Preacher: Revd Dr Joe Mottram
Date: 14/11/2021
What will we give?
Remembrance Sunday (Civic Service in the Market Square)
Reading: John 15: 12-17
12 ‘This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15 I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. 16 You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. 17 I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another.
Reflection – what will we give?
We will remember them, those who gave of themselves so that we might be free.
They joined up, and fought, for a variety of reasons: King and Country; ideals and patriotism; to protect their loved ones; to see the world; to take care of their pals, their mates, their friends.
And in field, wood, and trench, on beaches and in jungles, they endured and gave themselves for their friends and for a better tomorrow. For some it was the ultimate sacrifice, to lay down their lives for others. For others, it was in giving up part of who they had been, in returning changed by what they’d seen and done.
Today we remember those brave men and women who put themselves in harms way to build a better world.
And it’s not just the World Wars but in conflicts and peacekeeping missions. This year marks 70 years since the battle of the Imjin River during the Korean war, where soldiers of the Gloucestershire Regiment played a crucial role, 40 years since the first gulf war, and 20 years since the beginning of the war in Afghanistan.
With each year, more of the generation who fought in World War Two go to their rest, and our links to that time become more fragile. With each year, we are more at risk of taking for granted their hard-won victories of love over hate and death, of care for others over selfishness.
We will remember them.
We must remember them. We must learn from their example of sacrificial love and service.
The words of John Maxwell Edmonds, himself born in Stroud, written for a British graveyard in France speak to us from across the generations:
When you go home please tell them of us and say: “For your tomorrows we gave our today.”
How will we take this on? How will we give of ourselves? What will be our sacrifice, our expression of love through service from this generation to our children and those who are to come?
Thankfully, we don’t have far to look for examples in our own time. In the past 20 months, since the start of the Covid-19 Pandemic, countless people have sacrificed sake of others.
At the height of the lockdowns, those in essential services continued to work despite the risks to their own health, so that others could be protected at home. Our armed forces, doctors, nurses, carers, teachers, refuse collectors, essential shop workers, delivery drivers, and many others put their lives on the line for both friend and stranger alike.
Others showed their love through sharing supplies, shopping for the vulnerable, keeping in contact with those who might be lonely, or simply not going out to keep others safe.
Despite the hardship, the loss, the isolation, we also realized the value of connecting with others, of showing love for one another. Those hard-won lessons have given us a glimpse of something better, of a reconnection through remembering each other.
For our society to be a better, fairer, kinder place, it starts with each of us showing our love. Previous generations have given us a wonderful legacy to build on, but the challenging question remains. What are you prepared to give?