Being Ready for Peace

This blog is out of order and was preached after the following two blogs!

Readings

Amos 5:18-24

¹⁸ Alas for you who desire the day of the Lord!
    Why do you want the day of the Lord?
It is darkness, not light;
¹⁹     as if someone fled from a lion,
    and was met by a bear;
or went into the house and rested a hand against the wall,
    and was bitten by a snake.
²⁰ Is not the day of the Lord darkness, not light,
    and gloom with no brightness in it?

²¹ I hate, I despise your festivals,
    and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.
²² Even though you offer me your burnt-offerings and grain-offerings,
    I will not accept them;
and the offerings of well-being of your fatted animals
    I will not look upon.
²³ Take away from me the noise of your songs;
    I will not listen to the melody of your harps.
²⁴ But let justice roll down like waters,
    and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

Matthew 25:1-13

‘Then the kingdom of heaven will be like this. Ten bridesmaids^[a] took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom.^[b] 2 Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. ³ When the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them; ⁴ but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. ⁵ As the bridegroom was delayed, all of them became drowsy and slept. ⁶ But at midnight there was a shout, “Look! Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.” ⁷ Then all those bridesmaids^[c] got up and trimmed their lamps. ⁸ The foolish said to the wise, “Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.” ⁹ But the wise replied, “No! there will not be enough for you and for us; you had better go to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.” ¹⁰ And while they went to buy it, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went with him into the wedding banquet; and the door was shut. ¹¹ Later the other bridesmaids^[d] came also, saying, “Lord, lord, open to us.” ¹² But he replied, “Truly I tell you, I do not know you.” ¹³ Keep awake therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.^[e]

Sermon

We come to this Remembrance Sunday with hearts and minds full of war – who can have escaped seeing terrible images of conflict from Gaza. Who can have been unmoved by the terrible stories of loss and suffering that fill our news reports.

On one level, war is simple – it needs to stop. There is no cause more important than an innocent life. There is nothing good that can be achieved by the waste of life we are seeing on our televisions each night. It needs to stop.

But on another level, war can be more complicated than we choose to make it. Too quickly we forget that this latest round of violence was triggered by the worst attack on Israeli soil in decades. 1400 innocent people killed, hundreds held hostage in Gaza. In some ways, this was their 9/11 – and not with terrorists coming from a continent away, but just down the road. Is it any surprise that they want to eliminate this threat whatever the cost?

After the real 9/11, the USA and her allies – which included the UK – began a War on Terror. We will never know exactly how many people died in that conflict. 457 British service people died on deployment in Afghanistan. At least 40,000 civilians died in Afghanistan with a further 67,000 in Pakistan. Has it made the world safer? Were those lives worth it?

I am not saying this to condone Israel’s actions, but simply to remind us that when we point fingers in judgement, we find three fingers pointing back at ourselves. War is not an Israel problem, or a Hamas problem – it is a human problem. We have been using violence to solve our problems and deal with our fears since Cain killed Abel. In the Coventry litany, we do not say Father forgive THEM, but simply Father forgive – forgive them, forgive us, for we all have a part to play.

And first reading today doesn’t bring much comfort. What use are our festivals, our gatherings, our songs, our offerings, if justice and righteousness are not present in our midst?

But perhaps the second reading gives a glimmer of purpose in its encouragement to be ready for the Kingdom. It is a weird parable – no one really understands what it means other than to say “be ready, be ready for the Kingdom”. How might we, as people of God’s Kingdom be ready for peace even in a world at war? How might we work for peace, make peace possible?

One final thought – for when ideas and problems are too big, poems help:

November pierces with its bleak remembrance
Of all the bitterness and waste of war.
Our silence tries but fails to make a semblance
Of that lost peace they thought worth fighting for.
Our silence seethes instead with wraiths and whispers,
And all the restless rumour of new wars,
The shells are falling all around our vespers,
No moment is unscarred, there is no pause,
In every instant bloodied innocence
Falls to the weary earth ,and whilst we stand
Quiescence ends again in acquiescence,
And Abel’s blood still cries in every land
One silence only might redeem that blood
Only the silence of a dying God.

https://malcolmguite.wordpress.com/tag/remembrance-sunday/

Malcolm Guite is right – a hundred years of silence have not made us any better at peace, as the news each night proves. But, we gather and remember each November as part of our commitment to be ready, to be people of God’s Kingdom of peace because the alternatives don’t bear thinking about. We gather in silence to remember not just those who fought for peace, but the one who died in silence on a cross that one day justice, righteousness, peace and reconciliation may be possible.