Resisting Evil this Remembrance Sunday

 “Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.  Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

 “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything but is thrown out and trampled under foot. 

 “You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid.  People do not light a lamp and put it under the bushel basket; rather, they put it on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.

                Jesus, Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5: 11-16  NRSVue

A couple of weeks ago the Globe and Mail newspaper published an opinion piece by former Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper with the eye-grabbing headline: As prime minister, I saw firsthand that Vladimir Putin is truly evil.

Harper lays out how he came to this conclusion, admitting that initially he was not all that concerned with the influence of the Russian leader, and then says:

Of all the famous people I have met, I still get asked more about Mr. Putin than about any other. I guess it is because he is a real-life Bond villain. And make no mistake, for all his strong attributes, he is a truly evil individual. He has knowingly and deliberately inflicted great and avoidable harm in his country and around the world.

I was intrigued by the headline and content because the word "evil" is not used all that often to refer to persons or systems anymore, even in Christian worship settings. The Lord's Prayer is still repeated in most mainline/old-line churches nearly every Sunday but lots of contemporary congregations don't bother, even though when Jesus was asked by his followers what to pray he included "deliver us from evil." 

There are a couple of paraphrases of the Prayer of Jesus or The Lord's Prayer in Voices United, one of our worship resources. One says:

do not put us to the test, but rescue us from evil  (p 916a)

The other offers: 

From trials too great to endure, spare us.

From the grip of all that is evil, free us. (916 b)

In many churches today, including Trenton United, this will be Remembrance Sunday, a huge deal in Great Britain I discovered while there years ago. Some advocates of peace are uneasy with the recognition of participants in wars during a service of worship. As a pastor I never saw it as a glorification of war but a solemn reminder of the sacrifices of many in the face of evil. 

I figure there has to be room to recognize evil in all its forms and to pray that we are freed from the grip of evil so that justice and love will prevail in our world. We can be advocates for light in the darkness as the people of the Christ.

We are called to be the Church:
    to celebrate God’s presence,
    to live with respect in Creation,
    to love and serve others,
    to seek justice and resist evil,
    to proclaim Jesus, crucified and risen,
       our judge and our hope.

In life, in death, in life beyond death,
    God is with us.
We are not alone.

    Thanks be to God.

from a New Creed, The United Church of Canada

While I have your attention, this is also Aboriginal Veterans Day in Canada.