CALL TO COURAGE

Manawatu Standard, Volume LXI, Issue 125, 28 April 1941, Page 6

CALL TO COURAGE

SPIRIT IN CRISIS. BISHOP’S EXHORTATION. A striking exhortation to the people i to be of good courage in these times ]of stress was made by the Bishop of I Wellington (Rt. Rev. H. Holland) in ; ail outstanding sermon in All Saints i Church last evening. There was a ; crowded congregation. His Lordship i took as his text, the battle cry ot (Joab: ‘‘Be of good courage and let i us play the men for our people and for tlie cities of our God: and the Lord do that which seemeth to Hint good.’’ (Samuel 11., chap. 10, verse 12.) These words, His Lordship said, were a superb challenge to the Empire and the cause lor which we were fighting, as we knew we were on the verge of a supreme crisis—a time of testing of the courage of the British people. These words were also the philosophy of the Christian soldier, the Bishop added. They were uttered at a time when .loan's army seemed to be overwhelmed and he gave the order of the day— “Be of good courage and let us play the men for our people and for tlie cities of our God; and the Lord do that which seemeth to Him good.” Friday had been a day of proud thanksgiving, for we knew the men of Anzac had been of good courage | and had left a tradition for the generi ation that succeeded, which tradition i they had risen to and adopted for j their own. As wc thought with proud I thanksgiving of the first Anzacs our hearts were full of pride for the second Anzacs, who had shown the same heroic courage and endurance under similar circumstances. They had their backs to the wall in what was a forlorn hope, and just as Leonidas and his little hand had done, had won the admiration of their enemies. With Joab, danger had to be faced, the battle! was on with the. odds against him and, finest of all, there was no question of calculation as io victory or defeat —that was left to God in absolute confidence.

PLAYING THE MAN j Bishop Holland said there should b ! something more of that attitude in ou j nation when tilings were not toi j origin. He had been appalled by tin attitude ot many men and women win I constantly required assurance ot vie | tory. Let there be uo thought ol cal ! dilation oi victory or tieieat, tin ! speaker said. Jonh's words were appro ! priate to the moment. New Zeaianc troops had not been sent to Greece because victory was a certainty, bui because honour demanded it. What ever happened, we had "played tin men” and helped a small nation, the people of which preferred to die fret men rather than live as slaves. Tlii; ! had been the most glorious example jot what playing the man had meant IWe must have philosophy about tin i whole situation. One tiling was certain lit the Christian nations had the true ! philosophy military defeat could not ; conquer tlie soul of man. It would make all the difference in the coming months if we could stick to that philosophy. We had been watching with awe and reverence our kinsmen in England, who remained unbowed during hammering blows that had rained upon them. Anxiety and tear were j knocking at tlie doors ot many hearts and our prayers went out to those engaged in an epic struggle with such courage. While wo, too, must be ol good courage, there must also be the knowledge that “behind every shadow standeth God.” This would give a line sense of proportion and keep life, death and pain in their proper place and enable us to say as the weeks rolled on, "In quietness and confidence shall be our strength and power to help our fellow men in time of strain ; and stress." Our brothers were playing j the man. What about us‘r There was ! no cause for congratulation. His Lordi ship ventured to say. This was a total j war and all were in the front lino. We, too, must play the man for our people. We must brave ourselves to a new sense of urgency and responsibility; it we did not wo would bo letting God down and risking defeat. It was spirit that- would win the war, not machines. There was too much drinking and gambling and the reins were loose on the sensual side of nature with too much that was merely material as the objective of life. God's voice was breaking through suggesting that now was the time to rise up and play the man for our people and for the cities of God. In this moment of supreme crisis in our Christian ljistory Bishop Holland exhorted his people to dedicate their lives to the Man Who alone could help them lo play the man —the only Figure in history Who had played the perfect man. “Ask complete forgiveness for all the hurts you have inflicted, take Him as your leader, open the doors and let Him come in and take possession to drive out material things which are as dust.. That is the challenge of the moment. Go out from this church having heard the Captain’s order of the day, ‘Be of good courage,’ ” concluded His Lordship.