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PSALM 105 v. 1-4.
THERE have not been wanting those who think the time has come to cease to keep Armistice Sunday and Armistice Day with its two minutes' silence on the ground that a new generation has arisen to whom the Great War means nothing.
We may be thankful that their voices have not prevailed. Those of you who took part in it can never forget it; those of you who had to bear bereavement still feel the wounds; and those who had no first hand experience of it have cause to remember it most of all, enjoying as they do to-day the fruits of the sacrifices then made on their behalf. To-day we are here for a double purpose (1), to recall those sacrifices and dedicate a Chapel in this Cathedral as a perpetual memorial of the part the County took in that great struggle; and (2), to dedicate ourselves afresh to those high aims for which so many gave their lives.
Remembrance.—Our late King, you will remember, ordered that flags on Armistice Day were not to fly half-mast high—because he rightly interpreted the commemoration as not one of death, s o much as of thankful remembrance for all that Day should bring to mind. Now 18 years have passed and perhaps the thing that strikes us most is how little really that titanic struggle has settled anything. The war to end war has failed in that purpose dismally. The truth is burnt in upon us that war cannot really effect a lasting peace. Hatred cannot engender a spirit of love and fellowship; force cannot usher in a reign of sweet reasonableness. Yet it is in no grudging spirit that we shall presently, in thankful memory of those who died that we might live, dedicate the Chapel of St. George. They at least have shown us that a readiness for self-sacrifice in a righteous cause is far greater than a selfish striving after ease and comfort. As we find a high example to follow in our patron Saint the soldier St. George, who was willing to give his life at his Emperor's call, but preferred to die rather than worship him as his Lord and God, so do
"We find in our dull road their shining track;
In every nobler mood,
We feel the orient of their spirit glow,
Part of our life's unalterable good."
(Lowell).
Reflections.—But it is not mere remembrance we would stress to-day; it is the meaning of it all I would try to bring before you as we reflect upon those memories which we recall anew.
How can we with any congruity dedicate a Chapel in this Cathedral to the fallen of our County Regiment, and then further dedicate an Altar Table there at which the service of Remembrance and Sacrifice of our Divine Redeemer Himself, the God of love incarnate will be offered. Are not war and true Christianity utterly opposed?
Our Cathedrals ought to be the central focus of the whole of life, and more and more they are becoming so, and not least this our own Mother Church of Worcester. Those in authority here are anxious to gather up and consecrate all sides of life in special ways as opportunity occurs. However much we may look on war with horror, however useless and futile we may regard it as a means of settling our international problems, so long as we use force at all for police or defensive purposes, we must try to consecrate its use as best we can. And how better than by bringing it again and again in thought and prayer and sacrament to the touchstone of the Saviour's sacrifice for us? Did He not give us lessons from a dishonest steward and an unjust judge? Surely He will have us find at least some moral equivalent for war, and as the Apostle Paul (in Eph. 6), finds in the Roman soldier's armour piece by piece the weapons we so need for our spiritual warfare against the forces that would overwhelm us, so should we be ready to follow the Captain of our Faith in His world campaign against the powers of darkness to which He calls us. Can we not see in the history of our nation, its commerce, its adventures and its wars, God's place for us in His great purpose for mankind? Why have we been given this great Empire? Why have we been almost forced to extend our boundaries in India over and over again until that semi-continent has become a part of our far-flung Empire? Why, though the German agent had a long start of ours, was he delayed at the end of his journey in some strange way so that the Englishman won the concessions that gave us the vast tract of Nigeria by a few hours only? Why have we been spared from the Great War for a recovery more rapid than any other nation?
May we not believe that God has a special function for our Empire to perform in carrying out His purpose for mankind? It is not in mere pride that we recall the past! We do not praise our fighting forces for their prowess only, We bring our past glories to the Church of Christ and remind ourselves afresh of what He desires us to do with our wealth, our enterprise, our force of character, our Christian profession, for the future happiness and progress of mankind. As He chose His ancient people Israel to be the instrument and channel of His revelation of Himself to mankind, so now that the task has been taken from their hands and given to the Christian Church, can we not believe that He is entrusting us, as we touch so many other races throughout the world, with the task of bringing to them the knowledge of His purposes of love in Christ Jesus.
Resolve.—And if that be so, what should be the outcome of this Remembrance Day and our reflections thereon? Surely we should each one of us resolve to find the place that God would have us fill in His plan for the world to-day. It is said that the Western European nations have ceased to count for much at Geneva these last two Sessions of the League of Nations, It is said that Great Britain has ceased to count because she is not armed. When once we had taken home that truth, the whole nation almost as one body determined it should be rectified, and the land reverberates with the clangour of rearmament. Cannot we re-arm for Christian warfare too? Cannot we mobilize our Christian forces and "Rally to Religion as the basis of our national life?" Cannot we, you men especially, be "FIRM" in our primary loyalty to God, and join again in prayer and praise to Him who is our Ruler and our Guide?
Let us rise to the full meaning of the Regimental motto. Stand FIRM by all that in the past has made our nation great. Be FIRM, in our witness to our Christian Faith; Be FIRM in the fight against injustice, selfishness and deliberate blindness to the moral evils which still disgrace our social life. Let us take our part in the Hallowing of the Nation in this year of the Coronation, when the King as the Nation's representative is consecrated to his task.
Then we shall respond to the cry from those who fell, whose memory we recall to-day,
"Take up our quarrel with the foe—
To you with failing hands we throw
The torch: be yours to hold it high,
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders Fields."
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