Remembrance

Its the eve of Remembrance Sunday as I write. Tomorrow's worship will seek to enable people of all ages to engage with a corporate memory that has its roots in World War 1. There will be mixed thoughts about what we are doing. The hope that in remembering we don't do it again has of course not proved to be the case. World war 2, the Korean War, Vietnam, ....... The list is endless and of course today numerous conflicts many of which no longer even get a mention. 

Fear is a great driver of conflict as people paint the oppostion in such a way that many folk fall into the trap of believing in an us and them. And 'them' are dangerous! The rise of Hitler had many strands to it. But his party did get elected to parliament, and with legislation was empowered to then deprive others of power by building on peoples fears and their sense of being downtrodden and over looked. 

Who really knows what a Trump president is going to bring. What is clear that intertwining facts of unemployment a consequence of the changing industrial world with words of the fear of others in the community led in part to his election. To speak of others in the way that he did was to play on fears. Even if he does not believe it , it shows the kind of individual he is. If he does not believe it then he should never have spoken in the way that he did. People will of course become disilluioned with him when he does not make good on his promies. As many now requote his election strap line 'making America Hate again!   After decades of progress a step back to a darker time. It should serve Christian communities as a reminder that we need to make good on what we say . Our words, our lifestyle, should both discomfort us and the world we serve for they should consistently be about liberating people from fear. Every individual made in the image of God is worthy of respect, a voice, of being truely loved. 

Remembrance is not just about recalling those who died in war, their sacrifice for the freedom of others, after all World War 1 was never about that. It should be about the way living a life of Love as revealed in the person of Jesus can set you free  from your fears. So you don't need to hate, and you don't need to add to the cycle of fear that so often creates wars by creating barriers between people. But then I'm one of Mr John Wesleys preachers and so 'the world is my parish too' , and the barriers to that are only my own prejudices.

So this morning we stood in silence and then went outside to plant our poppies a community of many races and ages, but made one by our common trust in Jesus Christ.

As we made our way from our normal worship space outside and in again to our plaque of those who died in the wars, a parent at the bus stop explained to their child 'it's  a church'. I assume they meant the building,  but the reailty the church was and is that the stream of people who were coming and going in and out of the building , they really are the church. Lives seeking to live out a love that casts out fear.  

Christians live in the shadow of Jesus Love. Sadly many live in the shadow of war . Rememering is one thing, living differently is another. When we finally do live the love of Christ we won't need poppies to annually jar our lives.