The text for this sermon by Pastor Jim
Kniseley is John 15:13, “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down
his life for his friends.” This sermon
was presented on July 1, 2007. The display of flags lining the church
driveway honors veterans living and dead who have served in the armed forces of
our country.
Dear Friends in Christ,
Today we remember with gratitude and
reverence those who have served in the armed forces of this nation and offered
their lives on our behalf. The scripture
text for this sermon is from today’s
gospel reading, “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life
for his friends.” I thank one of our
member families for giving me this fine book, From Fields of Fire and Glory;
Letters of the Civil War, by Rod Gragg.
It is one of those interactive books, containing letters that you can
take out of a sleeve and see the photo of the original letter on one side and
typed words on the other side.
After reading through this book and the
many letters it contains, I purposefully went back and selected letters and
stories that contain what I call “moments of grace.” I was looking for times in the midst of war,
suffering, terror, bloodshed and death, where there were rays of hope and acts
of mercy and kindness: times when Christian love and mercy surfaced.
Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain is
well-remembered as the “Hero of Gettysburg” for so ably leading the 20th
Maine in defending Little Round Top.
After the war he went on to serve 4 terms as governor of Maine and 13
years as president of Bowdoin College.
His letter in this book was written by him on June 19, 1864, when he
thought he was dying, after being shot during the siege of Petersburg. On the surgery table, he asked for a pencil
and wrote these words to his wife, I am
lying mortally wounded the Doctors think but my mind & heart are at
peace. Jesus Christ is my all-sufficient
savior. I go to him. God bless & Keep & comfort you,
precious one, you have been a precious wife to me. To know & love you makes life & death
beautiful. Cherish the darlings &
give my love to all the dear ones. Do
not grieve too much for me. We shall all
soon meet. Live for the children. Give
my dearest love to Father, mother and Sallie & John. Oh how happy to feel yourself forgiven. God bless you ever more precious one.
Ever
yours, Lawrence
As you already know, , he didn’t die, one
of the illustrations of God’s grace in
his life. Here’s another: he was selected to formally receive the
surrender of General Robert E. Lee’s Army at Appomattox. Lee and his troops were allowed to keep their
horses and were not captured as enemies, instead asked to go home. At the surrender, Chamberlain set an example
of reconciliation by ordering the Northern troops to salute the defeated
Southerners.
Another of you in this church gave me a
copy of Mark Twain’s story, “The War Prayer.”
It contains an amazing message, especially for anyone who has the
romantic notion that war is glorious and noble and enriching. The setting is a Sunday morning service
during the Civil War (we aren’t told if it is in the North or the South) and
the church is filled and there is patriotic fervor in the rousing songs and
prayers and sermon, getting folks all enthused for sending their soldiers to
fight. Then an aged stranger walks up
the aisle and pushes the preacher aside and addresses the congregation: “I come from the Throne, bearing a message
from Almighty God…He has heard your prayer and will grant it if such shall be
your desire after I, His Messenger, have explained to you its import.”
And the stranger goes on to explain that
when the folks pray for victory there are many unmentioned results which must
follow. “You are asking God to help you
tear the bodies of your enemies to shreds, to help you drown the thunder of
their guns with shreds of their wounded, writhing in pain, to help you wring the hearts of the unoffending widows
with unavailing grief. And you are
asking God to do this in the spirit of love of Him who is the Source of Love,
and Who is the ever-faithful refuge and friend of all who are sore beset and
seek His aid with humble and contrite hearts.
The stranger ends his message with these words: “Ye have prayed it; if ye still desire it
speak! The messenger of the Most High
Waits.” Mark Twain concludes his story
with these words: It was believed
afterward that the man was a lunatic, because there was no sense in what he
said.
Here is another story and letter from the
Civil War. On the first day of battle at
Gettysburg, a Michigan soldier, Corporal Charles McConnell, shot
Confederate Lieutenant Colonel John
Randolph Lane, and saw him drop, presumably to his death. What happened was that the bullet entered the
base of Lane’s skull, passed through his
neck muscles, narrowly missed his spinal cord and jugular vein, smashed his
jaw, clipped a chunk from his tongue, and exit from his mouth, knocking out his
front teeth. Miraculously, Lane survived
his wound and the war. Decades later, he
was introduced to McConnell, this soldier who shot him, who had become a
successful Chicago pharmaceutical executive.
Although they had done their best to kill each other in battle, Lane and
McConnell became friends. In 1903, on
the fortieth anniversary of Gettysburg, McConnell and Lane made a joint
appearance at ceremonies on the battlefield where Lane was delivering a keynote
speech. Were they just being gracious or
did they actually become friends?
Here is a letter that McConnell wrote to
another old war friend. The date is January
5, 1901. Here is what he said in that
letter about his old enemy and now friend: “I am intending to visit North
Carolina and spend a few days with my dear old friend, Colonel Lane, who I
thank God I didn’t kill!”
I leave you with a final moment of grace. It took place not far from where we are right
now. On the banks of the Rapidan
River, It was evidence of a spiritual
revival that took place among the soldiers on both sides, especially in the years l862 and 1863. A joint baptism was organized by Southern
soldiers and a group of Northern troops on the opposite side of the Rapidan
River took part. In a spontaneous act,
men from both sides joined in singing hymn at the water’s edge – forgetting for
a fleeting moment the ways of war.
May the Lord help us all to work for peace
in our day and never forget the lessons of war.
Amen.
.