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Reflecting on War
and Suffering on Anzac Day The Anzac Day ceremony is rich in tradition and ritual. It is, essentially, a military funeral, with all the solemnity and symbolism such an event entails: uniformed service personnel standing motionless around a memorial, with heads bowed and weapons reversed; a bier of wreaths laid by the mourners; the chaplain reading the words from the military burial service; the firing of three volleys; and the playing of the Last Post, followed by a prayer, hymn, and benediction. Many Anzac Day ceremonies occur at war memorials. There are nearly 500 civic First World War memorials in New Zealand, most of which were erected in the 1920s. Until that time, the ceremonies took place in public buildings or churches, and sometimes had a strong religious focus. War memorials often symbolise remembrance, service and sacrifice. Once Anzac Day ceremonies were held at memorials from the 1920s, RSA leaders, service personnel, and local politicians increasingly took key roles, along with the clergy. Over the years, the laying of wreaths has become central to the ceremony. As Christians and church we identify very strongly with Anzac day and the sentiments and themes it celebrates. Themes of Sacrifice, service and loyalty and sentiments of love and generous giving of self. And so it is that the ministers of Devonport have laid a wreath today at the cenotaph in Devonport to empathise with the wider community as they mark this special day and we are marking the day here in this service as we remember those who gave up their lives for their loved ones and for what they believed was right and good and true. Later on in the book of John we read that Jesus said “Greater love has no one than this that he lay down his life for his friends.” The reality of this statement is extremely painful. War is a terrible thing and at best a necessary evil. Furthermore life can seem like a battle at times. People and families find themselves fighting their own personal battles of illness; death; broken relationships, financial difficulties and the rest. This brings us to the vexed question of suffering. Why is the world ordered in such a way that people suffer, suffer in war and suffer in the course of their lives? I do not entirely know the answer to this question. Sometimes we find that suffering is a consequence of evil. Sometimes it is something we bring on ourselves through bad decisions we have made. Sometimes it comes as the consequence of what others have done or decisions they have made. Sometimes it comes, quite frankly, simply as a stroke of bad luck. And where is God in all of this? I believe he is right there in the midst of our pain and suffering supporting, guiding, journeying with us and resourcing us for the journey. After all he knows and understands our pain for he created us and not only that in the course of becoming human he incarnated our suffering to the nth degree when he died on the cross. During Holy Week I was rung by a radio journalist who asked me some questions about Easter and Good Friday and then she asked me the challenging question: What about the Elim Children who died when that gully flooded? Where was their God when that disaster took place? My answer then is the same as my answer today: I believe that God was right there in the midst of their pain and suffering and the pain and suffering of their friends and family. I believe God was incarnating their dreadful experiences, supporting, guiding, journeying with them and resourcing them for the journey. Suffering is part of life. We cannot change that. Better however to be in a relationship with God who promises to be with us in our suffering than to have to suffer not knowing that he is there accompanying us with all his power, might and love. The Gospel reading for today raises yet another question for me. It’s around the role of prayer as we face challenging situations. In today’s Gospel, the Jews wanted to arrest Jesus. They wanted to kill him, but we are told that he escaped their grasp, slipped through his fingers. During Holy Week we reflected on yet another incident in Jesus life when the Jews wanted to arrest Jesus. This time he could not escape their grasp. He had prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, Father let this cup pass from me, but thy will be done. And did the cup pass from him? No he was arrested, tortured and brutally killed. Where was his God when all that was going on and Jesus wondered this also as he uttered those chilling words: My God, my God why have you forsaken me? One time he has an escape from a disastrous situation and another time he has to go through fiery flames. There is no escape. Here is the stark truth of the matter. Sometimes things happen and we pray and we are saved from a terrible situation and sometimes things happen and we pray and we are not. Why this should be so I do not know, however, I do know that whatever we experience Jesus encourages us to pray. Sometimes the answer is yes and sometimes it is no and sometimes it is wait. That was true for Jesus and it is true for us also. We make a grave mistake when we think that prayer is an opportunity to tell God what to do. God is God and we are his children. That is the bottom line. Now I believe that God helps us and cares for us and loves us whether we acknowledge his presence in our lives or not. So prayer is not about reminding God that we exist, rather it is vehicle for us to connect with God in a way that enables us to acknowledge that God exists and to draw on his strength and power as we journey through the experiences of our lives. I don’t know what battles you may be fighting at this time in your lives. On Anzac day we remember those who have survived the ravages of war, but even more importantly we remember those who have not. As we place our poppies we are reminded that the prayer of the mothers and fathers of the sons who died in the war were not answered as they had hoped. We grieve with them. In our own personal battles too we find that our thoughts like poppies go to those situations where our prayers may not have been answered as we might like them to be answered. We grieve for that. However we do not grieve as ones who have no hope. Paul reminds us that we have a hope in the resurrection that informs all our prayers. We have a faith in a God who works all things for good for those who love him. We have a commitment to die with Christ in all circumstances that we might rise with him in resurrection also. May God be with us as we journey through this life with all its joys and sorrows, tragedies and triumphs and give us the peace of Jesus which comes not from understanding why things happen to us, but passes all understanding and is reliant on the sure faith that God loves us and has a plan for us and his plans are always for our good as we embrace his promise of eternal life with him. “I go to prepare a place for you if it were not so I would have told you.” Which reminds me of the Taize Chant : You know the way for me you know the time Into your hands I trustingly place mine. Your plan is perfect born of perfect love You know the way Your way is love. Sing it with me now. |
