Sermon for Remembrance Sunday

14^th November, 2021.

(Readings: Micah 4.1-5; Romans 8. 31-39)

When I was growing up in Brighton in the 1960s and early 70s the Second World War was still very much in people’s minds. I avidly read war comics and magazines and we played war games in the school playground. There was often talk amongst the grown-ups about “The war years”, and the telly was full of programmes like Colditz and the Secret Army. And for a laugh, Dad’s Army. Now this is hardly surprising   as most adults at that time had lived through that devastating conflict – my father served in the army and my mother, living in a blitzed London, was a fire warden. That is not so today as there are fewer and fewer people who can actually recall that time, and none at all who served in the Great War of 1914/18. It probably makes it difficult for people younger than me to imagine what that war was like, and still more difficult to understand why it happened in the first place. Why should countries go to war to settle their differences? Why should so many millions of lives be sacrificed in this way? Much of the way the world has been governed and led since 1945 has been aimed, not towards military aggression, but towards peace and the peaceful resolution of conflicts. The foundation of the United Nations in 1945 is symbolic of that hope. And, thank God, there has not been a world-wide conflagration in the last 76 years. The watchword nowadays is co-operation, and the recent COP 26 conference in Glasgow, itself set up by the United Nations to combat climate change, is a good example of that. Countries come together to discuss and to argue with words, not weapons.

That is not to say that there have been no wars. There has barely been a year since 1945 when there has not been a conflict somewhere in the world where people have been killed, injured or made refugees. And there are plenty of countries which prefer the use of force to achieve their ends. Even the superpowers indulged in a Cold War for a long time and we still have thousands of nuclear weapons all over the world. War is never far away – we see it on the news today in Ethiopia, in the Yemen, in Afghanistan. Very often it is not nation states which perpetrate this, but supra-national organisations and terrorist groups, blurring the traditional understanding of war and making it much harder for countries to combat.

All of this is very familiar to us and you do not really need me to summarize it here. The point, I think, is that there has been a major change in approach by most people since the last World War. The general approach today is not so much to achieve our ends by violent means but by more peaceful ones. Therefore, it becomes difficult for a younger generation than mine to comprehend why a world should go to war. It is not a natural way to behave. Why should this be so? What has brought about this change?

In our first reading this morning, from the book of the prophet Micah, there is a beautiful, wonderfully poetic vision of peace and harmony, where even wild animals are not in conflict and there is no need for war – swords are beaten into ploughshares. This may be a vision of heaven or the afterlife, but more likely it is a fervent hope that in the real world there will come a time when armed conflict is unthinkable. It was written thousands of years ago in a different country and culture, and probably originally related to the restoration of the people of Israel to their homeland. However, it is in our Bible as a reminder to us of what God wants for the world - a world of peace, and a world of understanding and co-operation. It is also a statement of what humanity can do if only we put our minds to it. If only we gave up the idea of getting our own way by means of warfare and violence, then a great deal of real worth can happen.

That last point is very significant. Change can only be brought about when there are faithful and caring people who are ready willing and able to act, and it is often in response to a particular tragedy or tragedies. That is where today, Remembrance Sunday, comes in. Today we commemorate the ultimate sacrifice which so many millions of people paid in the last two world wars and subsequent conflicts. Many of them served in the armed services, and we pay particular tribute to them, but many also were civilians who were simply doing their job for the sake of others in such fields as the fire and ambulance service, the merchant marine, the police and transport services and so on. In total war, everyone is affected and everyone suffers. Some, as I said, pay the ultimate price. The example of these people, of what they did and how they did it, has made us realize that war is not the way. I think there has been a sea change in attitudes in the last 75 years or so and that is due in no small part to what they did. It is vital, therefore, for us to remember them, to give thanks for what they did, and most of all to ensure that such events never happen again – that their sacrifice should not be in vain. That is why we always have as a part of this service an act of commitment to responsible living and faithful service – to strive for peace and to work for a just future for all humanity.

This is not easy, and in our striving for peace we will make mistakes and fall short – conflicts as I said have not completely gone away. However, we have a God who is with us all the way. A God who has given us that vision of peace and harmony that we read about in Micah, and one who stays with us in all that we do. That is what our second reading from the letter to the Roans was all about – that nothing in all creation can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. God has shown us how close he is to us, how intimately connected he is with this world, by sending his only Son, Jesus Christ to us - to be with us and to die for us. He did not promise a miraculous end to all wars other than by the hard work, dedication and effort of ordinary human beings – that is people like you and me today, and like those whom we remember on this Remembrance Sunday who went all the way. God does not abandon us in all this - he is there for us constantly to help, guide, encourage and strengthen by his Holy Spirit in everything that we do. He has shown us the way, many have followed and so should we.

Amen.

The Rev. Anthony C.  Bushell, MA