Part of our coming together today is to remember, and to honour, those who have served
and sacrificed so much, very often their lives in all conflicts, and in peacetime, from the
time of the world wars – with the First WW now being well over a hundred years ago, to
the modern day – and this includes members of the emergency services and also civilians.
As we gather, surrounded by poppies, with remembrance as the pinnacle of our focus, we
will aim to also think a little, about the truth of what it means to be human in our world
today. War hasn’t stopped, it’s still experienced by far too many; do we feel able to deepen
our commitment to peace making?
In our reading from Hebrews it tells us that the cross is where God’s most powerful work
was done, Jesus gave his life in sacrifice to end all sacrifices, yet here we stand aware of the
dreadful cost of so many in war; we must look for the thread of God’s love in all that went
on, and continues to go on, and focus on the hope Jesus gives all of us, that reconciliation
and peace do have a part to play in this world to enable us all to be shaped by that self-
offering from Jesus.
Every November we see poppies appearing, that great symbol of remembrance, and this
year I’ve seen more reports than ever of churches creating thousands of knitted poppies
that have then been hung from church towers to create wonderful cascades. Every knitted
poppy worked individually, and I can imagine that as those doing the knitting sit and work,
they chat and think about what each poppy symbolises, almost certainly thinking about that
thread of God’s love and most certainly demonstrating it as they knit such a wonderful
tribute.
And here, we are surrounded, look at the cross adorned with poppies – reminding us of the
sacrifice Jesus gave for the love of us all. I haven’t spoken to our wonderful flower team,
but placing these strings of poppies so perfectly and so carefully must have impacted their
thoughts, just as they are doing for each of us as we sit here amongst them.
Last week in Sainsburys a person from the Royal British Legion was selling a myriad of
items, including slap bands and pencils all adorned with poppies, whilst the table next to it
had handmade items, some with red poppies, the others purple to help us to remember the
animals of war, an array of poppy adorned items to appeal to all ages and mindsets, to set
us on the path of remembering.
The week before whilst I was visiting Durham, there had been a uniformed chap in the City
Centre, again with a table heaving under the merchandise aimed to help us remember,
however despite there being many, many young students in that city, his table seemed to
be mostly visited by people of my age and older.
This caused me reflect a little on the corporate way in which we remember – young people
are included in the many civic events that mark remembrance, but I do wonder what they
understand of remembrance. Younger generations are so much further removed from experiencing the horrors of war through someone they know that experienced it – as my
generation did. I recall, as a teenager, reading the war poems, particularly those by Wilfred Owen that were
really graphic, heart-rending reports straight from the trenches. The reality of the horrors
of war were spelled out, you were in no doubt how shocking war was. These poems now
bring home the shocking realities of war to a new generation as they are read and explored
by many in secondary schools.
And, very sadly, many schools now have children who have experienced war first hand in
other countries and have come to us seeking refuge, therefore some of the realities and
brutalities are being shared more and more amongst younger age groups.
And what of those of other faiths and cultures that make this country their home?
Certainly, the armies that fought in the Second World War were some of the largest multi-
ethnic forces in history, drawn from around the Commonwealth and many more recent
conflicts pull from our more culturally diverse forces of today – and of course across multi
faith networks all are included in public displays of remembrance.
Therefore, despite the further away in time we move from wars on our shores, there
appears to be strong hope that ‘remembering’ will not stop. We must never forget, as
remembering is key to ensure that we strive for a better and more peaceful future. If we
whitewash the past, we are in danger of repeating the sins of the past.
Despite our remembering, conflict continues. How must God feel when his world is still
hurting? With the power of television and radio we are forcibly taken right into the midst of
conflict, hurting at the horrors we see, the shocking images of real human beings, people
like you and me so utterly broken. God must suffer as his children do, and we must hope
and pray that there are people making Christ known in the midst of such atrocity. We can
pray for this, as well as for forgiveness and reconciliation, because we know that we
worship a God of love and where there’s love, there’s hope.
Maybe the way forward was spelt out in our gospel reading – Jesus called on simple
fishermen, come follow me, and I will make you fishers of people. He didn’t call them to
create an army or a group to work against others, quite the opposite. He called them to
turn to him, to follow him, to go out into the community, to share peace and love and grow
the Kingdom of God. Is this something we can replicate and encourage others to do too? As
Christians we are called to follow Jesus, we’re called to be peace makers, and are invited to
be part of that peace-making community, centred on the love of Christ.
Are we ready to lay down a little more than our nets, to turn towards Jesus to seek and to
grow his Kingdom of peace for all on this earth? On this Remembrance Sunday, let us stand
together united in our mission to turn from hate to love, from war to peace, allowing hope
to flourish and God’s love, and peace, to pervade every corner of his earth.
We will remember them. Amen.
Service: Rev Rebecca Yates, 10th November 2024. (St John’s Church Peterborough UK)
Readings: Jonah 3.1-5, 10; Psalm 62.5-end; Hebrews 9.24-end; Mark 1.14-20