I have prepared a sermon for Sunday, but find that every time I attempt to read it I break down in tears. I decided that instead of trying to come up with my own words to describe something I know nothing about I would use stories from people who lived and are living the realities of war.Its a long sermon so I wont bore you with it all but hear are just some of the stories I am using along with some of my own words inspired by a contributor to Textweek.com:
“In a field we met the Regiment we had come to relieve [Glasgow Highlanders]. They had been 48 hours in the trenches without casualty. It came later, because an officer who went a little apart to drink, was hit by a stray bullet in the lung. He was hurried off in a motor looking as if he bled inside, very faint and white but terribly alive… I suddenly heard a horrid hum and whiz close to my ear. I am sorry to say I ducked, and felt considerably startled. As I went on there were more hums, from bullets possibly overhead. I ducked every time. … My stretcher-bearers were more shaken than I was, even, and did not sleep a bit, but sat round a room in silence hating the whole thing. We are all new to it, and I felt very sorry for them…. At first the zip, zip of bullets hitting the sandbags close to one's head was rather disconcerting, then it became just part of the general environment. At one point we had to get past a gate where a sniper lay in wait. I went by doing the 100 well within 10 sec…. We had to rest 5 times while crossing a ploughed field as the Captain was very heavy on the improvised stretcher (2 poles and a greatcoat). On the way I saw a group of 10 dead Frenchmen. Next evening, the men came out of the trenches. The young men were haggard, white, and stooped like old men, but they had done gallantly…. 2 men have lost their nerve…. Two days ago the King inspected us from a motor car, and now we are to go back to the trenches, tomorrow night. We all hate the war worse than we thought we could.”
Captain Noel Chavasse won two Victoria Crosses during World War 1
“The final thrill came when I was summoned to the army's Dispersal Centre at Heaton Park, Manchester t
o receive my formal demobilisation papers-- Army Form Z-I8 which informed me that up to the date when I was released from German incarceration at Giessen, I had completed three years, three months and one day in 'Regimental Employment'. My military qualifications were rated as a shattering 'NIL'. But I was more than irked to discover that, after over three years service, most of it on 'Active Service' during which I had risked life and limb 'amid shot and shell, rescuing scores of my fellow soldiers from certain death, my 'character' was assessed as 'Good'. Just 'Good'. Not 'Very Good' or 'Exemplary'-- and that was after surviving the vicissitudes of army life with a conduct sheet as white as driven snow. There's generosity for you.”
o receive my formal demobilisation papers-- Army Form Z-I8 which informed me that up to the date when I was released from German incarceration at Giessen, I had completed three years, three months and one day in 'Regimental Employment'. My military qualifications were rated as a shattering 'NIL'. But I was more than irked to discover that, after over three years service, most of it on 'Active Service' during which I had risked life and limb 'amid shot and shell, rescuing scores of my fellow soldiers from certain death, my 'character' was assessed as 'Good'. Just 'Good'. Not 'Very Good' or 'Exemplary'-- and that was after surviving the vicissitudes of army life with a conduct sheet as white as driven snow. There's generosity for you.”Private James Brady who was in a German POW camp when Armistice was declared
“I couldn't bear to see him go. We'd only been married for 18 months. But there he
was looking out at me through the greasy glass of the passenger train. Trying to
smile. Waving a hand. Holding the carnation I had given him as we spent our last
few minutes together on the platform of the train station.
We were both trying to be so brave but I couldn't let go of the thought that this
might be the last time I ever saw him. And, if that was going to be the way it
was, every moment, every sound and smell and texture was going to be cherished
and stored away in my heart and mind.
Finally, the engine blew its whistle. There was a lurch as the train began its
journey. "This is it!" I thought. "This is it! He's really going. Tell me it's
not so!" But it was so and as the train picked up speed, we tried to watch one
another through the glass until the last possible moment. Then he was gone."
was looking out at me through the greasy glass of the passenger train. Trying to
smile. Waving a hand. Holding the carnation I had given him as we spent our last
few minutes together on the platform of the train station.
We were both trying to be so brave but I couldn't let go of the thought that this
might be the last time I ever saw him. And, if that was going to be the way it
was, every moment, every sound and smell and texture was going to be cherished
and stored away in my heart and mind.
Finally, the engine blew its whistle. There was a lurch as the train began its
journey. "This is it!" I thought. "This is it! He's really going. Tell me it's
not so!" But it was so and as the train picked up speed, we tried to watch one
another through the glass until the last possible moment. Then he was gone."
A Young Canadian Bride
“Peace is with you now. You worked hard in life, made people laugh smile and cry, you paid the ultimate price. Whether I knew you or not I have the ultimate respect for you. A tear always ran down my cheek on the occasions I attended repatriation parades in Basra and on the eleventh hour, of the eleventh day, of the eleventh month I stand ... Read more solemnly in silence and I remember the sights I’ve seen and the memories I have. I stand and remember those who have fallen and allowed me to see what I've seen and do what I have done, because they have made the ultimate sacrifice, their own life, to allow me my freedom. Rest In Peace.”
Borrowed from a young friend currently in Iraq
How could I possibly use my own words, when real people in real experiences can say it with real integrity.
The Apostle Paul uses words to encourage the fledgling church. In his letter to the Thessalonians from which we heard a short excerpt this morning he encouraged the church. He knew the difficulties they faced – so he encouraged them with these words:
“"The day of the Lord is coming," he wrote, "when the heavens will open up and we
will see Jesus Christ descending through the clouds to be with us once again,
forevermore. He will come to gather us up to be together - the living and the
dead - and to be in God's Kingdom. Until that time, take heart, have hope and
never stop encouraging one another."
“Paul doesn't take the time in this letter to describe the Kingdom of God in any
detail but, in other places, it is spoken of a place of peace and justice. God's
reign will be one in which there will be no war and no suffering. It will be a
place where everyone has enough to eat and drink and a roof over their heads. No
one will be a slave to another. There will be no subservience or subordination.
No one will be oppressed, persecuted or marginalized.
“"The day of the Lord is coming," he wrote, "when the heavens will open up and we
will see Jesus Christ descending through the clouds to be with us once again,
forevermore. He will come to gather us up to be together - the living and the
dead - and to be in God's Kingdom. Until that time, take heart, have hope and
never stop encouraging one another."
“Paul doesn't take the time in this letter to describe the Kingdom of God in any
detail but, in other places, it is spoken of a place of peace and justice. God's
reign will be one in which there will be no war and no suffering. It will be a
place where everyone has enough to eat and drink and a roof over their heads. No
one will be a slave to another. There will be no subservience or subordination.
No one will be oppressed, persecuted or marginalized.
That is the time toward which Paul and the early Christians were looking. In the
face of pain, the coming Kingdom was the image that gave the people hope. Sharing
that image encouraged the people of Thessalonica to carry on in the face of great
suffering.
face of pain, the coming Kingdom was the image that gave the people hope. Sharing
that image encouraged the people of Thessalonica to carry on in the face of great
suffering.
My rather simple understanding of what our service men and woman are working towards is a world where all live in peace, where all have enough to eat and drink, where no one is a slave to another, where there is no subservience or subordination, where no one is oppresses, persecuted or marginalized.
If you like, a vision of the Kingdom of God.
Today is the day we pay tribute to those men and women who have fallen in pursuit of this vision. We need to remember their self sacrifice, their bravery and loyalty. We need to thank God for the encouragement they have given us.
War is horrid – the pain of it, the lives it steals, and the hopes it dashes.
Through out the years, through many wars and conflicts the vision of a peaceful world has been a beacon for the world. The torch of justice and freedom been passed on to each generation. May we hold it high and honour it as legacy to be cherished and continued.
Lest we forget.
Amen
Sources: BBC Web Site - http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/worldwarone/
Via Textweek.com - http://www.rockies.net/~spirit/sermons/a-or32-gilliland.php
