Day 8 - We will follow the Lord our God forever and ever

In the last days, the mountain of the Lord’s house will be the highest of all — the most important place on earth. It will be raised above the other hills, and people from all over the world will stream there to worship. People from many nations will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of Jacob’s God. There he will teach us his ways, and we will walk in his paths.” For the Lord’s teaching will go out from Zion; his word will go out from Jerusalem. The Lord will mediate between peoples and will settle disputes between strong nations far away. They will hammer their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will no longer fight against nation, nor train for war anymore. Everyone will live in peace and prosperity, enjoying their own grapevines and fig trees, for there will be nothing to fear. The Lord of Heaven’s Armies has made this promise! Though the nations around us follow their idols, we will follow the Lord our God forever and ever.

Micah 4:1-5 NLT

Today is Remembrance Sunday and I, like many members of organisations up and down the country, will be doing my duty as Padre of 1188 (Coalville) squadron RAF Air Cadets and attending the service and parade in Coalville alongside military veterans, uniformed youth organisations and members of the public who will want to join in to pay their respects on this important day.

I have to admit that in some ways I struggle with Remembrance Sunday. Don’t get me wrong, I think it is important that we remember those who have paid the ultimate price to protect our freedom, and to ask God to help us to make peace and not war. But sometimes services on Remembrance Sunday can verge on the jingoistic or nationalistic, as if we have the right to claim that clearly God is “on our side” in times of war and that we are always in the right in every military decision we have made and will make in the future.

I think that is why I like this passage from Micah so much. It creates the picture of a time when the world will be different, when war will be done and people will focus on what is important, the production of food (and wine!) and being able to live without fear and in a time of peace and prosperity. But more than that, this will be available to EVERYONE – every single person, not just the select few or those who hold positions of power or wealth – ALL! The Lord will bring it to pass if we follow his way and allow him to work through our lives.

How far removed this reading seems from current circumstances – where each time we open a newspaper or web page, or turn on our screens, we seem to have taken another step closer to war, and we hear about those who live in parts of the world already suffering the effects of war.

So, as we join in with the commemorations today, may we do so in ways that build one another up, that remember the contributions of all affected by war, and that look to that wonderful day when “nation will no longer fight against nation” in God’s glorious kingdom.

Catherine Booton