OFTEN I wondered and still I wonder what exactly was the work you padres set yourselves out to do. When other officers wished to teach us anything, say musketry, we knew quite well what was expected of us, but we found it difficult to know what you wanted with us.
You see our contacts were few and always at a distance. We saw each other at church parades and seldom at any other time. So there was just contact and no more. We recognised your uniform, for a short hour we saw and heard you but even that slight acquaintanceship was still further removed since it had to be maintained under the restraint of military parade. We had no handshakes, no prayers together, no confidences, no conversations about the kingdom of your Lord, no discussions about the serious questions introduced into our lives by the war. We had a “going and coming” with other officers but with the padres it was different.
It appeared to me that we were not supposed to get into any closer touch with you than that afforded by Church Parade—just to stand at ease under the watchful eye of the Sergeant Major, to look towards you with unseeing eyes, to listen with hearts already occupied with other things. We did our duty by attending a parade forced on us, and having done that, everyone seemed satisfied. That was and still is my idea of it. On your side it did not appear that you sought an interest in us different from what we had in you. So beyond these occasional looks at each other we had not many contacts had we? Now, as I see it, your work was to look after our spiritual interests and surely these were of a kind to demand more notice than that afforded by this the most formal of all religious formalities—a military Church Parade. On the authority of the book you carried, I knew that I had a soul, that I was a sinner in God’s sight, that I was unfit to enter into the presence of God my Judge, I also learned from it that I was on the road to Heaven or to Hell and that death sealed my destiny for either place.
Was there a way of escape? Did you know it? Could I know it? Could you explain this blessed way to me? Could you help me to see my Saviour, my God? Somehow I thought that you came to us for the sole reason of teaching about these things.
Ah, padre, if you had but shown any indication that you knew about these things, and that you were ready to teach them to me, with what joy would I have sought your company. What encouragement you might have given to me. What periods of prayer we might have had together. What communion, what happy effort in seeking to spread this the best of knowledge among our fellow soldiers. But it did not turn out just like that did it? You never gave that long looked for hint that you really knew about these concerns of mine.
I was hungry and you cast me stones. I was, oh so thirsty, and the water you produced was always undrinkable. Am I being too bitter? Well, perhaps it is so, but the most bitter thing of your whole failure seems to have been of your own making. It was just this. Although the Book you preached from showed our needs very clearly you ignored its teaching, and although the opportunity of finding out was always open to you, you made no attempt to know what our hearts were crying after. You must have known, you could not but have known our trials, as sinful, immortal souls in danger of death. We were being tested, in our bodies, in our morals, and in our souls, and the ground of our testing was along the borderland of Eternity. Fighting for our souls along that borderline, and with Heaven and Hell in full view can you blame us if we longed for something very different from what you gave us? Can you wonder that we found your preaching worse than useless for our needs? We were patient, we were hopeful, we continued to expect. “One day the padre will understand, one day it will dawn on him, one day he will produce the real thing.” But that day never came.
Oh, how we longed to hear of an “Almighty Deliverer,” of an “All prevailing Intercessor,” of an “All sufficient Saviour,” of an “All encompassing Salvation,” of “Perfect Peace,” of the Power, the light, and the comfort of the Holy Spirit. To you, with no struggle against sin and the Devil these terms might have held a theological or academic interest only, but, man, man, their content; think on what their content would have meant to empty souls. And, oh some of us were so thirsty. Thirsty for communion with our Saviour—that Saviour you were expected to tell us about. Do you wonder that I find it hard not to be bitter?
I do not forget that there were exceptions among you, men who seemed to understand what weak sinful men needed for their souls. There were such men, and their memory will always be among the sweetest things of my life. Neither will I forget them now. I will see some of them presently.
But let us come to particulars. We saw so little of each other that you must not complain if my opinions are based more on what you said, than on what you were. I have nothing more to go on. Why, for most, very few men knew as much as your names.
No. ONE.
The sermon of yours I remember best was from the words, “He steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem.” I can still hear you as you traced the steps of our Lord on His last visit to Jerusalem and sure death. Did He not go to die for a principle—the principle of truth? And were not all your hearers for the same reason walking the same road? Were they not soldiers? were they not willing to lay down their lives for a principle of justice, and out of love for their country? And so you went on. How much you had to say about the noble and heroic in human nature. And how you promised that all of us, treading this way of sacrifice, would in the end get the same reward as Christ. Whatever the text this was more or less your constant theme. Yes, so continually did you refer to this aspect of a soldier’s life that I might be pardoned for thinking that you put a higher estimate on the doings of soldiers than on the doings of our Lord himself. Heaven by the way of patriotism was your salvation. I admit that I am putting it somewhat crudely but I do not think that you can quarrel with me for it seems to be a fair summary of your doctrine.
Did you really think that men liked talk of this kind? I don’t think that they did. No man worth his salt likes to be called a hero. So for a start you were going on a bad psychology. But hold, I can find condemnation of your doctrine from the very men who listened to you. And the condemnation is all the greater just because the men were drunk when they uttered it. Taffy and George came into billets after lights out and as was often the case both were very drunk. “Our padre tells us Taffy, that our sufferings for our country are to be compared to the sufferings of the Lord Jesus for sin. But I will never believe that Taffy. The sufferings of Jesus were unlike any other in that he was God’s Son. In fact, His was the only true suffering which the world has ever seen.” “I know little of these things myself George, but I know this much, you are right there.” Dear padre, if this was what drunk men thought about your sermons, what were sober men to think?
Let us see this thing down to the bottom. Patriotism of itself brings men to Heaven. I have read that something like this is preached to the Japanese soldiers but of course they are heathens. I have also heard that the Turks teach something like this too, but they are Mohammedans. Now padre, we were neither heathens nor Mohammedans. By profession we were Christians and it was Christianity you professed to teach us. Will you show me from the Text Book of our faith where it is written that a patriot shall have Heaven as a reward of his patriotism? Does God say one word to encourage you in this extraordinary belief? I think not. Here is one word from the Bible on the matter, very definite word too you must admit “There shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth.” There now, that is God’s guard on glory and shall you overlap it by populating Heaven with unregenerate patriots? You may give any name you like to a place, but the place where unregenerate patriots; men who are often drunken, profane and unclean persons, go to, is called Hell in the Bible.
Such were some of us truly, but we are washed. Such were some of us truly, but we are regenerated by the Spirit of the living God. “Verily, verily, I say unto you, except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Why the whole thing is so unreasonable that I doubt very much if you believed what you taught yourself. Candidly I don’t think that, given the chance, you would like to spend eternity yourself with men of that sort however patriotic they might be.
Would it not have been easier, more noble and more in the line of truth and commonsense to tell the men something far different. If you wanted to speak of patriotism why not tell the truth about it. “Men, whatever you may be called on to suffer, whatever sacrifice you may be called upon to make, yes even though you may be killed in defence of your country, your great patriotism cannot save you. Unregenerate patriots are lost just as others. But I can tell you of two things which are freely given to us by God which if received by you will infallibly bring you to Heaven. These two things are simply; the “New Birth,” and your being washed in the blood of Jesus. I am sent by God to tell you the good news. God is willing and ready to bestow these blessings on every sinner of you that returns to Him by Jesus.” “Repent and believe the Gospel” —surely that is the thing to preach to dying men.
Patriotism will lift a man up as high as to the arms of those he dies for, but no further. To this extent the patriot has his reward. Jesus lifts every sinner who comes to him, right up to the arms of God and that is just what every sinner needs be he a patriot or not. And there is no other name under Heaven given among men by which we must be saved, save the name of Jesus only.
Let me be cruelly straight with you padre, just as you were cruelly crooked with us. God says, “No other name but Jesus,” you say, “Oh! God, you have made a mistake, there is another name—patriotism.” I think that you must know that there is such a thing as God’s law and that everywhere men are guilty of breaking it. Do you honestly believe that God will overlook all a man’s guilt just because he goes to France or elsewhere to help in a war? Heaven is a place made holy by the special presence of God. Will you have it that God is ready to keep companionship with unregenerate thieves, drunkards, unbelievers, unclean persons just because they are patriots? Now do you see what you have let yourself in for?
If patriotism saves us then we don’t need the Bible, or the Church, or Christ, or God, and seeing we were all saved already having come to help our country we did not require you to preach to us. Everything goes. You will remember the tune played by the pipe band when we were breaking camp? “Bundle and go.” At least the men used to call it by that name. “Bundle up your Gospel of patriotism padre, bundle and go.” I have found a Saviour who is prophet, priest, and king, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. He has washed and forgiven me. He has given me the experience of the New Birth, and I have a promise from Him that He will be with me all my days, here, and that He will receive me to Himself when there are no more days to come. Better still. What He has done for me He can do for others. Better even than that. He waits to do it for all that come to Him. “Come unto Me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I WILL GIVE YOU REST.”