Remembrance Sunday

Psalm 116:1-8

1 I love the Lord, because he has heard the voice of my supplication, *because he has inclined his ear to me whenever I called upon him.

2 The cords of death entangled me; the grip of the grave took hold of me; *I came to grief and sorrow.

3 Then I called upon the name of the Lord: *“O Lord, I pray you, save my life.”

4 Gracious is the Lord and righteous; *our God is full of compassion.

5 The Lord watches over the innocent; *I was brought very low, and he helped me.

6 Turn again to your rest, O my soul, *for the Lord has treated you well.

7 For you have rescued my life from death, *my eyes from tears, and my feet from stumbling.

8 I will walk in the presence of the Lord *in the land of the living

Sermon: The Rev. Dr. Maryann Amor

In our fast-moving, tech-focused, emerging AI world, taking time to contemplate and look back is not something many people do. Our lives are busy…whether we are still working or retired…our calendars are filled with commitments, meetings, and all the other things we have going on. And it is into this swirling mix of busyness that Remembrance Day appears.

As I wrote this sermon, I was struck by how Remembrance Day is, of course, about remembering. It prompts us to take a moment, amidst all that is happening, to pause…to stop, if only for a minute or two, and remember. For some of us, the act of remembering is for those we personally knew who perished in war; it might be for a time spent on the battlefield or in service ourselves. For others, remembrance takes the form of honoring the sacrifices made by those we never met, people who gave their lives to ensure freedom and peace where both had vanished.

So, Remembrance Day calls out to us: stop…stop what you are doing, stop thinking about yourself, your calendar, all your plans, and remember that all you have right now is possible because of what others have done. Be grateful for their sacrifice, their courage, and their commitment. And as we do this, we recognize our call to be people who work for peace. We recognize that we must stand with those who have gone before us, uphold what is good and right in this world, and work towards a future where war is no more.

But as we do all of this…as we remember those who sacrificed for peace and commit ourselves to advocating for it…we’re confronted with the painful truth that peace on earth has never truly been a reality. History tells us that humanity has been at peace for only 8% of recorded time…268 years out of the past 3,400 years. Wars have been constant; true peace has not really been known. This reality complicates Remembrance Day and challenges our belief that peace is an attainable goal.

So, the question becomes, how can we find the strength to keep working for peace when it seems that, despite all people have sacrificed, it will never fully happen?

As I pondered this question, I found guidance in Psalm 116. This psalm is a song of thanksgiving, spoken by someone who has experienced God’s presence in their life and rejoices with gratitude for what God has done.

The speaker has clearly faced immense challenges. He describes how “the cords of death entangled” him, how “the anguish of the grave” came over him, and how he was “overcome by distress and sorrow.” The speaker has gone through the depths of despair, likely due to an event that brought him close to death. In a way, he mirrors all those who have suffered through war and faced terrible evils. He is also like us, living in a world surrounded by suffering and pain, where true peace is rare.

Yet the speaker doesn’t give up. Instead, he says he cried out to the Lord, and the Lord heard his voice, turning his ear towards him. In his anguish, the psalmist called out to God and was convinced that God heard him. We don’t know exactly how God responded… whether God took away the pain or stopped the suffering. Maybe it doesn’t really matter…because what the speaker emphasizes is that God heard his cries and was there with him.

And though he suffered greatly, his experience of God’s response leads him to speak of God with reverence and love: “The Lord is gracious and righteous; our God is full of compassion.” Despite his trials, the speaker’s focus shifts from his suffering to the fact that he called out to God, and God heard him. God delivered him from death, dried his tears, and kept him from stumbling. Even in his deepest pain, he felt God’s presence and saw God’s action.

Because of this, the psalmist declares that for his entire life, he will call on God. No matter what happens, he will turn to God, trusting that God will act. His experience has shown him that God hears and responds, leading him to love, trust, and rely on God. He knows that in his darkest moments, God heard him and was present.

Our faith, like Remembrance Day, is about remembering. We read ancient words written by people who walked the earth long before us and who encountered God in ways that helped them survive the hardest times. Today, as we remember the psalmist’s story, he encourages us to keep yearning for peace, even if it seems elusive. Our faith reminds us to hold onto God, to trust that God is active in this world, and to know that our prayers and cries for peace do not go unheard. God hears us, God will deliver us, and we must remain hopeful. We must continue to work for peace and promote it in whatever ways we can.

This hope…that peace is possible…is perhaps what kept many on the battlefield going. Whether or not they were people of faith, they gave up so much because they hoped that their sacrifices would, in some way, make a difference. This is remarkable because even if there was little evidence that peace would be fully realized, they kept going.

How can we find the strength to keep working for peace when it seems that, despite all people have sacrificed, it will never fully happen? By trusting that God hears us and listens, and that every small act we make for peace will, in some way, matter. It’s believing that peace is possible, however distant it may seem, and that we are called to keep hoping and working for it, following in the footsteps of those who gave everything for this cause. If we give up, their sacrifices are in vain. So we must….absolutely must…keep trying. We must trust, as the psalmist did, that God hears our cries for peace too, and that, no matter our circumstances, we can always turn to God and God will hear us.

If peace on earth may never fully come, maybe Remembrance Day calls us to remember and hope…not in spite of this reality, but because of it. Remembering becomes an act of defiance against the cycles of violence. By honoring those who gave their lives for peace, we renew our commitment to a world that might one day know it. And we do this by holding onto the truth that the psalmist so clearly speaks…that the Lord hears our voice, that the Lord hears our cries, and that our remembering, our striving for peace, matters.

Amen.