A sermon preached at service for the Civic Act of Remembrance at Fairfield Halls, Croydon
Jesus said: ‘Blessed are the
peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God’
+
‘What were you doing 80 years ago?’
There aren’t that many people around now who
can give you an answer to that question: I couldn’t.
One person I can ask is my mother-in-law, now
aged 97: she lives with me and my family.
80 years ago she was 17 years old. And
she still remembers the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, 80
years ago this year.
She remembers the
broadcast by the Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain; the
distribution of gas masks; and
the beginnings of getting the country’s economy on a war footing as
imports of food such
as oranges and bananas dried
up.
The other thing my mother-in-law was
doing 80 years ago was joining the Women’s Auxiliary Air
Force: she
was a ‘WAAF’.
80 years ago my late father-in-law
was 18 years old. He had joined the army and was commissioned as an officer in the Royal Artillery following
his training as a gunner at the Woolwich Military Academy.
My mother-in-law’s war saw her
working at
airbases around the country from
deepest Cornwall to the very north of Scotland – in
what she remembers as the hottest summer she has ever known –
to
being on the liner sailing in convoy to the Quebec Conference when
Churchill met Roosevelt for key discussions about the course of the war
in Europe and
working in the Cabinet War Rooms, off Whitehall.
My father-in-law’s war saw him commanding 30 Indian troops when he was only 19 leading men
in fighting in North Africa, and
then in the campaign through Italy.
Today is clearly not just about my
family stories. But it is about stories, like those
of my mother and father-in-law, which
are woven into the fabric of our national life.
You might have your own family
stories, some
distant, some far more recent and
possibly quite raw.
We all have our nation’s story and
experience, which
still shapes who we are today.
On Remembrance Sunday stories and
experiences – whether
from the Second World War, or the First World War, the
Korean War or Northern Ireland, the
Falkland’s War, Gulf Wars, Afghanistan, Syria – stories
and experiences are
remembered and shared, so
that we may resolve that
never again
should
this happen in
our world.
What started 80 years ago this year – in
1939 – lasted for 6 years. 6 whole years of global warfare,
resulting
in the death of
an estimated 70–85 million people – military personnel and civilians, men, women and children – killed
in action, dying
by starvation or
disease brought
on by war, or
by genocide, most
notably the Nazi Holocaust.
Like a pebble dropping in a pond war
sends ripples throughout nations, communities, families and
individual lives: health
and wellbeing, physical,
mental and spiritual is
affected.
No part of the world is left
untouched: the
earth is wounded, God’s
creatures in the animal kingdom are harmed. The ripples of war continue
down the generations as people live and struggle with loss and grief and absence.
Remembrance Sunday calls to mind both the
worst depravity of human nature in
war and violence
and
also the greatest glory of human nature in
sacrifice for others: the
risking of lives that
others may be free to live.
Remembrance Sunday asks us not
just to remember what we were doing at such and such a time,
or
what was happening in the past, eighty
years ago or whenever but
it taps into a deeper human memory of
how we might live our lives in
freedom, fullness and
abundance.
In this country many faith
communities search
their scriptures and traditions to
shape a peace-filled world. With
Her Majesty the Queen, our
nation draws deeply on the message of
blessed peacemakers in
the life and teaching of Jesus Christ. Jesus
teaches peace and urges reconciliation.
Reconciliation means reaching across boundaries of
hurt or pain. Tearing
down walls of division: like in Berlin 30 years ago. That’s true for relationships on
a global, local and
personal level, between warring
nations, within
torn communities, or
within families and relationships.
The
message and
priority of
reconciliation is
for all men,
women and children.
We need reconciliation now
more than ever given
that our nation and communities are at
odds over
Brexit, traumatised by
austerity, terrified of
burgeoning knife crime and
unsettled by
a General Election campaign.
If someone asks you in 5, 10, 50, or
even 80 years’ time: ‘what were you doing in 2019?’
I
wonder... what
you would say.
On
this Remembrance Sunday I hope I could say, I hope you could say: I was playing my part in
reconciliation; I was reaching out beyond my comfort
zone; I was engaging with people
different from me I was being a
peacemaker.
Do that and you will be honouring, in the
deepest way, the legacy of those who we remember today who fell in war, so that the
story of our nation would
be one of liberty, safety and
prosperity.
Today let us renew our commitment to honour
those who died that we might live by
shaping our nation’s story that each
and every one of us can
be a reconciling peacemaker.
No comments:
Post a Comment