A privilege to lead today's Aden memorial service at the Living Memorial, Rettendon. Lt.Co Hugh Toler spoke during the service about the Aden campaign. Rettendon Living Memorial is a memorial garden with several small museums and covered seating areas. The Living Garden was set up by the landowners Peter and Fran Theobald in 2009 and now contains dedicatory plaques to a number of post 1945 conflicts including Korea, Suez, Northern Ireland and Afghanistan.
Here is the Address that I shared during the service:
These words of the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 2.1-4) were the inspiration for the well-known spiritual ‘Down by the riverside’ in which we sing: “Gonna lay down my sword and shield” and “I ain't gonna study war no more”.
There are two keys to understanding this passage. The first, is to notice that it is a vision of the future. In days to come, Isaiah prophesies, the nations “shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.” The same vision is repeated at the end of the Bible in the Book of Revelation where the prophet John sees “a new heaven and a new earth,” and hears “a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
When we are in midst of war, conflict, or any kind of difficulty, as many of you have been, this is a vision of the future to look forward to; a vision of peace and wellbeing to enable us to look up from the troubles of today and pray for the coming of God’s kingdom, as we do when we pray “Thy kingdom come, on earth as it is in heaven.” It is also a picture of the peace which those we know who have already lost their lives now experience in the presence of God; and for that we can also give thanks.
The second key to understanding this passage is that it begins to be realised when many peoples say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” Learning the ways of God and walking in his paths, that is the way to experiencing a taste in the here and now of the kingdom of God which is still to come. The Canadian singer-songwriter, Leonard Cohen, said that, “Of all the people who left their names behind, I don’t think there’s a figure of Christ’s moral stature. A man who declared himself to stand among the thieves, the prostitutes, the homeless. His position cannot be comprehended. It is an inhuman generosity … (which) would overthrow the world if it was embraced.” It is as we begin to embrace Christ and follow in his footsteps that the world changes and nations begin to lay down their swords and shields and not study war no more.
Until that day comes, we will continue to need and honour those, like yourselves, who are prepared to follow the example of Christ by laying down your lives for others, but we should never lose sight of the vision of God’s kingdom which calls us into a future in which every tear will be wiped away and there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.
These words of the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 2.1-4) were the inspiration for the well-known spiritual ‘Down by the riverside’ in which we sing: “Gonna lay down my sword and shield” and “I ain't gonna study war no more”.
There are two keys to understanding this passage. The first, is to notice that it is a vision of the future. In days to come, Isaiah prophesies, the nations “shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.” The same vision is repeated at the end of the Bible in the Book of Revelation where the prophet John sees “a new heaven and a new earth,” and hears “a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
When we are in midst of war, conflict, or any kind of difficulty, as many of you have been, this is a vision of the future to look forward to; a vision of peace and wellbeing to enable us to look up from the troubles of today and pray for the coming of God’s kingdom, as we do when we pray “Thy kingdom come, on earth as it is in heaven.” It is also a picture of the peace which those we know who have already lost their lives now experience in the presence of God; and for that we can also give thanks.
The second key to understanding this passage is that it begins to be realised when many peoples say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” Learning the ways of God and walking in his paths, that is the way to experiencing a taste in the here and now of the kingdom of God which is still to come. The Canadian singer-songwriter, Leonard Cohen, said that, “Of all the people who left their names behind, I don’t think there’s a figure of Christ’s moral stature. A man who declared himself to stand among the thieves, the prostitutes, the homeless. His position cannot be comprehended. It is an inhuman generosity … (which) would overthrow the world if it was embraced.” It is as we begin to embrace Christ and follow in his footsteps that the world changes and nations begin to lay down their swords and shields and not study war no more.
Until that day comes, we will continue to need and honour those, like yourselves, who are prepared to follow the example of Christ by laying down your lives for others, but we should never lose sight of the vision of God’s kingdom which calls us into a future in which every tear will be wiped away and there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.
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Shona McGarty - Hallelujah.
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