For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places: all this is but the beginning of the birth pangs.

‘Then they will hand you over to be tortured and will put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of my name…

But anyone who endures to the end will be saved. 

And this good news of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the world, as a testimony to all the nations; and then the end will come.

Matthew 24:7-9, 13-14

I write this on 5^th November 2023, Guy FAWKES’ day. Around the country bonfires will be lit, fireworks set off, and lots of food and much fun will be had. Although, good luck to anyone trying to light a sodden bonfire tonight!

I don’t know what your memories of Bonfire Night are? For me, as a child, it was wonderful. We got to stay up late. We went out in the garden after dark, something we never normally did. We got to have sparklers and some fireworks in the garden. My mom made cheesy baked potatoes. We had a wonderful time.

But it is quite difficult to connect these positive, party-like memories of wonderful family times with the disturbing and violent events that they commemorate.

You all know the story. It starts in 1534 with Henry VIII. Henry was a devout Catholic who heard mass 5 times a day and whose most trusted advisor was the head of the Catholic church in England, Cardinal WOLSEY!

But Henry wants a divorce because he needs a male heir. However, the pope refuses to grant it. So Henry breaks with Rome and pronounces himself head of the church in England. As you can imagine, for devout Catholics, this was a serious problem. It is a political move but it also has massive religious consequences.

Only a few years earlier, in 1517, Martin Luther had started a movement against the abuse of selling indulgences. This led to the ideas globally summed up in the Reformation. This movement is given space to breathe in England when Henry separates from the Pope and the Catholic church.

So, England becomes a hot-bed of religious conflict. Faithful Catholics against Protestant Reformers and politics is mixed into the centre of all this. Catholicism is outlawed. Catholic priests are killed. Catholic religious houses disbanded and sold off. The whole Catholic faith goes underground.

In 1605 a group of powerful Catholics decide violent action is necessary. They decide to try to blow up the English monarch King James I and the whole of Parliament at its opening. By this they hope to re-establish Catholicism as the religion of England and bring the English church back under the authority of Rome.

But an anonymous letter, warning someone to stay away from the opening of parliament, exposes the plot. Guy FAWKES is discovered. He is horribly tortured until he gives up the names of his co-conspirators and they are all hanged, drawn and quartered – the most horrific death ever devised in England.

When we read this awful and horrific story, and when we think that this was all done in the name of religion, it seems unthinkable. It is also difficult to understand why these events were considered something worthy of celebration, even by the young. An old children’s rhyme goes;

Guy Fawkes, Guy
Stick him up on high,
Hang him on a lamp post
And there let him die.

Guy, Guy, Guy,
Poke Him in the eye,
Put him on the fire
And there let him die

Burn his body from his head
Then you’ll say
Guy Fawkes is dead
Hip, Hip, Hooray!

Opie and Opie, ‘The Lore and Language of Schoolchildren’, p 281.

To our modern ears, this rhyme, which has children exulting in the torture and brutal execution of someone, seems horrific. How could we ever have thought that it was a good thing?

So, on Bonfire Night we have this really strange juxtaposition of horrific violence and family fun. It is a really weird thing.

But, if you think about it, the Christian faith embodies a similar strange juxtaposition. We hold together the horrific and the beautiful. Our central image is that of the cross – a means of torture and execution, often considered to be the most brutal ever devised. And yet we celebrate it, we wear gold and silver representations of it around our necks, we bow before it in prayer. Why?

We do so because we believe that, although horrific, it stands for something important and something deeply beautiful. Although horrific, evil, and ugly beyond description, the cross is also the way that God has revealed to us the depth of his love.

That Jesus – God himself – would suffer and die in such brutal agony for us and for our sins, is both horrific and deeply moving. It is ugly and beautiful at the same time; a beautiful ugliness.

So, in the Christian faith, we hold both the horror of the cross and the beauty of God’s love and mercy together in a mysterious mix.

In the verses at the start of this meditation what is going to happen. Jesus predicts the fall of Jerusalem. He also predicts war and violence that will engulf the world – that peace will often be a fragile and fleeting thing.

He also tells the disciples of the persecution that will come upon the church and the fact that this will cause many to fall away, to betray each other, to cause the love of many for Jesus to grow cold.

But in all the horror and ugliness of God’s coming judgement, there is also the beauty of God’s promise;

“But anyone who endures to the end will be saved. And this good news of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the world, as a testimony to all the nations; and then the end will come.”

Ugliness and horror are coming, but there will be beauty and wonder there too. In the midst of all this horror and pain, the gospel will still advance. It will be preached throughout the entire world.

Now, be honest. When you are reading a particularly exciting detective story, with lots of plot twists and turns, do you read it page by page, or do you sneak a peek at the final page to see whodunnit? Hands up if you sneak a peek!

Well, in a way, this is what we are doing with this verse. Jesus is telling us how things will work out in the end. The future is not unknown to us as Christians. We know that Jesus will return in glory. We know that Jesus will finally and fully defeat Satan and all the forces of evil. We know that Jesus will establish his eternal reign of justice and peace. We know that all those who have followed Jesus faithfully in this life will get to be a part of his glorious kingdom forever.

That knowledge about the future gives us confidence to face whatever life throws at us today. We can face earthquakes, storms, volcanoes, wars, persecution, sickness – whatever comes at us, we can look it in the face knowing that ultimately it changes nothing. We have read the end of the story. We know who wins.

Colossians chapter 3 starts with this paragraph;

So, if you have been raised with Christ (through baptism – dying and rising to new life), seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.

Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

When Christ who is your life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory.

From the moment of our baptism we begin to live a new eternal life. So, our primary occupation should no longer be this world, but the world to come. That is what we should be living for, preparing for, investing in.

And that future is secure, nothing can touch it. There is a beautiful verse in Hebrews that expresses this mindset;

But we are not among those who shrink back and so are lost, but among those who have faith and so are saved. Hebrews 10:39

As we look out on a world today that seems consumed with violence and suffering, we do not despair. We have read the end of the story. We know what happens. We know who wins. And we have committed ourselves to Him and to His cause. Let us live out that calling with confidence and hope. Amen.

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