Remembrance Address 06/11/15

This week as in so many weeks it’s not been too difficult to find news stories about conflict, about suffering and about people being killed. The tragedy of war and hatred goes on and at this time of year we make a special point of offering thoughts and prayers for those involved in conflict today as well as those in the past… Of course those prayers must be ongoing for Christians celebrating a God of love and peace….

There are a number of purposes of Remembrance time with the primary one obviously being to remember – to remember those who have lost their lives in war, and those who have suffered terribly whether because of an injury or illness sustained themselves, or because of the loss of a loved one.

Remembering is one of the most powerful emotions we have – often we forget things we want to remember and remember things we would rather not ! Sometimes memory is selective – for example I remember the scores when my favourite sports teams win, but don’t have such recollection of bad days !

But today, more seriously, remembering is important. We think of sacrifices made in the past by so many – we think of veterans of World War 1, some of whom we may have met and known in our lives; and there are still many who remember very clearly the Second World War and the years and conflicts that have followed.

But remembering, whilst a tremendously important part of this day, is only one aspect of it – another must be to look at the present and pray for the future. Our gospel reading today from John’s gospel reminds us of God’s incredible love for us but challenges us to respond to that love by loving others – it’s not a polite request that Jesus is giving but a command !

‘This is my commandment’ he says, ‘that you love one another as I have loved you’… In a world so often full of pain and bitterness and greed and envy and even hatred, what powerful words these are… ‘love one another as I have loved you’.

And these words weren’t spoken in isolation by Jesus – they were words he lived out in his earthly life – praying for those who sought to hurt him, praying for those who hung him on a cross and rising to life again not to gain some sort of revenge on those people but to say, “I love you and I’m still offering out my hand to you”

And it was of course Jesus that offered us the words of the sermon on the mount including, ‘Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God’.

Some people confuse peacemakers and pacifists but Jesus wouldn’t have – his time on earth was spent in a society where conflict and violence were all too common, but Jesus knew and understood the need for peace more than anyone…

Some of you may have seen the film Bruce Almighty where a man moans so much to God that he is given the chance to be God for a while with the only rules being that he can’t tell anyone and that he can’t mess around with free will.

Not surprisingly his job is a disaster – he tries to say yes to everyone’s prayers, causing absolute chaos as so many people pray for conflicting things, and then when his girlfriend gets fed up of him he turns to God and says ‘how can you make someone love you without affecting free will?" God replies, "Welcome to my world. When you figure that one out, let me know."

As we remember the sacrifices made in the past and those still being made today, it’s clear that peacemakers are needed in the world because there are so many conflicting opinions and so many different answers, and God gives to each one of us the gift of freewill.

So what is a peacemaker ? Firstly a true peacemaker will be someone who is willing to listen to genuine debate. Peace can never be obtained by imposing a view on someone. Secondly a peacemaker will be brave – in any conflict it is the peacemaker who is often the most criticised, and the one who has to take the most risk in bringing together people in potentially explosive situations.

Thirdly a peacemaker will be someone who hasn’t the arrogance to believe they have every answer, and finally a peacemaker will be someone who is respected by all people who are genuinely looking for a better world.

And each of those qualities are qualities that Christians must display in our every day lives, because they are the qualities Jesus displayed.

Any Christian who wishes to share the gospel message of Jesus with others will inevitably have to listen to debate. There are some who will be hostile to the words of Jesus, some who will be apathetic, and there will be some who genuinely seem to want to believe but don’t quite seem to be getting there.

And a Christian must also be brave. The sermon on the mount was a powerful political speech, as was Jesus’ command to love one another, and they are powerful today…

Jesus did involve himself in politics – he defended the rights of the poor, the marginalised, he spoke up for those who were given no voice, he encouraged people to believe they were given gifts by God and that they should use them.

Christians today cannot pray for a peaceful world and do nothing to bring about that peace. Christians today cannot pray for an end to poverty and injustice and do nothing about it. Christ works today through his people, and we must be prepared to be heard.

And next a Christian must never display the kind of arrogance which says ‘I know it all’ ! And sadly many have over the years and many do today. The world is changing fast, the gospel message whilst remaining unchanged and unchangeable is one that needs to be interpreted for today, because Jesus, who spoke for those marginalised and poor people, who offered chances to those rejected by society, who battled against injustice and against corruption and misuse of power, is still doing that… But he is doing it today, as he did it then, with an overarching message of love for all people.

As Christians we may not all know all the theology associated with God and the Church, we may not know the Bible backwards, but we can all understand love, and the way of the peacemaker, the way of the Christian, must begin with love…

And finally a Christian must have respect. The Church used to occupy a very important place in society – what was said by the Church was considered important to listen to. There are many reasons why that is less true today, but one of them is because the Church has lost some respect.

A Church that argues, a church that is not seen to be living out the gospel every day, is one that will not have respect. A Church that is seemingly not alive to the will of the living God is one that should never prosper.

And that is the ultimate test of a peacemaker – whether they are prepared to live out the way of peace always, to seek an end to injustice and poverty and conflict, to include the neglected, to help the suffering and the grieving, to make life a way of peace for all people.   

That is ultimately God’s purpose for the world – God created us to enjoy fellowship with him and with one another. We are inextricably linked to each other, whether we like it or not, and our actions will affect others, but if we make those actions in line with the actions of Jesus, then we can truly be called peacemakers.

God is infinitely wiser and more loving than we are (Isa. 55:9), but he still expects us to do what we can to care for each other (John 13:35). God is always there when we need him (Jer. 33:3), but we shouldn’t expect him to use miracles to solve all of our earthly problems (James 1:3). Sometimes he wants to use us…

And so as we remember and give thanks for the sacrifices of the past, we pray for peace today and remind ourselves of the challenge to love one another, inspired by the knowledge that Jesus has already defeated death and offers a kingdom into eternity of tears wiped away, of a time when mourning, crying and pain will be no more…

May we have the strength, the vision, the wisdom and the courage, to listen to God and to see his people as our people and his creation and everyone in it as people to care for. AMEN