Eph 6:13 ...TO STAND!

EPHESIANS 6:13

MEN'S BREAKFAST,
May 2007

For some reason this Anzac Day seemed to be more prominent than others of recent memory. Perhaps it was the release of Charles Bean’s diary and archived photos of the Gallipoli shoreline. Whatever reason, the public paid attention… and, rightly, paid deep respect.


One of the almost-forgotten stories of the campaign on the Western Front came to light very recently in an ABC poll of the 20 greatest speeches ever made. Although it wasn’t voted into the top 20, quite a few commentators mentioned “Bethune’s Orders.”


A Tasmanian minister who signed up for the First World War, Lieutenant Frank Bethune found himself and his seven men in a horribly exposed position in a place called Passchendaele. He was no stranger to war at this point – he had received the Military Cross, had been wounded twice and gassed once. His orders were to hold this position. And this is what he told his men:


1. This position will be held, and the section will remain here until relieved.
2. The enemy cannot be allowed to interfere with this programme.
3. If the section cannot remain here alive, it will remain here dead, but in any case it will remain here.
4. Should any man, through shell shock or other cause, attempt to surrender, he will remain here dead.
5. Should all guns be blown out, the section will use Mills grenades, and other novelties.
6. Finally, the position, as stated, will be held.


Eighteen days later, the seven men of Number 1 Section, 3rd Machine Gun Company were finally relieved. Lieutenant Bethune’s orders summed up courage, tenacity and dedication to the mission so vividly that they were rapidly circulated through Allied France, and were formally embodied in British Army Orders until 1940. Following Dunkirk and Churchill’s “We Shall Fight” speech, the six points were reprinted millions of times on leaflets and posters – “the spirit that won the last war” was held high for all to see. The Australian War Memorial has Lieutenant Bethune’s hand-written original, torn from his gridded notebook – that’s in front of you now.


It raised a couple of questions in my mind… partly because it is so dramatically different to the pre-battle speeches that I’ve grown up with in books and movies. Homer gave his characters elegant and eloquent speech, and today Gibson, Spielberg and Bruckheimer excel here. One of the important ingredients in the formula is the Inspiring Speech as the men prepare to commit themselves to combat. Screenwriters truly earn their crust at this point, but – if Bethune’s orders are any guide – they are more fictional than we’d like to believe.


The biggest question that came to mind was simply this. What would I say to someone about to enter the battlefield? What would you tell a man before he faces the certainty of great injury and loss? Soldiers generally know what they have to do, where they have to be, when they have to begin the fight – the tactics have been worked out and rehearsed and trained already, so you’re not going to be giving them anything new there – but… What would you say if they were your men?


Well, you’ve said it; you’ve been sitting next to men who are about to do exactly this. As we go out of that door into the real world each of us will step onto a battlefield, and unlike the troops of the 3rd Machine Gun Company we will not have the luxury of comrades at our sides. We go to war, gentlemen. It isn’t a war of our making, we didn’t declare war. Soldiers don’t declare war, but we do fight.

Paul wrote to the Ephesians, and along the way he uses the language of war. Reading Bethune’s orders aloud reminds me very much of this passage:


“Put on the full armour of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.”
Ephesians 6:13


I talked to an old man not long ago. He was looking for a piece of leather thonging, to replace one for a necklace. He showed me what was hanging round his neck. One bullet, and one shell casing. The bullet flew out of the bushes from a Japanese Arisaka rifle, and lodged in his thigh. The shell casing came from his own rifle – he sent a bullet back into the bush, heard a yell – but he never found the sniper that tried to take him out. He retreated along the Kokoda Track with the brass in his body. He never heard another shot the whole way, but walked the 96 kilometres never knowing if he had stopped his enemy, or if his enemy was lurking in the bushes waiting for him again. Somehow he found this just as terrifying as combat itself. And yet… at the end of that long and deadly walk, his proudest achievement was being able to… stand.


And to me it sums up our war. Paul phrases it well – and he doesn’t use the war language of massed troops standing shoulder-to-shoulder with our comrades. All we have is the armour that the Lord offers us and the prayers and support of each other. Our enemy knows the rules that we live by, and fights with no rules to restrict him. He fights dirty. We get attacked by surprise, by ambush. At work we have the battles of office politics, of little lies, of compromise, of putting self-interest above truth. But we, like the men of Number1 Section, must stand our ground – and after we have done everything, to stand.

Some of us find the battle outside relative easy to fight, only to find that the insurgency has put a roadside bomb in our minds. Again, Paul:


“For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in the members of my own body, waging war against the law of my mind…”
Romans 7:22-3


And some of us in the room will find this one the hardest one to fight. It’s my hardest battle. God has blessed me with a good job and a work atmosphere like a large family. God has blessed me with a beautiful wife, and a household that (on May 9) will definitely be a large family. So where does the landmine go off? Exactly.


I have no doubts that Paul was describing the battle that a lot of mature Christians go through, and the battlefield where a lot of good Christian men bleed and lie broken.


So make no mistake. We go to war. But… we go to war, knowing well that the war is won, that the victory was made possible by the death – and the return from death – of our Lord Jesus. No matter how bloody the battle, we are saved by shed blood and by love and by grace. But it’s still our job to help each other stand, to listen to each other, to talk and to pray with and pray for each other. The author of Hebrews phrased this beautifully:


“Exhort one another daily, while it is called ‘Today,’ lest any of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin”
Hebrews 3:13


“While it is called Today” - what a great phrase. The word exhort… well, it’s an older word. Most translations give encourage, and that’s a word that we’ve wussed-up over the years. Encourage isn’t like “Little Timmy played his first game, and mum gave him lots of encouraging smiles.” To encourage here is to give courage to each other. It’s a muscular word. Give Courage! Now! Churchill used to look over all sorts of minute details and plans throughout the length of both world wars, and if he saw one that required some urgency, he would belt it with a big rubber stamp – “Action This Today.” Giving each other courage is one of the most important things that as Christian men we can do for one another. And this is something that we must stamp heavily with “Action This Today.”


This is why I love mornings like this – this is where we get to meet, to share with other men how our battles have gone, to ask for prayer and to pray for each other before we go back into the fray. It’s like a cease-fire, a break from battle. And it’s where we give each other strength, and get strength from each other. It’s not just coming to listen to James or Tim or myself speak, and it’s not just about having a warm, hearty breakfast. So thank you for coming! Mornings like this help me to stand, and they help to bring peace.


Because, although we go to war, we go in peace. We go to a fight but we bring love. The world of men demands ruthlessness and cold efficiency to get results (or at least achieve satisfactory outcomes) – we bring mercy and forgiveness to the battle’s floor. I’ll finish, again with Paul, who wrote some of the best mission orders to hear before battle:


“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other, and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.”
Colossians 3:12-17

Action this today!