2 Timothy 2.8–15
Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, a descendant of
David—that is my gospel, for which I suffer hardship, even to the point of
being chained like a criminal. But the word of God is not chained. Therefore I
endure everything for the sake of the elect, so that they may also obtain the
salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory. The saying is sure:
If we have
died with him, we will also live with him;
if we
endure, we will also reign with him;
if we deny
him, he will also deny us;
if we are
faithless, he remains faithful—
for he
cannot deny himself.
Remind them of this, and warn them before God that they are to avoid wrangling over words, which does no good but only ruins those who are listening. Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved by him, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly explaining the word of truth.
▶ Mark 12.28–34
One of the scribes came near and heard them disputing with
one another, and seeing that he answered them well, he asked him, ‘Which
commandment is the first of all?’ Jesus
answered, ‘The first is, “Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you
shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and
with all your mind, and with all your strength.” The second is this, “You shall
love your neighbour as yourself.” There is no other commandment greater than
these.’
Then the scribe said to him, ‘You are right, Teacher; you
have truly said that “he is one, and besides him there is no other”; and “to love him with all the heart, and with
all the understanding, and with all the strength”, and “to love one’s neighbour
as oneself”,—this is much more important than all whole burnt-offerings and
sacrifices.’ When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, ‘You are
not far from the kingdom of God.’ After that no one dared to ask him any
question.
How much do you think you could endure, for the sake
of the Gospel? How much of your
happiness and comfort would you sacrifice to love your neighbour as
yourself? Are you prepared to die with
Christ, so that you might live with him?
Could you ensure hardship and suffering, for the promise of reigning
with Christ – whatever that metaphor means?
These are the challenges of today’s readings, and of
the commemorations of D-Day that are taking place in Portsmouth and in France
over these two days. The soldiers,
sailors and aviators of D-Day gave themselves utterly to the task of loving
their neighbours in France – to release them from the grip of Hitler’s Nazi
regime. And they did it for love….for
the love of their French neighbour, inspired by the love of God, who rightly
insists on our heart, soul, mind and strength.
Each one of them deserves our undying respect, admiration and thanks.
Other groups of people have been brought to the forefront
too. Yesterday, the King reminded us that
Muslims, Sikhs and Hindus were among those who died and fought for freedom that
day. We must never make the mistake of
thinking that only western, Christian, people understand the value of sacrificing
oneself for one’s neighbour. There are
many in other religions to whom Jesus would say, as he said to the Jewish
scribe, ‘you are not far from the Kingdom of God’.
Another group of unsung heroes are those who worked,
diligently, sacrificially and often in secret, behind the lines. Often women, these were factory workers, the
farmers, the Land Girls, and the military support units, like the WRENS, who
helped with the logistics, planning and delivery of the greatest amphibious
fleet ever assembled in history. Women
flew airplanes from factories to the front, they drove lorries and logistics
waggons, they provided food and nourishment for the troops, and nursing for the
wounded.
All of these ‘folks behind the lines’ made
sacrifices to love their neighbour too.
Often they gave up their homes and normal lives to add their skills and
expertise to the war effort. They lived
for long periods away from the families, and even their own children (who were
billeted in the countryside as evacuees).
It may perhaps be said that no nation in history was ever so completely
mobilised in the task of sacrifice and love of neighbour. That is, of course, something of what we mean
when we talk about the wartime spirit of Britain. Churchill’s greatest achievement was to encourage
and foster the spirit of sacrifice among an inherently selfish nation.
Yes, this was about defence – defence of the United
Kingdom from the Nazi threat. But it was
more than that. This nation, bolstered
by our Allies, decided to sacrifice a generation of young people in the defence
of Europe, and for the love of our European neighbours. We led the charge against the blind and
stupid nationalism and despotism of Hitler and his henchmen.
Which is why it is so worrying, 80 years later, to
see some of the same patterns emerging in our politics today. Extreme right wing ideologies are once again
on the march. Politicians and leaders
routinely lay the blame for our economic challenges at the feet of those least
able to defend themselves – just as Hitler did with the Jews. We are encouraged
to look for people to blame – homeless people, benefit ‘scroungers’,
foreigners, travellers, fat people, woke people, trans-people. The millionaires who run our country don’t want
us to look too closely at their wealth. ‘Look
over there’, they cry. Be distracted. Blame
the others.
In short, we are forgetting the lesson of D-Day –
that the path to glory is not paved with blame, but with sacrifice. The more divided our nation becomes, the more
we blame ‘the other’ for our own unwillingness to bend to their needs, the
further from the Kingdom of God we fall.
What are the practical implications of this
message? D-Day was an example of
national sacrifice, and logistical prowess combined in an epic battle for the
common good. One of the modern battles we are waging is one
against the large total of net migrants to this country. With net migration of three quarters of a
million people a year, our hospitals, schools, housing and health-care
facilities are under immense strain, without a doubt.
What if we were to apply the D-Day Spirit to this
very real challenge? It would take a
‘wartime spirit’ that was, for example, willing to forego some of the high
standards of building and safety standards we’ve come to expect. It would mean a few less hospitals and homes
designed to win prestigious awards, and rather more prefabs and Nissan
huts. But with sacrifice and love for
neighbour at the heart of such a programme, if would be possible to mobilise
the nation to quickly build new homes, hospitals and schools, and to relieve
the pressure on public services by bringing-in immigrant builders, doctors and
teachers – who would pay tax and build the nation.
But what do we do?
We blame the migrants – instead of our lack of D-Day vision. So, we choose not to requisition the land of multi-millionaires
as we did at D-Day, to meet a national emergency. We choose not to build the prefab homes we
once did to house people in urgent housing need. We choose not to build hospitals in simple
huts, or set up schools in porta-cabins.
No – because we are too good for these things. Oh, they are good enough for poor people in
far off lands. We’ll set up field
hospitals in tents for them. But we have our own high standards here at
home, and we’re not going to bend them for anyone!
Has it never struck you as perverse that we can
build glamping pods for wealthy British holiday makers, but we won’t provide
housing pods for the homeless? We can
build acres of mobile home parks for wealthy vacationers, but we can’t provide safe
parking spaces for travelling communities.
Doesn’t it seem odd that we want the right to travel anywhere in the world
on our blue British passports, but we won’t give the same freedom of movement to
‘the others’. You see, the homeless, travellers, and immigrants are ‘the other’
– and we’re not going to sacrifice for them!
My friends, we’ve forgotten how to apply our heart,
soul, mind and strength to the task of loving God, and loving our
neighbour. And until we regain the D-Day
spirit of sacrifice, coupled with ingenuity, I believe that as a nation we will
remain far from the Kingdom of God. Amen.
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