This week Tony Blair took up his new role as our Middle East envoy and while we pray for his success we can be under no illusion that this is a formidable task. Partly of course because of his previous involvement in Iraq and the distrust in the Muslim world that flows from that. And partly because attitudes in the region have become so entrenched that it is difficult to see where any movement might come from. For the roots of this conflict are not new, they go back now for nearly a hundred years and some would argue that they go back considerably further than that. But regardless of its origins the reality is that memories die hard as the hurts and grievances of a previous generation are carried forward in the collective memory and determines how communities respond in the present. For you and I history is something that happened in the past, but to so many others it is a living entity. As past history is re-told and re-enacted it keeps alive the memory of what happened and with it the fear that it could still happen all over again. And so often it does as past hurts, carefully nurtured, soon break out in fresh violence. We have seen this in Northern Ireland, we have seen it in the tragedy of the Balkans, we have seen it in the tribal divisions that resulted in the genocide of Rwanda and we are continuing to see it in the conflict of the Middle East. It is living history that lies behind calls for an apology over slavery; and living history that led the former Pope to apologise for the Crusades, some eight hundred years after the events.

So often these conflicts appear to operate across a religious divide, Protestant and Catholic in Northern Ireland, Hindu and Muslim in Kashmir, Jew and Muslim in Palestine. But in reality these reflect ancient political divisions, where no doubt differences in religion were part of the cultural landscape but where causes run much deeper. Thus in the Sudan while the cause of the conflict is rooted in ancient conflicts, the ownership of land and differences of culture and practice have only served to accentuate differences of religion. On this Sunday earmarked as Racial Justice Sunday we are reminded of the need to celebrate such differences and rejoice in our human and cultural diversity rather than see it as a problem. Only by accepting our differences and recognising our common humanity will we learn to rise above the history of the past and see ourselves as one people sharing an ever shrinking world.

Yet this is far from easy. If we turn away from the national scene and focus on the much smaller world of family and work, leisure and human relationships we find ourselves in a similar world where people also come into conflict with one another and where relationships break down and individuals are pressurised to take sides. As with the national scene, past hurts are remembered and nurtured and powerful forces are brought into play to ensure that memories are not forgotten and reconciliation never takes place. But at least the local and domestic make it easier to understand that what is really needed is a willingness to forgive and forget so that relationships can be healed and communities of trust can be built. And if it proves possible at the personal level there is always hope that the fear of difference can be overcome; the voices of history ignored; and that one day there could be peace.

But it remains a hope. The truth is that both at a personal and national level people aren't looking for peace. They like to feel hurt and to raise past grievances. They thrive on war, they thirst for power and they relish control. As a consequence those who counsel peace are swiftly set aside as being hopelessly naïve and ultimately not one of us. What this can mean is well exemplified in the life of Jesus. For the one who came to break down the barriers between God and his people and invite us to make a new start was himself rejected and killed.

Yet this was the same man who taught us that we should love our enemies and forgive those who persecute us. And when asked how often we should forgive said not seven times, but seventy times seven. His teaching was and is that love and reconciliation can never be a reality unless at the heart of our relationships, personal and national, is the forgiveness that restores trust.

In the wonderful letter to Philemon we heard Paul expounding this teaching and encouraging his old friend to receive Onesimus back and to forgive him for the past wrongs he has committed. Onesimus had been Philemon's slave and run away. It was open to Philemon to exert the direst of retributions and Onesimus took a big risk in going home. But he did so, for at the heart of the Christian life, which he had now embraced, was the need to repent of the past and to say sorry; as also is the need for the wronged party to be forgiving. Forgive us our sins we pray so we forgive those who sin against us. So Paul send Onesimus home. And because there is a risk in doing so he sends with him a letter reminding Philemon of his Christian duty.

In the passage from St Luke we hear Jesus talking to his disciples about the real cost of discipleship. And he tells them that that they cannot be his disciples unless they are prepared to give everything away. It might not come to that, but then again it might. So often we read this passage and think how difficult it would be to part with our money and our possessions and maybe it is at that level that we should allow the Gospel to challenge us. But our possessions are far more than our material goods. It includes everything we want to hold on to, our hurts and grievances, our love of power and ambition and control, our fear of difference and much else besides. Too often the story of life is written in jealousy, envy, rivalry, poor relations at work, families that won't speak to one another and subtle and not so subtle forms of retaliation and revenge. In this climate what is needed is for Christians to set an example and build peace and reconciliation in their own lives and relationships through forgiveness and the love and trust that flows from it. But of course it isn't easy, especially when it involves your own family or your own community. For then it runs a greater risk of being misunderstood and rejected, much as Jesus was himself. But this is the gospel, to break down the barriers and build the Kingdom on the twin foundations of love and trust.

Small wonder that in our Gospel reading Jesus tells us that it isn't possible to be a disciple unless you are prepared to put the love of God above all else. Discipleship is costly, he warns, and we are to count the cost before rushing into it. Jesus does not want people whose minds are focussed on other things half the time. He wants people who will be committed, even if that means leaving family behind in the search for God and his Kingdom. More importantly he tells us that you cannot live with the Gospel without total commitment, for anything less is not the gospel life. We cannot be disciples unless we are prepared to let go all our possessions - personal as well as material.

In our collect we prayed that we might be given pure hearts and steadfast wills. Now we know what that means, total commitment! But we are not to be hard and heartless people focussed on one thing and one thing only, contemptuous of those who cannot keep up. We are not about moral absolutes for their own sake. The need for purity and focus are so that we can worship God in spirit and in truth. And both of those apply only when we come to our worship with our hearts filled with love for God. Love is both a hard and a soft option. It is gentle, it is caring, it is devoted. But equally it is ready to sacrifice all for the sake of the beloved. Thus in Jesus we see these twin qualities of compassion and understanding on the one hand, and a determination not to be deflected from God's will on the other; even when that determination is at the cost of his own life. Only love of this quality will be fit for the task of making peace; particularly when it comes to making peace between those who have been sworn enemies over centuries; or when it comes to making peace in our own families; or when there is a need for us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. So do we have it in us to love at this deeper level? Do we have it in us to let go all that holds us back? Sometimes it is our refusal to let go that is the most precious possession we need to sacrifice.

I began by talking about situations of conflict in the world. These situations are determined by individuals, men and women who cannot find it in themselves to let go the pursuit of violence and seek instead the way of peace. Often it is fear that divides them. Perhaps they see what can happen when men like Yitzhak Rabin, the former Israeli Prime Minister, walk the pathway to peace and his assassination makes them afraid. Perhaps they are afraid of being thought to be weak. Perhaps they are afraid that the strong will always be the winner and the winner takes all. Perhaps they are simply afraid of losing power. People in positions of leadership need our prayers. But they also need our example. They need evidence that gives them courage and inspires hope. The hope that comes from seeing that peace is a real possibility and that where there is a willingness to forgive then good always flows from it. They need also to see that although peace will ultimately come from those in leadership it still needs individual signs of forgiveness in order to generate the trust and generosity that will flow from it.

Today the gospel calls us to surrender our lives at a deeper level than ever before. The level where love is total so that forgiveness comes naturally. May we have the grace to forgive and forget so that the gospel may be seen in action.

More sermons, modern and historical, available in Norwich Cathedral Library

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