Remembrance Day Sermon 2014
Remembering and responsibility
At the end of this service we will gather around
the War Memorial, read out the names of those in
Tylers Green who have died in war, lay wreaths
and observe 2 minutes silence, paying tribute to
those who made the ultimate sacrifice that we
might live in peace.
Our memorial was built like many others, by
public subscription by parishioners who believed
they had fought the war to end all wars. How
wrong they were; for we are not only mourning
the dead of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan but the
dead of many other wars and incidents that have
led to the loss of life wherever our armed forces
have served.
So today is a very precious day, a special day that
we can exclusively set aside to remember the
fallen and their sacrifice.
My first recollection of Remembrance Sunday was
as a youngster in my home town in Scarborough.
I can remember standing with my parents as the
parade marched through the centre of the town
with veterans from the British Legion carrying
standards, serving members of the armed forces,
local dignitaries, scouts, guides, cubs and
brownies and youth groups all on parade.
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At this young age I didn’t understand the
significance of it all. I was born towards the end
of the war with little recollection of hardship and
in my teen years it seemed to me to be a
pointless gesture that had little to say to someone
born after 1945.
And I certainly struggled in my youth with the
idea that God was solely on our side. How on
earth could we disenfranchise the thousands upon
thousands of Christians who were fighting against
us? It seemed to me that there was a certain
irony that German Christian pastors were praying
for victory at the very same time that our
chaplains were doing the same. It certainly
begged the question; - did the other Christians
get it wrong? Did God choose us rather than
them!
Looking back my discomfort was I think, because
I didn't understand the whole picture, a picture of
emotions and passions that could only come from
those who had either experienced first hand the
horrors of war or had been parted from loved
ones for long periods of time.
But today I believe that Remembrance Day and
the act of remembering is precious. The mere act
of remembering helps us to understand the
sacrifices that were made and the value of peace.
Through the stories of particular people and the
memories of those whose lives have been turned
upside down by war and the effects of terrorist
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activity, we have a chance to try to understand
where we all fit into the dark picture of these
emotions and fears that refuse to go away and
that still appear on our TV screens and in our
consciences.
And today as we watch war taking place in almost
real time on television we ought to reflect
thoughtfully on the consequences. Every bullet
fired; every drone or aircraft strike; every vehicle
spectacularly blowing up means that there is
someone dying or being maimed at the other end.
This is not a shoot-em up computer game, this is
for real.
Over the past few years we have shared in the
dignity of the corteges processing through Royal
Wooton Basset and Brize Norton on what was a
regular event. Through the media we can feel and
share in the grief of families of soldiers and
civilians killed in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria,
Palestine or elsewhere. We can share the grief of
those caught up in the silent war of terrorist
outrages. All these things open up new emotions
and perspectives about warfare.
Because of the media we all have a common
experience of the grief of others. My generation
brought up during the Cold War were protected
from personal contact with the effects that war
tears into individual and family life. The media has
changed all of that and we can now empathise
with those for whom the horrific experience of war
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lives quietly and persistently with them all their
days.
And so today, we remember
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Those whose lives and loves have been
wrecked by war.
Those, who take decisions that can wound
or heal, can mean life or death for
someone.
Those who have committed their lives to
serve in the armed forces and emergency
services and live with the possibility of
being killed in action
Those whose names are on our memorial in
our churchyard or indeed on other
memorials whether in this country or abroad
Remembrance Day is a day when each one of us
faces their own vulnerability, whether in the face
of the violence of warfare or terrorism, or in
relationships gone wrong, rights ignored or
ambition for the sake of power.
What we do know is that gap between media
reporting and actual experience of war is
notoriously difficult to bridge. War reporters and
cameramen spread the illusion that we know
what's going on. But despite our sophisticated
means of communication, we just don't get the
full picture. All we get are sound or vision bites
designed to fit a time slot on the news.
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So it’s critically important that we at least try to
understand what is behind these stories . For all
of us here are the beneficiaries of a democracy for
which today's wars are being fought and for which
young men and women from this country and
from other parts of the world together with
innocent civilians are being killed.
And it seems to me that that imposes
responsibilities on us. These wars are being
fought in our name and we must try to
understand the reasons why. We must keep
asking the questions
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'Why are our forces there?
What are they fighting and dying for?
What are we trying to achieve?
Modern war is no longer as clear cut as the two
world wars. It is waged across deserts and
continents and places with strange sounding
names. It is waged both with primitive and with
sophisticated weaponry. Through the suicide
bomber, the terrorist has brought war to our own
doorstep.
It says in Thessalonians ‘that the day of the Lord
will come like a thief in the night – there is peace
and security, then sudden destruction will come
upon them’.
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And for those who have been killed whether in a
bazaar in Kabul, a train in Madrid or a tube train
in London the destruction is sudden.
So I believe that each day is a precious gift, and it
places on all of us the responsibility to use it well,
with clear purpose. Life isn't a dress rehearsal,
the drama is now. In a war, where civilians face
the incomprehensible terror of the suicide
bomber, we can't rely on the formulae of the past.
We must dig deep into the resources of our faith
and refashion them for today's need.
So where as Christians do we start the process of
gaining peace and reconciliation?
I was reminded of the words of Archbishop Rowan
Williams after the attacks on the Twin Towers, He
reflected on how we should respond to the
language of hatred and violence that had been
articulated that day.
‘If we choose to continue the conversation in the
same language of violence and hatred, we will be
drawn deeper and deeper into the hatreds of
those who hate us. And we will become
imprisoned by them’.
Perhaps that's what Jesus meant when he said we
should love our enemies. Love and peace is the
only the language that releases any of us from a
spiral of death and injustice.
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"What might that mean?
"Well, when the awful wars in Afghanistan, Syria
and elsewhere are over, I hope that the images
that we remember are those of the British soldiers
patrolling without their helmets in Kabul;
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the images of soldiers talking to local
families, building schools and hospitals and
giving sweets to children.
The images of aid workers installing solar
powered pumps so that villages can have
fresh and clean water.
The images of children especially young
girls being educated
Because these are powerful images - they express
our commitment to building peace, our
commitment to breaking the cycle of conflict.
These images encapsulate the vulnerability that is
part of building trust. They show professionalism
in our armed forces and aid workers; a
professionalism that is prepared to take risks.
Perhaps it even transforms the skills of war into
the tools of peace.
I end with a quote from Archbishop Desmond
Tutu who said
‘In the end what matters is not how good we are
but how good God is. Not how much we love Him
but how much He loves us. And God loves us
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whoever we are, whatever we’ve done or failed to
do, whatever we believe or can’t believe.’
This kind of love isn't comfortable and doesn't
have quick results. It’s vulnerable to going pear
shaped or being misunderstood. We so often ask
the question ‘what would Jesus do?
"Jesus said: 'This is my commandment, that you
love one another as I have loved you.'
It seems to me that nothing else can heal our torn
and broken world."
Amen
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