Today marks 100 years since the end of World War I. All over the world people are gathering to honour that anniversary, to honour those who lost their lives in that terrible conflict. But remembering WWI means more than honouring those who fought and died, as important as that is. In order to truly honor the Canadian Legion's beautiful, simple motto, Never again, we have to also remember all that led up to WWI and all that resulted from it. If we want to make sure that war has less of role in our world in the future, then we need to learn lessons from the past and change the way we do things in the future.
Through the 1800’s there was a sense of progress in the world, especially in Western countries, like Canada, US, Europe. There was a sense of the world becoming more civilized, more knowledgeable, more just, more sophisticated politically. WWI put a big hole in all that confidence. In many ways that war was the result of big egos and big weapons. The leading nations of Europe were essentially itching for a fight to show off their power. The result was most destructive war the world had ever seen.
Young men on both sides of the conflict marched away singing and laughing, thinking they’d be home in matter of months. They came back, if they were lucky, years later, missing limbs, traumatized by violence, damaged in body and soul. All our sophistication and knowledge and sense of justice couldn’t prevent death and destruction far beyond anything people had ever conceived of or imagined before that time.
The Allies meant well when they put the treaty of Versailles together at the end of WWI, they just wanted to prevent war from ever happening on that scale again, but unfortunately that treaty had the opposite effect. Most historians agree that WWII grew directly out of the way that WWI was resolved. While there is no doubt that Hitler was madman, most historians agree that the stage for his coming to power was set by way Germany was treated in aftermath of WWI. It wasn't just crippled militarily, it was crippled economically. The people felt they had no way of going forward, no self-respect. World leaders learned from that mistake. The treaties that ended WWII limited Germany and Japan militarily, but not economically. Both countries are strong today and Germany has become a source of stability in Europe.
There's a lesson in that for us as individuals and as a society, isn't there. Treat your enemies with respect and they may become allies and even friends. It echoes the gospel reading for today, where Jesus said we aren't just called to love our neighbours, we are called to love our enemies too.
Loving our neighbours and our enemies has gotten even more confusing over the past few years. Since the mid 1800's the US has been Canada's friend and ally, but since Trump was elected president that relationship has become strained. His behaviour towards Canada and other countries has caused us stress, as individuals and as a nation, as has his behaviour towards some of his own citizens.
Unfortunately we see other world leaders following his example, with a rise of populist governments that are focused on looking inward and excluding all those who are different. “My country first and forget about the rest.” It's very much an us and them mentality, which is what led to WWI and II and pretty much every other conflict of this century.
It's tempting to fall into that sort of mentality ourselves, Trump and those like him are bad, we and those like us, people who are open minded, justice minded, are good. The problem is, that only leads to more “us and them,” more conflict. There has to be another way. Paul speaks to that dilemma in the passage from Romans. He knew all about being persecuted and put down for your beliefs. But he also knew that true peace comes from “rejoicing with those who rejoice, weeping with those who weep.” It comes from embracing what brings us together, joys and sorrows, rather than focusing on what drives us apart.
I know that's not easy, especially when it seems that others are rejoicing in things that we find appalling. But Paul isn't saying give up on what you believe, he is just saying, look for what can bring you together, because there has to be something, somewhere. It can be hard to find positives when media focuses on the negative all the time. Because of the 24 hour news cycle and social media, we are not only more aware of conflict in the world, we are bombarded by images of it well beyond Trump: terrorism in Europe, refugees in Middle East, child soldiers in Africa, gangs in Latin America. With so much conflict in world, it's much easier to use Remembrance Day just to focus on the past and close our eyes to present day wars. But if we do that, we dishonor the memories of all those who died in the World Wars, in peace keeping actions since. They died so our country and other countries could remain strong and free, or have the chance to be more just, more free. They died so we could have chance to make our country and our world a better place, so that we could have the opportunity to make a difference in our world.
As individuals maybe we can’t do a lot, but together we can make quite a difference. We can encourage Canada to be involved in the UN, to be involved in peace keeping and to be a voice for action and compromise. We can find out what is happening in our own city and province that connects to war and peace in larger world: groups that help refugees or work for peace in Middle East.
Most of all, can do outreach and social justice work, because outreach, helping those in need, is greatest tool for peace we have. The root of most conflicts and wars is poverty. I heard that in a presentation on Islam few years ago in Nova Scotia. In Sambro we had a devout Muslim from Kuwait come speak to us. Someone asked him, what about those extremists? Especially the ones who take young boys and train them for war? Ahmer responded first that the extremists are not true Muslims, because their religion does not support violence and murder, but second, that the extremists are able to do this because people have nothing. If you are living in a crowded hut, have no work,little food, no education – and someone comes along and offers you food, decent shelter, work and sense of purpose? Of course you’ll say yes and You'll learn whatever they want you to learn. It's a very similar situation to Germany after WWI.
It's the same in Africa, so much conflict comes about because people are starving, they have little to eat, no work, no hope. So if we support agricultural efforts in Africa, if we support education for children, especially girls, in Afghanistan and other middle Eastern countries, if support Fair Trade goods, we are working for peace because we are helping to prevent wars of future.
So as tempting as it is to turn off the TV when reports about conflict in Syria or violence in Africa come on, as tempting as is to turn the page in newspaper when we see headlines that have to do with war, that’s not what we are called to do. We follow Jesus, whom we call prince of peace, who in his lifetime addressed the issues of his world head on. He spoke up for the poor, he worked for change, he prayed for peace.
If we don’t know what is happening in the world, then we can't take action to help those in need, we can't pray for knowledgeably for peace, we can’t make a difference. Today, the 100th anniversary of the end of WWI, we honor and remembers our vets, those who fought in the wars and peacekeeping efforts of the last century, and those who lost their lives. It is extremely important that we do so, but we need to be aware that honoring them takes many forms. It can be wearing poppies, laying wreaths and gathering at cenotaphs and statues, but it can also be working in peace groups, collecting school supplies for children in Afghanistan or donating money for wells in Ethiopia.
We are called to do both, to honuor and remember the past and to work for peace in the future. Living in peace in an unsettled world may not be easy, but it is possible. May we, as children of God and followers of Jesus, find the strength and courage to do our part. Amen.