November 8, 2015

Linda Murphy

Ordinary Sunday 32     Remembrance Day     Mark 12:38-44

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On ANZAC Day I sowed poppy seeds in my garden and today as I write this sermon I have the joy of these beautiful red poppies; the quintessential emblem of the Great War. St Matthew in the City has a number of memorials within the church such as our choir stalls and pews, a number of brass plagues, and a marble memorial on the South wall. This parish lost many of its young men to this war. We are now in year two of the centennial of “The war to end all war.”

Many of you may have studied history as I did at school and I still remember the causes of the WWI and AJP Taylor which we studied for both School Certificate and University Entrance. Why we studied this for both exams has always puzzled me and I remember my history teacher explaining to me that by the sixth form we were expected to give much more detailed answers!

 The social and political impact of this war was immense.

World War I resulted in the death of empires and the birth of nations, and in national boundaries being redrawn around the world. It ushered in prosperity for some countries, while it brought economic depression to others. It influenced literature. It changed culture. It did not end war.

The war, especially the Gallipoli campaign, also had a marked influence on the development of a distinctive New Zealand national identity.16,697 New Zealand soldiers died in WWI and about another 80,000 men who survived, suffering from the effects of wounds, gassing and shell shock. This shell shock is now called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD. We also had 550 nurses who were officially employed overseas and probably another 500 or so including doctors and volunteers who were not officially part the war effort and these were all women and are usually forgotten.

Our widow in the Gospel is also easily unnoticed and forgotten her generosity unobserved. The widow simply makes her gift to the temple treasury from an impulse of faith. An impulse that discloses her quiet gratitude and trust in God. Jesus sees in this woman a genuine heart, a grateful spirit and a generous attitude. Or is this what he sees. He sees the Jewish elite devouring the ‘widows houses’ and leaving them with nothing. This is a lament, an example of exploitation of the disadvantaged widows in the Palestinian society of the first century of the CE.

Jesus wasn’t praising the poor widow for her trusting gift; he was giving the religious and political elite the condemnation they so rightly deserved for creating and perpetuating a society that conditions widows like her to give away money she needed to feed herself with.

The thousands of men and women who volunteered one hundred years ago also had generosity of heart, spirit and attitude. Many paid with their lives and those who returned were changed forever by the experience. World War I had important effects on society at large. If you have watched the series Downton Abbey, this social change of the war is well illustrated. The household staff is reduced in number; technology in the form of the motor car and other forms of mechanisation has changed the way of production and work on the land less people are needed. New opportunities are opened up for the middle and lower classes. The women of the household are becoming managers of the estate and taking control of their own lives. Generally, the war brought an increase in progressive thinking. In many parts of the world, opportunities for lower and middle class people improved, while members of the aristocracy found their power waning.

While the men were away fighting women were employed in the civil service, munitions factories, on the land, docklands and tramways. All roles traditionally filled by men. However at the end of the war they were expected to give up these roles and return to life as if the War of all War had never happened. Of course some women did return to their traditional roles however many did not, women’s extensive war participation helped convince the British politicians that it would be alright to give women the vote nevertheless it took until 1928 for this to be achieved. On the other hand down at the bottom of the world New Zealand had given women the vote in 1893, why this happened is a topic for discussion at another time.

Women cut their hair wore shorter skirts even trousers, life would never be the same. Full employment due to the war effort, rationing, rent control and increased consumption of milk and eggs, and improved social provision meant that working-class families were better off. Indeed, on average working-class incomes doubled between 1914 and 1920 in Britain.

A New Zealand woman by the name of Ethel Watkins Taylor born in Onehunga and of Ngapuhi descent volunteered in 1914 as a nurse in the New Zealand Army Nursing Service. She serviced mainly in Egypt caring for our soldiers in a hospital of tents. When she returned to New Zealand she was appointed the Native Health Nurse at Te Karaka and was awarded the MBE for her work in the community.

The social change was immense.

A number of peace organisations were formed in response to World War I such as the Fellowship of Reconciliation and the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom. The determination of 1200 spirited women from 12 countries who gathered in The Hague in 1915 as war raged. They drew up 20 proposals for stopping the war by a negotiated peace and took these personally to world leaders. While they didn’t succeed, changes occurred for those who as conscientious objectors, refused conscription – a right which has since been endorsed by the United Nations but sadly is still not recognised in all countries.

The social and political landscape changed forever.

Today our world is engulfed in war again being fought in the Middle East. A conflict that seems so immense that it is seemingly impossible for our current world powers to stop. A negotiation towards peace is insurmountable. This current conflict has been described by theologian Karen Armstrong as being a result of Western social change being incomprehensible to the Middle Eastern Muslim mind. In Karen Armstrong’s book, Fields of Blood she states, “…we must find ways of contemplating these distressing facts of modern life or we will lose the best part of our humanity. Somehow we have to find ways of doing what religion – at its best – has done for centuries: build a sense of global community, cultivate a sense of reverence and ‘equanimity for all, and take responsibility for the suffering we see in the world.”

Mark’s Jesus advocated for social change he challenged the occupying Roman Empire and the collaborating Jewish elite. His message was one of empowering the disenfranchised such as our widow in today’s Gospel. It is doubtful that the intention of war is to bring about social change nevertheless this is what happened after the ‘war to end all war.’