Sermon Reflection: Remembrance Sunday
Micah 4:1-5
John 15: 9-17
Link to service from Switch Radio
Dig Deeper notes from Sunday 8th November service -
Remembrance Sunday – 8th November 2026
Remember, remember, the 5th of November, Gunpowder, treason and plot. I see no reason Why gunpowder treason Should ever be forgot.
This year Remembrance Sunday, and bonfire night are close together, many however, won’t understand the reason for bonfire night and fireworks. It goes back to 5th November 1568 when a group of Roman Catholics attempted to blow up Parliament hoping to put a stop to England becoming a Protestant country. Consequently, from 1606 until 1859 there was a law in place requiring every Vicar to preach a sermon of thanksgiving at this time of year for the failure of the gunpowder plot.
Remembrance Sunday was started after WW1 in 1919 and so has been taking place for over 100 years now. Today there are no living people who have memories of that war and few with memories of World War 2. Sadly of course WW2 wasn’t the end of warfare as some hoped it might be. So, it provides us with an opportunity to remember not just those involved in WW1 and WW2, but all those other wars which have taken place since then. Korea, the Falklands War, the two Gulf Wars, Bosnia as well as those the more recent ones in Ukraine, and the Middle East where UK forces have only had peripheral involvement.
Increasingly of course, in modern warfare, there are less involved in combat zones on active service and so there are fewer people with direct experience or personal memories. Sadly though, there are still civilians who also experience the horrors of war. But for most people in our community there will be no personal memories of these conflicts. Their views, like ours perhaps, will be based on what they know of history and what they see in the news.
But memories you know are different from remembering. When you stop to think about it, remembering and memories are not the same. To remember is the opposite of to dismember. To dismember something is when you pull something apart. When you remember you gather all the memories and knowledge you have to build a composite and more complete picture. Something of course which will develop as our experiences and insights evolve; something which can contribute to the shaping of our lives.
Remembrance Sunday provides an opportunity to remember those lives which have been affected by either serving their country or being caught up in a conflict. This remembrance is an annual event, but it’s not the only remembering that we as Christians have at the heart of our lives.
There is an annual pattern of remembrance to our faith with Advent and Christmas focussing on the incarnation of Jesus Christ; Good Friday and Easter Day focussing on his death and resurrection; and Pentecost celebrating the gift of the Holy Spirit. Each time we remember these things we bring another year’s experience of our Christian lives to our remembrance. And of course, on an almost weekly basis we have our Holy Communion service instigated by Jesus himself. ‘Do this in remembrance of me’
So, as well as remembering the presence of God in our historic festivals which are foundational to our faith, we also have the power of the Holy Spirit to instruct and support us in our daily lives. And if we stop remembering, if we stop reading the Bible and listening to the word of God, then the chances are that we will wander away from our faith and the relationship we have with God in Jesus Christ.
Remembrance Sunday provides us with an opportunity to recall those who died in the service of their nation - we give thanks for them: for their courage and dedication, and the peace and freedom we enjoy from their legacy, we give thanks for the relations, albeit sometimes fragile, we have with our allies. And we give thanks that when we share in Holy Communion we recall the eternal life, the peace and the freedom that Jesus offers to each of us, which was also won at a price - the price of his own life as he died for our sake on the cross.
Questions for discussion:
1. Pause to remember any connection you may have with those affected by wars and conflicts; in your family, with friends and acquaintances or from what you’ve seen and heard.
2. Reflect on how our views on this act of remembrance have changed over the years as we have more experiences and memories to include in that remembrance.
3. How does Remembrance Sunday compare with the annual more overtly Christian acts of remembrance like Christmas, Easter and Pentecost?
4. Wars and conflicts have a dramatic effect on both civilians and those serving in the armed forces. Bring to mind those situations that have shaped your own life in the past and think about any changes that may be needed in our lives ahead. How does reading the Bible fit in and support this?
5. Jesus gave us clear instructions about how we should remember his death and resurrection in our sharing of Holy Communion. Think about how you can enhance the meaning of this act of remembrance next time you take the bread and the wine.
Prayer
Father God, thank you for the opportunity to remember those in our nation, our communities and our families who have been affected by the horrors of war. May God, give us the wisdom we need to interpret our remembering and the ability to live out our lives according to his will, through power of his Holy Spirit. Amen.
