Remembrance (2)

CALL TO WORSHIP

Loving God, source of healing and hope, strengthen us for life’s challenges, help us to trust the future to you, and to remember the courage of those who have faced adversity with faith. Amen.

Hymn 66: Great is thy faithfulness

PRAYERS

Holy God, you are the creator of all – so we trust you for our world and beyond. Lord Jesus, you are the Prince of Peace – so we trust that wars will one day end. Holy Spirit, you are the breath of life – so we trust you for all creatures and all creation. Holy God, even in the midst of the most difficult of times, we trust you for eternity. Amen.

A Prayer of confession

God of yesterday, today and tomorrow, when our world is falling apart and we turn away from you: forgive us and help us to trust you. When the whole word is being torn apart and we despair: forgive us and help us to trust you. When the whole universe is out of kilter and we fear the worst: forgive us and help us to trust you. Help us to stand firm, speak truth and serve you, today and tomorrow, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Assurance of forgiveness

Lord Jesus, though your words are sometimes tough, you are gentle with us as we grapple with their meaning. Though the world is divided in so many ways, you would unite us. Though it sometimes seems as if our lives can’t be mended, you give us hope, reassuring us that our world and our lives are in your hands. Always. Amen.

THE LORD’S PRAYER

Hymn 710: Fight the good fight

READING

Malachi 4:1-2a

Malachi 4:1–2a ESV

“For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.

Luke 21: 5-19

Luke 21:5–19 ESV

And while some were speaking of the temple, how it was adorned with noble stones and offerings, he said, “As for these things that you see, the days will come when there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.” And they asked him, “Teacher, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when these things are about to take place?” And he said, “See that you are not led astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he!’ and, ‘The time is at hand!’ Do not go after them. And when you hear of wars and tumults, do not be terrified, for these things must first take place, but the end will not be at once.” Then he said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and pestilences. And there will be terrors and great signs from heaven. But before all this they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name’s sake. This will be your opportunity to bear witness. Settle it therefore in your minds not to meditate beforehand how to answer, for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict. You will be delivered up even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and some of you they will put to death. You will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your lives.

Hymn 138: Seek ye first the Kingdom of God

SERMON

A mother came home from work to find chaos in the house. Her four-year-old son was sobbing and running round the rooms, shouting, ‘No, Daddy! No! His father was following him, distraught and feeling angry, as he tried to console the boy, but also feeling cross and desperate I’m sure all parents have felt like this at some point. The mother watched and listened for a few moments, then asked what was going on. Hearing his mother’s calm voice, the little boy came running to her, clutching her leg and muttering, ‘I don’t want it.’ The father picked up the boy, took him in his arms, and led him into the cramped front room. Two poster-sized sheets of paper lay crumpled on the carpet. The mother knew that they said, in bold red letters, ‘House for Sale’.

The parents sat down; the boy curled now on his mother’s knee glowering sulkily at the posters. The father explained how, as soon as he’d come downstairs that morning, their son had asked what the big papers covering the window were. When he’d explained that they were going to move house, the boy had started crying and refused his breakfast. He’d been on hunger strike all day, and at teatime the storm had finally broken. When he’d been out of the room his son climbed onto the windowsill and tore the posters down. The mother had walked in on the aftermath.

But now the boy was exhausted, and the mother took him away from the scene of his ‘crime’, out into the hall. They sat together on the bottom step, and she quietly explained that she knew how much he loved this house, but they were going to a much bigger and better one. She showed her son some cardboard boxes she’d brought home especially for him to pack his toys in.

A few weeks later a removal van pulled up in a leafy suburban cul-de-sac. The back dropped down to make a ramp and the little boy scrambled eagerly up it because he knew his bike had been packed last of all so it would be the first to come out. Before anyone could stop him, he’d mounted up and rode straight down the ramp and onto the street. By the end of that exciting day, it seemed to his parents that their son had completely forgotten the house he’d been so upset about leaving. From this new house he would soon go to school, primary then secondary, and eventually perhaps to college or university. To this house he might eventually bring his own children. His parents had no plans to move again, so it would become the home that their son would remember for the rest of his life.

A ‘forever home’ is the wish of many people, at least it is if what you see on certain relocation-type programmes on TV. They want a permanent home that will grow and provide comfort for themselves and their families across the different stages of their lives. But where do we look for our forever home? For the people of Jerusalem that Jesus addressed, it was the Temple. What about us? do we also get permanence wrong? Permanence is not really about something not changing. When we say something is permanent, it is not a matter of power or strength or knowledge. What it is – or should be – all about is faithfulness: embodied in God’s faithfulness to us, but also our commitment to God.

The end of the world as we know it can also be the beginning of another – maybe even a better one. With a loving parental hand to hold, we can find the courage to embrace it. And as it is with our earthly parents, so it is with our Father in heaven.

Jesus gives encouragement to his followers; they live in distressing times with more to come. He warns them about people who will exploit them and reminds them that they share the blessings of God’s faithfulness.

This is Remembrance Sunday, and the readings today give us the opportunity to think about the challenges that can turn our worlds upside down. We remember how people throughout history, and we ourselves, have come through adversity to what we hope will be better times.

The diary of a 15-year-old Yorkshire girl records her impressions of the first week of World War II: ‘What a life! No light, no cinemas, no nothing!’ It was ‘the end of the world as she knew it’ because her active social life was brought to an abrupt halt. All kinds of things can change our lives drastically, as the pandemic we have all lived through these last few years has clearly demonstrated.

The Covid-19 pandemic was unexpected, as well as insufficient funding and staff shortages, put the NHS under great strain and continues to do so. Some frustrated people have been abusive as a result. There have been calls for everyone to respect NHS staff as human beings.

However, someone in distress can easily lose that perspective. In the Gospel passage, Jesus tells his followers not to be panicked by a catalogue of disasters or be distracted from their mission – which is to be faithful witnesses to him – also not to be bamboozled into following other, leaders. Who might knock us off course in our life of faith? How do we recognise blind alleys? and, what keeps us on course?

Malachi is the last book in the Old Testament, and in these few verses we are given two striking images, drawing our attention to the stark contrast between them. During the first verse, we have an image of disaster – e.g., the idea of a time coming, burning like an oven, does it remind us of today’s wildfires and natural disasters which we associated with global warming. But in the second verse in contrast, we see a peaceful, rural view the picture of calves in a sunlit field for those who trust in God’s name.

In our gospel reading Jesus says the signs of the times are all around us. We read of floods, earthquakes, and hurricanes, of wars and rumours of wars. There are signs of the earth’s upheaval and of chaos. Jesus speaks here the signs of the times in Jerusalem two thousand years ago. It can be confusing because Jesus weaves together two contrasting ideas, two different end times.

He prophesies the destruction of Jerusalem, but He also speaks of the end of the world. He tells of two temples. First, there is the magnificent temple in which He is teaching and of the destruction of it. At the time Jesus spoke these words, the second restoration of the temple had been going on for forty-six years. It was A.D. 63 before it was completed. But that glorious building, was only one temple. If the temple is the place where God is dealing with His people, then Jesus is the new temple.

The temple was by description wonderful to see it gave the Jews a sense of security at the time. It was four football fields wide and five football fields long, made of marble so pure it looked like a great mountain of snow from a distance. One wall was solid gold, a blinding in the sunshine. There were single columns of marble forty feet high and gifts of furniture from rulers of all the known world. Jesus predicted that this incredible building, full of treasures, would be destroyed. His hearers were baffled. But in A.D. 70, seven years after the restoration was completed, that temple was destroyed.

Throughout these warnings, Jesus’ underlying message was that everything in life is temporary apart from God and His kingdom: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away” (v. 33). There are few permanent things in our world. For those who have lived over half century, you will have seen enormous changes impossible for our grandparents to even comprehend.

Not that long ago, Britain was a great naval power. Her ships were everywhere preserving the peace. I have just read recently that the British are selling off most of their navy. They are becoming a third-rate naval power.

Our bitterest enemies from World War II, Germany, and Japan, have become our best allies. America, which led the world in the industrial revolution, is now exporting mainly agricultural products. Who could have seen that in the future such a total reversal?

Today Christian morality is becoming a minority. The young people of today understand that better than we can. I remember being on holiday last year and visited a Church on the Sunday and they asked a couple of young people to tell of their experience of following Jesus as a young person today, it came across as difficult as they are bucking the trend.

The culture of our land has changed in the space of a few years.

Let’s say your security has been in a happy and fulfilling marriage. Almost certainly, one of you will outlive the other. One partner will lose his or her security. That shouldn’t surprise us. If your security is in your children, they will grow up and leave you. They may still love you, but they are going to leave. Adolescence is that time when children stop asking you where they have come from and won’t tell you where they’re going. But—they are going.

We can’t even find a secure place to invest our money. Is it in property, shares? Financial advisers have no clear direction for us about investing our surplus cash, assuming we have any in the first place with the cost of living increasing so rapidly.

If we feel secure because of our military might there’s a lesson to be learned in the ape house of the New York Zoo. Between the cages with the gorilla and the orangutan is a cage with the sign: The Most Dangerous Animal in the World. As you look into this cage, you find yourself staring at a mirror under which is this sign: “You are looking at the most dangerous animal in the world. It, alone, of all the animals that ever lived can exterminate—and has exterminated—entire species of animals. Now it has achieved the power to wipe out all life on earth, including its own.”

If your security is in your country always—remember that Greece was once the world’s greatest power. That power moved west to Rome, then west again to France, and once more to England and then west to America. If you think that this is the last stopping place, history will tell you differently.

I’m sure a year ago thoughts of the terrible war in the Ukraine, was far from their thoughts and ours, as they went about their business, and now we see the destruction and devastated lives. People fleeing their home their security all gone in an instant.

And today we cannot but think of those young men who gave their lives and futures so we may have this fragile peace.

Jesus speaks about the end of the world He says that many false Messiahs will come insisting they know “when this will happen.” We are not to listen to them. In every generation there are false Messiahs claiming they know more than Jesus did.

It seems to me there are three ways we can live in this world of uncertainty. One is to be fearful, to go looking for every sign and listening to every false Messiah.

But Jesus tells us here not to be led astray. When the time comes, it will be obvious to all of us.

Second, we can adopt a “what will be will be” attitude. Unfortunately, none of us can avoid those feelings of depression and discouragement, loneliness, and betrayal.

Jesus tells us instead to “watch and pray.” He is asking us to watch and pray, secure in our insecurities. Your friends may betray you your spouse may leave you your children may disappoint you, but, he says, “Not a hair of your head shall be lost” (v. 18). Our only permanent possession is our soul. You and I will sin, and God has, at tremendous cost, has forgiven us our sins. So, we who follow Christ have the security that he will never fail us. He is the foundation on which we can rely the only permanent and eternal promise we can trust.

And so today, in the great suffering that exists in the world, we need to remember the profound Christian truth that God not only understands our pain, but in the Jesus Christ we worship who suffered and died for us. By his scars our own are healed.

Hymn 673: Dear Lord and father of mankind

OFFERING DURING HYMN

PRAYERS OF THANKSGIVING AND INTERCESSION

We praise you, eternal God, for those who inspire us through their struggles, for those who speak your word though it is dangerous and costly, for opportunities to learn from our mistakes and to grow in wisdom. We praise you, and we look to you when we can find no answers and see no future – for you are our God in war, in peace, in life, in death and for ever. Amen.

O Lord, there is so much in our world that is out of sync with your Spirit, so much that is at odds with your kingdom’s priorities. We pray for your Spirit to stir up in us and in others a longing for better living, for grace to be the hallmark in the communities of our faith. We pray for all we know who are suffering at this time and bring them to you now……………. We pray that where there is brokenness and grief,

We pray for those who suffer due to conflict, and bring healing and hope. We ask that where despair has locked the doors, you can turn the key. We ask that where gloom and apathy rule, they will be overturned. We ask for new beginnings and the ability to imagine a better way to live together on this, your earth.

Hymn 378: Be, thou my Vision

BLESSING

In a world still torn by conflicts, send us out as makers of peace. In a world of destruction, send us out as menders and builders. In a world of hurt, send us out as healers. Where worlds are ending, send us out with faith in new beginnings. Amen.