For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made by human hands, a mere copy of the true one, but he entered into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. Nor was it to offer himself again and again, as the high priest enters the Holy Place year after year with blood that is not his own; for then he would have had to suffer again and again since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the age to remove sin by the sacrifice of himself. And just as it is appointed for mortals to die once, and after that the judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.
(Hebrews 9:24-28)
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As often gets pointed out when such events happen, there are people in many parts of the world who are looking at Canada right about now and shaking their heads in amazement. Three weeks ago each one of us had the opportunity to cast a vote and to participate in choosing a new parliament and government for our nation; and just a few days ago we witnessed once again a party voluntarily surrender power at the will of the electorate and another party assume power at the will of the electorate. These are not things we should take for granted. As I said, many in the world, suffering under brutal regimes that regard public opinion as a threat and free elections as a joke, probably find what’s gone on in this country over the last few days and weeks little short of a miracle. It’s appropriate for us, at least once a year, to take time to remember that freedom is not won at no cost, and that freedom is not sustained without responsibility. No one would have upheld that belief more passionately than Jesus.
Today’s reading speaks of the sacrifice of Jesus, who won us freedom at the cost of crucifixion. His sacrifice wasn’t made in a time of warfare or in combat - unless you consider his death to be an example - or perhaps THE example - of the very real costs of spiritual warfare; as a sign - or perhaps THE sign - of the confrontation between good and evil; between that which is holy and that which is profane. But perhaps there we see the link. When one considers the life and teachings of Jesus, what could be more profane and more evil than war. I say that with no disrespect toward those veterans whom we honour this week. In fact, most of the veterans I’ve known over the years - and I have known veterans of World War II, Korea and Afghanistan - would agree that war is an evil thing. Anything that causes suffering is an evil thing that causes us to confront the question of where God is in the midst of it all. God, I believe, is present even in time of war - not as a combatant, in spite of the assertion by every warring nation that “God is on our side,” but as one who suffers along with those who suffer - be they combatants or civilians, our allies or even our enemies. The author of Hebrews said that Jesus would not have to suffer “again and again” - that he offered himself once and never again. That may well be true from the perspective of Christian redemption, but is it true that Jesus no longer suffers? It seems to me that Jesus suffers any time that any of those he loves suffers - and what is there that causes more suffering than war?
If almost two thousand years ago Jesus was to suffer once and for all and never again, then it’s worth remembering that almost a hundred years ago the Armistice that ended World War I was supposed to have ended the war that would end all war, with the symbol of that armistice being the words “Never again!” Of course it hasn’t worked out that way.War continues. A little bit of research on the internet last week revealed that in the world today there are 65 countries currently with wars taking place within their boundaries, and a total of 663 sub-national groups such as militias or terrorist organizations involved in fighting. Those are astounding numbers - the more so because most of us probably had no idea that they were happening. War is such a common feature of our world now that we take it for granted, and unless it directly involves us we’re largely ignorant of it.
In the poem “In Flanders Fields,” Lt. Col. John McRae wrote “if ye break faith with us who die …” In context, he was referring to the need for others to continue the battle that was ongoing, and not to allow those who had given their lives to have died in vain. But I wonder if there wasn’t a broader message McRae was sending: that breaking faith with those who died would also mean not learning the lesson of warfare; not making sure that “Never Again” became a reality rather than just a slogan. “If ye break faith with us who die …” And, for us here today, what about, “if we break faith with him who died?”
Jesus would surely want us to honour those who lay down their lives for their friends - and for others. I’m grateful for those who laid down their lives so that I wouldn’t have to do so. I’m grateful for those who fought in war so that I could live in peace. We remember them today, and we’re grateful for them today - but how do we honour them today? I would suggest that we honour them best by standing for peace; by being a living witness to the words “Never Again!” Too often in the world today - as the numbers I shared a few moments ago suggest - war becomes the default solution rather than the last option. Too often, war is portrayed in noble terms rather than being acknowledged as nothing better than the lesser of evils. We may not be able to do away with war - as Jesus himself said, “you will hear of wars and rumours of war” - but we can commit ourselves to not seeing it as a normal state of affairs, especially for followers of the Prince of Peace. We can choose to see God not leading armies into battle, but weeping with those who are killed and wounded in battle and as a result of battle.
If war becomes a normal state of affairs for the followers of Jesus, then Jesus suffers. Of that I have no doubt. In 1849, Edmund Hamilton Sears wrote the beautiful Christmas carol “It Came Upon The Midnight Clear.” In that carol, we find the words “and man at war with man hears not the love song which he brings.” For the first three hundred years of the church’s existence, Christianity was largely a pacifist faith. Christians refused to serve in the armies of the Roman Empire, sometimes at great cost to themselves as they were accused of disloyalty to and even treason against the Empire. Times changed, the church went from being a marginal force to living at the centre of power, and the church began to find ways to justify war rather than to oppose it, although still today there are Christians such as Quakers who cling to pacifism as the way of Jesus and as the only way for a follower of Jesus. We may not choose to go that far. We might accept that sometimes war is, indeed, the lesser of evils; that perhaps in the tension between being called to love our neighbour and to love our enemies we find ourselves having to act when our neighbours are being hurt by our enemies. But still we can keep faith with Jesus - and “with those who died” in McRae’s words - by at least accepting that war and violence are aberrations, and even abominations before God; by striving always to be instruments of peace - living with peace in our own lives, bringing peace to the lives of others and striving for peace in the world around us.
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