Last year we marked the hundredth anniversary of the end of the First World War, a war which put an end to the Victorian and Edwardian idea that human history was a march of progress with the world getting a better place as time went on. This year, we mark the 80th anniversary of the start of the Second World War, a war that put an end to the idea that wars are the way to solve humanity's problems.
Just over twenty years after the conclusion of the so-called 'War to end all wars', the sons and grandsons of the Great War veterans went off to fight on European soil again, and in one way or another, our armed forces have been on active duty somewhere ever since. The writer of the Bible book Ecclesiastes said that there is a time for war and a time for peace – although we see precious little of the time for peace.
He is writing about what he sees in the world around him, and part of his message is that we can endure the bad things that happen, because they will pass. However, there is a larger message in his book that is greater than this Stoical, stiff-upper-lip, almost fatalistic, view. And that is that these are things that happen 'under the heavens', meaning that these things happen on earth. He goes on to say that if our life on earth is the only life we have then every event and action, good and bad, is meaningless, and we should therefore just eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we may die.
But the writer says that God has put eternity in our hearts, he has given us all a deep sense that there is more to life than this life, and therefore we cannot be satisfied by looking at the world this way. We all have a desire in us for the things of heaven, whether that's justice, or peace, or safety, or joy, or love. We want an end to all those bad things that the writer of Ecclesiastes lists. We want an end to death, to killing, to destruction. We want an end to weeping and to mourning. We want an end to hate, and an end to war.
But how can this happen? The Second World War proved that war is not the solution. So how can there be a time when nation will not take up sword against nation, where everyone can live in peace? The prophet Micah tells us that if we want the benefits of heaven we need to turn to the God of heaven: “He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.”
However, we cannot do this on our own. Humanity is incapable of making itself perfect. The First World War taught us that. We need help from God. The final book of the Bible, Revelation, gives us a great picture of what the new, redeemed and restored world will look like when everyone walks God's way: “God 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” (Revelation 21:4).
An estimated 19 million people died in the First World War, and an estimated 85 million in the Second World War. Both wars were fought to bring justice and peace, to make the world a better place. But it took only one death to make that heaven-on-earth possible, and that one death was Jesus'. Jesus declared that he is the way, the truth and the life and that no-one comes to the Father except through him. He declared that he would lay down his life so that we may have life and have it to the full.
So if you long for a world where there is no more death or killing, mourning or pain; if you want a world of justice and peace, joy and love; if you want the kind of world those in the World Wars fought for; then come to Jesus: he will teach us his ways, so we may walk in his paths, now and for ever. Amen.
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