might wash others鈥� feet, but more recently, monarchs have distributed gifts of special Maundy coins to those invited to join the ceremony 鈥� often people who have themselves been involved in great acts of service. Those symbolic gifts and the reading express a theology of leadership 鈥� that true kingship is not about grandeur and riches but stands on a foundation of humility and service.

Then comes another reminder of kingship at the Maundy Day service when Handel鈥檚 great anthem Zadok the Priest, which lifts off the roof at our monarch鈥檚 coronation services, is sung, with its words: Zadok the Priest and Nathan the prophet anointed Solomon king. Anointing or the conferring of a holy office is the most sacred moment of a coronation. But hand in hand with it comes, not pride in being the highest, but a humility: a belief that above all a Christian, even a Christian monarch, is called to serve.

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