St Cuthberts Saltcoats Parish

Dear Friends                                                                                           November 2009

This is an important month for the nation as we remember those who have served, and those who have fallen serving queen or king and country. Of course we also remember very specially those who are serving today. Almost daily it seems, the true cost of this service is brought home to us. Who had heard of Helmand Province two years ago? Probably very few of us. We pray for those who serve today. We are proud to have armed forces of such high calibre and professionalism and rightly recognise their commitment. We recognise the strains that their families endure and the uncertainties and fears which they face when loved ones are in an area of armed conflict. It is regrettable that the bravery of our young service men and women is often eclipsed by the reports of uncertain political motivation, unclear political strategy and unsatisfactory provision of equipment and resources. We salute those who serve valiantly despite the controversies which surround them.

As a church, Christ calls us to pray for world leaders, all those in authority and for all people. As we Remember this month, let us also note that in all the wars of the twentieth century, seventy pre cent of all deaths and casualties were civilians including women and children. Do we ever wonder how many innocent people in Afghanistan have lost their lives and how many Afghan families mourn? We should pray for them too.

The New Testament writers readily use every day events to illustrate points which they are making. We can do the same. We see the British Army as mighty and so it is. We rarely think of the church as an army these days. And it is interesting to note that in our current hymn book, CH4, the number of verses has been reduced from five to four. The missing verse is:

“Like a mighty army

Moves the Church of God”.

Oh I suppose that this is more politically correct, less offensive, less strident, and less radical. In C S Lewis’ book The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, the lion, Aslan, is like a representation of Christ. He is murdered and returns to life again. And he is described as being ‘not a tame lion’. I cannot help think that the church today is slowly being moulded by our modern society into a tame church; not an army, just a family.

What is wrong with being a family? Nothing at all. But we can see a model of church which pictures the church as a family that can fight as an army. In Israel today everyone is conscripted. Every adult is trained to defend and if necessary to fight. Every family is trained to fight. The New Testament has many pictures of what the church should be. It should be a family, a holy people. It should also be a family of people ready to fight as part of Christ’s army against the powers of darkness in all their forms. The church needs to fight to combat the secular pressures which are eroding our Christian distinctiveness; to fight to combat the religious pressures which would overtake our Christian influence; to fight to defend the Christian Gospel; and to fight to win many others over to the Christian’s Saviour. The great virtue of the now missing verse is that it gives us a picture of the church on the move. This is a month to remember God’s vision for Christ’s church: a family of Christian soldiers on the move to wage a war against all that is evil with the cross of Jesus going on before.

Yours in Christ

Brian Oxburgh