At one level, our meeting here this afternoon is a little strange.  In a united Europe of the 21st century it may seem a little odd that, as a nation, we are commemorating a decisive battle, fought 200 years ago against two historically sworn enemies but who are now part of a Europe that, whatever one’s views about the European Community, is determined that war within its borders shall be no more.  Odder still, those two sworn enemies seem to be relishing the celebration and even sent their naval might to join with England’s to share in the commemoration.

For those, like myself, who have just enjoyed a few days in Spain, it came as some relief that the Iberian Peninsula wasn’t bearing grudges and that, in accordance with the wishes of Her Britannic  Majesty’s Secretary of State, I was allowed to sample the delights of tapas and sherry without ‘let or hindrance’.

At a very different level, however, this weekend’s commemoration of the Battle of Trafalgar and the honouring of its greatest figure, Horatio, Lord Nelson has much to commend it – not simply as a matter of history nor as a great Festival in a country where historical events often give rise to jubilant celebration.

It is not perhaps accidental that the 200th Anniversary of Trafalgar falls within the year when we are keeping the 60th Anniversary of the end of World War II  There are similarities between these two events which cannot be lost on any who think beyond the superficial.  Both commemorate the ending of a tyranny which threatened the whole of Europe and, indeed, the freedom of the whole world.  Bonaparte and Hitler are of that mould of humanity which is only satisfied by absolute power – a power which can only be won by the most horrific and outrageous means.  Both men had to be resisted if that power was to be thwarted and freedom guaranteed.  And, as is so often the case, circumstance, or as I prefer it, Providence, threw up the kind of English Hero that was able to achieve this.

Yesterday, I watched a television programme about Queen Elizabeth the First and, inevitably, part of it dealt with the Armada sent against this country by Spain. It fell to Sir Francis Drake to thwart this and Drake is one of those figures of history to which I have just eluded.  Horatio Nelson and, in our own living memory, Winston Churchill are of the same ilk. By Providence they led us at a time when they were most needed not only to preserve England from defeat but to stand for justice, freedom and the rights of all to live peaceably with each other.

Providence, in a religious context, has a lot to do with God. These National Heroes – the ‘famous men’ of our reading from Ecclesiasticus – were part of God’s providing for the well-being of others and our own.  In an age when National figures and those who serve in our public life are subjected to the downward drag of petty journalism and are no longer given respect, it is good to remind ourselves of those occasion when ‘England expects’ and is not disappointed in its expectation. 

But it is not just England’s expectations and their fulfilment that we remember today.

As the writer of Ecclesiasticus reminds us – these were ‘godly’ men and that is singularly true of Horatio Nelson. 

Nelson was the son of a Parson and, as such, his grounding and upbringing was within the Christian faith. He prayed every morning and every evening and, as a naval officer, he wrote prayers in his own log book, especially in the face of danger. We know the truth of this from the prayer we have heard – which he wrote on the eve of Trafalgar.  He attended church when on land and, on board ship, religious services were part of the ship’s life.  He also lived with the expectation that one day he would die and meet his Maker and this, too, shaped the man he was. It is known that since the Battle of the Nile in 1798 (fought to deny Bonaparte his Eastern Empire) Nelson had a coffin constructed, out of the mast of one of the defeated ships, and this usually stood in his cabin as a reminder to him of his own mortality.  It was not, however, a morbid gesture. For Nelson his faith taught him that death meant entry into Eternal Life – the goal of all Christians.

Even so, whilst on earth, he paid attention to the needs of his fellow men. His was not a Christianity that was private or self-absorbed. It involved him in the community and, particularly, in his case, the seafaring community.  He cared about the men under his charge and there are many stories of his dealings with the ratings that bring out his compassionate nature. 

One will suffice as an illustration. One day he saw a  young rating consumed with fear because he had been ordered to ascend the rigging. Nelson simply challenged him to a race to the masthead and together they ascended. Thus, through a compassionate act, he taught the rating courage.

He was also compassionate towards his enemies and magnanimous in victory. He was of the opinion that whenever he took prisoners he became their protector.  What drove him from within was a two-fold passion – God and his country – and the thing that united both these was his strong sense of service and duty. Both qualities which need to be present in any who serve the community and the Church – whether at a local or national level.  They are not always qualities which we value today which is another reason why today’s commemoration is important. We need to be constantly reminded that without either we are diminished as a human race.  Nelson’s dying words were not those which have been popularised – ‘Kiss me, Hardy’ – which have fed the sensationalists almost as much as his flawed domestic life.  His final, dying words, were “Thank God, I have done my duty”  And there, in those words, is the measure of his greatness and the greatness of all who would serve humanity in whatever capacity.

Doing one’s duty – fulfilling one’s role to the best of one’s ability is one of the greatest things any of us can do – whatever the circumstances of our lives. It is not only England that expects us to do this – in the words of Nelson’s famous signal – but what also we must expect of ourselves – indeed, if we are to discover the nobleness of humanity made in the image of God, we must insist on it.  And so, the beginning of Nelson’s final sentence is important – ‘Thank God’.  Nelson’s greatness was not simply that, in humility, he did his duty but rather that he did so in thanksgiving to God.

For Nelson, the service of his fellow men; the challenging of those who sought blind power; and the resistance to evil; are all bound up in a faith which began at an early age when he had an experience of Divine light and power. Only to God belongs the Victory over all that is dark in the world but God chooses human beings as His instrument of Light which, in his own Son’s life was a light that darkness could not overcome, as St. John’s Gospel reminds us.

Nelson, Churchill, Drake, are all men who, wittingly or otherwise, were used by God as bringers of the Light of God’s power to love. Enemies are defeated, said Nelson, by acts of kindness, not of cruelty, and this is spoken from a heart which was lit by the kindness of God towards him.  The values he stood for are values we must both re-discover and foster in our own lives, in our community and in our nation. That is why this Commemoration today, is of profound importance.

We celebrate a glorious victory and in it we see the stuff of humanity which has gone on being victorious, but it is, ultimately, a victory of God over the darkness of those powers that work against goodness. I will name that false power as it really is – demonic, satanic. Nelson stood, as we must stand, against all that and for God.  May his example be our inspiration.