Your country needs you

10 November 2024

Today is Remembrance Sunday and so we remember. Kitchener pointed his finger and said: ‘your country needs you’. By the end of the 1^st World War, over five million men either volunteered or were conscripted into the British Army and women took on their roles in industry and agriculture – or served on the front line as nurses and ambulance drivers. If you include those from the British Empire, there were 8.7 million men available for deployment over the course of the war.

Many from around here were in a ‘pals battalion’. Men from the same village, place of work, sports team or family were encouraged to join up together and serve together. I imagine some of them volunteered without a second thought, while others might have been more reluctant. I think I’ve told you in the past, but more than 120 men lost their lives from my home churches of St John’s and St Mark’s in Bury, not to mention those unnamed who were injured.

Reparations

At the end of that war, the war that was supposed to end all wars, Germany agreed to pay reparations to the Allied powers to cover civilian damage. Now reparation isn’t exactly repentance. It’s a rather enforced way to say that you’re sorry. Those reparations were seen by many in Germany as a national humiliation and their existence was significantly used in Nazi propaganda. Arguably, forcing Germany to say they were sorry after the first World War helped create the conditions for the second. But would it have been right not to have sought some sort of redress? As it happens, actual payment was always hit and miss – and amazingly that 1^st WW debt was only finally settled as recently as October 2010.

About 3000 years before that, Jonah eventually gets to the great city of Nineveh and preaches a sermon which is just 5 words long in Hebrew. Then he shuts up. And all hell breaks loose. Or should I say all heaven breaks loose?

If you’d been in a synagogue last month for Yom Kippur, the day of atonement, the holiest day of the Jewish year, then you would have heard the whole of the book of Jonah being chanted. It wouldn’t have taken long as it’s a short book. It’s just 900 words in Hebrew. Fewer than this sermon. And it’s used that day to remind people that there is always the chance to repent, to change course.

Called-up

We just get a few choice verses today, but you’ll remember the story. Jonah is called-up by God to go to Ninevah in Assyria, Israel’s biggest enemy at the time, to tell them to repent or be destroyed. Jonah is completely overwhelmed by what he’s been asked to do and goes AWOL, taking the first boat that was heading in completely the opposite direction.

As you know, the boat gets into difficulty and Jonah convinces the god-fearing pagan sailors to throw him overboard. He gets swallowed by a big fish, gets 3 days solitary confinement to think things over and is dishonourably discharged onto the beach. God gives him another chance and asks him again. This time Jonah, still with misgivings but now heavy with the odour of fish, does as requested.

He takes the long walk to Ninevah and delivers his message to the evil empire. The scenario has been compared to a Rabbi going into the heart of Berlin in the early 1940’s and asking Hitler and the Nazi’s to repent.

And not just the king but all the people and all the animals put on sackcloth and fasted. They repent of their ways and pray that God will be merciful.

In a huff

You’d think that Jonah would be pleased, but he’s not. He didn’t want them to repent because he knew that God would be compassionate and save them…

And the book finishes with some loose ends. Jonah is in a huff with God, complaining bitterly, and God is asking him a question which never does get an answer. We’re left with ambiguity and we’re left to wonder if Jonah is a hero for delivering the message or a villain for not wanting them to repent – or both?

It turns out that Jonah had good reason to be upset. Whilst the king and the people of Ninevah might have sincerely repented that day, a few years later on from when this story is set, those following on from them are back to their old ways. The Assyrian army overwhelms Israel, takes many Israelites into captivity and lays siege to Jerusalem. So, arguably, God saving Ninevah that day allowed Israel to be put under threat later on.

Who was right?

So, was Jonah right or was God right? Is it right or is it wrong to forgive someone now if later they or their descendants might renege on that? Of course, the easy answer is yes. But if you lived in Gaza or Jerusalem now, what would your answer be? That dilemma, that burning question, from 3000 years ago and 100 years ago is just as relevant now.

As time goes on in the Middle East, it’s harder to distinguish hero from villain. When, pray God, the war there come to an end, what then? Does one side find it in their heart to forgive the other, knowing that at some point in the future it may start all over again? Will either side really repent for what’s occurred or will measures be imposed, stoking the fires for a repetition?

Concern for souls

At the end of the book of Jonah, God challenges the prophet to consider whether, despite their track record, he should not have concern for the city of Nineveh and the souls that it contains. Today that city might be Gaza, Beirut or Jerusalem – Kyiv or Moscow. Whichever of those we consider friend or foe, should God not have concern for those souls?

Someone once said, ‘History repeats itself. It has to, because we didn’t listen the first time.’ In response, Mark Twain said that ‘History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes.’ Events that happen might be very similar, but they are never identical. That can apply to big world events or it might be more personal.

Because we might never be in the same situation as Jonah, but it might be similar. We too are Jonah when we have times when we feel overwhelmed and burdened. When we need to confront our fears and our mistakes. We too are Jonah when we complain and are afraid. But we too can be used by God even when we have misgivings. Even when we feel conflicted and alone.

Work in progress

The book ends with Jonah realising that was he never was on his own, that God was with him the whole time. But it also finishes with Jonah still being a work in progress. He still has a lot to learn. The ends remain untied. Questions remain unanswered. Whether he realised it or not, Jonah was in receipt of God’s compassion just as much as Ninevah ever was.

That can be true of us as well. We’re a work in progress too – and we’re never alone. The unmerited, amazing grace of God is there for us in all our imperfections – but it’s also there for those whom we fear or oppose.

It’s Remembrance Day and so we remember. We remember victims of current conflicts and of sacrifices made over the years on our behalf. We remember tales told thousands of years ago which have something to tell us today. We remember. But let’s pray to God that we do something with that remembering and learn and apply those lessons from the past. To work for peace and overcome hatred. To share the good news of Jesus with both friend and foe alike. Because your God, and your country, needs you. Amen

“Your country needs you” was delivered by Ian Banks on Remembrance Sunday 10^th Nov 2024, at St Margaret’s, Heywood and earlier on-line. It’s based on Jonah 3:1-5,10.

Your country needs you