(All our songs this morning are from Singing the Faith (StF) numbers will be given where available)
Welcome to our Sunday Service, today shared on paper across our circuit and with the congregation at Calverley Community Methodist Church and led by Stuart Ayrton one of our Circuit Local Preachers.
Click on the blue links to follow them for bible readings and associated links
Call to Worship
Loving God, we come this morning to remember. We come together with our individual and collective memories. We remember that you are with us, indeed that you have called us here. We come with memories that are painful and difficult, we come with debates and politics that are complex, we come with our limited understanding of wars past and present. Loving God, we come to remember those who have died in wars, and we come to give thanks for the gift of life. Gather us as we remember. Amen
Song – StF 185 – Sing we the King who is coming to reign
Prayers
We come to meet you, Lord, In hymns and psalms of praise and thanksgiving, In prayer and in confession to straighten our paths, and in signs and symbols that reveal your kingdom. Open our eyes to the wonders of your love, Lord, in all we do and proclaim today.
O God, You are almighty and everlasting, yet compassionate and ever-loving; Be with us as we gather before you today to remember those we have loved, those we admire, those we have never known whose sacrifice ensured that we enjoy freedom from tyranny and fear.
Heavenly Father, we see the names on our war memorials and we realise how quickly and easily we forget. We forget who people were and what they did, we forget the contributions they made and what they meant to their families. we confess that sometimes we forget you and you have done for us. forgive us for those times, and help us to see you in the lives of all we love, those we remember and in the beauty of the world around us. Forgive our past doings so that we may praise you for all you have done for us. We ask this in Jesus’ name.
Lord God, we feast upon your goodness you are our source of never-ending hope. You are our helper, our redeemer. We rejoice in you. Our hearts are full of your love for ushoand we brim with joyful expectation as we glorify your holy name. Amen
Reflection And this is war
Imagination is not enough. The squalor appals. And this is war.
It is now and then, always and hereafter. Ukraine and Israel, Somme or Sri Lanka, Vietnam Nam, Afghanistan. No romance here, heroism – sometimes; fear mostly.
Driven by hunger for power, for possession. What lasts longest is the scar, the scarred earth, scarred at birth, fatherless, yes; orphaned at the breast.
Scarred bodies, limbless, mindless, challenged by their blindness. And never needing invitation,
breaking every expectation, rising over grave and torture, in the midst a Saviour bleeding, standing, grieving…always grieving…
Song – StF 708 – O God of hope, your prophets spoke
Reading
(Play 245 Blest are they)
Reading
Reflection Meditation of a grandparent
I should be able to relax a little at my age. My children are grown up, happily married and with children of their own. Instead I live in a constant state of fear.
The bombardment is relentless. A constant blast of missiles all around us. Nowhere is safe any more. We are reduced to living in two rooms. The rest of the house has been destroyed. My youngest daughter, Miriam, was trapped under the rubble, and despite all our efforts to release her, she died. Painfully, slowly and screaming, “Mama! Mama!” She was beautiful, kind, caring…………….and six months pregnant.
I don’t know which is worse, daytime or night time. During the day I have to be strong, a rock for my children and grandchildren. It tears at my heart when the little ones are crying because they are hungry. There’s not much food to go round. Few merchants are able to move around the country to re stock provisions.
The youngsters could end up scarred for life. Anna, she’s six, hasn’t spoken since the rocket landed on our house, killing her auntie. She just sits, rocking and hugging herself all the time. She doesn’t cry. I wish she would, it would help. Her face is expressionless. She should be running around, playing and laughing with her friends. When you are just six years old, the only pain you should know is from a grazed knee.
Matthew, ten, worries me. He’s trying to be all grown up and macho. He says he is going to be a fighter when he’s older. He’s going to kill the enemy. I pray so hard for him. As a family we have always been pacifists. We brought them all up to try to understand others, to negotiate, and now Matthew’s thoughts are turning to war.
My children and their spouses work so hard trying to bring some semblance of normality into the children’s lives. I have to admire them. Nina, bless her, can do so much with so little when it comes to preparing a meal, and Jonathan tries so hard to take the children’s minds off the horror that is all around us.
Night time is bad, really bad. I lie on my makeshift bed listening. Listening to the explosive sounds echoing all around. Worse still listening to the screams of my grandchildren as they experience yet another nightmare.
Listening to their parents sobbing quietly as they feel inadequate to protect their offspring from the terror of war. Listening to my inner voice. The voice that feels it cannot speak aloud. Screaming at God, at the world. “We never wanted this. Make it stop! Oh please, make it stop!”
Song – StF 681 – Community of Christ
Remembrance:
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning. We will remember them.
Silence
When you go home, tell them of us, and say: For your tomorrow, we gave our today.
Remembrance We will remember them
Song – StF 132 – O God our help in ages past
Sermon
An army recruitment poster from a few decades ago read, “Join the army, see the world, meet interesting people”. A comedian added the words “… and kill them”.
For decades, young people have been encouraged to join the armed forces as an interesting and challenging career choice, or as a step in their education. Probably most do not anticipate killing anyone, but in practice, many will find themselves in combat. For Remembrance Sunday, the lectionary readings present something of a problem. We gather to honour those who have fought in wars, to remember the dead, and to promise help to their families. Members of the armed forces are welcomed into our churches, and then we make them listen to passages like this: “They will beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war any more.” (Micah 4:3).
“He makes wars to cease to the ends of the earth” (Psalm 46:9).
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.”(Matthew 5:9).
“On each side of the river stood the tree of life … and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.” (Revelation 22:2).
No Christian would view the above words negatively. They speak of hope for a better world; they are redolent of longing for peace, for an end to suffering and destruction, and the Church endorses these sentiments. And so we call men and women to join our armed services and we send them to fight; we tell them they are serving their country. We grieve for them when they die and we honour their bodies when they are brought home for burial. For those who are left, we provide further career opportunities and help for their families. For the wounded there is hospital treatment, rehabilitation or pensions. But ruined lives, mental illness, crime and imprisonment, marital breakdown or dysfunctional family life is the price that many pay. And often we honour the dead more than the living. The Christian faith is there for everyone, and we are right to hold Remembrance Day services for service personnel past and present, and for those who love them. We approach Remembrance Sunday with ambivalent feelings. No right-minded person enjoys war; we all know the cost in lives, devastated cities, ruined landscapes and grief. We know about “collateral damage”, the indiscriminate slaughter, the unintended victims, the losses brought about by error. News bulletins bring us word of the chaos, privation and disease that come in the wake of war, and we see how, from the ravaged lands, spill the wounded, the dispossessed, the fearful and the furious. None of us wants to glorify strife within or between nations. And yet there are the men and women whom we send to fight, and who go in our name. Because we humans have not learnt to live without strife; because we do not know whether war multiplies evil, or if evil would reign supreme if no resistance were offered; because we have the wisdom neither to resist threats without violence, nor to settle disputes with peace, sometimes we fight.
We must never glorify war, nor disregard the cost. But in turning from war and all its evils, may we not turn from those whom we send to fight, nor cease to value the fragile peace that they have won. One other thing is certain. War is not to be a lasting feature of human life. At the end of time, God will provide for the healing of the nations, and the Lord who is “Prince of Peace” will be our light. (Revelation 22 v 1-5, Isaiah 9 v 6). Until then, we must value those who risk their lives in war on our behalf. “At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, we will remember them.” How could we forget?
Song – StF 698 – God! As with silent hearts we bring to mind
Prayers of Intercession
On this Remembrance Sunday, We remember past wars: Those who fought in them; Those who lived through them; Those who died in them. Silence
We pray for the victims of past wars, Remembering before you, loving God, Those who died in battle, Or from the consequences of injury or disease, And those who mourned or still mourn them. We remember those permanently maimed or disabled, and those psychologically scarred or disturbed. We pray for an end to the suffering of war. Silence
We pray for the victims of current conflicts, remembering before you, loving God,
Children trained to hate and fight, families turned into homeless refugees, and lands laid waste and made barren. We remember those blinded or crippled and those driven insane by nightmare experiences. We pray for an end to the destructive hatred of war. Silence
We pray for the peace of the world Remembering before you, loving God, Areas where there is armed conflict … And all those who are working for peace.
Pray for people on our minds at this time of Remembrance
We remember that you have called us to strive together for the coming of your kingdom of love and peace. We pray that you will equip us for the task With the faith that knows that nothing can separate us from the love of Christ. In the name of Jesus, Prince of Peace. Amen.
Lord’s Prayer
Song – StF 470 – Lord for the years
Blessing
May the God who mourns with his people, the Son who sacrificed his own life that we might experience the depths of God’s love and the Holy Spirit whose presence of peace never leaves us, bless us all today, tomorrow and forever. Amen
