WARS DON'T JUST END

“Wars don’t just end” 
Reflecting on the centenary of Armistice

My wife and I have just done a bicycle tour of Berlin, Germany. We were shown the destruction of the city that occurred during World War 2 and is still evident today. It might be thought that this war ended in May 1945, but in reality though, with the dividing of Germany into East and West (tragically symbolised by the division of its capital , Berlin, located in the East) this war simply morphed into an idealogical “Cold War”. 

Asa Butterfield, who played Second Lieutenant Raleigh

Twenty-five years earlier, the seeds of this war were sown in the first World War, which was dramatically portrayed in the movie, Journey’s End (the recreation of a 90 year old theatrical play of the same name). The movie graphically ends with few, if any, survivors, and  then the chilling statistics of how many soldiers died in the few months of their pointless battle. This war was also arguably the continuation of the Franco-Prussian  War just a few decades before. Wars don’t just end!

A German soldier in the trenches of the Western Front of Saint Quentin, Aisne, France

In contrast to needless wars, there are those who have courageously fought for peace by promoting and demonstrating the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. I present  two examples of how wars have their best chance of being avoided or brought to an end: Desmond T. Doss, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer. From these two stellar examples, I draw on their principles to propose how a more permanent peace can be achieved, and thus brings wars to a true end.

DESMOND DOSS 

Desmond Doss (Feb. 7 1919 - Mar. 23 2006), pictured left, was a private in the United States Army who served as a combat medic. He refused to bear arms and yet was twice awarded the Bronze Star Medal for bravery during action in Guam and Philippines, and, he received the highest military honour, the Medal of Honor (The Purple Heart), for his efforts in saving the lives of (at least)  75 men. He is the only conscientious objector to have received this honour. His life was portrayed by Andrew Garfield in Mel Gibson’s film, Hacksaw Ridge. Apart from refusing kill another human being, Doss was renowned for saving the lives of both American and Japanese combatants. His motivation for doing so was his commitment to Christ, and obedience to love his neighbour - not kill him!

  

DIETRICH BONHOEFFER 

Dietrich Bonhoeffer (Feb. 4 1906 - Apr. 9 1945) was a German theologian and pastor who saw the connection between ideas and consequences. From April 1933 he first publicly raised concerns about Adolf Hitler’s appointment as Chancellor of Germany, calling him not the Führer (leader), but the Verführer (seducer) on a live national radio broadcast which was abruptly taken off air. In 1938, the Gestapo banned Bonhoeffer from Berlin, and in 1943 they imprisoned him in a military prison where he spent some 18 months. During this time, he wrote two very significant books, The Cost of Discipleship, and, Life Together. 

For Bonhoeffer, the kind of peace that ended - and especially prevented - wars was only possible by having a living  faith in Christ demonstrated by how we treat the vulnerable and oppressed. At a time when the German church was being led by men essentially appointed by Hitler, who claimed to be ‘Christian’, yet who had no relationship with, or living faith in, Jesus Christ, Bonhoeffer’s accusation that these men were wolves not shepherds went largely unheeded. 

¶ But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.

Second Timothy 2:1-5

TRUTH, THE ANTIDOTE

No man in the whole world can change the truth. One can only look for the truth, find it and serve it. The truth is in all places. 

- Dietrich Bonhoeffer

It is said, “Ideas have consequences and bad ideas have victims!” Wars are nearly always founded on some bad idea. While all people are equal, not all ideas are. Bad ideas include the belief in: the superiority of one particular ethnic group; one particular economic status; one particular skin colour; one particular distortion of a religion; the satisfaction of greed brings happiness and fulfilment; and, that one particular would-be leader has a right to use to impose his leadership on others. 

Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members?

James 4:1

The antidote to these bad ideas is not tolerance, but truth. The means of this antidote is not avoidance, but rather, thoughtful engagement. 

Wars are still being waged today around the world. But perhaps the reasons why there are not even more wars is that there is already much thoughtful engagement happening. This includes, inter-government level diplomacy; the freeing up of international borders (contributing to greater international tourism); exchange student programs; academic exchange programs; commercial globalisation; the visual arts; and, the internet. 

Robert Cedric Sherriff, Irish playwright

Ten years after World War 1 ended, a returned British soldier, Robert Sherriff wrote the stage play, Journey’s End. It launched the acting career of a young Laurence Olivier, and played at the Apollo Theatre, London, for two years. It told the story of what it was like as a soldier in the trenches of the Western Front of Saint Quentin, Aisne, France, in 1918, where every soldier was doomed to die. Two hundred and fifty-four thousand, eight hundred and sixteen soldiers died during this campaign. When Journey’s End opening on December 9th 1928, audiences were left in stunned silence at the end of the play. It revealed the truth about what font-line warfare was really like rather than the romantic idealism generally held by the British at that time. It had a dramatic effect on the collective British psyche and may explain the reluctance of British political leadership to get embroiled in yet another war in 1939. One wonders what effect it might have had if it had been shown in Germany at the same time?

The sign outside of the Berlin Cathedral, "Hate harms the soul"

___

Wars don’t just end - and neither do they just start. They grow from a bad idea - which is why so-called “peace talks” often fail (because they fail to address and correct the underlying bad idea). For peace to prevail, truth must prevail before bad ideas are allowed to run their course.

¶ So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

John 8:31-32

This Sunday, November 11th, at 11AM, we will observe a minute's silence during our worship service - not to celebrate or glorify war - but to remember and long for the Prince of Peace to come into every heart.

He shall judge between the nations,
and shall decide disputes for many peoples;
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 anymore.
Isaiah 2:4

Dr. Andrew Corbett,

@DrAndrewC

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journey%27s_End

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dietrich_Bonhoeffer

The Unchanging But Always New

 

You Become Like What You Worship 

Although we are all created to bear the image of God, we are also fallen, which means that the image of God in us has been marred. Our fallen nature distorts how some people worship and therefore live. Every day we see the result of those who worship a god whom they believe is a war-mongering, violent, heavenly sultan, when they murderously enforce their religious beliefs. This sad reality highlights the maxim – you become like what you worship. But in stark contrast, everyday we also see the result of those who worship the God who is loving, gracious, merciful, long-suffering, kind, and generous. Thus, theseworshipers care for the infirmed, uphold justice,  give generously to charities, volunteer their time and expertise, and spend their annual leave undertaking aid projects in impoverished regions of the globe. They are worshiping the immutable God is always loving, always good, always just.

¶ “For I the LORD do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed.
Malachi 3:6

God Does Not Change

God has revealed to us that He is immutable. That means, He does not change. The unchanging qualities of God are comforting. He is steadfast. He is trustworthy. He is faithful. When we worship this unchanging God and meditate on these glorious divine attributes, we become like who we worship: steadfast, trustworthy, faithful. These are desirable virtues. They make someone reliable, dependable, consistent. 

Know therefore that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations,
Deuteronomy 7:9

The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness,
Exodus 34:6

There is something about God’s immutability that appeals deeply to us. It’s comforting that we are created in the image of the God who does not change. The Psalmists described this comfort by declaring God to be a “rock”. They painted a picture of God as unchanging because He was immovable. But the thought of God as unchanging is also comforting because it seems that this means His worshipers, therefore, do not have to change either. But there is something significantly incomplete with this vision of our God. Here’s why.

¶ “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.
Deuteronomy 29:29

Discover God

God is the unchanging but always new God. Not “new” in the sense of He changes, but new in the sense that as we worship and behold Him, we discover new things about Him. We learn from Scripture that His mercies are new every morning (Lam. 3:22-23). He declares new things –

Behold, the former things have come to pass,
and new things I now declare;
before they spring forth
I tell you of them.”
Isaiah 42:9

Those who worship God are told to do so with new songs, new sounds, and a new heart. Everything about the unchanging God invokes new. As we worship the God who has an infinite treasure of new things to reveal about Himself to those who worship Him, we become like the One we worship and embrace new.

Sing to him a new song;
play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts.
Psalm 33:3

¶ I will sing a new song to you, O God;
upon a ten-stringed harp I will play to you,
Psalm 144:9

Worship of the Unchanging God always produces new. New tends to engage the heart and mind in a way that familiar cannot. Without changing who or what He is, the Unchanging God is always new. Jesus warned that if we cling to the familiar – traditions – we would be in danger of nullifying the Word God and its effectiveness.

“Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like this.”
Mark 7:13 NET

If our worship is entirely familiar – and what we have always done – we are in spiritually perilous territory. The unfamiliar is nearly always uncomfortable because we can’t control it or be complacent within it. History is dotted with people who loved God but resisted the change the One they worshiped inspired. Many denominations were founded reluctantly. John Wesley did not want to found the Methodist Denomination. He hoped that he could help facilitate renewal within the Anglican (Episcopal) Denomination. But the change was resisted and the result was that a new Denomination was birthed. Hudson Taylor hoped that the existing denominations would see the need to reach out to the great nation of China. But they resisted and the China Inland Mission was birthed. History also tells us that those who once pioneered these new moves of God and ushered in needed change would later become settled and complacent and refuse to allow God to renew them. Thus, these once mavericks became monuments.

Neither is new wine put into old wineskins. If it is, the skins burst and the wine is spilled and the skins are destroyed. But new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved.”
Matthew 9:17

 

When a worshiper beholds the One they worship, they are transformed. Everything about undergoes transformation. When a church commits to truly worship Christ and behold Him they will be continually transformed and renewed and everything about them, the way they worship, their music, their decor, their fashion, their systems, their art, the manner, their heart for others, will also be transformed. Rather than seeing new as our enemy, let’s smell its fragrance – for it is the aroma of the Christ who declared- Behold I make all things new (Rev. 21:5). Rather than complaining about these new changes look closer and you may just see the fingerprints of the Father.

And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
Second Corinthians 3:18

Amen.