On this Remembrance Sunday and throughout this week, our thoughts focus on the need to remember those who have fought in several wars over many decades in various places. We think most of those who fought in the two World Wars at the cost to themselves, their families, and above all their country.
What does it mean to remember? What must we remember?
For many, remembering is a painful exercise as it brings to the forefront things that we would rather remain hidden and forgotten. Remembering though, is not just the act of bringing to the forefront of our consciousness certain experiences and individuals and situations and so on. Remembering is about celebrating or commemorating or reflecting or a combination of all three and more. Remembrance also invokes the need to retell and recommit to the principles underlying the event or time or person that is to be remembered.
In this light, we think not only of those who gave themselves even to the extent of making the ultimate sacrifice of their lives, but we think also of the ways in which our lives today are rooted on, and are guided by, the principles and values for which those who we remember gave of themselves. As we reflect on this let us see what the words of the Apostle Paul to the Thessalonians can say to us or can teach us today.
Paul wrote to the Thessalonians at a time when Thessalonica was a bustling, wealthy and prominent city which was also highly pluralistic. This means that varying religious beliefs competed with each other for the loyalty of the population. Paul and Silas had visited the city on their second missionary journey and evidently were quite successful in their efforts at evangelizing. However, as happened in other places where they went, jealous Judaizers aroused a mob to accuse Paul of treason because he was promoting obedience to someone other than the emperor. This someone was Jesus. Later, while in Corinth, Paul wrote to the Thessalonians to deal with some prevailing issues of concern among the new believers.
In 2nd Thessalonians chapter two which is our text for today, I believe that Paul sums up succinctly, his message to the Thessalonian believers which is worthy of our own reflection today.
- Thank God for those who answered the call to service.
I dare say that most of us if not all of us have some connection to a military family, even to someone or several persons who served in one of the two world wars or other military assignments since then. You may have known veterans who actually served or the family of one or more veterans. You may have been related to veterans who have passed away, or veterans who are still alive.
Whatever the relationship you may have, and whatever you may remember about them, we are asked to give God thanks for them because they answered the call to duty. We give God thanks also because it is God who gave these men and women the conviction of heart to know that they needed to do something, not just for themselves but for countless others through the ages who would benefit from their selfless service to humanity which for a great many of them culminated in the giving of their own lives. The capacity to think and act selflessly to the point of giving up one’s life is the very essence of godliness and although many of these men and women would not have been Christians in the strictest sense and some were from other religious faiths, they all demonstrated what it is to be Christ-like in giving up their lives for the benefit of others. This is true love, and for this we remember to thank God for all who served and gave their lives for us.
Every Remembrance Day, we must remember to give God thanks for all who gave themselves to the service of humanity.
- We must be resolute in holding on to the values and principles for which many gave their lives.
An important part of the message that Paul had to give the Thessalonian believers was in reminding them to hold fast to what they had come to believe about Jesus through his teachings to them while he was among them. Evidently, two issues faced the Thessalonian church after Paul had left them. One was a growing wave of persecution for their faith and in the midst of this some were wavering. The practice of the new faith was a direct challenge to the imperial worship which demanded the worship of the emperor. The other was the very pluralistic nature of the city which meant that different religious movements were vying for the loyalty of the population. These two issues more than anything else were a real threat to the life of the young church. To this Paul reminded them of the need to stand firm in the faith that they had come to know and accept. When we think of all who have fought in wars or gone on various missions, we are being asked to remember the values for which they gave themselves to their country, and we are being asked to stand true and faithful to those values and principles today. All of us must therefore be certain about what those values are and in so doing pass them on to the generations that come after us.
These values and principles of which I speak are grounded in the realisation that human dignity and freedom are worth upholding and defending by all of us. We must remember that humanity is made in the image of God and as such we must uphold the human right to be free from oppression and all kinds of abuse, to be free to make decisions about their welfare, to have the right to advance themselves and maximise their God-given abilities to the benefit of themselves and the rest of humanity. All of this is rooted in the fact that as humans we all deserve respect and fair and equal opportunities to be the best that we can be irrespective of our differences in gender, in culture, in race, in nationality, in religious and political choices and so on. We must remember the values and principles for which our forebears fought and we must live to defend and enhance these values as we teach them to those who come after us, not only in words and symbolic actions but in our everyday lives. Above all else, we must remember to become grounded or remain grounded in our faith in God.
Ultimately it is our faith in God that guides our values and principles about this life and prepares us for the life to come. This is the one thing my friends, that is worth fighting and dying for.
I am sure that for many of those who went to war, it was their Christian beliefs that motivated their decision and kept them even to death. We must make our faith in God the root or the foundation of all other values and principles we hold. In a world that has become increasingly secular, our faith in God must be the one thing we stand firm on and by our living pass on to those who come after us.
- Let the memory of those who served, encourage us as we encourage others.
One of the key objectives of Paul in this letter was to encourage the Thessalonian believers. Given what they were facing it was easy to become discouraged and lose hope. Paul’s letter was meant to encourage them to keep the faith but also to help them to encourage each other. Encouragement is the antidote for hopelessness and despair and all of us can agree that our world today gives us much to feel despair about. There are senseless wars and conflicts all over the world, natural disasters strike more frequently than ever, and there is a growing sense that people no longer respect the basic human rights of each other. These are the very things that men and women of the past fought wars to uphold. Now they seem not to matter to a great many of us. It seems that many who fought and died for the values and principles undergirding our very existence may have fought and died in vain. It is enough to make us depressed.Yet we must encourage one another. How do we encourage each other in these times? The word encourage means to give hope and support to those who feel hopeless or discouraged. Encouragement is not just given in words but by actions that give hope and renew the confidence of those who are faltering or becoming pessimistic or even cynical. We who appreciate and value the sacrifices of those who gave themselves for the cause of human dignity and freedom must live that out in our own lives as a guide to the younger generation and an encouragement to many who have reason to feel that their brothers and sisters, fathers and mothers and friends may have served and died in vain. It is by doing what is right and good and what is fair and just for all people, that we honour those who fought and died in World Wars One and Two and in other conflicts since then, for the rights of all human beings.
What must you remember today?
We must remember to give God thanks for the countless men and women who gave of themselves to defend human rights and freedom from oppression, inequality and a whole host of human ills. We must remember to be resolute in standing up for the principles and values for which our forebears fought and gave their lives. Lastly, we must remember to encourage each other by living out the values and principles for which our courageous forebears gave themselves, even at the cost of their lives.
If we do this, then Remembrance Day will not just be a symbolic commemoration year after year, but an opportunity to recommit ourselves to the same values and principles for which those courageous men and women fought in World Wars One and Two and other notable conflicts since then.
May God give us courage and bless us to honour the memory of these brave souls by honouring the One true God who gave them life and enabled them to serve humanity then, and those who still serve humanity through military service and in other ways today. Amen.