REMEMBRANCE SUNDAY 10TH NOVEMBER 2024
SENTENCE FROM SCRIPTURE –
“ You are my helper and deliverer.”
OPENING HYMN
GREETING
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Amen.
COLLECT FOR PURITY
Almighty God, to whom all hearts are open,
all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hidden:
cleanse the thoughts of our hearts
by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit,
that we may perfectly love you,
and worthily magnify your holy name;
through Christ our Lord. Amen.
SUMMARY OF THE LAW
Our Lord Jesus Christ said:
The first commandment is this:
“Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is the only Lord.
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,
with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength.”
The second is this: “Love your neighbour as yourself.”
There is no other commandment greater than these.
Amen. Lord, have mercy.
CONFESSION
God is love and we are God’s children.
There is no room for fear in love.
We love because God loved us first.
Let us confess our sins in penitence and faith.
God our Father, we confess to you
and to our fellow members in the Body of Christ
that we have sinned in thought, word and deed,
and in what we have failed to do.
We are truly sorry.
Forgive us our sins,
and deliver us from the power of evil,
for the sake of your Son
who died for us, Jesus Christ, our Lord.
ABSOLUTION
God, who is both power and love,
forgive you and free you from your sins,
heal and strengthen you by the Holy Spirit,
and raise you to new life in Christ our Lord. Amen.
GLORIA by Billy Dewar Riddick
COLLECT
O God, whose will it is
to hold heaven and earth in a single peace:
let the design of great love
shine on the waste of our wraths and sorrows;
and give peace to your Church, peace among the nations,
peace in our homes, and peace in our hearts,
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, world without end. Amen
PROCLAIMING & RECEIVING GOD’S WORD
FIRST READING JOB 19:21-27 read by Amie Byers
Have pity on me, have pity on me, O you my friends,
for the hand of God has touched me!
Why do you, like God, pursue me,
never satisfied with my flesh?
“O that my words were written down!
O that they were inscribed in a book!
O that with an iron pen and with lead
they were engraved on a rock forever!
For I know that my Redeemer lives,
and that at the last he will stand upon the earth;
and after my skin has been thus destroyed,
then in my flesh I shall see God,
whom I shall see on my side,
and my eyes shall behold, and not another.
My heart faints within me!
SECOND READING 1 Corinthians 15: 51-57 read by Gill Swales
Listen, I will tell you a mystery! We will not all die, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For this perishable body must put on imperishability, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When this perishable body puts on imperishability, and this mortal body puts on immortality, then the saying that is written will be fulfilled:
“Death has been swallowed up in victory.”
“Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?”
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
GRADUAL HYMN
GOSPEL READING John 6: 37-40 read by Rev Steven Ballard
Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to St John chapter 6 beginning at verse 37
Glory to Christ our Saviour
Everything that the Father gives me will come to me, and anyone who comes to me I will never drive away; for I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. This is indeed the will of my Father, that all who see the Son and believe in him may have eternal life; and I will raise them up on the last day.”
Give thanks to the Lord for his glorious gospel.
Praise to Christ our Lord
SERMON
I always find preaching on Remembrance Day rather daunting. The closest I’ve come to living through a war is seeing it on the television, and the closest I’ve come to active service was the school cadet force and my role as Lieutenant in the Territorial Army. I still have my number one uniform. But for those 72 names that are written on our Church War Memorial for World War 1 and for those names written on the school memorial, war was a reality. They knew all about the horrors of war first hand and they were not the only ones in Dumfries, for on the war memorial outside the church there are 216 men listed for World War 1 and 336 for World War 2.
You can just imagine the impact that must have had on the Dumfries Community and indeed to lose 72 people from a Church Community is huge, taking into account the large number of people who would be grieving: parents, grandparents, siblings, friends and neighbours. The wars took millions of lives, both soldiers and ordinary citizens, and of those who came home from the war, many were injured physically or struggled mentally as a result of what they had seen and experienced.
So today we do not celebrate war but we commemorate those who gave all in the battle for peace, not just in World War 1 & 2 , but in other conflicts- The Korean War; The Aden and Malayan Emergencies; The Falkland War; The Cyprus Conflict; Northern Ireland; The 1st and 2nd Gulf War; The Afghanistan and Iraq Conflicts and I personally would now add the war in Ukraine & Russia and the war in the Middle East.
The worst atrocities we have seen in years are happening in Ukraine, Palestine and Israel. Whilst the causes of these wars are rather complex, you cannot turn a blind eye to the insatiable hunger for power and control by Putin, nor the interminable wrangling over land and power in the Middle East.
Control and power are often the root causes of hostilities and lead to great devastation, misery and suffering. My heart goes out to all who are caught up in war especially, to the children, who are traumatised by the bombings and shelling, unable to sleep, fearful, and robbed of a normal happy childhood. Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees said that more children have been killed in Palestine in recent months than in four years of conflict worldwide. “This war is a war on children. It is a war on their childhood and their future.” The latest Gaza health authority data indicated that at least 12,300 youngsters have died in the enclave in the last four months. To date, more than 31,184 Palestinians have been killed and 72,889 injured, according to the local health authorities. What a waste of life and opportunity!
War does not only maim and kill but it leaves behind a trail of difficulties for years after it has ceased. Such difficulties are to do with health and hygiene, safe housing and water, dealing with malnutrition, repairing schools, hospitals, and power stations. War is something to be avoided at all costs. Today we are encouraged to reflect and learn on the cruelty of war so that we do not repeat history, so that we do not go to war again, but rather do all in our power to strive for peace.
Peace was something that the soldiers themselves longed for, so that they might return home and see their families again. On a personal level they longed for peace, particularly peace of mind, so that they might be free from the nightmares that tortured them after witnessing human bodies, lying dead and motionless. They were surrounded by death, and it was a constant reminder to them of their mortality and of the fragility of life.
They were conscious too that death was the great leveller – whether you were a General or Foot soldier, Admiral or Petty officer, Squadron Leader or Group Captain, rich or poor, black or white, young or old- death takes all. Does death have the final word? No, absolutely not. Death has lost its sting and power in Christ. Death is not the end, death is not reincarnation, death is not evaporation, death is not annihilation. Death is meant to be a kind of trade in, as one day all believers will trade in their broken -down bodies for a new body. Christianity offers abundant life now that goes on into eternity.
This is a truth that Job knew in his heart. Job believed that there was life beyond death. We heard his words read: I know that my redeemer lives. Job suffered greatly; he encountered death when he lost his children in a tragic accident. He was robbed of his worldly possessions and assets but more cripplingly to him than his wealth was the loss of his health and dignity Yet he still believed there was more to life than what we see and experience on earth. Despite all his suffering, Job still confessed “I know that my Redeemer lives …Words which were made famous through Handel’s Messiah.
Job’s knowledge of that Redeemer sustained him. Nothing else could have. Saint Paul, also, persecuted and humiliated for the sake of the gospel, confessed to his son in the faith, Timothy, “I know in whom I have believed and I am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed to him safe in that day”
Safe in that day, what does that mean? Paul has committed his life to God and he believes that one day after death he will rise and be with God. Death is not the end and death does not separate him from God and the other saints. He explains his understanding in our reading from 1 Corinthians. Paul was writing to Christians in Corinth who had decided that death was the end. Paul wrote to set them straight. He said, “Behold, I will tell you a mystery!”. In other words, Paul was saying, “I am going to tell you something that is too big for our human minds to fully comprehend, but I am going to tell it to you anyway.” He was saying, “I am going to give you a glimpse, however, cloudy, of God’s mind. And then he said: “We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.”
It is a mystery says Paul and you are not going to understand it, but, even if it is difficult, there are some things that we can understand. First of all, Paul is telling us that we will be resurrected from the dead, just as Christ was resurrected from the dead. We will have bodies in eternity—not just spirits. Just as Christ’s body was raised from the dead, so our bodies will be raised from the dead. Then Paul goes on to tell us that our resurrected bodies will be somehow different from the bodies we now have. He says: “We will all be changed….For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.” I take this to mean that our bodies will be different somehow from the bodies to which we have become accustomed. But I believe that we will be recognizable as the persons we have always been—body and soul—but that our bodies will somehow be different.
I believe that our spiritual bodies in eternity will be perfect. I won’t be near-sighted. I won’t have scars from surgery. Helen Keller, the blind and deaf woman who lived such an inspiring life, put it this way. She said: “There’s so much I’d like to see, so much to learn. And death is just around the corner. Not that, that worries me. On the contrary, it is no more than passing from one room into another. But there’s a difference for me, you know. Because in that other room I shall be able to see.” “I shall be able to see.” Can you imagine what that meant to a woman who had lived her entire life in darkness and silence! “I will be able to see.”
Michelangelo also had the right perspective on death. A friend commented on the wonderful life that Michelangelo had lived and said, “After such a good life it’s hard to look death in the eye.” Michelangelo responded: “Not at all. Since life was such a pleasure, death, coming from the same great Source, cannot displease us.”
Death is not to be feared. We will ALL be changed… changed into the likeness of Jesus, changed from mortal to immortal. We will be changed from living in a perishable body to being clothed in an imperishable one. Changed from living by faith, to seeing Christ face to face, as we are transformed into His lovely likeness. And this we believe because Jesus himself is the resurrection and the life. He died on the cross was buried and he rose from the dead. Many people witnessed seeing him in his resurrected body. In his lifetime Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, the son of the widow of Nain and Jairus’ daughter to demonstrate to us that Jesus has authority and power over death, death never ever has the last word. Death has no sting. In Christ there is victory over death.
A critically ill woman knew that in Christ there is victory over death. The woman had arranged to see her Rector to chat through her funeral when the time came. She told her rector that she wanted to be buried with her favourite Bible. Everything was in order and the rector was preparing to leave when the woman suddenly remembered something very important to her. “There’s one more thing,” she said excitedly. “What’s that?” came the rector’s reply. “This is very important,” the woman continued. “I want to be buried with a fork in my right hand.” The rector stood looking at the woman not knowing quite what to say. “That surprises you, doesn’t it?” the woman asked. “Well, to be honest, I’m puzzled by the request,” said the rector. The woman explained, “In all my years of attending church socials and potluck dinners, I always remember that when the dishes of the main course were being cleared, someone would inevitably lean over and say ‘You can keep your fork.’ It was my favourite part because I knew that something better was coming… like velvety chocolate cake or deep-dish apple pie. Something wonderful, and with substance! “So I just want people to see me there in that casket with a fork in my hand and I want them to wonder, ‘What’s with the fork?’ Then I want you to tell them: ‘Keep your fork… the best is yet to come.’”
The best is yet to come- this is no false hope- it is an enduring hope. In our Gospel Jesus says-this is indeed the will of my Father that all who see the Son and believe in him may have eternal life; and I will raise them up on the last day.” That is our desire to be raised up on the last day and to be taken up to be with Jesus and all the saints- the saints are all those that we have loved and have died in faith. That is our hope. What is required of us to gain that enduring hope – it is to place our trust, confidence and hope in Christ. It is to know Christ, to give him a place in our hearts and lives and seek to serve him. Christ Jesus is the only one that has died, rose again and came back to earth to tell us about it. He appeared to his disciples and to 500 hundred people- he proved to them that he had risen from the dead. Death had no hold on him. Death will not have any hold on us if we trust and believe in Jesus and allow him to raise us up on the last day. Today we are invited to trust in Jesus, for in him we can have confidence and be assured that there is much more to life than what we see. Life on earth is temporal but life in heaven is eternal and surpasses the quality of life we have here.
Life in heaven will be exciting. May we, along with all the soldiers, past and present, remember our mortality, and seek to live a life on earth pleasing to God, however sacrificial that might be, and may we never lose sight that life here is temporal and that death is not the end but a new beginning! Amen
ACT OF REMEMBRANCE
The Exhortation
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.
You might like to light a candle at this point.
The Last Post is sounded.
The Two Minute Silence is observed.
Reveille is sounded.
The Kohima Epitaph
When you go home, tell them of us and say,
For your tomorrow, we gave our today.
PRAYER
Everliving God,
we remember those whom you have gathered
from the storm of war into the peace of your presence:
may that same peace, calm our fears,
bring justice to all peoples
and establish harmony among the nations,
through Jesus Christ, Our Lord. Amen
NATIONAL ANTHEM
THE CREED
We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
God from God,
Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one substance with the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven;
by the power of the Holy Spirit
he became incarnate of the Virgin Mary,
and was made man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit,
the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father.
With the Father and the Son,
he is worshipped and glorified.
He has spoken through the Prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.
PRAYERS
LET US PRAY
Lord of all,
Hear us now as we pray for the victims of war
and for peace in our world.
We remember today O Lord
all those who have died
in any kind of war throughout your world,
soldiers who perished in the horror of battle,
innocent people buried beneath the rubble from bomb attacks,
men women and children brutally attacked and murdered in their villages.
Today we remember especially those victims of the two world wars
including those related to us, or to our parents and grandparents.
We remember those who came home with terrible injuries,
both physical and psychological
and those whose loved ones never returned.
Lord in your mercy
Hear our prayer
Remembering the conflicts of the past
and the sacrifices which were made,
we pray for a world
where war is still a grim reality.
Lord as we remember those who have lost their lives,
help us to renew our fight against cruelty and injustice,
against prejudice, tyranny and oppression.
Still, we cry out to you in the darkness of our divided world.
Let not the hope of men and women perish,
let not new clouds rain death upon the earth.
Lord hear our prayer for the multitudes in every country
who do not want war
and are ready to walk the path of peace.
May their voice be heard
and may they not lose heart.
Lord in your mercy
Hear our prayer
Lord God, we pray for the leaders of the nations at this time,
asking you to pour out your spirit of reconciliation on them.
Give them a longing to bring freedom from fear
and freedom from want for all peoples.
Give strength and courage to those
who bear heavy responsibilities for the peace of the world.
We pray also for the Christian Church,
called to witness to your love in this generation.
May Christians work with all people of goodwill
to break down the barriers which divide people.
May those who profess one faith
respect those who sincerely hold another faith
and build a community
where there is harmony and understanding.
Lord in your mercy
Hear our prayer.
We pray for those across the world
who bear the scars of conflict-
the injured, maimed, and mentally distressed,
those who have lost limbs, their reasoning capability
or who have lost a loved one through the horrors of war.
Lord in your mercy
Hear our prayer.
We pray for those left homeless or as refugees,
those who have lost their livelihoods and security
and those who still live in daily fear for their lives.
Lord in your mercy
Hear our prayer.
We pray for children who have been orphaned,
parents who mourn their children.
Husbands and wives who have lost their partners,
countless families whose lives will never be the same again.
Lord in your mercy
Hear our prayer.
We pray for those in the armed forces
charged with keeping the peace
in countries across the world-
their work involving months away from family and friends,
and often danger to themselves.
Lord in your mercy
Hear our prayer.
We pray for world leaders and rulers,
politicians and diplomats
those whose decisions and negotiations
affect the lives of so many,
and in whose hands peace ultimately lies.
Lord in your mercy
Hear our prayer.
We pray for families
struggling with mental health
especially in these dark mornings and nights.
Where there is depression
bring patience and peace,
where there is despair,
bring hope.
Lord in your mercy
Hear our prayer.
We pray for families struggling with illness
and trying to cope with hospitals and treatment.
In the quiet of our hearts we pray for those known to us
who are ill at this time in body, mind or spirit.
Lord, draw near to those we have named quietly
and grant them your healing touch and caring love.
Lord in your mercy
Hear our prayer.
We pray for all who mourn,
thinking especially of those who have recently been bereaved.
O Lord grant them your comfort and peace in these days.
Lord in your mercy
Hear our prayer.
Lord of all, give courage to those who strive for justice
so that all the causes of conflict may be overcome.
Give strength to those who seek to break down barriers,
that divisions over race, colour, creed
and culture may be ended.
Grant that wherever war or the threat of war
continues to haunt lives
a way of reconciliation and peace may be found.
Lord in your mercy.
Hear our prayer.
In the name of Christ who taught us to pray
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those
who sin against us.
Do not bring us
to the time of trial+
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power
and the glory are yours,
now and forever. Amen.
HYMN
BLESSING
The peace of God which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God and of His son Jesus Christ our Lord: and the blessing of God almighty, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, be among you and remain with you always. Amen
