The Rector of Soho was invited to preach at a Service in Westminster Abbey on Sunday 12th July Commemorating William III (1650-1702). The service was conducted by The Revd. Graeme Napier, Minor Canon of Westminster.

Westminster Abbey Sunday 12th July 2009

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen

In the film “the field”, "Bull" McCabe is a proud man. All he lives for is to eke out a meagre existence from a green piece of land that his ancestors have farmed in rural Ireland.

Like his forefathers, Bull is a tenant farmer who leases the farm from a young widow, terrorized by Bull's son, who goes to her house every night to play tricks on her in order that she will leave and see the land to his father. Eventually these actions force the woman to put the land up for sale by public auction: let the higher bidder be the new owner.

On Auction day, an American, comes to visit the area and sees the possibilities of riches that no one has seen. The "Yank" notices how he can turn the area into commercial uses. The locals are horrified and everyone’s loyalties lie with Bull McCabe.

"The Field" in parabolic fashion points to Ireland's unhappy past. The people, although impoverished are proud, with deep roots to their country and it shows what length they will take the fight for a piece of land. How dare this foreigner come to take that which is rightly theirs?

In the film Tragedy strikes with a confrontation between Bull and the Yank. Bull makes his son fight the man who wants his forefathers land. And during the violent fight a freak accident occurs that changes everything resulting in the death of the American. Unchallenged now at the auction, Bull is able to bid successfully for his field, but the main reason he has fought, eludes him. The following Sunday at mass the parish priest evicts all the parishioners out of church as he challenges them as to whether a plot of land is worth the spilling of blood.

Maybe the significance of this film is not lost for those of us who have lived in Northern Ireland or who know a little of the conflict. – For many in Northern Ireland the fight must continue whilst others cannot understand what is so important and ask what on earth are we fighting for?

In the first verse of the first chapter of the book of Joshua, Joshua is told “Moses my servant is dead now get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them”. The past, their failure, rebellion against God and all that held them back is gone and now is the time to move forward as they pass through the waters to new life. God promises that every place they set their foot will be given to the children of Israel. If the people fail to move forward preferring to stand still then they have no inheritance or if they prefer to look back to where they have come from they fail to claim the land and therefore lose the promise of God. It is only by moving forward that they enter into the bounty of God.

But moving forward requires faith and it is risky. The children of Israel have had the prophets of doom who told the leaders what might happen if they crossed into this land flowing with Milk and Honey, ten of the spies returned citing Giants and mighty armies and due to their reluctance to trust God, they were left wandering in the desert until for 40 years before they could finally move into freedom and settle into their new life. Many who had toiled so hard including Moses never entered the land of God’s promise but God enabled him to catch a glimpse of the promised land.

In one way this passage is so apt for the path of peace – if you don’t step forward and claim the ground, then you live in the past, with the failure and hurt, pain and violence, yet for many in northern Ireland the theological significance of this passage is not about the way forward but rather suggests the crossing of the Boyne River by William Prince of Orange in 1690 and see this as God giving to protestant people their promised land to inhabit and with that comes the command to subdue. And we all know too well that both sides willing to fight and spill blood with the most recent troubles costing over 3000 lives and injuring many more.

So often the present we live in is affected by the past and Ireland is no exception to this. But maybe the problems that are encountered in Ireland are partly due to William of Orange and James II using Ireland as the staging post for their battles. James II was crowned king in this Abbey in 1685. James a Roman Catholic caused parliament concern. They feared the intervention of other Catholic Powers of Europe especially France (where James’s Great ally, Louis 14 was on the throne). And during his reign James did nothing to gain the sympathy of the protestant nobility, he raised taxes without parliaments consent and he had the manner of a King by Divine right. William Prince of Orange and his wife Mary were proclaimed joint king and queen by Parliament. Mary, the daughter of James II continued the royal blood line. Following the proclamation, James II fled to Ireland pursued by William, who with Dutch, English and Danish troupes defeated the deposed Catholic King with his Irish and French troops.

James spent the rest of his life in exile and whilst William and Mary reigned, William gave to parliament much of his kingly power which James had wanted to keep for himself and so in the Reign of William and Mary we began to see something of the constitutional monarchy which we have today.

In Northern Ireland the battle of the Boyne is long over, yet for many it is enacted each year at this season of the glorious twelfth. The reason for the battle and the victory of William is obscured by the myths and years of mistrust and bigotry.

Many today view the Marching season not as an Historical Pageant but rather a continuance of the freedom that William of Orange wrought for the people of Ulster. The battle of the Boyne and William’s victory over James II is seen for so many as God’s victory over Roman Catholicism. And this decisive victory is marked by the loyalist population of Northern Ireland throughout in July with the burning of bonfires sometimes with an effigy of the pope on top and a march on the 12th Day by Loyalist wearing orange sashes or collaret’s.

In the reading from the Holy Gospel, we see not a conquering king defeating the enemy but a king riding humbly on a donkey not prepared for battle but proclaiming the kingdom of God and entering the city as one who heralds peace. His army are the children, the women and men who shout “hosanna blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord” and the multitude are armed not with weapons of war but wave palm branches in peace and celebration. Many of the zealots who watch this procession would love to have seen a warrior coming to overturn roman rule but as Christ enters Jerusalem, the realisation dawns that a new era is upon the people and many struggle with a kingdom whose king herald’s peace.

The price of peace is costly. The prince of peace himself is crucified yet his followers are called to be peace makers. Those who herald in the dawning of peace are usually viewed with suspicion. In Northern Ireland like with the triumphant entry of Christ, many of the women and children have been the first to seek this way forward and stepping accross the barriers to show a hand of friendship but the journey through no man’s land leads to attacks from both sides.

In the play “juno and the paycock” by O’Cassey there is a wonderful prayer by one of the main characters she prays as bullets takes the one she loves “Sacred heart of Jesus take away these hearts of stone and give us hearts of flesh, take away these murdering hate and give us thine own eternal love”.

For too long the people of the north have been bound in chains of hatred and the past, but out of the pain and the bloodshed on both sides we have had those who have lost the most who have crossed the divide to usher in the dawn of peace. The late Gordon Wilson following his injury and his daughter’s death at the Poppy Day Bombing at Enniskillen said “I forgive them.” Many were confused and angered that he would not hate but such was his resolve that this elderly man sought not to have his daughter and others die in vain.

Others have like the psalmist hoped for a time when captivity will end, when the yoke of hate will be lifted and laughter, freedom, and restored fortunes will come to Ireland whilst some have even dared to dream that those who have sown in tears reap with songs of joy. Kings William and James are now at peace and free from all conflict but the legacy that they created for some is still alive and being lived out in the day to day lives of those in the north of Ireland.

For peace to come to Ireland there must be a crossing over into the Promised Land, a leaving behind of the former things recognising that the old ways are dead, and a conscious move to leave the shame hatred and struggling behind. Gone must be the attribution and the hand that have been used for fighting must turn to become the open hands of welcome.

May God enable us all to seek the way of peace.

Remembrance Day Sermon - 2008

I wonder what you would like to be remembered for or how you would like to be remembered when you die?

Some might like to be remembered as a caring person. Some will want to be remembered because of the family name. Some might like to be remembered in stone and some of us think that where we are going is much more important than our name on some headstone. Others will be remembered for not nice reasons and no matter how they try and control it – they will always be remembered as the crooked politician or have a name synonymous with death. But some of our service men and women will never get the chance to have a full life to be remembered and they will remain in someone’s heart but forgotten by most.

Remembering is something we all do – we say "I remember when……" or "do you remember?" We call to mind things that are significant and remembering for some is an active process – where we put ourselves back in the very situation and relive it. Remembering shows we live in a three dimensional world and the mind that God gives us enables us to think and dream but also to look back and learn.

For the Jewish people in the bible when they remembered the Passover, how God took them out of Egypt, it was a quick memorial service said standing (as the Jews were ready to leave Egypt) but it was said with sweat on their brow. They were there being a part of that which they were remembering and at the Eucharist, we remember but also we share and are part of Christ’s suffering as we are there with him during the story of redemption.

On remembrance Sunday – what is remembering for us? Some of us weren’t born at the time of the wars and many of us have never served – so why should we remember. Or for the holocaust we didn’t see what was done to the Jews and others – so why bother. Or now – well Afghanistan and Iraq is so far away from us and it doesn’t affect our lives – so why should we worry?

The nation that forgets to remember and the peoples who forget to remember are likely to make the same mistake time and again. And we have seen in our world where lessons have not been learned from the past and future generations relive the same mistakes. But remembrance is also about thanksgiving. As a child I sat at my uncles knee and heard the stories how he won the war singlehanded – as a member of the army catering core. And as far fetched as his stories were I had a sense of awe and respect for him and what he had done. As a family I have had members who have served in peace time and conflict situations and so the notion of military service has always been there, especially praying for those on active duty in conflicts – brings it home. And as a boy growing up in the midst of the troubles, I saw what it was like to see people who I knew being killed by an unjust war and when peace eventually came I asked why over 3000 had died for no reason other than people wanting their own way.

A few summers ago I visited Dachau and Auschwitz concentration camps. As I walked around them in silence and tears I thought about the atrocities and the pain of war. This experience regularly causes me to remember all that I saw and when these death camps are mentioned on the news – I am there, I know the parts that still send a chill down my spine.

In Auschwitz whilst the gas chambers had been destroyed there still hung in the air a stench and the eerie lack of bird song was deafening. In Dachau the chambers remained and walking though them I felt fear as I entered the gloom, and realised I was standing on holy ground. I prayed for those who died and struggled with the disrespectful tourists wanting inappropriate photographs.

In the midst of all of my tears I caught a few glimmers of hope - The first at the Orthodox Shrine as above the altar I saw a picture of Christ leading the prisoners out through the middle of the camp to freedom; two angels had broken down the gates. (It was powerful but too holy to take a picture of!) Some look emaciated as they followed Christ, who himself showed the wounds of cruelty he had received. The second glimmer of hope was in Auschwitz when at the end of the train line someone had placed a candle of hope (similar to the one we use in the church to remind us Christ is present) and when I asked God where he was, I felt a voice saying he suffered in the camp with those who suffered.

Shortly after my visit to the concentration camps I went to the cinema and as I was waiting for a friend I noticed a card advertising a forthcoming war film “Hidden and Dangerous” with the motto “it’s not about you dying for your country… it’s about making your enemies die for theirs. Remembering the war for many brings back the pain, anger, hurt, and it is clear that despite the morality of a war—whether it is just or not—the object is to defeat the enemy. But when we think who the enemy is? We have to recognise that the enemy were men and women as we are, people made in the image of God.

Many may remember the war and the night that St Anne’s was destroyed or been affected by other conflicts. You may have been frightened as a child being evacuated; lost a relative or loved one and have a heart that breaks some 60 years on; know someone who has served in more recent conflicts and wars and paid the supreme sacrifice or have family living in conflict areas and struggle with what is done by the British and other Governments.

Last night the yearly ritual of watching the Festival of Remembrance again brought it home to me of the past, present and future. I looked with pride as I heard stories of men and women who served in world war one and two; and then saw the fresh faced young men and women who serve today and who commit themselves for future peace. I cried as I saw the stories told of those who had given their lives and especially in recent conflicts. And asked the question why? Why can we not live in peace in our world? In the readings today Jesus speaks about his gift of peace that he leaves to the world and in Matthew’s gospel he calls peace makers children of God and maybe it is important to remember that our young men and women are peace makers in a conflict situation and their role is to bring about peace in the region – and therefore they are children of God.

When we remember at times we can look back, remember and be proud – proud for the courage of those who served and gave their lives. But there is also a responsibility placed on us – young men and women have served and gave their lives. They still do today. Our responsibility is to pray for them and their safety. To be proud of them for all they have done and to welcome them on their return. It is a shame that our country fails to welcome back our heroes with honour and we seem to go on without a thought in our daily lives for those who come back changed by what they have seen or those who come back to their families in a coffin.

But at this season of remembrance as we remember those who have died or fallen in battle and who have made the supreme sacrifice let us be grateful for those “who gave their tomorrows so we could have our today's”. Whether we agree with the rights or wrongs of wars and conflicts, let us wait in silence and pray for peace, for we have a responsibility to be a beacon of light and hope in the world and to seek its peace and prosperity. If we fail to choose peace then the sacrifice of others is in vain and we risk leaving a world which is no better for our children. We have been given a legacy of freedom and it is our obligation to pass such a legacy on to our children and to our children's children.

They grow not old, as we that are left grow old;
Age shall not weary them, not the years condemn,
At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
We will remember them.