- Hours Before War -

sermon by Manfred Schreyer

 

Micah 4:1 In the last days the mountain of the Lord's temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and peoples will stream to it. :2 Many nations will come and say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths." The law will go out from Zion, the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. :3 He will judge between many peoples and will settle disputes for strong nations far and wide. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.

:4 Every man will sit under his own vine and under his own fig tree, and no one will make them afraid, for the LORD Almighty has spoken. :5 All the nations may walk in the name of their gods; we will walk in the name of the LORD our God for ever and ever. :6 "In that day," declares the LORD, "I will gather the lame; I will assemble the exiles and those I have brought to grief. :7 I will make the lame a remnant, those driven away a strong nation. The LORD will rule over them in Mount Zion from that day and forever.

 

      It is 5:45 A.M. The night is cold and is still dark. The year is 1945 and the war  against Poland by the Germans has begun.

      My grandparents lived in the "Corridor", a geographical area in Poland which was established for Germans.

      My Grandparents s took a few of their belongings, hitched up their horses, took the kids and took off along with their neighbors.

      The memory of war never leaves humankind. The memory of war reminds everyone of scars. The scars are marked by, death, loss, and the pain of war never goes away. It does not even leave you for generations.

      The civil war will never be forgotten. Every American was touched by death.

      The second world war will never be forgotten. . .every German lost someone they loved.

      The Japanese war against the Chinese will never be forgotten. . .every Chinese associates brutality with being Japanese.

      The amazing thing is however that often we do not even know why we fought a battle.

      I was opening the mail from Church the other day and little Manfred received information about his upcoming registration within the next two years. The Brethren pleaded with him not to join the armed forces, because we as a denomination believe that any sort of killing is a sin. We believe war is a sin.

      And while I was reflecting in seminary upon myself and my spiritual journey it became very clear to me, that this denomination is the right one for me, because it upholds the values that I have for life. My father comes from a long line of military personal. The most famous participant fought in the deadly battle of Marshlatoure against the French. Where out of 7,000 people only 600 came out alive. He received the highest honor the German Kaiser had to give.

      But winning motivates to win more. . .never is enough enough. . .and so . . .wars were fought again and again.

I will NEVER send my son into battle on foreign soil, because my family has endured the most severe pain any human can endure in wartime. They were raped, some were torture, some were killed, some burned while they were alive, other lost their limbs. . .and the list goes on.

Please Heavenly Father, do not let my son die! Let him be known as a peacemaker, let him be known as the first one in our family who breaks the cycle and who will not have to endure the closeness of war.

      I would like to dig a little deeper into this subject. . .How can war ever be stopped? How can the thirst for human blood ever be stopped.?

      In many cases wars are fought for economic reasons, territorial reasons.

      But out of the 22 wars currently in the world, 20 are fought by Moslems. . .in the name of Allah.

      In any other war then a faith-war the loser gives up the precious commodity which the opponent fought for and the war is over, but when you fight over ideology it is "winner takes all!"

      Ideology fuels an immense fire that motivates martyrdom , and endless brutality. No war-guideline (if there is such a thing) are kept.

      And that war is different. It is fought by individuals who have no honor for life in general. To die means to die for their god, to die means to receive a reward from the gods of their heavens.

      Now there are people who proclaim that we should do nothing and never do anything. Meaning even if the worst of all attack would happen, we should just sit like a sitting duck. And to those who believe that way it is clear that they will die.

      All that sounds very honorable. Pacifism sounds excellent. It sounds like the right thing to do.

      But what happens if the guy right next to you would not like to die? Is it not your obligation to protect your brother and sister? Is it not your obligation as a Christian to stop evil in its’ beginning?

      Is that person now dying only because you did not defend him?

      Did you not then commit murder? Is that not a sin?

 

"In three days of attacks in March 1988 by Saddam Hussein troops, victims (Kurds) were exposed to mustard gas, which burns, mutates DNA and causes malformations and cancer; and the nerve gas sarin and tabun, which can kill, paralyze or cause immediate and lasting, neuropsychiatric

damage. "Thousands of Kurds were killed immediately. Thousands more were injured. Halabja w as the most notorious but it was one of at least 40 chemical assaults ordered by al-Majid." People died on doorsteps, pushing prams and in their cars.
It is estimated that in 1987-88 Hussein's forces murdered thousands of Kurds. To put it in better perspective this dictator falls into these categories:

 

"The major genocides of the 20th century a few stood out ... the Bosnian Serbs' eradication of non- Serbs, the Ottoman slaughter of the Armenians, the Nazi Holocaust, Pol Pot's terror in Cambodia,, Saddam Hussein's destruction of the Kurds in northern Iraq and the Rwandan Hutus 'systematic extermination of the Tutsi minority" '

      To be truthful we have already blood on our hands. . .we are guilty because we did not put a stop to it earlier.

      And we can now all sit here and politely ask him to stop. . .we have the obligation put a stop to it.

I want to make it clear: I am NOT a war monger, nor am I advocating war! There is not greater desire in my heart then peace. For us and the people in Iraq. But what am I going to tell my brothers and sisters in Iraq who may ask me one day: "Why did you let my family die" "Why did you allow our family to be poisoned?" Why did you care more about being politically correct, then to help me. . .a human being just like you.

"Did you not know that I feel just like you?" Did you not know that we were suffering?" Did you not know that Saddam was evil?" Did you not know that I counted on you?"

      Jesus asks us to be with the oppressed. He asks us to love our neighbors. Jesus asks us . . . .

      So if we just do nothing and evil overtakes us, will not in the end the message of Jesus die? Is this not really what Saddam wants? Is this not really what Satan desires?

Today I plead with you to pray for peace! To pray for a peaceful solution, but if war comes - to know that we are defending "the good" against the evil. Let us pray that our motives as a people stay pure. That we only defend liberty, freedom, peace and the right to live life as a gift from God. . . .the longing all human kind hopes for.

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