Trafalgar Sunday 2020

What is the nature of community? So often we think of a group of people living together and sharing a common life? The word community is much loved by governments when then can use it to label those who may have nothing else in common but their heritage or ethnicity. What does it take to think of ourselves as part of a community?

In our first reading from the book of the prophet Isaiah we have a particular message delivered to a particular group of people. Thousands of years ago there was a tribal culture prevalent in much of the world and this meant that one tribe could be at risk from another of warfare and assimilation. The Israelite nation was as vulnerable as any other and their experience was to be overrun by the powerful Babylonian state not once but twice. Many of the Israelites were captured and taken to Babylon to live where there were pressures to conform to the foreign way of life. The elders of the Israelites did what they could to offer hope and maintain their traditions.

It is into this situation that Isaiah speaks. The people feel abandoned by God. Where is the one that promised to be with them?

I am creating a new family says God through Isaiah. Do not be desolate. I was only gone for a moment. Your descendants will be so numerous that you will need to enlarge the tent in which you are living to accommodate them all. My love is steadfast, my presence is always with you, my compassion for you is great, I will gather you to myself.

It’s a message of hope for the nation of Israel that finds itself in a strange land with strange customs and strange gods. When they feel “all at sea” with the loss of the familiar way of life – God is with them. Perhaps something for us to hang onto as we live through these most worrying and disorienting of times.

As we keep Trafalgar Sunday today it’s worth reminding ourselves that Admiral Lord Nelson knew a thing or two about the importance of community, of keeping a body of men together in the heat of battle and the calm that follows. In the close confines of a ship it was important that everyone knew their particular role and was vigilant in keeping to it. In the noise and confusion a moment of inattention meant you were just as likely to be killed by your own side as by the enemy.

Nelson had what is usually described as the “common touch” a way of saying that he spoke as easily to the powder boys who where the least of the crew as he did to those higher up in his command. He inspired great affection amongst those he led and understood the bond that held together a ship’s company and how to facilitate it.

The signal that he sent at 11.35am on 21 October 1805 could so easily have read “Nelson expects that every man will do his duty” but a last minute suggestion was that “Nelson” should be changed to “England” and so “England expects that every man should do his duty” entered the history books. But the point was that Nelson was underlining the importance of each pulling together for the good of the whole.

We know that Nelson was a man of deep faith, the son of a Norfolk vicar, who from his earliest years would have heard the stories of Jesus.

Our reading from Luke’s gospel reminds us of the radical view that Jesus had of the importance of family and community and how dangerous that was in his time and place. Against the background of Roman occupied Palestine, going around telling people that God loves them and forgives them was not popular. The inclusive message of God’s love to all and the restoration to their communities of those cast out due to disease and or way of life worked against the oppressive nature of the Roman regime. It’s no wonder that the titular ruler, Herod, who owes his position to the Romans on the understanding that he keep some order in his region is looking to remove Jesus permanently from his area by killing him if necessary.

A sense of togetherness, of belonging, of community that Jesus brought brings strength and hope and might well give people the idea that in their togetherness there is indeed strength. Perhaps enough to topple an oppressive regime.

Notice the words that Jesus uses that echoes some of the words that we heard written in the book of Isaiah. The “gathering of children together” as a hen gathers her brood. It’s one of my favourite images of how God loves us. The tenderness of being brought together in the strong love that a mother has for her child and the strength of the protection that the outstretched wings can bring. Sufficient to offer shelter to all brought together.

How might this continue to speak to us today.

As we come to our Chapel AGM following this service we have the opportunity to reflect on all that we have shared as a community these past 12 to 18 months. Through our reports we are reminded of the work that goes on to support our Chapel life. We strive to model ourselves on the community of love that Christ showed us and we are reminded of in our bible readings today. Against the background of the pandemic and the various restrictions it is so important to continue to show our love and concern for one another and to continue to be a place where welcome and hope are found. Never underestimate the power of prayer or a phone call or card.

We gather as best we can, this our community, as we welcome each other in person or online week by week. Mindful of each other and knowing that we each are loved, that whoever we are we each have something to bring to our shared life in Christ.

May God bless each of us.

Amen

Nelson’s last signal at Trafalgar by Thomas Davidson 1912

In the collection of the National Maritime Museum