With Revd. David Burrow
Video Service
Scroll down to view the transcript and click to view directly in Youtube here.
Part 1
Hymns:
MP 498 'O God our help in ages past'
MP 345 'It came upon the midnight clear'
Part 2
Hymn:
MP 111 'Dear Lord and Father of mankind'
Part 3
Hymns:
MP 806 Beauty for brokenness
or try this beautiful new song:
When the guns of war fell silent
Part 4
Hymns:
MP 16 'All my hope on God is founded'
MP 201 'Guide me O Thou great Redeemer'
Turning Weapons of War into Art Articles:
Transcript
*Not always exact wording to the videos
Welcome:
Hi, well here we are again; back in lockdown and sadly we have to close our churches for worship. We can, however, open for individual prayer which we are doing this Remembrance Sunday at Longholme and Central at 10:45am for 30 minutes or so. If you are watching this after the event, my apologies, but if you would like to pray in one of our churches please let me know and I will do my best to make sure it can be opened at a convenient time for you to pray. Sometimes it is good to be in a place where we have met with God so many times before.
November is a time for remembering. We begin on November 1st, All Saints Day, by remembering all the saints, known and unknown who have gone before. Then on November 2nd, All Souls Day, we remember those whom we have known who have died. There’s a bit of a lull then until November 5th which we all know about. The Sunday nearest to Armistice Day, Remembrance Sunday, is one not just the Church but the Nation focuses on as we remember those who have died in previous wars, but who continue to serve in the wars of our own time. As we remember, we turn to God, and to His word, seeking his presence, being still and praying for peace for all.
Photo by I.am_nah via Unsplash
Psalm 46.1 God is our refuge and strength; a very present help in trouble.
Psalm 121.1-2
I lift up my eyes to the hills
from where will my help come?
My help comes from the Lord,
Who made heaven and earth.
Lamentations 3.21-23
This I call to mind, and therefore I have hope:
the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases,
his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning.
Isaiah 40.31
Those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength,
they shall mount up with wings like eagles,
they shall run and not be weary,
they shall walk and not faint.
Micah 6.8
What does the Lord require of you,
but to do justice,
and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?
Hymns:
MP 498 'O God our help in ages past'
MP 345 'It came upon the midnight clear'
A prayer for forgiveness
Lord God, we come to you in sorrow and sadness.
Forgive us for the part we play in a world which is greedy for land, resources and possessions;
forgive us when we fail to reach out with friendship and acceptance;
forgive us when we long for status and fail to put the needs of others first;
forgive our support of might instead of right, aggression instead of reconciliation.
Forgive us when we take the easy way out, instead of bravely standing for truth and justice.
Assurance of forgiveness: . . .
Thank you heavenly Father, for your gift of forgiveness and peace, which is ours through your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. O God of many names: Lover of all nations, we pray for peace, in our hearts, in our homes, in our Nations and in our world. The peace of your will and the peace of our need,
Amen
Photo by Laurentiu lordache via Unsplash
The Lord’s Prayer
Bible Reading: Matthew 5:1-12
Hymn:
MP 111 'Dear Lord and Father of mankind'
Bible Reading: Micah 4:1-4
Last year, when asked about Remembrance Sunday on the radio, one person answered, ‘It's boring’.
How easy it is to criticise something without really thinking:
Do you like Maths? No, it’s boring.
English? Boring.
Will you empty the dishwasher, tidy your room?
Do I have to? It's boring.
We don’t like or want to do boring stuff. After all, the whole world seems to be designed to stop us getting bored. Watching TV, you’re bored, so zap, and there’s another programme.
We all know that long car journeys are boring, so play on your phone (unless you’re driving!). If you don't like one game, try another.
Compared with X-boxes, Play Stations, iPads, and social media, real life sometimes does seem pretty boring.
But what we do on Remembrance Sunday (sadly not this year), joining in processions and gathering around the cenotaph, is the real world where thing happen in real time; it’s not a virtual or make-believe world on a screen.
And, it’s really important, even though we all know that the most important part of the Remembrance Sunday service is two minutes of silence. What could be more boring than that?
For two whole minutes we stand still, and nothing happens. No mobiles - hopefully.
No turning round to see if anyone is looking.
No scratching because the back of your head is itching. I bet some of you just scratched the back of your head!
As we stand still and remember, there is absolutely nothing to entertain us.
The fact that we do stand in silence, and the evidence that you are listening to this, proves that for you, Remembrance Sunday is significant enough to drag you away from a Sunday morning lie in, flicking idly through screens or the Sunday papers, or following celebrities on Twitter.
Some things in life are too important to be dismissed as boring.
Photo by the British Library via Unsplash
On Remembrance Sunday (and on Armistice Day) we remember with people who have experienced war and proudly wear their medals.
People who have learned the hard way that being bored isn't the last word.
They know that some things are so important that you do them no matter how tedious they seem.
And those who know about these things say that, for most people, war is 95% boredom and 5% the most terrifying thing you will ever experience in your whole life.
Every military commander knows that they must always be ready to fight, but the real battle is often to keep boredom at bay.
A sentry must be vigilant, even if there doesn’t seem to be anything to look at.
The ship’s lookout must look, even if there is nothing to see.
The equipment must be ready; it must be checked every day, even if it’s not used.
The plans must be in place, the preparations must be made, even if they are not, ultimately, needed.
Before a battle there are years of training and practising.
Compare the life of a top athlete. The race might be over in a few seconds, but behind it there are years of training and boring stuff: getting up early, straining every muscle, resting, eating the right things, not partying all night; a really strict and boring regime, focussed at one brief moment. But the boring stuff is vital. If the athlete doesn’t do the boring stuff, the athlete hasn’t a chance.
So, Two minutes' silence. No distractions, and real concentration.
We do it to remember.
And that is hard because, when we remember those who died in war, we are faced with the most terrible evil.
The deaths of service personnel and of civilians are part of the terrible cost of war.
And we still haven’t learned to avoid it yet. War still goes on.
We haven’t, on the whole, beaten our swords into ploughshares, or our spears into pruning hooks, or, to be more up to date, Chieftain tanks into bicycles or wind turbines; and machine guns into sculptures and furniture – although thankfully some people in the United States and in Africa are doing just that:
the website, Turning Weapons of War into Works of Art – do check it out, features Gonçalo Mabunda, from Mozambique who moulds, solders and welds deactivated AK47s, land mines, tanks and other armoury left over from his country's 16-year civil war into chairs, thrones, masks and statues. He may even throw a soldier's old helmet or boot into the mix.
Since 1995 the Christian Council of Mozambique, a body of local churches, has been scouring the country and collecting weapons from individuals and communities. Some pieces are destroyed while others are deactivated and given to men and women like Mabunda to sculpt into art. Crucially, they're never given to the army or police.
Some 800,000 weapons have been collected since the council launched its programme, called 'Transforming Guns into Hoes'. The name is inspired by our Bible verse from the book of Micah: 'They will hammer their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks.'
Back to the two minutes silence; when we remember, we say sorry to God for the conflicts that have brought about so many deaths – for the evil that so many have lived and fought through.
If, during the silence, you find it difficult to concentrate, there is one thought to help us remember in the right way. It is a line from the Lord’s Prayer.
Each time you remember, or think of something about war, and those who lost their lives, ask God, ‘Deliver us from evil.’
When we say, in our minds, ‘Deliver us from evil’, remember that God is not blaming us or wanting to punish us. Jesus came to forgive. This is not just to take away the painful memories and pretend that they didn't happen; it is not to distract us or even to teach us.
To forgive is to heal, to restore, and to bring us back to a loving relationship with our God.
We remember that Jesus, like so many who died in war, gave his life, when he died for us on the cross, to prove that we are loved and forgiven by our Father.
As we remember, let us pray that all nations will beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks, and that God may indeed, ‘Deliver us from evil’.
Amen
Photo by Museums Victoria via Unsplash
Hymns:
MP 806 Beauty for brokenness
or try this beautiful new song:
When the guns of war fell silent
Prayers of Intercession:
As we remember those who have died in past wars, so we pray too for those still dying today and for those who grieve . . .
God of the past be our future peace.
We remember those living in countries where civil war is destroying communities and making enemies of neighbours, where fear and violence dominate every aspect of daily living . . .
God of today be our future peace.
We remember those who have been injured and traumatised by the brutality of war, especially those robbed of their childhood by what they have seen or been forced to do . . .
God of tomorrow be our future peace.
We remember those who are peacemakers, those who negotiate, those who speak out at great cost to themselves and their families . . .
God of the future, be our eternal peace.
As we honour the past, may we put our faith in your future; for you are the source of life and hope, now and for ever. In Jesus’ name we pray.
Amen.
Blessing:
Creator God, we commit to you the needs of the whole world. Where there is hatred, give love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is distrust, faith; where there is sorrow, hope; where there is darkness, light. And may the blessing and peace of God remain with us, with those for whom we have prayed and all we remember today who are and have been caught up in the conflicts of this world.
Amen
Hymns:
MP 16 'All my hope on God is founded'
MP 201 'Guide me O Thou great Redeemer'
Stay Safe, God Bless
Photo by David Clode via Unsplash