‘Jesus said: 'whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me'.’
Matthew 25:40
Friends, I want to tell you a story, a true story, a story I hope that you have heard in history class; if not let me tell you now. During World War II Britain sent her army to fight against the Germans when they invaded France. Germany had a very big army and Britain only had a small army, however, working with the French armed forces we thought we might be successful. Unfortunately, after a number of battles the French gave in and the British army was surrounded. Slowly our army fought their way back to the beaches in the hope of being rescued by the Royal Navy. Winston Churchill—our great wartime Prime Minister—called the Admirals in-charge of the Royal Navy and asked them what they needed to save the British Army. The admirals answered: a miracle. In fact, two miracles. The Royal Navy would need hundreds of little boats which the didn’t have and the weather would need to be calm—in order for the little boats to get close to shore—and the weather forecast was terrible! The Prime Minister told the King, and the King told the nation 'we need to pray’ and pray we did! The weather changed and the seas became calm. Then civilians—ordinary people—set off on little boats—hundreds of little boats—in order to save the army. Before the National Day of Prayer it looked as if the British army would be lost. Without the British army Germany would have won and today we’d live in a very different world. You know, I found out that my Grandpa was on the beaches of Dunkirk. Without that day of prayer, without those little boats, I wouldn’t be here! So the first thing to take away this morning is: prayer works!
In 2017 Christopher Nolan made a film all about that miracle and he called it simply ‘Dunkirk’. The strap-line from the film which stuck with me was: ‘They couldn’t get home so home came to them.’ They couldn’t get home, the soldiers at Dunkirk, that is, so ‘home', the boats, came to them. As we begin our approach to Christmas that strap line tells us the truth of the Christmas story. We couldn’t get home—to God that is—so home, God, came to us. Jesus came—like one of those little boats—to save those who otherwise could never get home. ‘We couldn’t get home, so home, Jesus, came to us.’ However, here is the thing, after the National Day of Prayer and the ‘Miracle of Dunkirk’ the British Army was safe, However, you know what they didn’t do—which it would have been so easy to do—they didn’t do nothing. They were saved but that meant—for so many of them—that they had a duty to serve and save others. Just a few years later—with the help of our allies—the army invaded Europe and defeated the Germans. The same is true for Jesus and us. Jesus doesn’t stay a baby, He grows up to fight the biggest battle of all. Just like those soldiers didn’t stay safe after they were rescued—they went back to fight—so Jesus grew up and fought against Evil and defeated it once and for all on the cross. Like those soldiers we are not called to accept Jesus’ rescue and then stay safe at home; we too are called to fight. So that’s the second thing to remember this morning: we all called to fight in Jesus’ army.
When I was a kid I joined the RAF cadets; I got a uniform, I learnt to march, to shoot a rifle, and to fly a plane. Is that what Jesus means when He calls us to fight on His side? No, most likely not! Jesus wants us to fight, yes, but fight in a very different way. He tells us how to fight in our Gospel reading.
[Jesus said] “Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was ill and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me. Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”
Every Christian is called to fight in Jesus’ army but not with rifles, planes, or destroyers, rather with love, and compassion, and mercy. We are to feed the hungry, give a drink to the thirsty, invite in the stranger, and visit the prisoner. We are to love those around us; that is how we are to serve Jesus by serving those who need His help. When you were baptised you were called up. Like those ordinary people who heard on the radio that boats were needed to go to Dunkirk, so on your Confirmation day you heard the call of Jesus in the words of the bishop to go and serve the world. So there is the third and final thing to remember this morning: we are called to go and serve the world.
Since November 1918 every year British people have gathered on Remembrance Sunday to remember those who fought and those who died, so that we might be safe. As they gathered, they celebrated the Eucharist as a reminder that Jesus fought and died so that we might be safe forever! However, having remembered our service men and women and having remembered Jesus’ death they—and we—are not just to go home until next year! No, we are called to follow Jesus and fight against all evil and injustice; to feed the hungry, give a drink to the thirsty, invite in the stranger, and visit the prisoner. Being saved, being rescued, is not the end of the story, no, it is only the beginning. ‘They couldn’t get home, so home came to them.’ Like them, don’t stay at home, rather go out and serve God’s world. Amen. (from Fr Mike).