Sunday Sermon - 10 November
I’d like to begin today by stating an obvious fact: I am arguably one of the least qualified people in this room to speak on the topic of Remembrance Day and the impact of war on the world, a nation or an individual person. Seriously. I was born in 1966 well after the World Wars. I remember, vaguely, the protests during the Vietnam War and watching MASH is about as close as I come to a connection with the Korean War. Although the Bosnian, Persian Gulf, and Afghanistan wars are more recent, I am well removed from any real personal connection to them.
The closest personal connection I have to war is when I would sit on my great-grandfather’s knee, my mother’s grandfather, and he’d tell me about his days in France as a member of the Scottish Cavalry during the First World War. Even then, he never talked about the actual war, just how much he loved working with, and riding, the horses. I think that’s why I became so fond of horses and learned to ride myself. My Dad’s father, my Italian Nonno, told stories of wartime as an Italian soldier. They were mostly about the food and cooking tricks he learned in the army - he spent a lot of time cooking for troops apparently, but never, ever, did he speak of any actual battles.
All this is to say, how can we remember something we don’t even know about? As generations pass we lose our collective memory and the shared experience of the horrors of war. We become truly ignorant to the pain, suffering, and sheer inhumanity that we are capable of imposing on our fellow beings.
I say this to acknowledge how important it is for those who have experience - personal, first hand experience - with war to share their stories with others as much as possible. To teach us, the generations of this western world that have no relative connection with world war, so that we not only remember and honour those who sacrificed for the freedoms we enjoy today, but so we will avoid the pitfalls that cause war in the first place.
Philosopher George Santayana said “Those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it.” He’s not wrong. So first we must listen to those with lived experience, read and learn what we need to know about war, and only then can we properly honour the warriors and remember and pay tribute to those who gave the ultimate sacrifice.
Our readings today are messages of hope. Hope in the midst of the trials and tribulations of life. We are reminded that our salvation is secure in Christ. That’s nice and comforting but this morning I feel challenged because it’s not good enough for me today.
Having hope in eternal life doesn’t help me understand why and how humans can be so full of hatred and lust for power and domination that they could go to war and kill one another. Hope in eternal life doesn’t help me understand how God can let us do the terrible things we do to one another in this life. Hope in eternal life doesn’t necessarily give us hope in this life.
But, I’m skipping ahead. I am jumping to God’s message about eternal life without paying attention to what God is telling us about this life.
In Peter we read:
In this you rejoice, even if now for a little while you have had to suffer various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith—being more precious than gold that, though perishable, is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honour when Jesus Christ is revealed.
When Jesus is revealed - not just at the end time but in this life. When Jesus is revealed to us here and now in the midst of our struggles, troubles, and trials. What does that look like? What does it mean when Jesus is revealed? How do we know Jesus in this life?
The Gospel gives us a clue to this question when Jesus says: “I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me.” Jesus lived his life in accordance with the will of God and we are called to do the same.
As I was writing this sermon I was reminded of the final scene in the movie Saving Private Ryan. For those of you who don’t know this film, it is well worth watching and I’m issuing a spoiler alert right now.
Captain John Miller (played by Tom Hanks) was tasked with the responsibility of bringing Private Ryan back home safely as the only surviving son of a mother who’d lost all of her boys in war. Captain Miller and his entire platoon were killed in their effort to bring Private Ryan home. Just before Captain Miller dies, he pulls Ryan close to him and says “Earn this.” Earn this. Earn the sacrifice that was given for you.
In the final scene, now an aged Private Ryan is visiting Captain Miller’s grave with his family. The gravemarker is a pure white cross. An elderly Private Ryan kneels at Captain Miller’s cross and says “I’ve lived my life as best I could, I hope that was enough. I hope that was enough.” Then he steps back, joins his wife, and asks her if he’s led a good life. If he’s “been a good man.” The camera then pans back to the grave marker, to that white cross, and the movie draws to a close.
Every single soldier that died for our country, that died for us and for our freedom, earned their place in God’s Kingdom.
We are obligated to earn the right of their sacrifice by remembering and honouring our fallen soldiers, yes, and as Christians we are also obligated to earn the sacrifice of Jesus as people of faith, by living in accordance with God’s will. To live a good life, to be good people. To love our neighbours as we love ourselves. Our hope lies in the eternal, but it also is alive in the here and now. Our hope is alive in our moments, our acts, of goodness:
Reaching out to one you know is lonely, reminding them they are cared for and not alone
Taking a moment to stop and chat with an unsheltered person on the street - letting them know they are worthy and matter
Avoiding judgement or fearing those who look or act differently than yourself
Loving those who have been outcast and feel the most unlovable
Protecting the vulnerable, standing up against injustice
These are but some examples of living God’s will for us and sharing the hope of Christ’s love today, in this life.
When we care for others and our world, the world our soldiers died for, are we not honouring their sacrifice? Are we not earning it?
These acts of goodness are the acts of a Christian, these acts of goodness are God’s will for us and when we live in accordance with the will of God, we bring a sense of the love of God’s Kingdom to our life, to our here and now. We bring hope into our world for us and for others who may need it most.
The last verse of our Gospel today states:
This is indeed the will of my Father, that all who see the Son and believe in him may have eternal life; and I will raise them up on the last day.
Today, as we honour our fallen, we see the love of Christ revealed in their ultimate sacrifice.
Today, as we honour our fallen, we earn their sacrifice by leading a good life, revealing Christ’s peace and love to others.
Today, as we honour our fallen, we pray that our good lives have been worthy of their sacrifice and in accordance with God’s will for us all.
Amen.