Today, we mark Veterans’ Day … celebrated on Thursday, 11.11.11, with ceremonies at Arlington Cemetary, precisely at 11 AM.
11.11.11 … some folks get excited about numbers - on TV this week, all of sorts of numerologists and fortune-tellers, but days and weeks and months and years are just so much passing time, the rising and setting of the sun … we assign numbers, arbitrary numbers, to help us keep track of time.
Numbers are fun.
My birthday is 7.7 … and that’s the name of a drink, if you will … for years, Doc McCrory and I sent cards to each other - he was 7.7, as well … and then, as is the case with numbers, he reached the end of his calendar.
So I no longer have a 7.7 birthday partner.
When I was in Normandy, France a few years back, we went to the American Cemetery … Ten Thousand graves … powerful, emotional … I walked row upon row and found what I was looking for … the grave of a young man who died on the day I was born - July 7, 1944 … I took a picture and made some notes, but I’ve lost track of them.
I remember standing there … thinking: as I was coming into the world, he was leaving … my family welcomed me with joy; his family wept.
There a lots of ways to write history … and no matter how we write it, war is very much a part of the human story.
We know how to kill one another.
And we never seem to run out of reasons for pulling the trigger.
Sometimes there are good reasons … and sometimes, it’s all too confusing … and sometimes human beings just go to war because we don’t know what else to do.
Israel’s story in the Bible is no different.
Page after page - the spilling of blood …
From Cain’s murder of his brother Able to this very day, the dogs of war roam the earth devouring us.
As we celebrate Veterans’ Day, we do so with thoughtfulness.
Rightly, we honor our Veterans …
And rightly, we pray for peace.
And more than prayer, we wage peace.
Because we are followers of the Prince of Peace.
We must always be reluctant to call for arms.
If we must send young women and men to war, then let us do so with sorrow.
If war is part of the human story, so be it.
But let us be mindful:
If America has been in the right at different times, and I believe it has been, I also believe that America hasn’t always been right … if America has been a nation of peace, and we have been a nation great for peace, we have also been a nation of war …
As Christians, we need to be thoughtful.
Careful.
And wise, when it comes to war.
Our story this morning is simple …
Israel failed to live up to its own story of goodness and faithfulness, so Israel, per God’s judgment, ends up under the thumb of King Jaban and his army, a powerful army with 900 iron chariots, commanded by Sisera.
After twenty years of oppression, Deborah the prophet, summons Barak and tells him to marshall the troops and prepare for battle, because now is the time for victory - God will deliver Israel and free her from King Jabin.
And then the fine print: It won’t be Barak who wins the day, but a woman.
Whoa!
Like a fingernail on a chalkboard … a woman?
Yes, a woman, without sword or shield, without chariots and soldiers.
The nations meet in battle, as Deborah said they would … Israel prevails; Sisera flees to friendly territory, or so he thinks, and seeks refuge with a family
After some refreshment, Sisera lays down to sleep; he’s exhausted.
Jael, the woman of the household, covers him with a blanket.
When he falls asleep, she takes a tent peg and a hammer, and does him in …
When Barak arrives - was he following chariot tracks? … how did he know? … anyway, Barak arrives, and Jael shows him Sisera’s body … and the story becomes a national story - a great poem of Israel’s struggle - her sin and defeat, her prayers and deliverance … and a women of the tent, Jael, takes the only tools she has, and wins the day for Israel.
With Veterans’ Day and the story of Deborah, Barak, Sisera and Jael, we give thanks for God’s presence in our muddled world, God’s love at work in ALL things.
Bloody as it was.
That day, the tide turned for Israel.
King Jabin was defeated.
And Israel was free of tyranny.
With the only tools available to Jael, she saved the day.
All of us can save the day.
Little moments … big moments, when God hands us an opportunity to build something good, to help someone, to make this a better world.
Like our story, things are never entirely clear or clean.
We do the best we can … with the tools we have in hand.
And God is at work in ALL of it.
That’s the real story behind every story.
God at work in ALL things.
In the mess and confusion … the sad and the broken … and the wars we fight …
Our story from Judges is never a warrant for war.
It is our assurance, however, that in a world often violent and dark, opportunity comes our way to win the day and make the best of a hard time.
Hats off to our Veterans … and encouragement to those who seek peace … and three cheers to those who are not afraid to act, like Jael, to cease the moment and win the day for good!
And to God be the glory. Amen and Amen!
