A SWEDISH LESSON

Until this month we, that is my wife and I, had together been to Sweden just once before and enjoyed the visit very much in spite of it being in the middle of winter. January to be exact and it was then that we experienced cold such as we had never experienced before. In the Royal Navy I had been in the Arctic but the cold was nothing like it was that time we were in Stockholm. I had actually been in the country once before but this was for a business meeting at the airport so I have little idea what the weather was like on that occasion.

The visit we have just made, however, being for a longer period helped us to get to know the country a little better. Because in common with Switzerland, Sweden was one of the few European nations to not take part in World War 2 so it was interesting to see how far-reaching the effect is of not having been actively involved in that appalling war, other than to give refuge to some trying to escape from Nazi Germany and also to aid the Allied Powers with some war materiel. In fact Sweden has not been involved in any declared war since 1814, that’s almost 200 years, with a total of just 26 wars ranging from 1521. In contrast, Britain has been involved in 20 wars since 1945 and for the centuries before that they are almost too numerous to list.

An important factor is that although Sweden did have some overseas territories at one time referred to as the Swedish Empire, Britain built an empire stretching across a third of the world’s surface and governed a third of the world’s population. Inevitably the seemingly unceasing insurrections, rebellions, attacks from without arose and had to be put down in order to maintain peace for the citizens and to keep control of the territory and its raw materials. And to maintain a British presence, British military, naval and later air power was dedicated to keeping power firmly in British hands.

As a result, the English language today is virtually the world language. It’s the language of science, engineering, medicine, computers and the airlines to name but a few. The effect is so far-reaching that the French speaking pilots of an airliner of Air France flying from Nice to Paris have to speak to the Air Traffic controllers in English! A most important by-product of the spread of the English language has been the worldwide publication of the Bible which is now available throughout the world, and often freely available just for the asking. God’s word was to be available to everyone who wanted to read it and it is! Preachers and ministers of various ecclesiastical colours flocked out from Britain and America, but mainly Britain, across the face of the world ostensibly preaching the word of God, but in fact preaching their denominations corrupt version of it and so adding to the confusion that was already draped across the world. A confusion which has still to be corrected.

But wars, battles and revolutions come at a frightening cost. The present conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq bear witness to that. The ones, however, who bear the real cost are always the young men and the young women, it is never the politician who sends them into battle. A photograph that appeared recently in the British press was of 4 young British soldiers sitting in wheelchairs in a row. Each had lost both legs with one of them also having lost an arm. And there could be similar photographs, taken of many more of the flower of British and American youth, who have been crippled so grievously on the altar of war and on the altar of a politician’s ego and his or her desire to go down in history!

Today in Britain virtually every town and village has its war memorial with the names of those who died in the two world wars and other conflicts. America has much the same. Every year in November in Britain and America there will be Remembrance Day and Remembrance Day services and parades up and down the land. In Lichfield in the middle of England there is the National Arboretum with its memorial to all those who died serving this country in the wars Britain has fought. Those who died in these wars, in battle or in the prison camps in which they were held by Japan, or who died as they were cruelly forced to build the infamous Burma railway has his or her name carved in stone.

Thousands of names are there in Lichfield and on the memorials in almost every town and village in Britain. Records of men who wanted nothing more than to bring up their families in peace, but never returned to their wives, to their children, never returned to their families, but died on that obscene altar to the god of war. And every year this nation and America never approach those memorials to collectively ask God’s forgiveness for being party to bringing death, suffering and grievous maiming, but instead we eulogise the sacrifice. Those men might have died to save a comrade, and many courageously did, but the scriptures, the word of God, is ignored. Ignored is the reality of the return of Jesus Christ when a righteous government will be established over this world. There will be a new world, a time of which the prophet Isaiah says in chapter 2, verse 4 “and he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks, nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.” You may find this inscribed outside the United Nations building in New York.

In the gospel of Matthew chapter 9, verse 13 Christ is quoted as saying “go you and learn what that means, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

Sweden is not perfect, it has its problems of which it is going to have to repent at the return of Jesus Christ, but it has served its citizens rather better than many other nations. Today it has one of the world’s highest living standards, one of the most extensive and effective welfare programmes. Its taxes, however, are more than a third of national income. But as this is not burned away by waging wars constantly there is more money available to maintain the towns, to keeping them clean and tidy, to providing the necessary services where the people are and not hidden away in some inaccessible part of the town. Alcohol abuse is a major problem in both the US and Britain, the Swedes have dealt with it effectively. They apply a 25% VAT upon all food and set very high prices on all alcoholic drinks. And because the Swedish government does not trust business to handle alcohol responsibly, the government itself owns and operates the liquor, or wine, shops and stores.

Sweden still makes things. In Britain, government has still not woken up to the fact that making things creates prosperity. If there is one word that could describe Britain today it is “greed”. All peoples, all nations, have their problems and Sweden has its problems as well, but at least they have realised some realities. The nation has deposits of minerals such as iron, copper, lead and uranium. It has very little coal, so the nation makes the best use of its resources as it can. It generates electricity by its own water and nuclear power. The country keeps immigration at an absolute minimum. America too applies strict policies. For Britain it’s an open door policy, so Britain is rapidly running out of both space and money. For Sweden there is still plenty of space within which to move and the finances are in reasonable order.

Even though Sweden is the 3rd largest country in Western Europe it still has a population of only 9 million occupying an area 3 times the size of Great Britain.

Like Britain, Sweden has a number of castles. Like Britain there was a time when a number of wars were fought. In Sweden these were mainly in the centuries before 1814. One big problem Sweden faced in the 14th century was the growth of the political and economic influence of the German Hanseatic League. Perhaps the last castle built is Gripsholm Castle located close to the shores of Lake Malaran in the little town of Mariefred about 40 miles south west of Stockholm. It was completed in 1537 and intended to be part of a defence network ordered by the then King of Sweden, Gustav Vasa.

This castle is in such excellent condition as to raise doubts as to whether it was ever used in anger. From the way it was constructed it would appear that it wasn’t seriously intended for war. It has within it as part of the original construction a small theatre. An amazing original backdrop at the back of the stage looks out on to an adequate orchestra pit and about 100 tiered seats. In order to preserve both it, and its fabric, it is used for classical music performances on just one day in the year. It is also the home of the National Portrait Gallery, bringing to mind once again the verse we referred to a moment ago in the book of Isaiah, chapter 2, verse 4 concerning, as it says in verse 2, “… the last days.” We are now within those “last days” Verse 4 says “ they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks:” or you might say, “castles into portrait galleries”

In religious terms Sweden was originally Catholic. Eventually it became Lutheran and today 82% of the population is Lutheran. However, overtures are now being made by the Lutheran church to the Catholics. Would the Lutheran church reunite with the Catholics? It is very possible. The book of Amos in the Old Testament makes an interesting comment, or prophecy, in chapter 8 and verse 11. “Behold the days come, says the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord:” That time is upon us now. You will not hear the word of God preached now except by true ministers of God’s true church. You read God’s words in these letters, or hear them as they are broadcast. Ignore them if you wish! Better still, get to know God, your Heavenly Father.
John Jewell