Rector's letter for October Fowey News

Dear Friends

I never got to meet the Queen; I saw her once, from a distance: A small yellow blob on the Buckingham Palace balcony. But I firmly believe that one day I will get to meet her.

The Archbishop of Canterbury suggested as much in Her late Majesty’s funeral: He referred to the Queen’s Covid broadcast when she quoted Vera Lynn and he said, “We can all share the Queen’s hope… All who follow the Queen’s example, and inspiration of trust and faith in God, can with her say: “We will meet again.””

The death of a loved one often prompts us to think about what lies beyond the grave. Our culture suggests two options. Firstly, there is the secular atheist view, that there is nothing; this life is all you get. That thought is nothing new; others, like the ancient Epicureans, have been there before. But few of us want that to be true, and most struggle to believe it. So a second, more popular view prevails, in various forms across world religions and philosophies: that our loved ones are ‘up there somewhere, looking down on us’. But it is all rather vague and intangible.

The Christian view of the afterlife is altogether different from both of these options, and far more concrete and hopeful. It is also widely misunderstood. Jesus claimed that this life is not all there is; there is a life beyond death that is available to all. But it’s not what you might think.

Jesus claimed that it will be physical: that ‘heaven’ is not about sitting on clouds playing harps for eternity, but involves a renewed physical creation, in which we will enjoy in renewed physical bodies.

It will be a place of renewal: this world will come to an end. Jesus says he will return to purge all the bad stuff from the world – the corruption, abuse, pain, shame and sadness – and renew the world in its original goodness.

It will be cultural: that what we do on this earth counts, because the best of human culture will be brought in to the renewed world, purified from any bad thing, to be enjoyed purely and maximally.

But even more wonderfully than all this, Jesus claimed that this beautiful vision of life after the grave is invitational. The key question is whether we want to be with Jesus, or to keep him at arms’ length. We might not think we want relationship with him; the irony is, however, that the things we do want in life are precisely what he offers. To come to him is to receive healing, and the invitation is to all of us. If you are thirsty, he says come, and drink the free gift of the water of life. If you are hungry, he says come, and eat from the tree of life that is for the healing of the nations. If you are weary and burdened, he says come, and he will give you rest. 

For her funeral, Queen Elizabeth II carefully chose Bible passages that were dear and precious to her, and her choice clearly declared her faith in Jesus as she approached death. It included the set reading for a funeral in the Book of Common Prayer, words from 1 Corinthians 15: “Since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as - in Adam - all die, even so - in Christ - shall all be made alive.”

The late Queen knew to whom she was going, to her beloved Jesus, in her own words, her “inspiration and role model”; her “anchor” and “hope”; her “source of strength and courage”; the one in whom she trusted and to whom she has given her heart.

I am so looking forward to meeting her one day, and beside her bowing the knee to an even greater, better King. Please come too. 

with every blessing

Philip de Grey-Warter