You shall anoint my head with oil

On Friday morning I listened to 'The reunion' on radio 4, which had the coronation as its theme. The interviewees were all maids of honour on the great day in 1953. I was struck that as they considered the service, it was the anointing of the Queen by the archbishop that they considered the most moving moment. That part was seen as being so holy that it was not included in the televising of the service.

Two days later I was doing some anointing of my own. Five beautiful children were brought for baptism in Hardingstone on Sunday morning, two of them old enough to have thought hard about it for themselves and worked hard with me over a number of sessions preparing for the day. For those five children the moment of anointing was not done in private, but it was every bit as holy and to my mind even more important than the moving moment in the cathedral.

While many think of anointing only in the context of illness or the approach of death, there is another anointing with roots back into the earliest days of scripture. Anointing with oil in this context is a symbol of God's calling. Use of it reminds the anointed that they are holy; in other words they are chosen and loved by God. More than that, as people chosen and loved by God, they have a work to do which is given to them by God, which he calls them to do on his behalf. For the Queen, anointing was a symbol of the very particular vocation  that she inherited when her father ascended the throne, to reign as monarch and be the uniting figure amongst the nations that call her Queen.

I have been anointed with oil in this way once in my life as well, when I was made a priest. Oil was applied liberally to my open hands as a reminder to me and to those watching that I had been set aside for a particular task, one that God had called me to do. It is simultaneously awe inspiring and comforting to remember that formal moment of declared holiness. Can I be called to something so special for God? Yes, but holiness comes from God, is available only when the Holy Spirit is present, and so the achievement of the given task is dependent not on my ability or strength but on the presence of the Holy Spirit. The oil reminds me that I only need to remain open to God for the task to be achievable.

Anointing with oil in baptism is not universally offered. It certainly wasn't available when I was baptised. When my daughters were baptised, the shared service was both Anglican and Roman Catholic, and the gift of that symbol came from the Catholic side. Anglicans draw on our Catholic inheritance when we choose to include anointing within our baptism services. I collected the oil of baptism, along with oils of chrism and healing when I attended the annual Maundy Thursday service at the diocesan cathedral. As we renewed our vows in the service, I was reminded of the call I have been anointed for. Central to that call is the calling of others into faith in and service of God.

In baptism the anointing shows everyone that this person is holy. This person is loved by God and chosen by God. And the anointing shows that the person, however young or old has a calling. The calling is to be a disciple of the God who makes them holy. To follow to the best of their ability; to pray and worship and try hard to learn more; to love the Lord their God with all their heart, and mind and soul, and to love their neighbour as they love themselves.

There can be no higher calling than to be a disciple of Christ. Those who are called to be ordained are first of all disciples, and they have this particular task given to them as part of their discipleship. Those who are called to reign are also first and foremost disciples. Their ability to reign well depends on the faithfulness of their discipleship. For me, being allowed to be the one who administers this anointing is a stunning privilege.