Revd Helen Writes …

​

  November is our season of remembrance and on Remembrance Sunday we particularly remember the sacrifice of those who have given their lives in the service of freedom, justice and peace. We also remember that the victims of modern warfare are not only those who fight but also many innocent civilians as well, children included, who are mowed down by those who seek power and who use violence to achieve it.

 

  Most of us have been fortunate enough to live through a time of relative peace. That’s not to minimise the wars and suffering that have continued in so many parts of the world. However, now we all face new dangers. We are witnessing the rise of extreme ideologies that are reminiscent of what happened in Germany in the 1930s and in Eastern Europe during the Soviet period. Most recently we saw it also in the United States under President Trump, and we see it now in Russia under President Putin. The writer John le Carre said, “The difference between patriotism and nationalism is that patriotism needs your own conviction whilst nationalism needs enemies.”

 

  So, what does the Christian Church have to say? Christianity refuses to accept separation and segregation. It crosses boundaries and breaks down walls. As St Paul wrote, there is no longer male and female, slave and freeman, Jew and Gentile: all are one in Christ Jesus. The Church grew because it overcame religious and cultural divides. And when it has stayed true to that vocation, which has sadly not always been the case, but when it does stay true, it has been the bearer of peace and reconciliation. The movement which led to the non-violent demolition of the Berlin Wall started in a church in Leipzig. Apartheid in South Africa was defeated without a civil war because of people like Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

 

  November is our season of remembering and Remembrance Sunday has three strands. Of course we remember the past. And, first, we remember those who gave their lives, not for a selfish and intolerant nationalism but for a greater vision. As we went through the centenaries of the First World War all kinds of questions emerged about causes and motives, about nationalisms and imperialisms, but what you cannot question is the self sacrifice of those who believed in a proper patriotism. On the other hand we might well say that the Second World War was the most moral and “just” war we have engaged in. It was a war not against a nation but against an ideology, against an evil nationalism and a perverted patriotism. So we rightly remember those who gave their lives in its defeat.

 

  Second, remembrance is also about lamenting the present. Lament is an aspect of Scripture which we too often ignore. We read that the Psalmist cried “Out of the depth have I called to you, O Lord, Lord hear my voice”. We read how Jesus wept over the city, because it did not know the way that led to peace. And so, in our remembrance, we should lament for the spilt blood of a thousand wars, lament for a world where still today people take up arms to achieve power. Before he died, the former Russian leader Mikhail Gorbachev warned that the world is in ‘colossal danger’. He said that all nuclear weapons must cease in order to save the planet and mankind. When Pope Francis visited Hiroshima and Nagasaki he said that the nuclear arms race wastes resources that could instead improve people’s lives and protect the environment.

 

  We remember. We lament. And third, finally, we Hope. Christian Hope doesn’t mean turning a blind eye to what’s wrong. Christian Hope means much more than wishful thinking. It means trusting that God has a better way and joining with him in bringing it to pass. To hope is to believe and so to work for a better future. And therefore we are called … to engage in peace-making wherever we can and to challenge those who would revert to a narrow nationalism, to support and to pray for all those in our armed forces who risk their lives defending others, to support and pray for all who work for peace and reconciliation. Would those whom we remember at this time expect anything less?

 

With love and prayers.

​

Helen Kempster