Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany (4)

MUSIC

WELCOME

Psalm 4

Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness.

You have given me relief when I was in distress.

Be gracious to me and hear my prayer.

Build your Kingdom,

PRAYERS

Creator God who spoke the universe into being.

You designed the earth to be self-renewing.

Water gathered into seas, rises, and gathers as clouds, that again waters the earth.

Seeds rise, up from the dirt and grow into plants, that again seed the earth.

Created in your image, you named us stewards of your creation, you blessed it – and us – and said it is very good.

But we have not always cared for God’s creation as we should.

Often, we fail not by what we do, but what we don’t do.

When we turn away from those who are discriminated against,

When we don’t share the love that you have given to us.

Forgive us Lord.

You are the God who is slow to anger, and you are ready to forgive, and forgive again.

We, thankyou as we come before you today, sure of your forgiveness.

Amen

My Lighthouse (Collection)

CHILDREN GO OUT (Prayer)

READINGS

Isaiah 61: 1-11

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,

because the Lord has anointed me

to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent me to bind up the broken-hearted,

to proclaim freedom for the captives

and release from darkness for the prisoners,

2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.

and the day of vengeance of our God,

to comfort all who mourn,

3 and provide for those who grieve in Zion—

to bestow on them a crown of beauty

instead of ashes,

the oil of joy

instead of mourning,

and a garment of praise

instead of a spirit of despair.

They will be called oaks of righteousness,

a planting of the Lord

for the display of his splendour.

4 They will rebuild the ancient ruins,

and restore the places long devastated,

they will renew the ruined cities,

that have been devastated for generations.

5 Strangers will shepherd your flocks,

foreigners will work your fields and vineyards.

6 And you will be called priests of the Lord,

you will be named ministers of our God.

You will feed on the wealth of nations,

and in their riches, you will boast.

7 Instead of your shame

you will receive a double portion,

and instead of disgrace

you will rejoice in your inheritance.

And so, you will inherit a double portion in your land,

and everlasting joy will be yours.

8 “For I, the Lord, love justice.

I hate robbery and wrongdoing.

In my faithfulness I will reward my people

and make an everlasting covenant with them.

9 Their descendants will be known among the nations.

and their offspring among the peoples.

All who see them will acknowledge.

that they are a people the Lord has blessed.”

10 I delight greatly in the Lord,

my soul rejoices in my God.

For he has clothed me with garments of salvation

and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness,

as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest,

and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

11 For as the soil makes the sprout come up,

and a garden causes seeds to grow,

so, the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness.

and praise spring up before all nations.

John 8: 31-38

31 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

33 They answered him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?”

34 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. 35 Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. 37 I know that you are Abraham’s descendants. Yet you are looking for a way to kill me, because you have no room for my word. 38 I am telling you what I have seen in the Father’s presence, and you are doing what you have heard from your father.[b]”

SONG

MAN OF SORROW

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“That is when the trouble started for the Jews. Our freedom was severely restricted by a series of anti-Jewish decrees,”

Anne Frank

Today as we recall the terrible treatment of the Jewish people during the holocaust, it is difficult to put aside the situation in the West Bank and what shouts out to me is this!

"what we learn from history is that we never learn from history".

Today I want to share some time thinking about the inhumanity of man to man.

The words on screen speak about the loss of freedom, freedom means different things to different people. What is clear is that in every genocide that takes place, those who are targeted have their freedom restricted then removed before many of them are murdered.

That’s why world and us, need to remember the past atrocities and be vigilant.

Today people in the west take freedom for granted, but today we have the opportunity to reflect on how valuable this freedom is.

Yesterday was the Holocaust Memorial Day and I would like us to reflect on this and the many other atrocities together.

February 2003 In London, more than 2 million people demonstrate against the Iraq War, the largest demonstration in British history.[4]

Again, the same month Rowan Williams enthroned as Archbishop of Canterbury.

That was 21 years ago, back in 2003. I wonder what you were doing then? I’m sure you can all remember where you lived, the house you were living in, what you were doing for a living.

They say a year is a long time in politics (and hasn’t that been proved to be true recently?) but in the grand scheme of things, 21 years – not a long time really, is it?

So back in 1939 – it wasn’t too much of a challenge for people – all over the world – to cast their minds back just 21 years to remember 1918 and the terrible impact which that the First World War had made on all the countries of Europe and beyond.

And yet, even with the knowledge of the devastation and loss of life during that conflict.

Europe faced another even bloodier conflict that lasted six years.

"what we learn from history is that we never learn from history".

The First World War had seen 19 million people dead because of war,

The Second World War began just 21 years after the Armistice. So, this year is the 85th anniversary of the start of WW2.

And what about the casualties of the Second World War? 21 million – and that was just within the population of the Soviet Union. Across the world, up to 85 million people perished. That was one third of the world’s population at the time.

And people may ask, “Why do we study history? Why do we keep Holocaust Memorial Day?”

Holocaust Memorial Day falls on the, 27th January. It marks the day, 79 years ago, in 1945 when Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi death camp of the Holocaust was liberated by the Soviet army.

In1994 49 years after the holocaust, the genocide of the Tutsi in Rwanda, the world stood by as Hutu extremist shattered freedom in Rwanda which led to the murder of over 1 million Tutsis in one hundred days.

We need to understand that freedom is fragile and should not be taken for granted. I hope we never face a position in life where we cannot rely on the police or neighbours, as we are mistreated, as they turn a blind eye or even join in the abuse.

That is why we are called to remember the 6 million Jewish men, women, and children murdered by Nazi regime and its collaborators during that period, and the millions of others – Roma, Trade Unionists, political dissidents, lesbians and gay men, people of faith, disabled people – all whose potential for creation, invention, genius, and beauty was snuffed out by a tyranny of evil.

If there is one person who personifies the Holocaust for many children, it is Anne Frank, whose family home in Amsterdam has become a place of pilgrimage.

We need to also remember, other genocides in Cambodia, Bosnia, and Darfur when evil still ended the lives and hope for so many people.

There is a quote from Jonathan Larsen’s musical “Rent” in which a character says, “The opposite of war isn’t peace – it’s creation!”

There is truth in that: war destroys life and growth. and is the opposite of the creative power that is at work in the world – a power which began when the Spirit of God moved over the face of the deep and God’s great work began, and earth was created from a formless void. That divine power is still at work in the world through God’s creative spirit giving the divine gift of ongoing creation, new life, new hope coming into existence.

So, I believe it is fitting that we come together in different ways to keep this Holocaust Memorial Day not just for the Jewish people who lost their lives but for anyone and any nation under threat from tyranny.

There will have been various gatherings over Friday and Saturday to light candles of remembrance, and today in this sacred space where we gather, and here we are invited to pray for peace, and God’s creation, and that we learn to live in peace with one another.

So, why do we need to remember, very soon there will be no one left who suffered the unbelievable horror in the concentration camps.

“When the last saviours of the Holocaust are gone.

We will be the only witnesses to their memory.

How should we remember them.”

We also must remember and honour the many thousands who did whatever they could to save even a single life, often at the cost of their own lives. The Talmud says, because "whoever saves one life is as if they saved the whole world".

Who knows what passed through their minds as they stood up to the murderers? Perhaps it was their faith, perhaps their political beliefs.

Within the horror and inhuman treatment of people, there were heroes who risked their lives and even gave their lives to help those in need to give the hope of freedom, there is one person I would like to mention.

That man was Sir Nicolas Winston, there was a film made about his contribution it’s called “One Life”.

He saw what was happening and arranged eight trains filled with children to get out to safety.

The last train didn’t make it and it was the one that stayed with him all his life.

I have a clip of him on this is your life.

VIDEO

Those people owe their very lives to this man’s foresight in arranging these trains.

We are fortunate to live in a society that officially welcomes and embraces diversity. Of course, it’s not perfect, and we must keep alert to increasing racial and religious hatred and abuse of anyone who is different. As many have said, the Holocaust didn’t begin with the gas chambers; it began with the graffiti and the name-calling and the broken windows.

But we learn nothing as further genocide happens again and again another short film.

VIDEO

"what we learn from history is that we never learn from history".

So, let's not make the same mistakes again – antisemitism is not just a problem for the Jewish Community, just as islamophobia is not just a problem for Muslims.

Hatred of the other is a problem for all of society. So, let's mark this Holocaust Memorial Day with a resolution: to be vigilant, truly to embrace diversity, and to take a stand against all forms of hatred.

Sacred space is important to us – places set apart to remember; in the words of T S Eliot, “where prayer has been valid” and where people come to meet in what is often called “a thin place” where earth and heaven come so close.

May our knowledge of the wars and evils of the past remain a part of our consciousness so that if we feel that we are being led along a path which fuels hatred and division, we remember and pause…

If we feel that people are being victimised and abused because they are not like us, we remember and pause….

If we feel we are putting our own comfort above the basic needs of others, we remember and pause…

If we feel it is none of our business when others are being brutalised and abused, we remember and pause…

If we feel we are somehow superior to others, we remember and pause…

I invite you now to come forward and light a candle as part of our Holocaust Day Memorial commitment not only for the Jewish people but all who suffer at the hands of others, we say this:

“I light this candle in memory of all those who suffer or have suffered imprisoned, tortured, and death by the hands of others in the years I commit myself to opposing prejudice, discrimination, and persecution wherever I find them.”

May that commitment be our watchword in committing to a future which is free from prejudice, discrimination, and persecution.

And may our God give to us – and to those who will come after us, the resolve to make that commitment, and the perseverance to remain true to that commitment so that God’s gift of peace to our world may be treasured, cherished, and passed on from generation to generation, and unto the ages of ages.

Amen

SONG: HEALER

PRAYER OF INTERCESSION

We remember those whose lives have been torn apart by wars, by terrorism and inhumanity. We remember Holocaust victims and victims of genocide and ethnic cleansing. Come, Lord God. Come, Lord Jesus. Come, Holy Spirit. Judge the world with justice and with equity.

We remember those whose lives have been blighted by the carelessness and the apathy of others. We remember children whose toil makes our treasures, whose deprivation feeds our delight. Come, Lord God. Come, Lord Jesus. Come, Holy Spirit. Judge the world with justice and with equity.

We remember those who have endured injustice and untruths and malicious slander. We remember those who have had good things spoiled or taken away for our pleasure. Come, Lord God. Come, Lord Jesus. Come, Holy Spirit. Judge the world with justice and with equity.

Lord God, who judges with justice and equity, we pray for the United Nations and peacemakers everywhere. We pray for the Red Cross and the Royal British Legion, and all who care for the wounded and weary. Come, Lord God. Come, Lord Jesus. Come, Holy Spirit. Judge the world with justice and with equity.

Lord God, who judges with justice and equity, we pray for ourselves and people of faith everywhere, that we might be led to make fewer errors of judgement, and a greater effort to live lives that please you and give a glimpse of your glory. Come, Lord God. Come, Lord Jesus. Come, Holy Spirit. Judge the world with justice and with equity.

Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

THE LORD’S PRAYER

Our Father who art in heaven,

Hallowed be thy name,

Thy Kingdom come,

Thy will be done,

On earth as it is in heaven,

Give us this day our daily bread,

And forgive us our trespasses,

As we forgive those who trespass against us,

And lead us not into temptation,

But deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory,

For ever and ever Amen.

SONG: IT IS WELL

BLESSING

The Lord bless us and keep us; the Lord make his face shine on us and be gracious to us; the Lord turn his face toward us and give us peace.”’

SONG TO FINISH