Worship on Remembrance Sunday
This morning's Parish Eucharist is at the earlier time of 9.15 am at St Thomas' Church, and there will be no service at St Agnes'. Following the service at St Thomas' we will assemble at Lees Library along with the Royal British Legion to process down to Lees Cemetery for a united Act of Remembrance.
Our first hymn this morning is "O Valiant Hearts"
Today's Gospel
Mark 13: v1-8 Signs of the End of the Age
As Jesus was leaving the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher! What massive stones! What magnificent buildings!”
“Do you see all these great buildings?” replied Jesus. “Not one stone here will be left on another; everyone will be thrown down.”
As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John and Andrew asked him privately, “Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are all about to be fulfilled?”
Jesus said to them: “Watch out that no one deceives you. Many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am he,’ and will deceive many. When you hear of wars and rumours of wars, do not be alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginning of birth pains.
Reflection
In this Gospel Jesus makes reference to the constancy of war and nations rising against nations which is perhaps apt given this coincides with Remembrance Sunday. Last year we did not have a service for Remembrance Day due to the lock down. So I have chosen to share with you the sermon that would have been preached in 2020.
It is eternally important that we remind ourselves of the dreadful cost of war if we are ever to live in peace. The most compelling outward sign of our remembrance is the simple red flower, the Flanders Poppy. It has become the symbol of the Royal British Legion, but more than that, across the world, it has come to represent the sacrifice made by all those men, women and children who have given their lives in conflict.
From early history flowers have become symbols; Clover leaf for the Holy Trinity – Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Lilies for purity, Roses for love and for England, Daffodils for the Marie Curie charity and for Wales, Thistle for Scotland and the Shamrock for Ireland. But, how was the poppy chosen as the universal symbol of remembrance?
As you might expect, it began with a death, the death of a friend of a man called John McCrae in 1915 in Belgium. John McCrae was kneeling at the grave of his friend and was moved to write a poem reflecting the scene around him. He wrote:
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard among the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie In Flanders fields
In 1921, the British Legion began the Poppy Day Appeal to raise money for poor and disabled veterans, and now the Poppy campaign is the Royal British Legion’s most important activity.
As we know, the appeal continues to raise the funding needed to help all service-men and women and their families in the most practical way. However, critically, the appeal serves to maintain our awareness of our past, and present, in order that our prayers for peace, and the future of our families, our children and grandchildren, will be fulfilled.
The bible records much violence, many wars and countless deaths, especially in the Old Testament, and it is a heart breaking reflection that there has probably never been a time when conflict has not existed somewhere in the world both in the past, currently and dare I say it..in the future.
The book of the prophet Micah was written around 700 years before Jesus, and in our reading today he prophesied a future of hope, an ideal world, a world when nations come together in peace instead of war. His words came against a background of violence with the fall of Samaria in the North and instability in the region created by the aggressive superpower of Assyria. However, Micah never lost faith for the future. His vision saw a time when the arms of war would be turned into farming tools and people would live in peaceful community.
Jesus was born into an occupied land, and he lived and died in that occupied land. The Jews were waiting for their king, the Messiah, and they expected him to overthrow the Roman invaders by the traditional, violent, means. You see Peace was not really on the agenda in those New Testament times. Jesus came and taught peace to the disciples and anyone who would hear him, he said, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the children of God.”
The message that Jesus carried did not suit the Pharisees and religious leaders because he threatened the norm, whatever that is, and anyway he did not fit their idea of the anticipated mighty and all-conquering Messiah. The local Roman authorities were worried that any unrest would reflect badly on them. They wanted a quiet life; peace on their terms was just fine.
So Jesus, the light of the world, died for us in an act of darkest violence. Three days later, as the Son of God, he rose again in light for us.
Peace is a precious commodity; it comes from trust, patience, tolerance and faith. It is not unilateral, it cannot be “Peace only on my terms”, it results from mutual agreement and understanding. Peace has never been easy to achieve; it is very hard work to establish and keep the peace at any level in our society. Yet regardless of the difficulties, peace must be what we all strive for, what Micah foresaw, what Jesus taught us. The driving force for peace must come from us, it must come from our remembrance of those who have given their lives in war; it must come from those injured in conflict and for their families and loved ones. Peace will not come if we forget; it won’t happen if we wait for others to work for it.
It is through our vigilance, our voice, and our prayers that peace and light will emerge. The poppies, wreaths and crosses that we lay at memorials on Sunday remember not only those from this community who have given their lives. We also remember the injured and their families for whom we have no recorded names.
The Poppy is our symbol of Remembrance, but let us remember through the remembering of pain and loss that there is always the light of hope, love and faith through Jesus Christ.
Our prayers
God of Peace
May each of us be instruments of Your peace.
Help us be aware of the many opportunities we have to promote peace and justice.
May we never underestimate the power of our actions.
Help us to know best to promote peace and justice.
Amen
Today's final hymn is "Abide With Me"
