Grace, Mercy, and
Peace to you in the name of Christ our Saviour. Amen.
In
Flanders Fields
By
John McCrae
In
Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between
the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce
heard amid the guns below.
We
are the Dead. Short days ago
We
lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields.
Take
up our quarrel with the foe:
To
you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We
shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
I’m
sure that’s a poem that everyone here has heard before. Perhaps you can even
recite it. It is a poem that is read at almost every Remembrance Day service in
the country. Did anyone attend any services yesterday?
I
remember my days in air cadets and attending Remembrance Day services. We were in
a big building that echoed so I could barely hear what was going on. And for
some reason they put us kids in the back rows so we couldn’t see what was going
on. Which means these services always seemed so long and boring. As I grew up,
I understood more what was behind Remembrance Day and was proud to be there,
but as a young cadet, I didn’t really know why we had to stand there for all
those hours listening to speeches, bag pipes, and a trumpet.
We
are coming to a generation of kids who know nothing the world wars and the beginnings
of Remembrance Day services. Kids whose parents had nothing to do with those
wars. So, it feels like Remembrance Day is beginning to lose a lot of its
meaning. I am no longer involved in the cadet program, but I wonder what they
think of these services now. These services that are meant to remind us of war,
sacrifice, and death. To remind us of those who served their country and gave
their lives.
It's
not like war no longer exists in the world. It just doesn’t feel as personal anymore.
It’s too easy to see death and destruction on TV and simply change the channel
or turn it off. Ukraine. Russia. Israel. Palestine. Sudan. Afghanistan. And
many more. The amount of death that has occurred because of war is
astronomical.
Although
Remembrance Day is specific to the military, death also happens outside of
military skirmishes and international or civil wars. Death happens by accident,
old age, illness and any number of other ways. We can’t escape it. We will all
die eventually. And it’s something no one likes talking about.
But
that is exactly what Paul wants to talk about with the Thessalonian community
in this piece from his letter that we heard today.
As
I mentioned a few weeks ago, when we heard the opening of Paul’s letter to the
Thessalonians, Christians in Paul’s time fully expected to experience the
return of the Messiah in their lifetime. So, when people in the community
started to die before the second coming, there was a big concern that the
faithful who died during this period of waiting would not share in the glory of
the resurrected Jesus. They were pretty worried their friends and family wouldn’t
be joining them in the eternal afterlife. So how does Paul address these concerns?
He not only attends to the fate of those who died, but also envisions the
encounter between the coming Lord and those who were still alive.
Paul
bases his answer to the Thessalonians on the resurrection of Jesus. He uses the
analogy of sleep for death, implying that death was not an end, but a
transitional state. The Christian dead lay "asleep" in their tombs,
just like Jesus did for three days. According to Paul, we have been joined to
Christ in his death and resurrection at baptism. From that point on, the life
and future of the Christian was interwoven with that of the Savior.
Paul
insists that those who have already died will miss nothing of the blessing of
Jesus’ return but will fully participate in it. In fact, Paul says that they
will participate first in the glorious event, with those who are alive joining
them only moment later. In trying to console the Thessalonian community, Paul proclaims
the apostolic witness of Jesus’ death and resurrection, rather than focusing on
what might happen in the future.
It
is through this witness that Paul addresses one of humanity’s greatest fears –
to be abandoned by loved ones. Death ends the lives of Christians. Death hurts
Christians who lose those whom they love. Death separates, relationships are
broken, and hopes are dashed. But for those of us who claim Jesus as Savior and
Lord, our deaths are opportunities for the love and power of God to break into
the natural order in a new and restorative way.
God,
through Jesus, has promised that as we die with him, we will be raised from the
dead in the same way that Jesus was raised from the dead. As resurrection
people, we are promised something “beyond resurrection”. As resurrection
people, we have faith, we have hope, that death is not the end. We find hope in
the resurrection, aware that things will die but knowing that something new
will be born from that death. We, as Christians, have a future narrative that
includes reunion with those who are loved but lost. The hope of this reunion
allows us to face both life and death. And it is the love of God that fills us
with this hope that allows us to deal with the pain and atrocities that we bear
each day.
The
words of Flanders Field encourage us to Take the torch – hold it high, and not
break faith with those who have died. As people of faith, we are encouraged to
stand firm in our faith, to not give up when the world around us appears to be
falling apart. We are encouraged to have hope. And it is this hope that gives
us the strength to know that death is a temporary separation, that there is
more after death, and that the grief we experience today will be more than made
up in reunion together in heaven.
So
let us listen to Paul’s words, “Therefore encourage one another with these
words.” May we stand firm together in the midst of fear and anxiety, with hope
in the power of God, and the knowledge of the promise that we will have eternal
life through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment