Remembrance Sunday 2013

This week the great American evangelist Billy Graham celebrated his 95th birthday. On that day he released a short film entitled ‘The Cross’. It was, as he described it, probably his final public message. In the film there were two powerful personal stories told of lives that had been transformed by the good news of Jesus.

It was a reminder of the power of God to transform situations of darkness and misery into acceptance, peace and even joy. It was a reminder that even out of the darkest of situations there is a firm hope built on the resurrection of Jesus, because in that resurrection from the dead we recognise that death has no power over us, that God guides on every step of a journey into eternity.

On Remembrance Sunday we think about lives that have been transformed by the terrors of war – lives that have been lost or ruined, lives that have been given in the hope of achieving something better not for themselves but for all people. As we recognise the hurt caused in wars and conflicts we do so not without hope but with a hope that life can be better, and we can all play a part in that improvement.

Our readings today are not perhaps the easiest help as we think of Remembrance Sunday, except that they do concentrate on questions of eternity, questions about the meaning of life, and ultimately statements about hope.

In the gospel reading we have the Sadducees who didn’t believe in resurrection trying to trick Jesus. They were like many who have followed since with questions trying to disprove or discredit the teaching of Jesus, lining up ridiculous questions – but they got an answer they couldn’t even begin to understand.

Jesus emphasised that there would be resurrection, that already some of the great people that they recognised in their faith such as Moses himself was well aware of this resurrection, and that God was not a God of the dead, but a God of the living – the living who were gathered together into his eternal kingdom…

It is a message of hope – it doesn’t every question we may have about heaven, and it obviously doesn’t intend to, but what we do know is that God is concerned for us now, and is concerned for us into eternity. We can trust him. We can rely on him. We can know his transforming power in our lives, as we recognise his love for each one of us.

Similarly Paul’s message to the Thessalonians (2:1-5,13-17) addresses questions that are causing disputes or at least concerns – there again Paul is ready to reassure people that God is in control - that God who loves us and through grace gives us eternal comfort and good hope comforts us and strengthens us as we continue our journey of life.

And so to the reading from the Book of Job (19:23-27a). It’s a powerful book describing the trials of Job, and the words we heard this morning are some of the best known of the Old Testament, thanks largely to Handel’s Messiah – ‘I know that my Redeemer lives and that at the last he will stand upon the earth… and after my skin has been destroyed, then in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see on my side, and my eyes shall behold, and not another.’

These are incredible words of faith and in many ways marked a turning point for Job – in the couple of verses before heasked for pity, and in the verses that follow the section we heard Job begins to warn others of the dangers of neglecting God, but in these verses Job proclaims the faith which kept him going.

He proclaims a certainty in the presence of God – he proclaims a certainty in the fact that by losing his earthly life he would move into an even closer relationship with God.

It is a story of hope and faith – it is a story that in many ways can match our own journeys in life, and our own devotion of Remembrance on this day. We may not understand suffering, we don’t know why some good people suffer and some bad people seem to prosper, but we can know God walking with us through pain, shadowing us, holding us, comforting us and guiding us.

We can know that through whatever battle we endure in our lives, through whatever darkness we may travel, we are never left alone. We are never left without God – though we may sometimes turn from him, he never turns from us.

And on this Remembrance this can offer us some real lessons. Most importantly it is to recognise that remembering doesn’t simply involve our thoughts turning back to something that’s happened in the past. Yes, we turn back with thanks for the sacrifices made by many. Yes, we think now of those continuing to serve in dangerous places, and the holes in their families that are left when they’re away. We think of those striving for peace and justice – for an end to evil and terror.

But remembering is not just honouring the past, or even praying for the present, it is also about proclaiming and being hope for the future. I suspect that most people who died in war would rather not have – it is an obvious statement. But those who did so would at least have hoped that their sacrifice was making a difference for those who are left.

Because we honour best the sacrifices of the past and the commitment of those serving today by praying and working and speaking for peace.

Our readings have thought about eternity – a new life shared in closer relationship with God. A new life where there is, we’re told, no pain or suffering or tears. A new life where death has been conquered for ever. That eternal hope may inspire us and encourage to take up our own battles and keep going knowing that God is with us, and will lift us up in the end, but it should also inspire us to a hope of a better life for all today.

Because sacrifices have to happen for a reason – and we can only begin to repay the sacrifices of those who have gone before us by defending the things that they fought for – by defending freedom and peace, by defending equality and justice, by supporting all people… By loving and living as Jesus did on earth…

Our prayers, our thoughts and our words are to mirror the image of Jesus – on Remembrance Sunday his command to love God and to love one another remains the greatest command to his church. It is not the easiest – it is easy to hate an enemy, to fight rather than seek peace, to lose sight of the fact that war is not about winning or losing but about building a better world for the future – a world with people filled with hope, enjoying peace and sharing love.

Billy Graham has left his 95th birthday message to the world because he felt a burden to tell people how much God loves them, of how Jesus lived, died and rose again because he cares so much and of how real peace is found not in riches, or in earthly power, but in knowing that God is love, and that that love has the power to transform each one of us every day.

May we walk our journey of life, constantly seeking peace and knowing God’s peace - always. Amen