Readings:
Malachi 4:1-2a;
Psalm 98
2 Thessalonians 3:6-13
Luke 21:5-19

Collect:
Gracious Lord,
in this holy sacrament you give substance to our hope:
Bring us at the last to that fullness for which we long;
Through Jesus Christ our Saviour. Amen

Reflection – Isaiah 65: 17-25

A few years ago, there was an ad on TV for baby milk. The ad featured little ones playing games, the way  kids do - maybe playing with a wooden railway, taking their teddy’s temperature, or dancing in their bedroom. But then you see them as grown-ups, driving a train, walking the hospital corridors, or performing on stage. The ad suggested that the milk helped them to grow up into whatever they imagined they could be. 

Well, that’s baloney of course, but I like the idea of being able to catch a glimpse of the future when you look at a little child’s preferences and games. And we know the psychology that says the experiences you have as a child have an effect on the kind of person you grow up to be.

This week we mark Remembrance Sunday, bringing to mind all those people who have lost their lives fighting in war and conflict. Not just soldiers in the First World War trenches, but those in the Second World War too, and those who’ve fought and died across the world since. Each and every one of them - some remembered by name, some unknown - grew from a little child; a child who played games and imagined the future, and who carried the spark of God’s creativity within them. Some of them will have imagined being a soldier, or a medic or whatever, but I should think very few of them could ever have imagined what the reality of battle would be like - the noise, the adrenaline, and eventually the shock and pain of injury or death.  

War is a terrible thing, and of course there were those who felt powerless and reluctant and afraid. There’s no real glory in violent death, as Siegfried Sassoon and others made clear in their poetry.  We may disagree with choices made, or reasons for fighting.  But whatever the politics involved, however profound the mistakes, however doubtful the decisions of leaders, those who fought were ready to be called upon, and they gave it their all, even if it meant giving up everything they imagined or hoped for - even life itself. 

We know that poppies are the symbol of Remembrance. They are incredible little flowers. Their seeds are very tiny. When they fall to the ground they sit there, sometimes lying dormant for years and years.  For a long time, they may appear to be dead, but those tiny seeds are just waiting, until the time comes for them to spring into vibrant life.  And then they seize the moment, they sprout and grow and reach their full height and glory. 

What a wonderful symbol of the possibilities given to us by the sacrifice of others. Their bodies may be gone, but the legacy of those who have fought and died lies within each of us. Lives laid down have made it possible for us to fulfil our life’s calling. The fallen call out to us to fight for love and peace and a better world. And the greatest sacrifice of all, the Son of God, risen from the dead, promises us, and all who have gone before, a new hope and a new dawn.

Sharon Grenham-Thompson