大象传媒

MUSIC UNDER: Benedictus from The Armed Man: A Mass For Peace by Karl Jenkins (Used throughout)

RH: Welcome to our Remembrance Sunday service. Today we鈥檙e going to be thinking about what it means to remember well. I鈥檓 the Revd Dr Rosa Hunt, Co- principal of Cardiff Baptist College. This is a transatlantic service in which I鈥檓 joined by my fellow Baptist, the Revd Jamie Washam, Pastor of First Baptist Church In America, in Rhode Island, USA.

JW: Memory shapes our going forward. The heart of remembering well relates to what we do in the present moment. In this service, we join two sides of the Atlantic, recalling the events of September 11, 2001, along with the innumerable lives affected in the 20 intervening years. We consider those touched by the tragedy of war across the globe 鈥� including in the two world wars of the twentieth century 鈥� and we lift up those made refugees in the ensuing decades of conflict; we lament lives lost, and stories untold.

RH: Remembering is such an important theme in the Bible. In fact it鈥檚 a command: God鈥檚 people are told that they must remember well if they are to live well. And, paradoxically, this may sometimes mean needing to forget. Today, on Remembrance Sunday, we鈥檒l be remembering things that must not be forgotten, and asking for grace and wisdom to remember them well.

JW:聽 In Wales, since 1807 the Baptist College has been training women and men for mission and ministry, sending them out to be bearers of hope and help to their communities. Here, in the 1630s Roger Williams established the separation of church and state in what became Rhode Island and gathered the First Baptist Church in America.聽 Our community continues to sing the hymn he penned recalling the help God provided thus far on the way: God makes a path, provides a guide.

ITEM 2: Hymn 1 God Makes a Path
First Baptist Church In America recording

ITEM 3: Opening PrayerMUSIC UNDERJW: God of our past, present, and future, we recognize and honor your presence in our midst. Thank you for the gift of this day and for each one of us. Enable us to remember well - in a manner that both acknowledges history, and honors and heals through our recollections and our living.聽 We pray for wisdom to know how to remember and grace for times when we choose to forget.聽

RH: Holy Spirit, you inspired the prophet Isaiah to speak tenderly of God as the mother who never forgets the baby at her breast, and who cannot fail to have compassion on the child she has borne. We pray for all those for whom today is a day of bitter and painful remembering. May they draw comfort from the promise that you, O God, never forget any of your precious children, and that each of our names is engraved on the palms of your gentle yet mighty hands.聽

ITEM 4: Reading 1: Isaiah 49:14-16 Jason Shealy (from the Inclusive Bible, Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, Inc. 2009).
A reading from the book of Isaiah:
鈥淶ion said, 鈥楪od has abandoned me, Adonai has forgotten me.鈥橠oes a woman forget her baby at her breast, or fail to cherish the child of her womb?聽Yet even if these forget, I will never forget you.聽聽Look and see: I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me.鈥�

ITEM 5: Reflection 1 (Jamie): What does God remember?
JW: Our memories fail. This is one reason we remember together. God does not forget and places reminders in our bodies of God鈥檚 presence, as near as our breath.聽Scripture offers physical demonstrations of how we bear memory in our bodies, in our breasts and muscles, in our hands and in our scars. We remember in food that we give and receive. The scent and taste of a comforting dish can elicit deep memories. It is no accident that while sharing a meal Jesus told his followers to do likewise and remember. God sees and remembers, and calls us to do the same.聽

This autumn marks the 20th anniversary of 9/11. We continue to live with the fallout from that day鈥� from those terrible events which still have an impact on communities across the world.

The act of remembering is powerful; it dignifies the saints who precede us in death by marking their continued presence in our lives.

On this day of remembrance, we also lift up those too often unseen and neglected: indigenous women who disappear, trans people - particularly women of color - who suffer violence, differently-abled people undergoing daily indignities, elders rendered invisible, un-housed people deemed a nuisance rather than sheltered, refugees fleeing violence and hunger, for those we ignore and forget, we lament and repent.聽

God sees and does not blink. Just as we learn to love and forgive from God, we are to look with God鈥檚 eyes and to recollect with God鈥檚 heart.聽

A Benediction in Remembrance of 9/11:
ITEM 7: Prayer 1 Stephen Martorella
O God our help in ages past, our hope for years to come, open our eyes and open our hearts to see your people as you do. Grant us the grace to bear witness.聽May our lives honor the lives of all who have been lost and those who have suffered. May our memories inspire a steadfast commitment within us to cultivate a world where lives are not obstructed by violence but instead are instructed in ways of peace for all creation.聽For you have not placed us at each other鈥檚 mercy, but in each other鈥檚 care. Amen.聽

ITEM 8: Hymn 2: O The Deep, Deep Love Of Jesus聽
大象传媒 Recording: Cantemus

ITEM 9: Reading 2: Psalm 103:8-18, 22聽 Reader: Richard John Miles (UK), Angela Muhuri (US)

UK: A reading from Psalm 103: (Music under)
UK: You are tender and compassionate, GOD鈥�
US: Slow to anger, and always loving;
UK: Your indignation doesn鈥檛 endure forever, and your anger lasts only for a short time.
US: You never treat us as our sins deserve;聽
UK: You don鈥檛 repay us in kind for the injustices we do.
US: For as high as heaven is above the earth, so great is the love for those who revere you.
UK: As far away as the east is from the west, that鈥檚 how far you remove our sins from us!聽
US: As tenderly as parents treat their children, that鈥檚 how you treat your worshipers, O, GOD!
UK: For you know what we are made of 鈥� you remember that we鈥檙e nothing but dust.
US: We last no longer than the grass, live no longer than a wildflower;one gust of wind and we鈥檙e gone, never to be seen again.
UK: Yet your love lasts from age to age for those who revere you, O GOD, as does your goodness to our children鈥檚 children, and to those who keep your Covenant and remember to obey your precepts.
US: Bless THE LORD, all creation, to the far reaches of God鈥檚 reign!聽
UK: Bless GOD, my soul!
US: Amen.

ITEM 10: Reflection 2 (Rosa): What does God forget?

RH: We have spoken about God remembering 鈥� but does God ever forget? There are many instances in the Bible where God is accused of forgetting 鈥� forgetting聽 covenant promises of love, faithfulness and mercy to God鈥檚 own people 鈥� or even simply forgetting their existence as they struggle with suffering. Perhaps the most poignant of these comes when we hear Jesus鈥� cry on the cross: My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? In that moment of anguish, even God鈥檚 own beloved son feels that God has forgotten him, and in so doing Jesus identified fully with all of us who cry out in despair to a God who seems to have forgotten us. That cry has been shared by so many who have suffered because of the violence of war and the legacy of conflict.

We have the privilege of knowing that Jesus鈥� story did not end with his crucifixion. The resurrection on the third day is a mighty vindication of the fact that God had not forgotten Jesus. And the Bible is unrelenting in its insistence that God never forgets God鈥檚 children. The Hebrew word for God鈥檚 love, hesed, contains strong overtones of faithfulness and covenant within it 鈥� God is committed to us, God鈥檚 love for each of us never fails. God never forgets us.

But the Bible tells us that there is one thing that God does forget. Or, to be more accurate, perhaps, there is one thing that God consistently chooses not to remember. God chooses not to remember what we have done wrong.聽

This isn鈥檛 quite the same as forgetting. It means that God makes a free choice not to allow our sins to influence our mutual relationship. While being fully aware that we have fallen short, God chooses to act towards us as though we had not.

I think that this teaches us something important about remembering well. It may mean that we freely choose not to remember some things, things which cause division and violence, things which destroy relationships. Remembering such things can hurt instead of healing, and bring death instead of life. It can be wise to let them go. Of course, you and I are not as free as God is, and so this choice not to remember can be really hard. We also need to acknowledge that it can be really costly. It cost God His life.

(Music Under) ITEM 11: Prayer 2 Reader: Misha Brigitte Pedersen (UK)

Dear Lord, so many of us are haunted by memories which oppress us. Memories of words and actions which we regret. Memories of hurt inflicted on us by others, as well as suffering caused to those we love.聽

We think with pain and sorrow about the broken relationships in our lives, both the personal ones and the ones we see causing division in our communities and our world.聽

Today we especially bring to your loving attention our memories of those loved ones who have been killed in war, or scarred by it in any way. Perhaps some of us will bring to you our own memories of being caught up in conflict and its consequences, memories of discrimination and displacement.聽

Father, your Son Jesus promised that He came to set the captive free. Give us the grace, through the power of your Spirit, to be free enough to choose to remember well. Help us to choose to let to go of those memories which harm ourselves and others, and fill our minds with thoughts of faith, hope and love, Amen.

ITEM 12: Hymn 3 Be Thou My Vision
First Baptist Church In America recording

ITEM 13: Reflection 3a (Jamie)
JW: Remembrance and forgiveness intertwine. God remembers even as God forgives.聽The Lord鈥檚 prayer itself tells us: Forgive us our debts as we have forgiven those who owe us something.聽聽Notice the past tense of the second phrase 鈥� 鈥渁s we have [already] forgiven.鈥澛� We are expected to make our amends and be reconciled to our neighbors before we come to God in prayer or worship.Some learn this prayer using the word sins, as in (to miss the mark) or trespasses, (get off my lawn!)The most literal translations use the word 鈥渄ebts.鈥澛� 聽As in money.

This prayer has radical social, political, and economic implications.聽 What might this imply for our remembering and doing, especially as we remember the sorrow of conflict and war?The connection between our ability to forgive and being forgiven is clear.Our asking God to forgive us is bound to our willingness to forgive others.聽

We forgive, not to elicit a particular response from someone else, but because God has forgiven us.聽
We cannot fully love others, if we are unable to forgive them.
We are called to maintain the same attitude toward God as toward our neighbor.聽
Both are subject to the single motivation of love. They are one action; one response; just as the command to love God and neighbor is one command.聽When we get back into right relationship with each other, we get back into right relationship with God. It is a direct correlation.
This isn鈥檛 easy. That鈥檚 why it鈥檚 in the text and prayer, to remind us to practice it, and to remind us that we can be forgiven. God is willing to help lead us to forgiveness, if we ask, and then live like we believe it.
To remember well, practice forgiveness.It鈥檚 forgiveness that has been such a powerful force in restoring relationships after the global conflicts of the first and second world wars. It continues to be a source of hope for us as we look to our future.聽

ITEM 14: Reading 3 Luke 22:19 Jason Shealy (US)
Luke鈥檚 gospel says: And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, 鈥淭his is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.鈥�

ITEM 15: Reflection 3b (Rosa)
RH: Jesus and his disciples are sharing a meal that is designed to help God鈥檚 children remember; to remember that God is a God who leads people out of slavery into freedom. But this is an act of remembering which points not only backwards, to the Exodus from Egypt, but also forwards 鈥� to the great day of liberation when all of God鈥檚 creation will be freed from bondage to sin, suffering and death.聽

And so Jesus takes the great act of remembrance and makes it even greater, by investing it with the new significance of His own suffering and death. This is the death of deaths, and hell鈥檚 destruction. By submitting to death on a cross, Jesus has given us a new聽 covenant, a new story of God鈥檚 faithfulness to remember, and to pass on, by sharing this special meal of broken bread and poured wine.聽

In that broken body, Jesus creates a new community. It鈥檚 the community of people who remember well, who remember Jesus鈥� death as one which sets them free to live out God鈥檚 law of unconditional love for neighbour, friend and enemy alike. Then, we can rebuild our relationships, and our remembrance of the sorrow of conflicts like the first and second world war become a focus for healing instead.

Roger Williams and his Baptist and Separatist contemporaries knew this principle well. For them, covenant was everything: not just the vertical covenant which speaks of God鈥檚 refusing to remember our sins, but our horizontal covenant with each other in which we too practise forgiveness and mercy in our community of remembering.聽

ITEM 16: Hymn 4 Jesus Lover Of My Soul
First Baptist Church In America recording

ITEM 17: Reading 4: Ephesians 2:12-13, 17-21 Reader: David Powell (UK)
A reading from the book of Ephesians:
You were strangers to the Covenant and its promise; you were without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus, you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For Christ is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of hostility that kept us apart.聽

In his own flesh, Christ abolished the Law, with its commands and ordinances, in order to make the two into one new person, thus establishing peace and reconciling us all to God in one body through the cross, which put to death enmity between us. Christ came and 鈥渁nnounced the Good News of peace to you who were far away, and to those who were near鈥�; for through Christ, we all have access in one Spirit to our God.

This means that you are strangers and foreigners no longer. No, you are included in God鈥檚 holy people and are members of the household of God, which is built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets, with Christ Jesus as the capstone. In Christ the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in our God; in Christ you are being built into this temple, to become a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.聽

ITEM 18: Reflection 4 (Jamie and Rosa): Remembering is Doing聽
JW:聽 Rosa reminded us that God鈥檚 movement in our midst guides us to remembrance and release, towards leaving home and seeking liberation. We are shaped by the stories we tell, by how we remember and who and what we forget.聽 Remembering well makes room for mutual healing and sets us free to demonstrate our love of God through our love of one another, not as strangers but as neighbors. That鈥檚 true for us as we live with hope for healing in places like Afghanistan, so riven with trauma of war, like us still feeling the impact of the events of 9/11 twenty years ago 鈥� but it was also true hundreds of years ago.聽In 1635, Roger Williams, who founded our community, was banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony, he sought refuge amongst the Narragansett and Wampanoag peoples. Their hospitality saved his life. Later, Williams purchased land from them to found what became Rhode Island and the city of Providence, for he felt it was God鈥檚 providence that led him there. The state and church he gathered continue to be places of 鈥榬efuge for those distressed of conscience.鈥櫬�

Now, Rhode Island is preparing to welcome Afghans seeking refuge after fleeing their homes following more than a generation of war in their country. We await their arrival and remember why they became refugees. We recall how their worlds were torn apart and acknowledge our complicity. As we wait, we pray and prepare apartments and houses. We pot mint for their kitchens when they arrive.聽 We buy take-out from locally owned immigrant restaurants, hoping that through the alchemy of economy and spice and hospitality we might begin to move into the Reign of God we know is near.聽

Through our bellies and hearts we are fed and made more whole, sharing stories and tables. We know our offerings are meager,聽 and yet we open our doors and hope. Christ came and 鈥渁nnounced the Good News of peace to you far away and to you who are near.鈥澛燚o this and remember.

RH: I鈥檝e always been fascinated by a little phrase that crops up a lot in the Hebrew Bible. It鈥檚 usually in the context of someone like Rachel in the book of Genesis having undergone long periods of suffering where their prayers remained unanswered. And then we read, 鈥淭hen God remembered Rachel鈥� . We see the same pattern again and again for other characters like Joseph or Hagar 鈥� God's act of remembering allows them to move from a period of desolation to one of consolation.

But there鈥檚 a danger here of assuming that God remembers in the same way as we do.聽God hadn鈥檛 forgotten Rachel 鈥� but when the Bible says 鈥渢hen God remembered Rachel鈥�, it means that God takes decisive action on Rachel鈥檚 behalf. And for us too, remembering well means taking decisive action. Otherwise, the act of remembrance is incomplete. Remembering well must entail acting well.

Here at Cardiff Baptist College we too await the arrival of refugees. We have refurbished the hostel accommodation where students used to live while training for ministry, and are working with Welsh Government to prepare to welcome Afghan refugees into that space. Like our sisters and brothers in America, we remember why they became refugees, and we take action. We try, by the grace of God, to translate our remembering into kindness and love.聽

Over one hundred years ago, one of my predecessors as College Principal, William Edwards, sat here in this building in Richmond Road, Cardiff and translated the iconic Welsh hymn about love into English. Dyma Gariad fel y moroedd, tosturiaethau fel y lli: here is love vast as the ocean, loving kindness as the flood ...

ITEM 19: Hymn 5: Dyma Gariad
大象传媒 recording: Ardwyn Singers

ITEM 20: Prayers of Doing Readers: Angela Muhuri (US) and Dominic Jewel (UK)

US God of yesterday, today, and tomorrowMUSIC UNDERyou are our constant comfort and guide. Today, we call to mind the saints who have gone before, we remember our dead.聽聽

UK We hold the memories of those we cherish and lift up those whose names we will never know.聽We honor by our actions those who sacrificed their lives for ours, in conflict, in disaster, in acts of terror, and we pause to lift them before you.

SHORT PAUSE

US On this still tender anniversary of 9/11, help us to look beyond the brokenness of our world to see the places where your light shines through the cracks.聽

Turn our hearts towards reconciliation that perseveres beyond counting the hurt. Give us the confidence to change our minds and to enlarge our vision.聽Turn our mourning into compassion, the ashes of our grief into rich soil that bears up life.聽聽UK We pray for grace to discern how to remember and to recognize what we can release and choose to forget.聽Ground us in your love,聽 make our prayers and actions a seamless whole that dignifies you and all your creation.聽Heal our shattered places and make us agents of your reconciling love.聽 聽Bless our remembrances and the sacred work of making heaven here on earth.聽 Amen.

US We draw all our prayers together in the words our Saviour taught us:
Abba God, who art in heaven.聽Hallowed be thy nameThy kingdom come Thy will be doneOn earth as it is heavenUK Give us this day our daily breadAnd forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtorsAnd lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evilFor thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

ITEM 21: Hymn 6: Gwahoddiad (I Hear Thy Welcome Voice)
大象传媒 recording: Cantemus

ITEM 22: Blessing (JW and RH)
RH: As this service concludes, may God embolden you to continue your service in the world.Seek good, not evil, love mercy, and establish justice with peace.

JW: Make this your offering:Lamentation and liberationRemembrance and releaseJustice and joy

RH: Do this and remember well.

JW: Go in peace, with love for all our neighbors. Amen.

ITEM 23: Organ playout: Prelude on the Welsh Hymn Tune 鈥楬yfrydol鈥櫬�
Stephen Martorella, Organ