Remembrance Sunday 2022
Dear All
Today we gathered to remember those who gave their lives in the two world wars and in many conflicts since. Hugh accompanied us to moving hymns, the church was decorated with a lovely poppy display.
Notices for this week:
Tuesday 10am Prayer Group in the Garden Room.
Thursday 10am Said Eucharist followed by coffee in Friendship House
Thursday 4.30pm Vestry in Garden Room
Readings for next Sunday – Sunday before Advent – Christ the King – Jeremiah 23:1-6 Colossians 1:11-20 Luke 23:33-43
Today’s Readings – Psalm 46 Micah 4:1-4 John 15:12-17
On the 24th February this year we all woke up to the terrible news that Putin’s forces had invaded Ukraine. We have all seen or read the news reports that have followed and have digested the impact of this terrible conflict first and foremost on the Ukrainian people but also on Europe and the wider world.
But the nature of war is that it does involve everyone. Whether it was waiting anxiously on the home front for news of a loved one, facing the horror of the bombing, coping with rationing and privation – everyone is affected. This is one reason why Remembrance Sunday is so significant.
This annual act of remembrance gathers us as a nation because, as well as the sacrifices of the past, we remember that men and women of today’s armed services continue to make extraordinary sacrifices – sometimes the ultimate sacrifice – in the cause of peace and for the preservation of freedom and justice.
In recent years, UK forces have regularly been deployed in a number of countries around the world, sometimes at a moment’s notice.
There are many war memorials in towns and villages up and down the country where today people will gather but also many will gather for this act of remembrance and thanksgiving in churches.
One of the reasons for this is the stories that surround war: the countless human experiences of the bravery, sacrifice and anguish of war and violence. Today we gather all those stories into churches such as this and place them in the context of the great Christian story of the violent suffering of Jesus Christ’s crucifixion and the hope of the resurrection.
The reason we can fit our human stories of the sacrifice and pain of war into the Christian story is because Christianity never glosses over the human suffering and loss that is the inevitable outcome of war.
The Bible never fast forwards through the crucifixion to arrive swiftly and triumphantly at a cosy resurrection. The Christian story recognises the reality of human violence and our grief that, in this fallen world, it is sometimes necessary to fight and die for freedom and justice in defence of the vulnerable.
Yet the Christian faith also teaches us that death and sacrifice does not have the last word. It doesn’t end there.
Our hope lies in something more – another kingdom, a new life. In the resurrection of Christ lies our hope that the death of our servicemen and women and the grief that follows are not the end.
This isn’t wishful thinking – it’s been the testimony of the Church for 2000 years and the witness of this church for over 100 years. It’s the hope that has been carried into war in the prayers and hymns of soldiers, sailors and air personnel for generations. The Christian faith is real enough that it can be proclaimed and prayed even on the battlefield – especially on the battlefield, where we are most in need of God’s mercy.
The men and women whom we remember today, the millions killed in armed conflict, from the two world wars and the many conflicts since, they all gave the gift of their lives in the cause of freedom and peace.
Each one of those lives is a unique and irreplaceable gift, so it is incumbent upon us today to be peacemakers and thereby ensure that they did not give their lives in vain.
It’s also incumbent upon us as a nation never, ever to put our armed service men and women into harm’s when they might be asked to lay down the gift of their lives for anything but the most pressing and desperate of reasons.
We need to pray for a more peaceful future, and we need to pray for the leaders of the nations especially in these difficult and uncertain times.
Today we place our thoughts for those we have known and those we have not known, who have given either their lives, or the use of their limbs, injured sometimes horrifically, mentally and physically in the service of our country.
Those who have done so in years past, those who do it now, and those who shall do it again in the years ahead.
Amen
I was also given this poem to share
OUR TODAY………..
TODAY should be a quiet day. No sound of warfare, gunfire, explosions, screaming,
TODAY should be a kind and gentle day, No hatred or anger towards others
TODAY should be a thoughtful day. No hasty decisions, or hateful unconsidered consequences.
TODAY should be a prayerful day. To consider what is best for all, and not just for ourselves.
TODAY should be a thankful day, for the wars we have not had to fight, for the suffering we have not had to endure, and the losses we have not had to remember.
So, as we remember the day when the guns fell silent, may our hearts and minds be silent, and think on how WE as individuals can make our world a better place.
May we turn these prayers into positive thoughts, turn thoughts into aspirations, and aspirations into actions.
THEN, and ONLY THEN, will we be honouring those who went before us, to give us the great peace we enjoy in the UK.