A Christian poet once wrote, “History repeats itself; it has to, no-one listens!” These are words we do well to remember in our current international climate, with wars in the middle east and Ukraine. As we remember the great conflicts of the 20th century and the political context that led to those wars there has been some progress, in the west at least. A lot of the warlike rhetoric and posturing; the appeal to patriotism, and the sense of our individual identities being tied up with national ones seems strange and dated. At the time, these attitudes combined with the arrogance of empire were a toxic combination that led to the horrific conflict with the loss of so many lives. However, elements of these attitudes remain. We always prefer our own tribe. There is an alienation that has opened people to the rise of the far right with its attempt to blame all our ills on immigration. A knowledge of history shows where these things can end up.
Christians are instructed to pray for our political leaders and to live in peace where we can, but one of the things that got the early Christians into trouble was their political subversion. There will always be elements of our culture and politics we want to affirm, but there will be others we want to challenge. Early Christian worship declared that Caesar wasn’t Lord; Jesus was. That sort of talk could (and did) get them killed. The personal security that sustained this courage was a conviction that they were first and foremost citizens of heaven. In Jesus they had experienced the power of the other country breaking into their experience. We will remember our national tragedies and sacrifice on Remembrance Day. But every Sunday we remember a tragedy and sacrifice that turned into a glorious victory. Christ’s death It points us to the ultimate powerlessness of violence to achieve real change. It subverts the doctrine that might is right. Sadly, it may take a lot of bloodshed for that to come home to Hamas, Hezbollah, the Israeli government and the Russian army.
With best wishes
+Richard