Remembrance Sunday is one of those days when you should just know what to say, one of those days when the sermon should be obvious but this bothers me a little. Why ? Well, today is an important day and sometimes when we know what is likely to be said we can loose focus on why we are doing what we are doing.
I used to be chaplain to the Air cadets core in Llandrindod. Every year for Remembrance Sunday there was a huge parade in the town, and the air cadets were always part of this. In the week leading up to the act of remembrance I was with the Air cadets and as I was helping them to think about the town remembrance parade I asked them why we have this day. Of course, the answers came about poppies, World Wars One and two, families of service people, wars today and the need to remember. I kept pushing for more just out of interest and they said to offer respect and to think about where we fit in.
This morning I want to think past the obvious and think about where we fit in. In our reading from 1 Thessalonians we heard that we can have hope because of all that Jesus has done for us.
At the moment we are in the Kingdom season of the Churches year. In this season we remember Jesus our King. As we do this we remember that ultimately God is in control. This will prepare us for advent where we will remember the coming of God amongst us, and we will pray for Him to come again.
In the reading from 1 Thessalonians we were told that we weren’t to be uninformed, seeing death as the end. This is because we can have hope that because of the death and resurrection of Jesus we will be with God.
This is an incredible thought. The death and resurrection of Jesus has changed everything. We can have hope. It is this hope which frames our remembering on this day as we think to a better future as we work to make the world a better place. I can’t even begin to think of how hard it must be for people living in war torn areas to think of peace and to want to praise and exalt God believing that there can be hope.
We could almost feel quite useless, except we have a role to play to make the world better and it is this which can move us past the natural and correct role of remembering to another role of hoping and praying for a better world.
We remember so we can make things better, we try to bring peace by the way we live. We know and trust in God and we have hope which will help us to remember better. We need to make our memories bigger as we remember not what has been but what can be. As we think of the future this is how we will see where we fit in.
Today could be an incredibly despondent day. Because today we think of the past and its pains, we think of the hope people had for a better world but we know that the world still seems to be in torment today.
We need to remember bigger because we know that God both can and does give light. I remember a service I used to attend fairly regularly in a previous Diocese. At this service there were pictures up on a projector to help to focus prayers. One picture was of a place full of rubble and darkness within which there was one candle. In the middle of all this devastation the light of Christ shone through in the candle. This picture always moved me to think of hope and to remember the words of Mother Teresa who said that it was better to light a candle than to curse the dark. As we see despair we need to remember that there is hope because God is in control.
We need to think differently, we need to see beyond the annual memory of this day to a better day. A day when everyone will know the love of God, a day when everyone will know the grace of God, a day when everyone will know that they can have hope.
This day as we think and remember all that has been done for us by those in the services, as we think of all those affected by war so we need to think wider to the greatest act of love ever seen by the sacrifice of the prince of peace.
If all we ever learn in life is that Jesus loves us then we will know everything. Remembrance is about the past, the present and the future. In this season we remember that Jesus is King, and this means that God is in control. We can turn to Him for help, He will hear our prayers and we are to pray for a better world
and by seeking to be more like Jesus to do our bit to spread peace.
I want to finish with a poem written by a 13 year old girl as she thought about peace.
I had a paint box, each colour glowing with delight.
I had a paint box with colours warm,
With colours cool and bright.
I had no red, red for wounds and red for blood.
I had no black for an orphaned child.
I had no white, for the face of the dead.
I had no yellow for burning sands.
But I had a paint box, each colour glowing with delight.
I had a paint box with colours warm,
With colours cool and bright.
I had orange for joy and life.
I had green for buds and bloom.
I had blue for clear bright skies.
I had pink for dreams and rest.
I had a paint box, each colour glowing with delight.
I sat down and painted peace. (Tali Shurel).
May we be as ready to remember and respect as we are to love everyone and pray for peace. AMEN
