We Honour Them With Peace - Armistice Day (John 15.7-17)


We come here today standing in our ancestor’s shoes. 

We gather like we do every year to remember the sacrifice paid by those who have died to protect us. We don’t just remember today those who died in the first world war and the second world war, but those who have died as a result of all human conflict past and present.

We remember that war, in whatever form, however just, is always a tragedy. We remember those who are our enemies, and also those who are innocent, who have died or whose lives have been forever changed by the consequences of war.
Christians believe that armed conflict should be the last option, after all other efforts have been made to reconcile with each other. We also believe that there is nothing that can separate us from the love of God.

Jesus calls us to be part of his love for us, he calls us friends. Abiding in God’s love is difficult, and it is very hard to travel the path of peace, as Jesus knew. He was constantly in conflict with the authorities of his day. Those who wanted to be violent, who cared only about their own power.

God understands what it feels like to die in pain, as he did so on the cross. God knows what it is to be innocent, and a victim of violence. God knows what it means to give your life for other people so that they might be saved. God has done that too.
Just as men and women have given up their lives down the ages to secure our freedom, and sacrificed themselves for us, so Jesus did the same on the cross for each of us. Those men and women, they did it out of love for their country, and love for their families, friends and loved ones they left behind.

Jesus did the same, sacrificing himself for us all.

“You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last.”

The fruit of the sacrifice of our armed service people is that we can live peacefully and in freedom, that I as a Christian can stand in front of you today, and talk about my faith openly, freely, and that you are entitled to disagree with me.

The fruits of Jesus’ death for us on the cross is that God has gone the distance, and unlike many of us shouted forgiveness as he was nailed to the cross.
Christians believe that all those who have gone before us, are wrapped in the love of God, forever safe, free from pain and suffering, and that all those we remember are now with God.

“No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”

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