Stories of Faith and Courage From World War II (60 page)

In his second station on the way to freedom, Dietrich Bonhoeffer calls us away from the realm of abstract thought and good intentions to the real world of action.

Do and dare what is right, not swayed by the whim of the moment.
Bravely take hold of the real, not dallying now with what might be.
Not in the flight of ideas but only in action is freedom.
Make up your mind and come out into the tempest of living.
God’s command is enough and your faith in him to sustain you.
Then at last freedom will welcome your spirit amid great rejoicing.
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We have read many stories about men and women who took action during time of war, in spite of their fears and the uncertainty of the times. Wartime seems to present situations requiring practical action rather than abstract ideas. There are times when the same applies in our spiritual lives. We all need times of quiet study and contemplation. However, this kind of activity is not an end in itself. These times are meant to prepare us to take action in service to God’s kingdom. We know that faith without works is dead. We don’t work our way to God, but if he is within us, we will want to do great things for him.

When we are tempted to feel too ill-equipped to accomplish anything for God, remember that it is not our ability that God is interested in, but our availability. Moses was convinced he was the wrong man for the job of leading the Israelites out of Egypt. But God told him, “I will be with you” (Exodus 3:12). In the same way, the apostle Paul tells us why we should never feel inadequate: “I can do everything through him who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:13). (JG)

You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless… As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

—James 2:20, 26

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OVEMBER 4

Suffering and Freedom

Dietrich Bonhoeffer suffered persecution and imprisonment for his Christian beliefs. For him to consider his suffering an integral step on his way to freedom is one of the most amazing witnesses ever recorded.

See what a transformation! These hands so active and powerful
Now are tied, and alone and fainting, you see where your work ends.
Yet you are confident still, and gladly commit what is rightful
Into a stronger hand, and say that you are contented.
You were free from a moment of bliss, then you yielded your freedom
Into the hand of God, that he might perfect it in glory.
⁴⁶¹

Elsewhere in this book are stories of American and Japanese soldiers who suffered in prison and, through this suffering, found freedom in Christ. Out of the depths they discovered a new and better life. While few of us today will experience the tribulation of a prisoner of war camp, there will come a time in each of our lives when we will discover our own suffering. It could be chronic pain or a terminal illness, losing a loved one, battling depression, or simply a gnawing sense of being unfulfilled.

We need to understand that God uses these experiences to draw us closer to him. Have you noticed that we experience the most growth when times are difficult? When circumstances are easy, we have no reason to rely fully on the Lord. In the Psalms we see how David handled suffering. Psalm 10 begins with a cry of desperation: “Why, O L
ORD
, do you stand far off?”(v. 1). But by the end of the same chapter, David comes to rely on his knowledge of God’s character. May our own trials be times of honestly seeking the Lord. (JG)

You hear, O L
ORD
, the desire of the afflicted; You encourage them, and you listen to their cry, Defending the fatherless and the oppressed, In order that man, who is of the earth, may terrify no more.

—Psalms 10:17–18

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OVEMBER 5

Death and Freedom

After exploring the subjects of discipline, action, and suffering, Dietrich Bonhoeffer came to the final and ultimate step toward freedom death itself.

Come now, highest of feasts on the way to freedom eternal,
Death, strike off the fetters, break down the walls that oppress us,
Our bedazzled soul and our ephemeral body,
That we may see at last the sight which here was not vouchsafed us.
Freedom, we sought you long in discipline, action, suffering.
Now as we die we see you and know you at last, face to face.
⁴⁶²

Throughout this devotional are stories of miraculous survival and answered prayers. However, we know that many prayers, from our human perspective, were not answered. During World War II thousands of soldiers and sailors paid the ultimate price and did not return home. Bonhoeffer here speaks for these brave men and women, revealing the ultimate survival that was theirs as Christians: eternal life with their Lord and Savior. Only a Christian can face death with this joyful hope. We know what waits for us. And only when we part with this temporary dwelling place of earth can we enjoy our homecoming reunion with the Lord and all his saints who have gone before us.

The apostle Paul eagerly anticipated meeting Jesus again face to face: “We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8). And yet, he did not allow himself to dwell on that heavenly future so much that he neglected his earthly tasks: “So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it”(2 Corinthians 5:9). We should also anticipate death with confidence, knowing it is the passage to heaven; and yet continue in the good works God has given us to do here on Earth until he calls us home. (JG)

For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.

—Philippians 1:21

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OVEMBER 6

The Church Must Confess

Before he was executed, Dietrich Bonhoeffer voiced criticism of the German Lutheran Church for its compromises with the Nazi government:

The church must confess that she has witnessed the lawless application of brutal force, the physical and spiritual suffering of countless innocent people, oppression, hatred, and murder, and that she has not raised her voice on behalf of the victims and has not found ways to hasten to their air… By her own silence she has rendered herself guilty because of her unwillingness to suffer for what she knows is right.
⁴⁶³

James Dobson has used this quote to point to the present day church’s passivity on the issue of abortion.
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I am not qualified to comment on the validity of this criticism. Many individual Christians and churches have worked diligently in this area, especially to give viable choices other than abortion to troubled expectant mothers. I am very much in favor of this approach on the personal level. I am not so certain of what is appropriate on the political level. I believe churches and Christian groups are on dangerous ground when they seek power through the political process, no matter how worthy the cause. We certainly make our primary duty of bringing Christ’s message to the world more difficult for ourselves if we are perceived as trying to coerce others in matters of conscience. Our Founding Fathers wisely preempted this issue as they wrote the Constitution. Christians should be thankful for this freedom of conscience and for the freedom to use persuasion in changing the conscience of others.

This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.

—Hebrews 10:16

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OVEMBER 7

Don’t Disgrace Your Name

Joe Graser was serving with Patton’s 3
^rd

Army in Europe when he learned that his younger brother, Don, back in Ohio, had been inducted into the Army. He wrote a heartfelt letter to his brother giving him advice on being a soldier and a man:

As Mom always said you are judged by the company you keep, so don’t be to [sic] hasty at first with whom you run around with, wait a while then pick out a buddy or so… you will see it’s very easy to give your religion up, while in the service, since no one is there to remind you about it, but always live the way you were brought up, over two years ago when I came in Mom told me, to be careful & never to disgrace my name, that is something that has always been on my mind, in whatever I do & surely has been a guidance to me.
⁴⁶⁵

My first thought on reading this letter was that telling a loved one not to “disgrace his name” sounds like advice from a bygone era. Today it almost seems a quaint notion. What would a young person now consider disgraceful? For many in today’s culture, probably little short of being caught committing a felony. Yet, the biblical imperative stands, to “ Honor your father and mother.” We do this by giving them respect and by doing nothing to bring them embarrassment or shame. I think it reasonable to expand the scope of this injunction to the family as well, so that our actions honor them and bring credit to them in the larger community.

It is also important to remember that our Lord Jesus taught us an even more expansive view of how we should live in relation to these commands. We are called to fulfill these obligations out of love rather than obedience. When his love fills our hearts, we are able to lovingly bring honor to him, to our parents, and to our families. In love, we will never disgrace his name or our own.

I will put my laws in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.

—Jeremiah 31:33

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OVEMBER 8

I Precede You

Kim Malthe-Bruun was a Danish partisan sentenced to die for smuggling weapons to a resistance group. He wrote a last letter to his mother trying to comfort her with his thoughts about life after death:

I am an insignificant thing, and my person will soon be forgotten, but the thought, the life, the inspiration that filled me will live on. You will meet them everywhere in the trees at springtime, in people who cross your path, in a loving little smile. You will encounter that something which perhaps had value in me, you will cherish it, to become large and mature.

I shall be living with all of you whose hearts I once filled. And you will all live on, knowing that I have preceded you, and not, as perhaps you thought at first, dropped out behind you… Follow me, my dear mother, on my path, and do not stop before the end.
⁴⁶⁶

This young man’s expectations are not unlike many today. There is pale hope that something of himself will live on in the memory of others. He knows intuitively that he has thoughts and inspirations that are not going to die. But what happens to them?

We need to appreciate the power of the gospel message to bring hope to those with this mindset. In Christ Jesus we are blessed to know exactly where we’re going. The young man in this story also has an intuition that in dying, he will go ahead of the living to a place where they will eventually come. Vague speculation is not necessary here either. Jesus has assured us: “I am going there to prepare a place for you”(John 14:2). Likewise, I believe it is true that, when our time comes, we in turn go to prepare the way for others. This is our joyful hope in Jesus Christ: he conquered death for us, so that we and our loved ones can be with him forever.

And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.

—John 14:34

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OVEMBER 9

Pray for Ourselves

General Patton asked his chaplain a startling question:

“How much praying is being done in the Third Army?” The chaplain admitted that there were probably few prayers being said, other than by the unit chaplains themselves. The general leaned back in his swivel chair, looked at the other man intently, and declared:

Chaplain, I am a strong believer in prayer. There are three ways that men get what they want; by planning, by working, and by praying… But between the plan and the operation there is always an unknown. That unknown spells defeat or victory, success or failure. It is the reaction of the actors to the ordeal when it actually comes. Some people call that getting the breaks; I call it God. God has His part, or margin in everything. That’s where prayer comes in. Up to now, in the Third Army, God has been very good to us. We have never retreated; we have suffered no defeats, no famine, no epidemics. This is because a lot of people back home are praying for us. We were lucky in Africa, in Sicily, and in Italy, simply because people prayed. But we have to pray for ourselves, too.
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There is plenty of room to question General Patton’s theology. To consider praying one of three ways for men to “get what they want” is a very limited view of God and prayer. However, there is not much room to question his sincerity. He was genuinely thankful for the success of his army and mindful that it was not all due to his own military brilliance. General Patton provides a great example of a leader who is able to look beyond himself and to give credit to prayer and to God for his success. While times were good, he looked forward to the trials ahead and urged his men to stay close to God, reminding them and himself that, “We have to pray for ourselves.”