We honour today those whose readiness to respond to the human duty to serve others became, because of the times they lived in, choices unto death. We, living in peace and plenty, are the generation they could not imagine. We are the recipients of the gift of life which springs out of the deaths of our forebears, and for that reason we honour them. God knows the value of each individual gift, and understands the compromises and cruelties of violent times. But every life offered for the sake of others is not wasted but given, and the life which springs from that gift is one we have received. We thank them, and we thank God, who redeems every human gift through the sinless gift of his Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ, who died at the hands of the violent and rose again to proclaim the peace of God’s kingdom upon this troubled earth. May that kingdom come.Amen.