Sunday 12 November 2023

Matthew 25:1-13

Background

Maybe you are familiar with CS Lewis’ series of books known asThe Chronicles of Narnia. The first in the series isThe Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe  and the final volume isThe Last Battle. At the end of this final book in the series, the lion, Aslan, reveals that the stories have been a dream, he calls the people to know that the conflict, the pain, and the trauma of battle is over. Aslan declares that the dream is ended – this is the morning.

Today is Remembrance Sunday, when many of us will gather with our local community at war memorials. The nation will fall still and silent at 11am. It shall be the profound silence of a people gathered to remember. And some of us will be truly remembering what it is like – for we have served and know the sights and sounds and smells of battle. And some of will be remembering what it is like – for we have loved and lost family and friends in conflict. And some of us will be remembering what we have been told, what we have been shown, what we have been taught about wars and conflicts that have affected the wider community of which we are a part. We shall indeed be a part of the profound silence of a people gathered to remember.

And into that silence comes the sound of people – broken, bewildered and bereaved. For not all who have participated in conflict have died – many more continue to live with their injured bodies, their troubled minds, their disturbed spirits – and we will remember them. Not all who suffer the effects of conflict have engaged in battle; those who are left behind are also profoundly affected. And we will remember them.

I am, of course, a Christian minister and I know that our remembering, what we do today, our profound silence and our deep lament, is not the end of the story. It does not end here. God speaks into our silence with words of justice, grace and peace. God gathers the cries of the broken, bewildered and bereaved and holds them closely.

What we do here is not the end of the story. We wait for heaven’s morning to break through. "And know that all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well." (Mother Julian of Norwich)

To Ponder:

• Who are the people whose lives you shall be honouring at this time of remembrance?
• Where in your life do you need heaven’s morning to break through?
• Where do you see God acting to bring to reality the conviction of those words of Julian of Norwich that, in God, all shall be well?