A boy clad in white and red livery approached the throne.  He was carrying a cushioned stool.

He made is obeisance to the Queen and climbed up the stairs before her, where he placed the stool at her feet.  Then, with practiced precision, he stepped backwards down the stairs and took up another cushion in his arms and stood at royal attention.  Master Duncan Davidson had done his part to perfection.

But . . . it wasn’t over.

The Queen handed the two scepters to the lords who had born them in procession, and she removed the glove.  Her hands must now be free to hold the hands of others.

Even after ten centuries of repetition, the words of homage did not sound dry and crusty in that setting.  Archbishop Fisher came up the stairs and knelt before Elizabeth who had so recently knelt before him, and now he spoke not blessing but devotion:

“I, Geoffrey, Archbishop of Canterbury, will be faithful and true, and faith and truth will bear unto you, Our Sovereign Lady, Queen of this Realm and Defender of the Faith, and unto your heirs and successors according to law.  So help me God.”

         All the bishops, kneeling in their places, repeated the words with him.  State bowing before God, and God’s ministers pledging their devotion to the Realm.

Elizabeth’s beloved husband came next.  Philip had to remove his coronet and leave it with Master Duncan Davidson on the scarlet cushion before mounting the dais to kneel before his wife.  He had scarcely seen her face since entering the Theater, but she had for him a very small, soft smile.  He who had held her hands through the ordeal of her father’s death, now placed his in hers and swore to be her “liege man of life and limb, and of earthly worship; and faith and truth I will bear unto you, to live and die, against all manner of folks.  So help me God.”

He stood and leant forward to touch her crown – and kiss her cheek – before walking backward down the steps to regain his own coronet.  One wonders what Philip might be able to teach us about the importance of making sure each marriage partner fulfills the ministry God has given.  He, who was in line for the throne of Greece had that monarchy survived, has certainly helped make sure Elizabeth fulfilled hers.

After Philip had paid homage to his new Queen, Elizabeth’s uncles came.  The Dukes of Gloucester and Kent, her father’s brothers, came and presented themselves before her.  This . . . is not easily understood.  The throne had not come to them; they came to bow before law, tradition, and sovereignty.

Then the Duke of Norfolk, and with each successive degree of lordship, the dukes came and repeated the words of oath and loyalty that were spoken at Elizabeth’s feet, until all that was noble in the land had vowed to defend and serve this young Monarch.  The very next in succession, however, the young Prince Charles in his immaculate white coronation suit, had grown fidgety and had been quietly removed from the royal balcony.

What would it be like to know that one was, shall we say, 17^th in line for the same throne upon which Elizabeth sat?  Or 34^th?  Or third?  All the peers of the realm have their order of descent.

We are, each and all of us, only once removed, and in the Lord our Savior, we are not removed at all.  We are seated at the right hand of God, enthroned in heavenly places in Christ Jesus our Lord, and He has come to take His seat on the throne of our hearts.

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.  Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.  For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. (Colossians 3:1-3, NIV)

The momentous matter is before us . . . did we wake up this morning to reign and rule with our Lord Jesus Christ?  Will we, today, be about our Father’s business just as He was, paying unfailing homage to the finished work of Jesus Christ.

Elizabeth was known to say, “This is what my father would have done,” especially in the early days, and that was wisdom, for he was wise, and it kept her at peace while she found her footing.

Jesus is our footing, and the pathway for our feet.

Brian Barker has captured a moment in time for us in his splendid book.  When the Queen Was Crowned:

“As Baron Mowbray came slowly backward from the Homage, silence fell briefly on the Abbey.  The ceremony of the Coronation was over.  The Queen had been crowned as Alfred was crowned, anointed as Edgar had been anointed, had been sworn as the Lion Hearted had once been sworn and had received the Homage in the words and form in which the Lords of the Council had knelt to do their Homage to the first Queen Elizabeth.  I think that all of us there who looked towards the young Queen Elizabeth, crowned and golden, felt that something very important, very old and sacred, had been consummated in that place.”

         There was a day, a time, when something more ancient, something eternally sacred, something of consummation far more holy and secure, happened to us.  Let us this day and from this day, ascend to that throne where we have been made welcome.  Let us regain our crowns at the Lord’s feet and, in the paths we walk on earth, walk no more as mere men.  (1 Corinthians 3:3)  Amen.