Remembrance Sunday 2009
This week again we have heard of more casualties in the war in Afghanistan – Iraq also seems far from stable and throughout the world many other conflicts are raging. Today we offer thoughts and prayers for those involved in conflict today as well as those in the past… There are a number of purposes of Remembrance Sunday 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 score when Cardiff Blues beat the Ospreys recently, but don’t remember the score against Leinster from last week !!
But today, more seriously, remembering is important. Today we think of the sacrifices made by so many people in conflict – this year has seen the passing of the final veterans of the First World War, 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. Part of our gospel reading today from the sermon on the mount included the words of Jesus, ‘Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God’, and this morning I just want to think about what peacemakers really are in the Christian context.
There are many who will suggest that peacemakers should always be pacifists, people who believe all war is wrong regardless of anything else – there is no doubt that Jesus preached a message of peace, and of peaceful reconciliation, but he also recognised that sometimes for right and good to prevail it was necessary to involve himself in conflict. He argued with many people, not violently, but certainly he argued, he threw over the tables of the money changers, and of course he accepted the most brutal form of death.
I don’t believe Jesus was a pacifist in the sense many use the word today, but he was a peacemaker. 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."
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.
And so back to the question of 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.
This week I was quite surprised to hear Quentin Letts, the fairly right wing journalist describe the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, as one of the most impressive people in Britain today – Rowan Williams may head the state Church, he may be associated with a lot of tradition and gain respect by that, but on almost every subject I suspect that Quentin Letts would disagree with him… And Quentin Letts knows that which is what makes it so surprising and so impressive – sometimes we have to listen to people we disagree with, and make judgements not on our thoughts alone but on their thoughts and their concerns and principles.
And a Christian must also be brave. The sermon on the mount which we heard this morning was a powerful political speech, and it is 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 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 part of our responsibility to care for and to seek to make better. AMEN
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 score when Cardiff Blues beat the Ospreys recently, but don’t remember the score against Leinster from last week !!
But today, more seriously, remembering is important. Today we think of the sacrifices made by so many people in conflict – this year has seen the passing of the final veterans of the First World War, 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. Part of our gospel reading today from the sermon on the mount included the words of Jesus, ‘Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God’, and this morning I just want to think about what peacemakers really are in the Christian context.
There are many who will suggest that peacemakers should always be pacifists, people who believe all war is wrong regardless of anything else – there is no doubt that Jesus preached a message of peace, and of peaceful reconciliation, but he also recognised that sometimes for right and good to prevail it was necessary to involve himself in conflict. He argued with many people, not violently, but certainly he argued, he threw over the tables of the money changers, and of course he accepted the most brutal form of death.
I don’t believe Jesus was a pacifist in the sense many use the word today, but he was a peacemaker. 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."
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.
And so back to the question of 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.
This week I was quite surprised to hear Quentin Letts, the fairly right wing journalist describe the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, as one of the most impressive people in Britain today – Rowan Williams may head the state Church, he may be associated with a lot of tradition and gain respect by that, but on almost every subject I suspect that Quentin Letts would disagree with him… And Quentin Letts knows that which is what makes it so surprising and so impressive – sometimes we have to listen to people we disagree with, and make judgements not on our thoughts alone but on their thoughts and their concerns and principles.
And a Christian must also be brave. The sermon on the mount which we heard this morning was a powerful political speech, and it is 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 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 part of our responsibility to care for and to seek to make better. AMEN
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