(this was a sermon that Lucy wrote and preached in St Luke’s and I preached in St Leonards 14Nov2021) May the words of my mouth and the thoughts of my heart be in the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Today is Remembrance Day when we remember those who fought and those who fight and those who have given and still give their lives that we can be here today free to live our lives.
There are five words that I want you to take home today to think about and to ponder. Poetry, Poppy, Power, Peace, Prayer.
And our FIRST word is POETRY
In early May 1915, shortly after losing a friend in Ypres, a Canadian doctor, Lt Col John McCrae was inspired by the sight of the bright red poppies to write a beautiful poem called In Flanders Fields which contains a powerful challenge to remember.
So we are going to pause for a moment and hear it read.
IN FLANDERS FIELDS (Lt Col John McCrae)
In Flanders’ fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place: and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders’ fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe;
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high,
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders’ Fields.
It’s a powerful poem that evokes our need to remember. To do more than remember – to live – Breaking faith with this generation is More than simply forgetting, not remembering, it is not remembering to Live the freedom, to value the freedom.
The Second word then is Poppy.
Poppies grew on the battlefields of Western Europe where so many fought and died in the First World War. Previously beautiful countryside was blasted, bombed and fought over, again and again. The landscape swiftly turned to fields of mud: bleak and barren scenes where little or nothing could grow.
Except for poppies, little symbols of hope in the bleakness. Bright red Flanders poppies delicate but resilient. And the poppies grew in their thousands, flourishing even in the middle of chaos and destruction.
And in 1921 100 years ago the poppy was adopted by the RBL as a symbol to help us to remember. 1921 was the first Poppy appeal.
(as an aside I think it is also 100 years of us having our War memorial)
And the Poppy helps us to remember all those who have lost their lives on active service in all conflicts; from the beginning of the First World War right up to the present day.
We are remembering those men and women from the past and we are also remembering those now in the Army, Navy and Air Force.
And it also honours the contribution of civilian services and the uniformed services which contribute to national peace and security.
And it also acknowledges innocent civilians who have lost their lives in conflict and acts of terrorism.
And people have been wearing a poppy every November for 100 years. It is not a sad symbol, it is a symbol both of remembrance and of hope for a peaceful future.
Poetry, Poppy, My third word is POWER.
Power can be used for good and bad.
It is our responsibility to use the power that we have for good. For healing, for reconciliation and to preserve and defend peace.
And we can see some of this in our Old Testament reading this morning from the prophet Micah, looking forward to a time when things created to fight won’t be needed.
He says: ‘They will beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.’
These words are really powerful, that no-one will need to have weapons, that no-one will need to train for war any more, that no nations will fight.
Here is a hope that we must pray for, this vision of Micah’s of a time when there will be peace, and not just for me, but for you, for all nations. Its not good enough for me to say I’m alright jack.
Here’s the hope that we will do better things with our defence budgets than build weapons and train.
I was watching a Bollywood movie which required a sort of Pakistan special forces team to join forces with an Indian special forces team – in between the upbeat songs – one of them says – imagine if our two countries, instead of fearing each other, put our defence budget into building better roads and schools and hospitals?
Its an awkward reminder of an old hate, it’s a challenge to us to find ways of peace. To use the Power that we have not to create fear but to invest in love, forgiveness, reconciliation.
And it is our responsibility to use the power we have for good. Power needs to beused to help bring and preserve peace.
So my forth word is PEACE.
For the hope that there will be a time of peace. In the words of Micah:
For a time when, ‘Everyone will sit under their own vine and under their own fig tree, and no one will make them afraid’.
It’s a wonderful vision of heaven on earth. Everyone will sit under their own vine or fig tree and No one will make them afraid.
And so many are still afraid, in so many parts of the world. We daily hear of conflict and terror in the news and I certainly can feel overwhelmed by it.
Overwhelmed or not, it is our responsibility to use our collective power that we have, however small and insignificant, for peace. For healing, for reconciliation.
Most of us do this through small random acts of kindness. Bring comfort and hope to a friend or colleague. Stand by someone who is having a tough time. Sit with someone who is mourning.
To inform yourself as to what is happening in different parts of the world. These are important for healing and reconciliation. To bring peace.
A very good friend served in the military in Afghanistan. When he returned although physically fine, mentally it had taken its toll.
Healing took, healing takes, time and the love we have can be tested. We have a responsibility to be part of the healing and peace of others however small we may feel our part to be. To show God’s love in practical ways, to be there.
So my fifth word is PRAYER.
It is our responsibility to pray as well as to remember.
To pray for our armed forces, those now in the Army, Navy and Air Force. For wisdom and protection.
To pray for those in the civilian services and the uniformed services which contribute to national peace and security.
To pray for those who mourn.
To pray for those that need healing in body, mind or spirit.
To pray for a time when men and women and children need not be afraid. For a time when there is no need of fighting and war.
To pray that God’s love may be known in all the world.
Maybe we could take our Romans passage as a prayer:
‘For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.’
Nothing can separate us from the love of God and we are called to take that love out into the world.
So the five words I would like you to take home and ponder today are Poetry and Poppies to help us to remember. That we each have Power to bring healing and reconciliation and to seek Peace. We have Prayer to help us to seek God and to look forward. Poetry, Poppy, Power, Peace and Prayer. Amen.