Remembrance Evening

Today we have just heard the gospel account of Jesus teaching about those who wear the fine garments at the Temple, but who live lives very different to the things they teach, and then he sits opposite the Treasury as money is put into the Temple – many rich people put in large amounts, but one widow came along and put in just two small copper coins. Whilst her contribution would have been almost invisible to the Temple, Jesus recognised that she had given all that she could, and that equated to far more than any of the other people were giving. (Mark 12:38-44)

And this is rightly used very often as a text for discussing stewardship in the Church, and for considering what we give to God, but on this Remembrance Sunday it also draws us to consider those who have given everything in wars, wars to bring lasting peace and freedom, wars to end all wars.

At a place called Zorgvleit, one of the districts of The Hague in the Netherlands, there is a palace. Round about it are delightful gardens and inside are magnificent rooms into which any visitor may go. No one has ever lived in that Palace which is known as The Palace of peace. And the story of how it was built is very thought provoking and especially so on this day of Solemn Remembrance.

In 1899 the first International Peace Conference was held in the Hague, and it was decided that first of all there should be no more wars and secondly, that a building should be built in the Hague where the nations could come together and talk over their problems instead of fighting about them.

A competition was held, for which architects from all over the world entered, to discover the best design, and soon after the foundation stone of the Palace of Peace was laid, with many pronouncements and much passion that never again would countries go to war, but instead come to the Hague and settle their differences peacefully.

Six years later the Palace of Peace was finished. In this magnificent building, where the International Court of Justice now meets, there are some very lovely things – all of them given by one country or another.

The entrance-gates were the gift of the German Government; the bronze doors into the vestibule came from Belgium.

As you look along the outside of the building you find it is built on granite which came from Sweden; and granite from Norway was used for the porches.

In the vestibule you catch sight of a wonderful bronze and crystal chandelier hanging from the roof; the guide will tell you that it was given by the Austrian Government.

From the vestibule you enter the Great Hall, where a sweeping staircase leads upward to the big conference room and the Court of Justice, and through the windows you catch a glimpse of an enclosed courtyard with a fountain in the centre.

The fountain was a gift from Russia. On the walls of the Palace are priceless paintings and many rooms are hung with wonderful tapestries, gifts from France. The stained glass in the windows of the hall and on the staircases was Britain’s gift.

There are priceless vases from China and Hungary, statues from the United States. The carpets are almost priceless – they are from Rumania and others from Turkey. And another fountain came from Italy.

Other gifts from every other country in the world adorn this Palace of Peace to symbolise the united commitment of every country to Peace in the world.

This Palace was opened in August 1913. A year later the First World War began.

Germany, which gave the entrance gates, marched into Belgium, which had given the doors. Britain and France, forgetting their windows and their paintings, sent their armies to fight against Germany.

The lights in the vestibule didn’t mean very much to Austria then, as she stood beside the Germans in the trenches in the war, which went on for four long years. The countries which had built the Palace of Peace, were at each other’s throats. Tens of thousands of men in all the armies were killed, as well as civilians, men, women and children.

The nations which had built the Palace had spent very little on peace itself. A vase or a carpet may be valuable to a collector, but it would not cost a country very much of its annual revenue to make a present of it to the great building in the Hague.

Peace costs more than that. It costs time, and thought and energy and selflessness. It costs pride and service and understanding. Peace cannot be gained for the price of a fountain or a stained-glass window. Peace costs, and it would seem that the politicians of the world are often not willing to pay the price.

There was someone on the radio recently answering the question of why should we continue to observe Remembrance Sunday. He said we must continue to observe it to remember all of those who died so that their deaths would not have been in vain, so that it would never happen again.

But there was someone else who said that right at this moment there are 42 wars being waged in the world. Wars waged by governments some of whom have said that they want peace, that to wage war is the way to win peace; that to wage war, is less costly in the long run than fighting for peace.

And here we are again on another Remembrance Sunday, remembering and grieving the loss of yet more of soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. Many of you will have seen graveyards with victims of the World Wars, with row upon row of stones marking the final resting place of so many people, often very young people. In some of the Books of Remembrance you will find comments such as, “We are so sorry.” “We will never let this happen again.”

We remember so that it will not happen again. But I wonder how long we will be remembering other deaths and other wars, and it will still be happening over and over again. We will never forget but is simply not forgetting enough?

As Jesus spoke of the scribes in their fine robes, I wonder if we can picture politicians of today talking about the necessity for peace in the world, and justice and an end to poverty, but actually still involving themselves in conflicts, and still doing little to really solve the problems that surround us in the world today. Fine words but actions which often don’t match.

And it’s always easy at times like these to just look to politicians, but the story of the widow putting in her two copper coins reminds us that every one of us has something to contribute to produce the peace which Jesus intended to bring into the world – whether it be through prayer or through our actions, or hopefully a combination of both, every one of us has a role to play in making the world a better place.

Just as the woman gave all she had to God, so we must dedicate our lives and all of our possessions and everything else to God, and if we can begin to do those things, then we will find him far more ready and willing to give than we can ever be. AMEN