|
Sermon preached
at Bradford Cathedral
Remembrance Sunday 9th November 2008 Scars 1 Thess 4:13–end & John 15:9-17 |
| Most of us have them, maybe all of
us here. Some of us will have them on our bodies, and some of us will have
them in our hearts, in our minds or in our memories. What am I talking about?...SCARS! (Some may be left after an op, or injury). Who has scar on their body? Who has scar inside, on their hearts? Here is a dictionary definition of ‘scar’: 1) a mark left on part of the body after an injury, such as a cut, has healed: 2) a sign of damage to a person's mental state: e.g. ‘His early years in the refugee camp left a deep psychological scar’. 3) a sign of physical destruction in a place: e.g. ‘Every village bears the scars of war’. All scars are a mark (seen or unseen) of a powerful event; something has happened to leave its mark. When I was 8 years old something happened which left a physical scar and with it, a mental scar. I was walking home from school with a friend who lived near to my home and behind us were two other boys from the same school. They were taunting me, throwing insults. I could feel myself getting more and more wound up with each insult. We walked a bit faster and when I thought I was a safe distance away, turned round and (quite bravely I thought) threw an insult back. This time it was not words that were thrown at me, but a stone. Very accurately, and very hard. As it struck me on the forehead it felt more like metal than stone. It opened up quite a wound and needed stitches at the hospital. So I was left with a scar on my body. But it also left an inner scar, which I’ll talk about in a moment. All conflicts, all clashes between people leave scars. War causes great suffering and leaves deep scars, physically and psychologically. Scars remind us of the conflicts – that all wars leave their mark. And so today we are reminded. We remember all those who have died or been injured in war. This year is the 90th anniversary of the signing of the Armistice which ended World War 1. At 5am on 11th of November (the 11th month) in 1918 the Armistice was signed, an agreement to bring hostilities to an end from 11am that day. Over 20 countries had been drawn into the war. More than 65 million people had been directly involved in armed conflict and at the end, more than 14 million had lost their lives and a further 21 million left wounded. Those who survived spoke vividly of the horrors of the war. Many had breakdowns. One soldier, Arthur Hubbard, wrote that his breakdown came from witnessing: 'a terrible sight that I shall never forget as long as I live'. It was during the 1st world war that the term ‘shell shock’ came to be used - a new way of referring to the mental scars left by war. In Britain alone more than 80,000 cases of ‘shell-shock’ were identified. That referred to soldiers who were so traumatised by their experiences of war that they could not live normally again. Four-fifths of men who had entered hospital suffering shell shock were never able to return to military duty. Among these were poets Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen (see back of service book for one of his poems). The mental scarring soldiers were left with, often showed itself physically. The symptoms were often linked to what had happened on the battle field. E.g. soldiers who had bayoneted an enemy in the stomach would suffer for years afterwards with stomach cramps. Snipers found that the sight failed. So if war is so horrible, why do we remember it? 4 reasons: 1)To honour those who faithfully and bravely did their duty, and gave their lives doing so. And to pray for those who still serve in dangerous places and conflict zones. 2)To be reminded that war can bring out the best in human beings (as well as the worst). Private Jack Mudd, wrote home to his wife: 'Out here dear we're all pals, what one hasn't got the other has, we try to share each others troubles get each other out of danger. You wouldn't believe the Humanity between men... It's a lovely thing is friendship out here.' What did we hear in our Gospel? “No One has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” 3)To remember that freedom can come at a terrible cost and therefore is not to be misused. The poppy can remind us of the price that was paid. In 1915 a Doctor from Canada, John McCrae, wrote about the poppies growing in the fields of Flanders, fields that had seen terrible bloodshed. After the war paper poppies were sold to help ex-servicemen and the tradition stuck. 4)To honour those who have known how terrible war is by doing all we can to avoid it in our day. Well, we might say, that’s fine for politicians who say (as the next President of America says) that they prefer ‘Jaw, jaw to war war.’ We might agree that talking is better than fighting but isn’t that for leaders of nations, not us? Yes, it is, so maybe we should pray for them more than we do. But each of us have more power to be peacemakers than we might think. This is what my scar reminds me of. I am not in a position to criticise our leaders for taking us to war when I haven’t done much better myself. I was provoked and what did I do? I retaliated – I name-called back. And aggressive words can lead to aggressive action, and it did, and to injury. As one who claims to follow Christ, I am called to follow his example and obey his teaching. What is His commandment? ‘…that you love one another as I have loved you.’ How did he love us? By laying down his life for us; by not retaliating, but laying down his right to fight, and the right to be right! On the Cross he absorbed the evil that came at Him so it lost its power. Now there’s a different way to resolve conflicts. One last thing… when Jesus was raised to life again, he carried the wounds in his body. He was, if you like, scarred forever. Yes, he had defeated hatred, sin and evil, but he now knew their power. No scar that we carry within us is a mystery to Him. Or outside His power to heal. We come in this Holy Eucharist to pray for peace in our world. And for peace in our hearts. We hold out our hands to receive His Body scarred for us and his blood shed for us. The scars that we take with us to the altar can help us. They remind us that we need Him; that we need to admit our need of His healing, that we need His help to live by his commandment to love as He Has loved us. And afterwards we shall join in that lovely collect as our post communion prayer: God of Peace, whose son Jesus Christ proclaimed the kingdom and restored the broken to wholeness of life: look with compassion on the anguish of the world, and by your healing power make whole both people – that’s you and I – and nations, through JC our Lord, Amen. |