Remembering: silence is golden

Well, did you realise that we have been here for nearly a year ! In the last 11 months you will have had a chance to get to know us,to make decisions of what type of people we are. I am sure that you have all noticed that I am not a chatty person at all and that I am very quiet .... Ahem.

Strangely I do actually appreciate silence and quiet, and so moments to reflect and to be quiet are important to me. The one thing that singles out silence is its importance and how hard people can find it. As we remember we take a moment of silence to give thanks, to remember and on this day to pray for people who are affected by war. It is a respect thing and so I find myself getting frustrated by people who break silence in some sporting events with applause. I think that we all need time to stop, and to think. 

I understand that applause is positive but I think it can take over a very special moment when in collective memory we take time to hear the sound of silence. It  always sounds daft to say, but there really is a sound to silence, in silence we find a new peace, in silence we are able to really stop and think. 

Silence has a sound and it is golden, it is a sound that carries with it our emotions, our dreams, our remembering. 

It seems almost ironic that we remember in peace events that were certainly not peaceful. Either in the preparation for the events, or in the actual event.

Our readings this morning have provided us with a challenge in our remembering and in our silence.

In the reading from the book of Amos (5:18-24)  we heard of people longing for the day of the Lord, believing that it would be peaceful and perfect and this was because they thought they were peaceful and perfect. However they had not taken into account the call on them to stand up for justice and righteousness to be true in what they were doing. They didn't account for the concerns of despair and turmoil. We were then reminded in the reading from the 1st letter to the Thessalonians (4:13-18) that we have hope because God who is eternal will keep us close to Him, and that death has no power. Then in the gospel reading (Matt 25:1-13) we were told of the need to be ready to greet Jesus.

The readings almost sound like advent readings as they look to the future and give us hope for now but at the same time challenge us to be better. The thing they all have in common is the need to be more like God to show justice and righteousness and to remember that God is always with us.

I can't help thinking of what an amazing message this is for our world today.  In the midst of turmoil and despair if we take the time to be more like God to stand up for justice He is there.

This is what today is all about, it is about remembering the past, it is acknowledging the present and it is about seeking peace. That into the turmoil and despair of the world peace will be known. Despair, families suffering as a result of war is here and now. This is not a historical event, but by looking for peace we are looking for a way to continue to make the reality of freedom and hope that was fought for, a reality in our lives.  By looking to our Creator, the One who brought us liberty and hope, by looking to God then we can bring freedom and hope. 

This morning, this remembrance Sunday when we remember those who have lost their lives in War we think of times when peace is not around, We think of the times when silence has been far away, and when all around there was and is turmoil and uncertainty.

It may seem so easy to wait in silence, to desire peace, to know that we have the hope and promise of a better life of an everlasting life but then we look at the news we read of and hear of people whose lives are in turmoil and we wonder what we can do. I wonder whether the answer is in the reading from Amos, where we read that God desires justice and righteousness. Into despair and turmoil we are to offer peace as we seek justice though the way we live and the prayers that we offer. This is our challenge, this is what we can offer for the here and now.

Ian and I have been to various places with memories of WWII such as the D day beaches of Normandy and a coach tour of Colditz, Dambusters and the Great Escape.  These occasions were really interesting but there is a  great problem in that whilst I would be upset by the graves of so many young men lost in war, it was all a distance away, it was a remembrance whilst we could still think of and live in the peace of the moment. There was the feeling that the futility of some of the lives lost was not in vain because peace now reigned.

I am not suggesting for one moment that any death in war is futile, nor am I suggesting that it was wrong to have a war, but what I am aware of, and I am sure all of us are, is that peace certainly does not seem to be the order of the day. We live in a world of wars, injustice, terrorism, human trafficking where righteousness does not appear to be rolling down like streams.  The peace which we hope and pray for does not reign supreme, for many silence is far away, and there is turmoil and uncertainty.

As we seek to stand up for justice in our world living as Jesus lived, being right with Him and one another and reaching out to people with equality, love and acceptance then we will start to see a change in our lives and in the lives of those around us. 

God is the giver of all good things, He knows our need, He knows our need for an end to turmoil and uncertainty, He knows our need for silence.  He knows our need for peace.

Today we give thanks for all who have given their lives or had their lives damage by war. We give thanks for those who, even today, are working and sometimes fighting for peace and justice, and may we be ready to stop, reflect and pray for silence and an end to turmoil and uncertainty. May we be ready to play our part in seeing peace,  hope, justice and righteous reign. AMEN.