Sermon Kingdom 2 Remembrance Sunday

REMEMBRANCE SUNDAY 2006

Jonah 3.1-5,10

Hebrews 9.24-28

Mark 1.14-20

Today is a sad day; we remember those who have lost their lives in war, throughout the ages. And we come together to give thanks for the sacrifice, and to mourn the loss. We need not have known someone personally or lost a close relative, to appreciate the cost in human terms, and the absolute horror, and disaster that war creates.

Today we can all share together in the great sense of loss, not just for the Great War and the 1939-1945 War, but all conflicts of the past to this present day. We can also bear in mind those involved in armed conflict as we speak.

What do you think of when you hear of war?

Some people here have lived in a nation at war. When war has been an ever-present threat, not only to those at the front line, but those at home. I myself have been lucky, in my lifetime, I have never needed to retreat to the bomb shelter or subsist on rations. They tell me that powdered egg was an experience in itself. In all seriousness, In the past as I have stood in the rain to conduct the service at a war memorial, I could see the effect that war had made on the assembled people, more than half a century ago.

The feeling of loss and the anger at wasted potential was present, as was the gratitude for the sacrifice that others had made. It is always an intensely sad experience. At a funeral we usually have the opportunity to rejoice in our sadness, for the contribution that lifelong commitment has brought. Family; children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews not to mention friends and colleagues, all eager to boast of good memories, and times spend in happiness. However on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, standing in the cold, listening to the silence - we mourn the loss of potential, what might have been, if almost a generation hadn’t been taken from us. To me, that is the true horror of war.

I suspect that when war breaks out, a nation is expected to make decisions. Politicians and leaders are put on the spot to discern ‘good’ from ‘evil’, or more precisely ‘that, which helps the nation grow’ from ‘that, which is damaging’. These decisions are made usually, somewhere up there in the ether of government, and the citizens who trust their elected representatives follow, to serve the ‘common good’.

Today on remembrance Sunday, the second Sunday of the kingdom, the readings show not nations, but individuals, being put on the spot, to discern ‘good’ from ‘evil’ and take action. The ever-reluctant Jonah, on his mission impossible to Nineveh. The writer of Hebrews reporting the mission of Christ himself to be the sacrificial lamb, whose blood would be spilled once for all. And in the Gospel, we heard the call to Simon, Andrew, James and John, who dropped their nets to follow Christ.

The all the journeys were uncertain, and almost certain to end in a premature death, but they ALL had made their decisions and moved forward.

When God puts us on the spot (and he certainly will in everybody’s life at some point). We may bargain and we try to play for time, but the sense that the greater good is with God moves us to action, from complacency to deed. The liberation theologians of South America might say from orthodoxy to orthopraxy. This means right-thoughts being changed to right-actions.

I wonder sometimes if the brothers really did drop their nets, or had they been thinking about it for some time? Had they heard of the messiah, and discussed him at length? Had God spoken to them and guided them, as part of his plan? Did they carry on fishing, waiting for the personal call of Christ?

When we think about God calling us to be more of what He wants us to be, we can see this in action in the form of Jesus, acting as God acts still today. Ordinary people with ordinary jobs and ordinary lives are called out to do work. No one gets a certificate from God to justify their actions, we must justify them for ourselves, trusting in God. The question, “will my actions further the kingdom of God on earth?”

In a real sense, we should all be always ready to drop our nets for the sake of peace, justice and love. I would like to wake up each morning and think “what can I do today to make things better for others?” “What can I do that makes a difference?” “How can I best use this precious gift of life?”

These are important questions but they do give you a headache. The truth is that we must just do our best to use the opportunities given to us; each day might bring us another chance to do a good job.

I remember that one cold Sunday I managed to miss the chance to help – as I went to do a baptism in Cardiff I noticed that a man was cooking his lunch on a makeshift stove. It looked as though he had been there for a few days, and as I walked up the path to the church I managed to avoid eye contact and pretend he wasn’t there. Perhaps I thought he would call out “big issue mate?” or ask for money, I was a bit miffed that I had left the comfort of my own home on Sunday afternoon to be jolly in a freezing church. He didn’t say anything, but as the family arrived he packed his stuff away and made himself scarce. The opportunity to ask if he was ok, to chat about the weather or the rugby was gone. I might not have been able to give him money (assuming that he wanted any) but I could have given some time.

I wonder sometimes where we would be if people like Simone Weil, Henri Perrin and Dietrich Bonhoeffer, murdered by the Nazis, had a bad day, and decided that it was too much hassle to stand up for all God’s children. What if the apostles heard Jesus and decided that they would carry on fishing because they had heard that the Jesus bloke was a bit of an idiot, and would get them into trouble. “come and be my disciples and I will show you how to fish for people”. “no thanks, we are a bit busy at the moment – perhaps next week?”

Where is our battleground though? Where do we make a difference? Aren’t things ok as they are?

We can pray –most importantly- for things that need fixing. We can be concerned about the things that are wrong. We can do what we can to make life uncomfortable for those who oppress others, by speaking the truth.

The rise of the neo-nazi right wing in Europe – The Front National in France, the National Democratic Party and the German People’s Union all should give us cause for concern, not to mention the spread of historical revisionism about the holocaust – telling us that 60 million people just disappeared in the second world war, and were not murdered. All these things have raised the old demons that we thought were gone. More locally, our own record of economic management since the boom years after the Second World War has created an underclass – poverty and discrimination is rife and getting worse.

A new set of martyrs are needed, martyrs who may not die in their struggle. There may be no crucifixion or stoning, but the struggle will be long and hard. The mission is to proclaim the love of Christ to a broken world, to bring hope to the destitute and solidarity for the oppressed. If we do noting else this year, lets all get involved to the best of our abilities, to help others see Christ in us.

Do we drop our nets and go, or do we stay fishing?