“Lord, open the King of England’s eyes.”
These were the dying words of William Tyndale, before he was burnt at the stake in 1536, for translating the Bible into English. It is entirely appropriate that we pray the same prayer for Charles, the new King of England, and of Australia, since by his own admission, he does not share his mother’s faith in Christ. Tyndale’s prayer was answered mightily: three years later, King Henry VIII allowed English Bibles to be placed into parish churches. Who knows how God might bless our prayers for the King?
As we mark the King’s coronation through our prayers this Sunday, we can do so wholeheartedly, even though the King is not a Bible-believing Christian. Not only that, but even if you are dyed-in-the-wool republican, you can still pray wholeheartedly, because we are only doing what God commands. We are praying for the human authorities whom God has placed over us. All of these authorities, from the King down to our local government, are God’s servants whether they admit it or not (Romans 13). So let us pray in earnest this Sunday for the King and for everyone appointed under His Majesty to govern our land of Australia.
In brief:
- We’re going to hold a Plan your Farewell seminar in a few weeks, on Friday 26th This will be a time to help us think through our wishes for how we’d like to be farewelled at the end of our life. This will be interactive, useful and cheerful! I hope you can come.
- The famous St Jude’s Fireworks event is coming up on Saturday 3rdJune at 5 pm. Save the date, invite friends, and consider whether you could help (for example set-up, BBQ’ing, serving food, welcoming and collecting money at the gate, packing up).
- It’s Mothers’ Day next Sunday. Mothers, this is a good opportunity to get the whole family along to church!
Yours,
Andrew Schmidt,
Rector