This is a copy of my talk given in the Anglican Church of Paphos on Remembrance Sunday 8 November 2026. The Bible Readings were Amos 5:18-24 & 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 & John 6:37-40.

Lieutenant-Colonel John McRae’s handwritten poem (image courtesy of the Osler Library of the History of Medicine, McGill University, Canada).

Prayer

Heavenly Father,
I thank You for Your word.
By the power of Your Holy Spirit,
May You speak to my heart,
And change my life.
In the precious name of Jesus I pray.
Amen. 

Introduction

Today, many people across the Commonwealth will wear a Poppy. The Poppy was first introduced in 1921 to raise funds for ex-servicemen and women and were sold to support the Earl Haig Fund and later the Royal British Legion.

Poppies were memorialised in the poem In Flanders Fields written by Canadian physician Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae in 1915 and commemorates the 600,000 men who died there.

Poppies are an important reminder of the suffering and sacrifice made by ordinary men and women in both World Wars, and many conflicts since, who gave their lives for our freedom and for the freedom of others. We wear our Poppies with pride so that we don’t forget the sacrifices made. The Royal British Legion issued a statement recently:

Wearing your poppy is a personal way to show your support and thanks to the Armed Forces community, past and present. Whether you are wondering how to wear a poppy, how to attach it, which side to wear it on or when to start wearing it, there is no single ‘correct’ way to wear a poppy. We simply ask that if you choose to wear a poppy, you wear it with pride.

But if I asked you what the Poppy means to you, what would you say? Today I want to think about the significance of a Poppy and what it might represent.

BLACK reminds us of SIN

It’s interesting that the black of the poppy should be at the heart of the flower, because it is in the human heart where sin begins. Jeremiah 17:9 tells us that: the heart is deceitful above all things. All of us have the potential to do terrible things and lose our self-control. In the quest for power; the desire for supremacy; the urge to control others – all of which causes the death and suffering of many.

The Bible also teaches that the reason for so much disagreement and division in our world today is because we have chosen to ignore God’s rules for living and have turned their backs on: His teaching; His love; His compassion; His acceptance; His forgiveness; His Peace.

We choose to reject what God has to say and wonder why we can’t live in peaceful co-existence and wonder why the world is in such a mess – there doesn’t seem to be a news bulletin at any time of the day that isn’t covering a new, or an existing, conflict somewhere in the world.

Politicians said that WW1 was the war to end all wars; they said the same about WW2 – but still mankind has an absurd ability to take up arms against each other. And still, it goes on in Iran, Ukraine, Palestine, Yemen, Syria, the Middle East – to name but a few.

Did you know there are currently 60 countries, out of 195, involved in armed conflict. At the end of December 2025, the UN recorded there were 41.6 million refugees, 9 million asylum-seekers and 68.7 million people, displaced because of war and conflict. That’s 120 million –roughly the population of Japan!

RED reminds us of BLOOD

It’s a sad fact of history there has been significant bloodshed as a result of war. And as we think of those who’ve lost their lives in times of war, we think especially of those who laid down their own lives to save their comrades – the ultimate sacrifice made to save others.

Every Remembrance Sunday I remind people of the human cost of war. WW1 saw a soldier dying every 15 seconds. 16 million in total. WW2 saw 22 million military personnel lose their lives; as well as 28 million civilians. It’s said there was a total of 500m casualties of war in the C20th alone – the bloodiest century in the history of the world. Some estimates suggest 7 million people have died in the C21st  with many hundreds of thousands of casualties.

There’s no doubt these are sobering statistics for us all. But it’s because of this unacceptable loss of life that it’s right that we remember those who fought for our freedom and it’s right that we honour their sacrifice today. As the Kohima Epitaph rightly reminds us:

When you go home, tell them of us and say; for your tomorrow we gave our today.

The Bible teaches that Jesus’ blood was shed in order that the past wrongs and hurts in our lives, the history we would rather forget, can be forgiven and wiped away. Jesus died to bridge the gap between God and man. Indeed, as the Bible tells us, Hebrews 9:22: without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.

GREEN reminds us of NEW LIFE

Just as the black of the poppy reminds us of sin and the red of shed blood, the green symbolises the emerging of new life – just as a green shoot emerges from dark soil – symbolising renewal and growth. After wars are won and lost comes the task of rebuilding and starting afresh from the ruins left behind with the optimism of a hope filled future.

According to the Bible, the only way we can begin to make a fresh start in life is to be sorry for the things we’ve done wrong. It’s called repentance. The late Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, former Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth from 1991 to 2013, brought together  a collection of talks written for Radio 4’s ‘Thought for the Day’ slot in a wrote a wonderful book called: ‘From Optimism to Hope.’ He writes (page 102):

I’d like to see repentance make a comeback. Think of the difference it would make if politicians, business people – any of us – could simply say, I’m sorry, I got it wrong; instead of having to pretend that we got it right.  There would be a lot more honesty in public life, and perhaps in private life also, if we really remembered that, whatever we’ve done, God helps us to begin again.

I’ve had some interesting, but sad, conversations with some people in recent weeks, especially via social media. who do not see the need to be repentant or penitent for the state of our world on a day like today. We should all, whoever we are, and whatever age we are, be filled with sorrow (or rage) for the violence and warfare that continues to claim lives across our world. The key to new life in the human heart is to acknowledge the sin that is there and to believe that we can receive forgiveness simply by saying sorry!

In that well known Bible verse, John 3:16, Jesus said: For God loved the world so much he gave his one and only son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. God delights in giving us fresh starts.

Jesus’ death and his rising from the dead on that first Easter Sunday morning is the ultimate victory. It is, as 1 Thessalonians 4:18 reminds us, words of great encouragement for one another. And it is because of that we can look to the future with confidence and hope, not in ourselves but in Him who holds the world together in the palm of His hand. However, new life only comes to those who turn to Jesus and accept all that He has done for us.

The POPPY is a sign of PEACE

The poppy, to many people, is a sign of peace and the end of war. Listening to the news, we can sometimes think that peace is a matter of military campaigns, diplomatic pressure and negotiated settlements.  And so it is, but only in the short term.

In the longer term, peace depends on so many other things, such as learning to coexist, making space for others, letting go of the past and moving on. No individual, no matter how brilliant or intelligent, will ever be able to broker a true and lasting peace. No nation, of itself, no matter how militarily strong, will ever be able to keep a true and lasting peace.

In the world, peace is something you hope for and work for, but to the Christian, peace is God’s wonderful gift that we receive through faith in him. The world enjoys peace when there is an absence of trouble; Christians enjoy peace in spite of trials and tribulations because of the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. It is a peace that goes beyond what the human heart and mind can understand. Real peace is knowing that God is in control.

Our reading from Psalm 70:6 reminded us that God is our help and our deliverer who, as Amos 5:24 points out, will … let justice roll down like rivers and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

And because of what we know of the plans and purposes of God from the Bible, we acknowledge God’s sovereignty in our lives, even though it can often be difficult for us to grasp and understand.

It seems to me that the only lasting peace that is of any value is that men, and nations, come to a personal faith and trust in God. People who do not know Him will never know peace – it’s as simple as that. 

Conclusion

Black – we are all sinners

Red – Jesus died to save me

Green – we can have new life in Him

And find the peace we so badly need

May I encourage you, as you reflect on this Remembrance Service today, to commit yourself to living in the way that God meant you to live – in freedom and by doing all that makes for peace, by doing justice, loving mercy and walking humbly with God (Micah 6:8).

A Prayer

Almighty Father, whose will is to restore all things in your beloved Son, the King of all: govern the hearts and minds of those in authority, and bring the families of the nations, divided and torn apart by the ravages of sin, to be subject to his just and gentle rule; who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. AMEN.

COPYRIGHT DISCLAIMER The text contained in this sermon (except where stated) is solely owned by its author, Revd Paul A. Carr. The reproduction, or distribution of this message, or any portion of it, should include the author’s name. The author provides free sermon resources in order to inspire believers and to assist preachers and teachers in building God’s Kingdom and making disciples.