A Loving Sacrifice

13 November 2022

Welcome to Sharing Our Faith on this Remembrance Sunday.

It is said that there hasn’t been one day in over two hundred years without some kind of war on earth. Political, tribal, religious, territorial, civil, regional and global wars. We’ve had a “seven day” war, a “thousand day” war and wars that have lasted a “thousand years” or more. Some wars have cost the lives of a handful of people while others have taken the lives of tens of millions. 

It is right that every death in war is remembered and not treated lightly. Where someone’s death in a war has helped secure peace for others, we can be reminded of the loving sacrifice that Jesus made to bring us peace with God. 

The bible has many accounts of people of faith who risked and gave their lives for others and John 15:13 reminds us  that “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” Today we remember those who laid down their lives for family, friends and future generations they would never know. We should do so with love and thankfulness.

Poppies are worn in the UK annually around 11 November – the day hostilities formally ended in 1918. The poppy is a symbol of remembrance and hope, including hope for a positive future and peaceful world.

A poppy attached to a small wooden Christian cross brings together the remembrance symbol and the sign of the eternal hope.  God understands and shares in the suffering of the world and he sent His son to save it.

Gracious God, on this day,  when we remember past and present conflicts, we give thanks for those who give their lives that we might live in freedom.
We pray for the divided peoples of the world,  that leaders, governments and each one of us  may use our resources,  our opportunities and our lives  in the service of peace and reconciliation, for the sake of future generations and to the glory of your name.
Amen.