Joshua 1:1-9; Mark 10:35-45
One of the great joys of life in this County is the opportunity to notice and celebrate those who serve.
Although His Majesty’s Lord Lieutenant, Dame Susan – Sue – does not want this service to be about her, it will fall to me at the end to say some words of thanks, a task which no one could find difficult. But for now, I want to reflect on the lieutenancy itself and what it represents — because that will I believe help frame our thanksgiving for the life we share here in County Durham.
If it is true to say that His Majesty’s Lord Lieutenant represents the monarch in County Durham, the more interesting question is how this is done. It is not about perpetuating a culture of patronage, hierarchy and deference, although it is appropriate that a due sense of honour is maintained for the role as a representative of our King and Head of State. Rather, it is about modelling and celebrating a culture of service to the country and the community, a spirit of putting others first and seeing the body as a whole built up.
And here the tone is set by the King himself. For over 50 years as Prince of Wales, King Charles had as his motto ‘Ich Dien’ – I Serve, and as Charles III he has continued the example of his mother, the late Queen, in prioritising a spirit of service in his reign as monarch. No-one who saw the warmth and sincerity with which he distributed the Maundy money here in Durham Cathedral last year can doubt his commitment to service as that which is really worth celebrating in our community today.
If we think such an approach is inevitable, we should think again. Looking around the world today, one does not have think too hard to come up with examples of people who see civic, political or business leadership as a means to pursue their own goals, including the exercise of absolute power and the acquisition of riches. At least some of the conflict we see in the world around us is fuelled by leaders serving themselves first.
It was no different at the time of Jesus. Jesus said to his disciples that the Gentile rulers – the Romans that is – exercised a leadership marked by power and dominance. They were in it for themselves. Whereas Jesus exhorts his followers to model a different way. Instead of worrying about who was top dog – which is not, I should say, an exact translation – they were to focus on service as the hallmark of faithful leadership.
And Jesus didn’t just call his disciples to do this; he modelled it himself. The origin of the distribution of the Maundy money is the service Jesus himself offered that first Maundy Thursday, when he took the position of a servant and washed his disciples’ feet, before the next day giving his life on the cross out of love for the world.
Although the King and the lieutenancy rightly champion people of all faiths and beliefs, we cannot ignore the deeply Christian springs from which flow a commitment to leadership as service. Indeed, I know that for our own Lord Lieutenant these springs flow long and deep, and they have nourished the priority she has given to celebrating service across our County these last thirteen years. Such springs are seen in thanksgiving for creation and in the prayer which we have just sung that the Lord of creation, revealed supremely in Jesus Christ, will be our vision, our treasure and our strength.
So what are we celebrating of County Durham life today? I would suggest we take our lead from Sue herself, who has consistently modelled an energetic commitment to noticing and honouring service in all forms across our wonderful county. Service in the military sphere, particularly the cadets who have loved Sue as much as she has loved them. Service in the voluntary sphere, where people in charities give of their time to improve the lives of others. Service in the public sphere, where healthcare workers, police and other emergency services, respond to need in different forms. Service in the religious sphere where people seek to live out their faith and serve others made in the image of God.
There is sometimes a narrative that life in County Durham is uniformly bleak; a recent BBC News story about Horden spun this familiar story. Sue herself would be the first to name the challenges faced by communities across our county, - she has probably visited more communities than most of us in this cathedral today. However, she has always rightly highlighted the generosity of people to give of their time and resources to help others in need. Because she knows that it what true leadership is all about.
Today as we thank God for the life of our County and honour our Lord Lieutenant, can I suggest we also take time to consider afresh the example of Jesus Christ, who did not come to be served but to serve and give his life as a ransom of many. Such an example, I suggest, is still the benchmark for what good leadership looks like. And in a world that is often fractured and anxious, leadership shaped by service is not a luxury. It is a necessity. And that is why today we give thanks — for the life of this county, for those who serve it, and for the example set before us in Jesus Christ. Amen