St. Christopher's Episcopal Church: Sermons

Last Sunday | Two weeks | Archives | Home page

A Sermon Preached at St. Christopher's Episcopal Church, Oak Park, IL
on Veterans Day: Sunday, November 11, 2007
by the Rev. J. Paris Coffey

Readings:
1 John 4:7-21; Psalm 130, and John 15:9-17

Last Monday St. Christopher's received online worship resources to honor Veterans Day, which falls on a Sunday this year. These resources, from the Episcopal Bishops Office for Military Chaplaincies, included (among other things) today's readings. On Wednesday, however, our weekly Bible Encounter group puzzled over these choices. Oh perhaps the Gospel made sense in its call to sacrifice - to "lay down one's life for one's friends." The relentless focus on love in both readings, though, made less sense unless the message was make love, not war. This seemed unlikely for military chaplains, even Episcopal ones. And yet when we finally read the attachment from the Bishop's Office for Chaplaincies on the origin of Veterans Day, the choice of readings became clear, for as the attachment said, "Veterans Day, known in some countries as Armistice Day, was originally set aside to honor those who fought in World War I, "the war to end all wars."

What a worthy dream - a war to end all wars - and so, in hopes of upholding this dream the United States Congress wrote a resolution establishing the 11th of November as Veterans Day. This was the day the armistice was signed between the Allies and Germany in 1918, marking, the resolution said, "the cessation of the most destructive, sanguinary, and far reaching war in human annals." What's more, the resolution stated, it marked "the resumption by the people of the United States of peaceful relations with other nations, which we hope may never again be severed." Congress went on to say that it was "fitting that the recurring anniversary of this date should be commemorated with thanksgiving, prayer and exercises designed to perpetuate peace through good will and mutual understanding between nations."

Sadly though, in less than 15 years World War II had begun. No wonder today's readings speak unrelentingly of God's love. "As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you," says Jesus. "Abide in my love." Under our steam alone, love fails us and peace wanes, but when we abide in God's love we can love one another beyond human limitations. And loving one another is the point, as First John reminds us, asking, "If we can't love our brothers and sisters whom we've seen, how can we love God whom we've not seen?""

Good question, since even a two-year-old knows that loving our brothers and sisters is no easy business. Life is rarely simple and, in fact, becomes more and more complicated as we get older it, calling us at times to take sides, or take a stand, if you will, for love; to stand up for the oppressed, for example, or take a stand for justice, freedom and peace. Regrettably, this sometimes includes war, although war must never be taken lightly but used only as a last resort, for war takes a terrible toll on human beings. Consequently, we must never forget those who have been called to such difficult service/such sacrifice in the name of justice, freedom and peace.

Truth be told, though, we do forget, for too often Veterans Day is nothing more than parades, wreath laying, flags in cemeteries or patriotic slogans. What's worse, it often less. As U.S. Navy Chaplain and retired Captain, The Rev. Dr. George Clifford observes, "Veterans Day is quickly becoming simply another public holiday, an opportunity for people to sleep late, stay home from school, or get a head start on Christmas shopping." I'd go a step further to say that Veterans Day has already become this. In fact, our country's veterans are invisible to many of us, as Chaplain Clifford remarks in his online reflection for Veterans Day.

"Many U.S. citizens," says Clifford, "don't know anyone in the military and have little awareness of what military life is like." This can even include recruits who sign up for service as a way out of rural or urban poverty. They sign up in part for educational and career opportunities offered by recruiters, but when war injures or otherwise changes these enlisted men and women as it often does, the very country they served forgets them. Thursday's New York Times, for example, revealed that there are more than 400 veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan war who are now homeless, and aids groups say they are bracing for more.

Overall, veterans make up 26% of our country's homeless on any given day, and yet our politicians - those in policy-making positions and those who want to be - are increasingly unfamiliar with military life. As Clifford points out, military service is no longer a prerequisite to elective office despite the fact that our country's reliance on the military to execute foreign policy has increased. In fact, says this Navy Chaplain, "in the last four decades, the U.S. has increasingly turned to the military as the instrument of choice for implementing foreign policy ... in Grenada, Panama, Haiti, Somalia, Ethiopia, Bosnia, Afghanistan, Iraq and numerous, less well known places." Such widespread use of the military should heighten our country's sense of responsibility to those who serve. And yet, says Clifford, "the American public feels less connected and less of a debt to its men and women in uniform," adding that "Veterans Day is an opportunity to change that."

"We need to remember," Clifford asserts, "that the military only,implements policies formulated and adopted by our nation's elected officials. Because we live in a democracy in which government is of and by the people, if we do not like our nation's policies, then we have only ourselves to blame ... Active political participation, seeking to influence public policy to match more closely our Christian convictions, is the most important way citizens can support their troops. Other significant ways to support our troops," says Clifford, "include regularly praying for their safety, communicating our support to them through correspondence, caring for families and loved ones during separations, and helping returned warriors transition back to civilian life."¹

Additionally, I would include saying thanks. And so this morning I ask our veterans and their families to stand so that we can acknowledge your service with thanks. Veterans Day is observed because of and in thanksgiving for your service and that of others who once committed themselves in service to our country. Moreover, it is observed in thanksgiving for God's love, which working in and through us - each and every one of us - can make peace our future, perhaps even in our time.

Amen.

1. 1 Chaplain Clifford's reflection can be found at www.ecusa-chaplain.org/veterans_day_resources.html.