Peace and sweets

From Helen

Today is a special day. It’s  a day to remember, to pray and to be active. Today we remember and give thanks for all  those who have died in war. We pray for them and their families. Today we will remember those who  both have and continue to fight for something better. Today we remember those who are in the armed services, we remember all those who have died as a result of war. This includes the civilians. Families who lose the people they love. We pray for them.

The remembering and prayer are the more obvious bits, the be active is more difficult. By being active I am thinking of our role to bring peace. As followers of Jesus, also known as the prince of peace we are to bring peace.

You all know that I rather like chocolate. I have never been a fan of sweets. I always wanted to like jelly babies as they looked so cute but sadly I still don’t like them. I do like the reason Jelly babies exist though.

Jelly babies came out in 1918. They were released after the first world war as peace babies. Each colour peace baby was that colour because they represented a different country that had fought in the war. It is an incredible thought that jelly babies began life as a sign of peace. The idea that everyone who fought were slightly different but all the same. They were different colours representing different nations,

There was a shortage of sugar with world war II which meant that peace babies disappeared. They came out again in the 1950s and were called Jelly Babies. There are different versions and makes but Bassets ones all have special symbols on the babies. Each of these symbols is a Christian one.

The black jelly baby has a heart to symbolise God’s love.
The Green jelly  baby is crying to symbolise the sadness of life without God’s love
The Red jelly baby has a B standing for blood – Jesus dying for us on the cross
The Pink jelly baby – is a baby, standing for the new start we have with God when we become a follower of Jesus.
The Yellow jelly baby- Is wearing a Necklace, representing the riches of heaven, what God promises us for the future.
The orange jelly baby is wearing a Bag which tells us that we need to be prepared for our journey through life and into the future.

All this from a bag of sweets. The sweets which began as peace babies and represented peace and a new way of life after war can help us to think about God and His love for us. 

Today we remember, we pray and we take action as we seek to bring peace. By peace I don’t just mean the end of fighting. I am thinking about the amazing peace that only God can bring. 

0ur gospel reading this morning (luke 20:27-38) told us about the time when some religious leaders, the Sadducees went to ask Jesus some questions. It is hard to know if these sadducees were trying to ask Jesus a genuine question or if they were trying to trick Him out. They asked a very long question which was almost laughable as the life of the woman kept changing dramatically as she was moved from one husband to another due to bereavement. My favourite bit of this passage is that Jesus showed the sadducees that they were asking all the wrong questions. They were trying to judge heaven as if it was the same as life now. Jesus pointed out that there is so much more to it all than this.

Jesus was pointing out that with God there is only life. God gives us strength and life. Last week we remembered the saints, this week we remember those who have died as a result of war. One thing brings all the remembering together and that is the promise of a better life, a life when all will be well, because we will all be living like God. We will be living in peace.

Peace is an amazing word, it is a word of comfort, peace never sounds scary. Peace is a word when all both is and seems to be  right.

Back to our peace babies, they represented a new way of life that accepted that everyone was different but they all worked together. To the jelly babies of today we can see a hope for our lives  to be more and more like Jesus. 

The more we live like Jesus the more we can bring peace. When we look around us we known that war continues, we know that for many who are part of the forces they will have seen active service. They will have been in the front of situations where they can see the worst of humanity. They need to be remembered, they need to be prayed for.

We are called to be active to bring a better way as we live for peace, as we think about the important things. We don’t want to get tied up like the sadducees but we want to think about what Jesus said and to act on it, that life will be better and yes this is in heaven but it starts right now as we bring the peace of Christ to those around us. As we help people find their way to God who brings life and hope. May we always be ready to bring peace.AMEN