Today we mark Remembrance Day. It is a state holiday, but we have brought it into the church, because so many veterans were Christians and we (and they) see their sacrifice as part of their Christian vocation. We thank God for countless men and women who have served in the armed forces and made the greatest sacrifice, their lives. We read their names, we build them monuments, we read their stories, we recall their faces, we write poems, novels and music, we lament and grieve, and yet we give thanks, aware that many of our freedoms have been preserved by their sacrifice. We are reminded, also, to treat veterans who are still alive with kindness, and to offer pastoral care and support to the women and men of the armed forces.
Yet there is a bittersweet quality to it all: what might have been, had war and death not intervened; the deep sadness of those who lost spouses, sons and daughters, and parents in war; the wasted resources and desecrated landscapes; and the mistakes, the glorification and sometimes worship of war and militarism; the traumas left in people’s lives that sometimes seem beyond healing.
For me, the matter is also personal since, as most of you know, I spent two years in the US Army in the late sixties, working in an army hospital in Japan treating casualties from the US war in Vietnam. It was a grim business and more than once I thought, “there must be a better way”. A few years later as a young priest teaching theology on Guadalcanal in Solomon Islands, I found myself surrounded by war relics and stories of World War 2, where Americans were revered for saving the country from Japan. Yet, standing on the beach of Iron Bottom Sound (named for the large numbers of battleships sunk there) I was aware of how many American contemporaries of mine would have lost fathers there, while my father, also a veteran of that war, survived and I grew up with the love of a father. Bittersweet: our thanksgiving today is tempered with sorrow and regret.
In today’s Old Testament lesson, there is the suggestion that one potential problem is idolatry. Joshua asks the gathered tribes of Israel, who will you serve, the Lord the God of Israel, or other gods of the past or present. The tribes of Israel declare, “we also will serve the Lord, for he is our God.” Joshua explains that such a commitment is very serious indeed and, if broken, will result in their destruction. The people again declare their faithfulness and Joshua makes a covenant with them, providing them statutes and ordinances so that they might fulfill their commitment.
There is a lot of idolatry that surrounds war. For example, glorification of violence rather than seeing it as the regretful last resort; promoting war for its economic benefits, for example, in weapon sales to unjust regimes or sales far beyond what is necessary; war as a way to gain power for a corrupt elite, sacrificing the poor and powerless in the process. In the US Army, I was surrounded by blacks, Puerto Ricans and poor southern whites with no place else to go; those with money and power often escaped the military all together but benefited economically from the war.
I believe that as Christians, when faced with choices in which war and violence are one option, we do well to declare with Joshua and those who were committed with him, “We will serve the Lord”, moving away from the idolatrous and destructive movements that so often accompany militarism, war and the military life: idolatrous ways such as routinely solving problems though violence (whether physical or verbal), love of guns and other weapons, dividing the world into “friends” and “enemies”, seeking and glorifying conflict rather than peacemaking, viewing the world in strictly hierarchical terms, etc. We cannot forget Jesus’ words, “blessed are the peacemakers”.
For Joshua and the Israelites, “serving the Lord” meant building a community of justice and love, worshipping God with all their hearts, minds and souls. For us as Christians, serving the Lord means seeking and providing the fruitful ground for God’s reign (or rule or kingdom) to flourish among us and move out into the world. The marks of that reign of God are love, justice, peace, kindness, patience, and all the other gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit.
The Gospel parable of the wise and foolish bridesmaids reminds us to be ready for this work of love and justice at any time and especially unexpected times. Our instincts may repel us or make us frightened but with self-discipline we can learn to accept, listen and encourage those even very different from ourselves. Canada’s military has a distinguished record of peacekeeping; as Christians, we can emulate that record. For the stranger in need, the refugee, the person with many personal conflicts and difficulties, the one who is “the other” in one way or another, we can go out, like one of the wise bridesmaids, with the lamp of comfort, peace, encouragement and reconciliation. In each small encounter, we help turn the world away from war to peace. Military chaplains do this work as well, helping members of the armed forces discern their vocation to love in a context in which violence is often the norm. Our acceptance and encouragement of veterans does the same.
None of these reflections are meant in any way to lessen the sacrifice of those we honour today. They fought for peace and a better live. Surely, they are among those who share in the resurrection from the dead that Paul speaks of in today’s epistle from 1 Thessalonians. My own experience of military life was not just the bad side of being trained to kill people but also of personal kindness, friendship, ministry and service, often across racial and social divides. Only with time have I begun to appreciate some of those experiences. (My mostly black company called me “preacher”, an encouragement of my vocation.) Thus, out of experiences that may seem brutal and unfair at the time, goodness and maturity can emerge; indeed, resurrection. We keep in our prayers all who have died in wars, we thank God for their service and witness. We remember also all innocent victims of war and pray for the power to do all we can do to work for the peace of the world.
In our Wednesday evening Bible study this week, I was very struck by a saying of Jesus at the end of chapter 9 in Luke’s Gospel: “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” Out of genuine and loving respect for those who gave their lives for our country, we do briefly look back on Remembrance Day. But then we are reminded that we are on an onward journey, forward on the Christian Way, and not stuck in the past. Thus, the fellowship we shall share in the breaking of the bread and pouring of the wine in the Eucharist and our fellowship in our community lunch moves us forward to greater fellowship and connectedness with one another as we move forward in the Way of Love and Justice.
When we realized our monthly Sunday community lunch would come on our Remembrance Day, a parishioner asked whether this was appropriate. It is very appropriate. Even our friends in the Canadian Legion, after the solemnity of the morning’s observance, retire to the legion hall for food, drink and fellowship. They move forward. And let us do the same, welcoming all. Thanks be to God.
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