Sermon
Preached by Rev Coralie McCluskey
at All Saints Datchworth
Sunday morning - 14 November 2004
Remembrance Sunday
I pray that I may speak in the name of the one
God Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.
There is always a build up in
the media in the week leading up to Remembrance Sunday.
Some of it is intentional some not so:
there are
always references to the First World War poets, (yesterdays’ Guardian
featured
an early poem by Siegfried Sassoon, its gung ho account of heroism in
stark
contrast to his later poetry when he was one of the fiercest critics of
the
conduct of the 1st world war), Fridays’ paper devoted
several pages
to Yasser Arafat (reminding us of the struggle between Jew and
Palestinian),
the international pages featured the new outbreaks of insurgency in Iraq and a summary of
a week of bloodshed and mayhem in that
war
torn country and finally not to be left out, the headline, Westerners
plucked from Ivory
coast chaos, reminds us that
conflict
continues to rage in other African countries.
There were, throughout the week
many other reports and comments all of them representing the wide range
of feelings
and points of view of those who penned them, the same wide range that
is
probably represented here this morning. Each
one of us is unique and we have our
own view on the conflicts that
raged in our troubled world in the C20 and continue to rage today. Views that are heightened or, thrown into
disarray, as we gather together once more for Remembrance Sunday.
This morning I want us for a
few moments to reflect on Remembrance and as we do so remember that
every
Sunday we observe an act of remembrance, here in All Saints, in
communion with
Christians throughout the world.
Remembrance is deeply rooted in
what happens every time we celebrate the Eucharist. In the Eucharistic
prayer we
call to mind, we remember, all that Jesus said and did, his saving
passion and
resurrection. As we follow his
command
to, do this in remembrance of me, we
are carrying out an action that has meaning in the present moment,
feeding us
and equipping us as members of the Body of Christ to live and work to
his
praise and glory.
The same is true for the things
that we recall on this Remembrance Sunday. Remembrance
today is about our present and our future, it is as important for those
who do
not have a personal memory as for those who do.
Remembrance today might be:
remembering victims of war (those who died yesterday), or friends and
family
who died in the two world wars; for others the remembrance is in the
constant
reminder because of physical or emotional disability, a direct result
of their
experiences.
Remembrance Sunday is also a
time to give thanks for the peace that we live under and never more so
than today
as we remember the war torn areas of our world. We
give thanks too for the courage of
those who served in the great war
and the other wars in the C20 and C21 for those who are involved in
Iraq,
Israel and Africa but we must also ask
ourselves what part we play in the ongoing conflicts in the world, do we bear some of the responsibility?
Remembrance is about bringing
the past into the present and asking what it has to do with now; where
it calls
us to go now; what it asks us to be now; how it demands that we pursue
peace
and commit ourselves to what lies at the roots of peace.
Yesterday in this church in the
silence and deep peace of this ancient building Ron, whose 19 year old
brother
died in the second world war said is he
there does he really care? Is
God there, does God really care?
God is there, God is there in the
act of remembrance we share every Sunday, God was there on the cross at
Golgotha as Christ, the son of God, died - the ultimate sacrifice - God so loved the world that he gave his only
son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have
eternal
life. It is frail humanity that
cannot put aside the deep desire for power, that cannot see beyond its
own
needs, that succumbs to greed and the amassing of material possessions. It is frail humanity that tries to buy
eternal life, it is frail humanity that needs to stand at the foot of
the
cross, to gaze at the Son and see God there in the midst of the pain
and the
anguish and commit itself to Christ who came to bring peace and the
promise of
eternal life. Amen.
Let us pray
Heavenly
Father
We
praise you for the freedom we enjoy as a nation and as individuals –
freedom of speech and expression, freedom from war and oppression
A
freedom secured at such enormous human cost
Let us
therefore pray for the peace of the world:
For
politicians and rulers that they may have wisdom to know and
courage to do what is right…..
For all
who work to improve international relationships that they may
find the true way to reconcile people of different race, colour and
creed…
And for
men and women the world over that they may have justice and
freedom and live in security and peace….
Lord in
your mercy….
We pray
for those who suffer as a result of war, the injured, maimed
and those who are emotionally and mentally distressed…..
For the
homeless and refugees, for those who have lost their
livelihoods and security, for those who live in daily fear for their
lives.
Lord in
your mercy ……..
We pray
for those in the armed forces, for those who in their work may
for months live away from their families and often live in dangerous
situations
Lord in
your mercy…..
Heavenly
father,
We
praise you today for the freedom we enjoy,
And we
pray that the day will come
When
there will be no more war,
When the
nations of our world will live in harmony,
And when
you will rule over all.
Until
that time, help us to bring the past into the present to lead
into the future learn from the mistakes
And the
human sacrifice sacrifices,
and to
work as far as we are able for peace.
Through
Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Act of Remembrance
Let us remember
before God and commend to his sure keeping: those who have died for
their
country in war; those whom we knew, and whose memory we treasure; and
all who
have lived and died in the service of mankind
1914-18
Stanley William Arnold
John Bennett
Reginald Campkin
William Ellis
Charles William
Francis
Thomas Griffin
William Hipgrave
John Lisles
Arthur Medhurst
Herbert Scales
Walter Shadbolt
Albert Tyler
Cecil Tyler
1939-45
Robert Francis
Brownsell
Leonard Cranwell
Herbert Mark
miller
Roy Frederick
Benson Temperley
They shall grow
not old as we that are left grow old: age shall not weary them, nor the
years
condemn. At the going down of the sun
and in the morning we will remember them.
All: We will
remember them.
