Go and Do Likewise (Luke 10:25-37)

Queen Elizabeth II was Promoted to Glory this week. she had a strong Christian faith that has been evident throughout her life. As well as her formal role as 'Defender of the Faith and Supreme Governor of the Church of England', her personal faith was evident even before she was crowned. 'Pray for me’, she urged us all prior to her coronation, ‘that God may give me wisdom and strength to carry out the solemn promises I shall be making, and that I may faithfully serve Him and you, all the days of my life.’

The theme of service to God and her neighbour even ran throughout her coronation ceremony and she mentioned time and time again, very publicly throughout the years that she was inspired by the sacrificial life of Jesus Christ, who said of himself: I ‘did not come to be served, but to serve’. She said, ‘For me the teachings of Christ and my own personal accountability before God provide a framework in which I try to lead my life.’

In 2008 the Queen encouraged us all: ‘I hope that, like me, you will be comforted by the example of Jesus of Nazareth who, often in circumstances of great adversity, managed to live an outgoing, unselfish and sacrificial life … He makes it clear that genuine human happiness and satisfaction lie more in giving than receiving; more in serving than in being served.’

The Bible passage the Queen referred to most often in her public addresses is the one we are referring to today. Luke 10:25-37 emphasises this theme of service. In her 1989 reference to this pericope she said, ‘Many of you will have heard the story of the Good Samaritan, and of how Christ answered the question (from a clever lawyer who was trying to catch him out) "who is my neighbour?" Jesus told of the traveller who was mugged and left injured on the roadside where several important people saw him, and passed by without stopping to help. His neighbour was the man who did stop, cared for him, and made sure he was being well looked after before he resumed his own journey.”

In 1985 she encouraged us that this passage ‘reminds us of our duty to our neighbour. We should try to follow Christ's clear instruction at the end of that story: "Go and do thou likewise".

Let us all go and do likewise.

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