Remembrance Sunday 2022

When Sharon and I lived in Glasgow in the 1990s, one particular part of those two years really stands out to me.

Because we were living there in 1995…during all the commemorations of the 50th anniversary of the end of the Second World War.

And what struck us more than anything…was how little we understood what it was like to live in Europe during that time.

The stories we heard on radio and television programmes…from people we knew at our church…all told us of a strength, a resolve…and an experience that, frankly, took our breath away.

Hearing stories of the Blitz…of the effects of rationing…of simply living with the uncertainty for over 6 years…will our homeland be invaded? Will the Nazi terror ever end?

It was very eye-opening for us.

Because, truth be told…we Americans simply can’t relate to that experience of World War II.

The conflict, apart from the bombings at Pearl Harbor, never reached our shores.

I think that’s one of the reasons America has always been in danger of forgetting what that generation went through.

One thing Sharon and I first noticed when we moved to the UK is how every town and village has some sort of war memorial…a way of remembering the honored dead from that area.

That’s not really a thing at the local level in much of the US. Some towns, yes…many towns, no.

There is a national World War II memorial in Washington, D.C.

It opened 18 years ago, and I will say that is absolutely beautiful and striking in its imagery.

It consists of 56 large pillars, each representing a different US State or Territory, all surrounding a large oval plaza and a fountain.

On one side of the plaza is a large wall, called the Freedom Wall, adorned with 4048 stars, each one representing 100 Americans who died.

What a lot of people don’t realize about this memorial…is that it might not have come to pass if it wasn’t for a movie star and an awards ceremony..

In 1998 Tom Hanks starred in the World War II film, “Saving Private Ryan,” and he won many awards for his role, including a popular award in the States called the Peoples’ Choice Award for Best Actor.

During his acceptance speech, Hanks did something pretty unusual: he used his speech to raise awareness for a fundraising campaign to build this World War II memorial in Washington.

He mentioned a toll-free phone number that people could use to pledge to that campaign.

After the ceremony he participated in ads on radio and television to continue the fundraising drive.

By the time the campaign was finished, Hanks’ involvement had helped to raise almost 200 million dollars for the World War II memorial I just described to you.

And it was finally built.

That story brings to mind for me two questions:

1) What would it be like if more celebrities like Tom Hanks used their influence for good causes? And…

2) How in the world did it take almost 60 years for a World War II memorial to be built in Washington, D.C.?

I’m glad there finally is one, and when I had a chance to visit it a few yeas ago it was a very moving experience…but the sacrifice of men and women in the cause of freedom should not be ignored for that long in a nation’s capitol, if you ask me.

Standing in front of this powerful reminder of those who made the ultimate sacrifice, I couldn’t help but echo the words of Dr. Peter Marshall, who once said,

“I do not feel worthy of such sacrifice. I don’t deserve it.”

As Jesus himself said, "Greater love has no one than this...that they would lay their life down for their friends."

Jesus himself points out that the greatest expression of love...is sacrifice.

And you and I today are the heirs of great sacrifice.

Not just in the Second World War, but every time someone has given their life at the altar of freedom.

And may God have mercy on us if we ever forget.

It took 60 years for a World War II memorial to be built in Washington, D.C., but truth be told I can’t criticize that fact too much…because I can also ignore, in my own life, the sacrifices that have been made on my behalf.

I can easily take the freedom I enjoy for granted.

And as I said, it’s one thing I definitely think the UK understands better than the US.

There is still a deep appreciation here for the lives that were lost for King and Country, whereas in the States the day in May that we set aside for remembrance has become more about time at the beach and BBQs than what it was originally intended to be.

We need to be reminded on a regular basis: nothing as important as freedom ever comes easy.

Peace comes at a price, and that price…is blood.

It's true for nations, and it's true for us as Christians as well.

Paul speaks to that in the passage we heard from Romans.

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand...You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

In this passage Paul points out that there are limits to our human capacity for sacrifice.

He says we’re willing to lay down our lives, but only if it's for a cause we believe in.

“For a good person someone might possibly dare to die.”

I think you could expand that to include “a good cause.”

Paul’s saying there has to be an element of “good-ness,” of “worthy-ness” in the cause we fight for.

I think what we’re seeing play out in Ukraine reflects that well, as so many Russian conscripts throw down their arms and surrender…all sharing stories of the “lost cause” and what it’s done to Russian morale and the willingness to fight.

Our willingness to make the ultimate sacrifice is directly linked to the worthiness of the cause.

Even then, Paul says, it’s only true that we "might" possibly dare to die.

Not everyone has that capacity. Not every can do that.

And yet in complete contrast to us and our limits...stands Jesus.

While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

He died for us in the middle of our ungodliness, in the heat of our rebellion, in the captivity of our sin...Jesus came and died for us.

And because of his willing death, we have peace with God.

Our freedom from sin...the peace we know with our Creator, both came at a price, and the price was blood.

The cross is the ultimate altar of freedom, where the costliest sacrifice of all was offered up on our behalf.

And just as we are so prone to take the sacrifices of our men and women in uniform for granted, I think even more we tend to take Christ's sacrifice for granted.

We live our daily lives as if it wasn't that important.

Sure...we stop to acknowledge it during Holy Week and Good Friday, but how often do we stop to meditate on the death of Jesus in our daily spiritual walk?

It's like we want all the perks of the relationship, but we don't want to be reminded of the cost.

The cross is messy...it's difficult...to be honest, it's brutal.

But it is also...central.

Let me remind you of words we heard many weeks ago from Paul in 1 Corinthians:

"When I came to you," he reminds them, "I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified."

I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.

The cross wasn't just a "once-a-year" reality for Paul, and it shouldn't be for us.

We shouldn’t be so quick to put the cross behind me once Holy Week is over.

Tuck it away somewhere until next year.

No…the invitation to us as Christians is to always keep the cross in front of us.

It is, in a way, a memorial for us to meditate on and ponder the price that was paid for our freedom, for our peace.

And God have mercy on us if we ever forget that.

But here's the thing—the cross is even more than that.

It's a reminder...and it's also an invitation.

It's an invitation for us to lay down our lives as well.

It's an invitation to lay aside any claim we have to self-sufficiency and power, and acknowledge that we are nothing without Christ:

We are nothing without the cross, we are nothing without the all-sufficient sacrifice of Jesus, the perfect Son of God who willingly died that we might know life.

John Stott, the great British preacher and theologian, put it wonderfully:

“Every time we look at the cross Christ seems to say to us, ‘I am here because of you. It is your sin I am bearing, your curse I am suffering, your debt I am paying, your death I am dying.’ Nothing in history or in the universe cuts us down to size like the cross. All of us have inflated views of ourselves, especially in self-righteousness, until we have visited a place called Calvary. It is there, at the foot of the cross, that we shrink to our true size.”

It is there, at the foot of the cross, that we shrink to our true size.

Say that to the movers and shakers of the world, and they'll laugh in your face.

Shrink? Who wants to shrink? Shrinking is for losers and failures.

Maybe...according to the world's standards. But not according to Christ's.

Because I need to shrink. I need my inflated ego and sense of self-righteousness to come to a screeching halt and a violent death, and the only place that can happen is at the cross.

Where I throw myself before the Saviour and I plead with him,

"More of you, Jesus...less of me! More of you, Jesus...less of me!"

It's interesting that in our passage from Romans Paul talks about "boasting in God."

It reminds me of one of the lesser known, but in my opinion, most important verses in Paul's letters.

It comes from Galatians chapter 6, verse 14:

"May I never boast in anything, except the cross of Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world."

Paul says you and I have nothing to boast about in this world.

Except the cross.

Because it's there that we are reminded that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

And it's there that he invites us to die for him, to give our lives in sacrifice to his cause.

Thankfully, for most Christians…that isn’t literal.

For some it is. Even as we gather here today there are those whose lives are in constant danger because of their devotion and service to Christ.

But even if that isn’t the case for us, the question still remains: how will we live lives of deeper devotion and service?

How will we make our lives, as Paul puts it, a “living sacrifice?”

That’s the invitation to you and to me.

(PAUSE)

Just a few hundred yards from the World War II memorial in Washington there is another war memorial.

It is, in my opinion, even more striking in its design…even though it is far simpler.

The Vietnam Memorial consists of two black granite walls.

That’s all.

But it’s what’s on those walls that causes you to stop and catch your breath.

Because the walls are inscribed with over 58,000 names.

And standing in front of them is overwhelming.

Especially when you see the personal connection people have to those names…watching family members and friends walk up to the wall with a piece of paper and a pencil so they can make a rubbing of the name to keep for themselves.

It’s a powerful reminder of the personal cost of war…

…that those who died are not nameless, faceless soldiers.

They are real people.

They are known. They are remembered.

So let me ask you a question this morning: what can you build into your life to help you remember the price of your freedom?

Yes…the freedom we enjoy as those who live in a country free of tyranny…but even more importantly…

…the freedom we have because of Jesus?

Is there a memorial of sorts we can use in our daily walk to help us remember his sacrifice?

Let me offer a suggestion to you this morning:

In the same way that we remember the sacrifice of soldiers through silence…maybe we could simply build that into our prayer lives on a regular basis…

…taking a moment of silence each day to give thanks for Christ’s sacrifice.

It doesn’t have to be long…30 seconds, a minute…doesn’t really matter.

What matters is that we remember.

That we remember how you and I have been reconciled…how we have peace with God through the death of his Son on the cross.

Because all I can say is this: may God have mercy on us if we ever forget.

So even as we remember the men and women today who gave the full measure of devotion for their country…

…may we also, every day, look upon the cross of Jesus and declare with grateful and surrendered hearts:

We will remember.

Let us pray.