Who would remember us? – a Remembrance Day reflection

Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me.
Isaiah 49:15-18

On Remembrance Day we remember those who have laid down their lives in the service of our country. It is a time of very mixed emotions – pride in friends and family who have selflessly served us, sadness and grief at the loss of dearly loved ones, gratitude for those who continue to risk everything.

The analogies with Jesus’ life are immediate and striking. Our God emptied himself and became human, took the risk of child-birth and of being raised in a first-century family, and went to a brutal death so that we might live free lives. In a similar way those who have died in the service of our country have laid down their lives so that we might be free in this country. Of course there are differences – our service personnel’s sacrifice buys us freedom this side of the grave whilst Jesus’ sacrifice opens up the possibility of eternal life to us.

Another difference is that we all remember the name of Jesus, whilst the names of the war dead are sometimes forgotten. To preserve their memories war memorials are set up around the country, and some churches read out the names of their war dead each Remembrance Sunday. In this way we remind ourselves of the horror of conflict, and we remember those who have paid the ultimate price.

For the rest of us though our names are unlikely to feature on war memorials, nor are they likely to be read out in Remembrance services. We go about our lives and we can sometimes feel quite insignificant – who would remember us? Yet our lives are significant, we carry the kingdom of God with us wherever we go. We minister the full power and authority of Jesus into the lives of those we meet. Jesus called us the light of the world (Matthew 5:14) to describe the impact that our lives have on those around us – we bring the light of God into a dark and fallen world.

And as Isaiah wrote all those years ago, we are not forgotten about by God. Our names are engraved on the palms of his hands. He knows us each by name, even the hairs on our heads are numbered (Luke 12:7). Sometimes we can feel like we are forgotten and insignificant but in those times we need to remember the startling truth that the God who created the universe, who flung stars into space, who gives breath to every living creature in each moment of each day – he knows each of us by name and he will never forget us.

Let’s be real here …

Have you ever noticed programmes like 60 minute makeover, where part of a house is utterly transformed in 60 minutes – old stuff stripped off and new stuff put up – so a living room, dining room and bedroom would be repainted and papered, furniture, curtains, fireplaces and lamps etc replaced, all in just 60 minutes. Or the 5/2 diet where you can eat what you like for five days a week, so long as you don’t overdo it, and by fasting two days a week you will lose a stone in a month. Or perhaps the new exercise regime where you do  four bursts of 30 seconds high intensity exercise with four minute rests between three times a week and just six weeks of that has the same health benefits as 20 weeks of a normal exercise regime. The allure of rapid results with little effort is very appealing.

We can approach our Christian lives like that. Today there are an amazing number of quick-fix Christian books offering easy steps to an enriched Christian life. We are encouraged to add to these conferences that promise amazing changes in your life, listening to top speakers at events, and evenings of worship led by  big name worship leaders.

The only problem, and its a big problem, is that is not what Christianity is about. We don’t go to church to get a spiritual 60 minute makeover from the worship leader and the preacher, we don’t offer a stipend to a leader to sit back and watch him or her do all the ministry of the church, we don’t try to live our spiritual lives with four bursts of 30 seconds of high intensity spiritual exercise with a few minutes rest between, three times a week – or at least we shouldn’t.

Romans 8:29 tells us we are being conformed to the likeness of his Son. That process isn’t something that can happen by quick fixes. Being conformed to the likeness of his Son involves growing fruit in our lives. I’m no gardener, but I know enough to understand that if you want good fruit then you need to tend and care for the plant, as well as the ground that it is in. You need to prune and shape it, aerate the soil, fertilise it, and keep it moist. Developing fruit needs protected from pests, and  harsh weather – and you can’t plant a  tree and expect to eat fruit the next day; some trees need a few years to mature before the fruit starts to come, and then more years before they produce full harvests.

Growing fruit means cultivating love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control in our lives. That can only come about by spending time with God and co-operating with his work of grace, developing new attitudes and crucifying some old ones. It means leaving everything behind and following him wherever he will lead us, it means developing spiritual discipline in our lives. It isn’t quick, but it will make us real as Christians, and as Pope Benedict said in his final tweet “May you always experience the joy that comes from putting Christ at the centre of your lives.”