Justice and Remembrance
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A sermon for
Remembrance Sunday
Some words from our first reading this morning: “Let justice
roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream”.
The prophet Amos has harsh words for those who gather for
religious ceremony, but who do not allow their celebrations and rememberings to
affect their daily lives. God, says
Amos, hates gatherings of people, especially religious gatherings, that neglect
those who are in need. God looks for
justice and righteousness, in all our doings, so that they might form mighty
waters, an ever-flowing stream.
As we gather on this Remembrance Sunday, we gather to recall
with gratitude and sorrow those who have died in war. We remember those who have served in the
armed forces, and those who continue to do so, with gratitude for the spirit of
service that they demonstrate. We
remember those who have died, and those who continue to die, in war, with
sorrow that their deaths leave a hole that cannot be filled.
This year we look back especially on the centenary of start
of the First World War, and our sense of gratitude and sorrow is particularly
focused by the suffering and the carnage of the trenches. But we cannot, and should not, fail to
remember those who have died in more recent conflicts, and those who are
affected by war today in Iraq, in Syria, in Ukraine, and in many less well
known conflicts around the world. The
flames of war continue to burn.
But there can be thanksgiving in our remembering as
well. On this day 25 years ago, the 9th
November 1989, the Berlin wall came down and the scar across the face of Europe
could begin to heal. At the stroke of
midnight on 9th November 1989, crowds gathering on both sides of the
wall cheered and started to climb it, to go through check points unimpeded,
where previously people had been shot for approaching the wall. Some had brought hammers and chisels, and
began to dismantle the barrier. I
remember the television pictures clearly, it was one of the most momentous
moments of history during my life time.
In between these remembrances, of the First World War and
the end of Berlin Wall, comes another anniversary on 9th
November. On the 9th November
1938, Synagogues across the Third Reich burned, Jewish publications and groups
were banned and many Jews were beaten and worse. Kristallnacht, as it became known, was the worst
outbreak of anti-Semitic violence in Germany to that point, and the beginnings
of an even more murderous phase in the persecution of Jews.
These three events: the first world war, Kristallnacht, and the fall of the
Berlin wall give us a crash course in 20th Century European
history. The bloody conflict of the
trenches, the horrors of the second world war and the Nazi tyranny, and the
division of a continent between east and west.
All of this has a place in our remembering today.
And as we remember all of this, the history, the service of
those men and women which inspires gratitude, and the many, many deaths which
provokes our sorrow, as we remember this, we hear again the words of the
prophet Amos: “Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an
ever-flowing stream”. Much of our
history has failed to hear these words.
Having won the war in 1918, the peace treaty of Versailles in 1919 lost
the peace and laid the foundations for the Nazi terror and the division of the
continent that followed. The wars that
continue to blight our world are themselves part of the collective failure of
human beings to act justly and to seek righteousness.
In all that we do, our acts both great and small, we need to
hear the voice of the prophet urging us to act justly, and to live
righteously. As we stand in a few
minutes in silence, we will remember with gratitude those who have served and
we will remember with sorrow all who have died.
Let us also commit ourselves to work for justice and to seek the paths
of righteousness. In all our acts, great
and small, let us do justice. In all our
decisions, complex and simple alike, let us look for the path of
righteousness. That is how we honour
those who we remember today. That is how
we honour one another and those who will come after us. That is how we honour the God who created us,
who loves all his creatures, and who mourns every death of his beloved
creatures. This is the way that is set
before us, let us choose to walk in it.
“Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an
ever-flowing stream”. Amen.
Given at St Oswald’s,
Ashbourne 9.11.14.
Images are photographs of Derby Cathedral illuminated for Remembrance-tide 9-11.11.14
Images are photographs of Derby Cathedral illuminated for Remembrance-tide 9-11.11.14
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