Redeeming a Nation (Timeless Teaching)

by Philip Quenby

  Shining a light.

  As we bathe in the light, we will experience blessing. We will experience “fellowship with [other believers]... fellowship ... with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ [and] ... our joy [will be] complete.” (1 John 1:3-4). The more we bathe in the light, the more the light in us will increase. We will begin to shine. Moses shone so greatly with the reflected light of God that his face had to be covered, for men could not bear to look at it: “When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, his face was radiant, and they were afraid to come near him.” (Exodus 34:30). We may not be able to achieve that degree of holiness and closeness to God – Moses was, after all a man to whom God spoke “face to face, as a man speaks to a friend” (Exodus 33:11) – but we can still shine.

  Florence Nightingale shone and thereby discharged the trust that the Lord placed upon her. Her life demonstrates that shining to the fullest possible extent cannot rest solely on our receiving from God without also passing on what we have received. One of the essential truths of the kingdom of God is that we must give away what is given to us: “Freely you have received, freely give.” (Matthew 10:8). It is by enriching others that we are most fully enriched ourselves. It is by giving our gifts away that we multiply them for the benefit of others and also ensure that they redound to our benefit: “Cast your bread upon the waters, for after many days you will find it again.” (Ecclesiastes 11:1). Our aim must be to turn our personal blessing into a corporate blessing, one that benefits our nation and our fellow men. This requires preparation, obedience and action.

  In terms of preparation:

  • Priming our lamps. A light needs fuel to shine. We are fuelled and fed spiritually by God. Our light will soon dim unless we have “fellowship ... with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ” (1 John 1:3).

  • Keeping our lamps ready. We are told to: “Be dressed ready for service and keep [our] lamps burning.” (Luke 12:35).

  In terms of obedience:

  • Using our lamps for their intended purpose. We need to obey the instructions that God gives us: “For this is what the Lord has commanded us: I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 13:47).

  In terms of action:

  • Uncovering our lamps. A light that is “put under a bowl” (Matthew 5:15) will not illuminate anything. This is what we have done in England by treating faith as a private matter, but not for the public arena. The result is that we have been silent when we should have spoken out and our light has been invisible.

  Conclusion.

  Florence Nightingale’s reputation has been under attack virtually from the moment she set foot back in England at the Crimean War’s end. The British authorities had made a disastrous mistake in accepting Turkey’s offer of the old barracks at Scutari for a hospital. There were no facilities there for landing the sick and wounded who arrived by sea, so men had to be brought ashore in rowing boats and then carried up the steep slopes to the hospital on stretchers. The building itself had no proper water supply or drainage system. Such toilet facilities as there were, wholly inadequate for the numbers concerned and quite without means of flushing or cleansing, stood right alongside the main water storage tank. The supply to this tank was eventually found to be flowing through the rotting carcass of a horse.

  Little wonder that a wounded man stood a better chance of recovery by being tended near the front than by being brought to Scutari. The Barrack Hospital became a charnel house packed with men too numerous to receive any effective help. For every one who died of his wounds, three died from the conditions in the hospital itself. When the full extent of the horror became known, her complicity in such suffering almost destroyed Florence Nightingale, but it does not negate her achievements. Rather, these very circumstances magnify the impact of her work and make yet nobler her sheer tenacity in the face of official bumbling and bloody-mindedness.

  In 1869 she wrote to a dissident nurse: “Do you think I should have succeeded in doing anything if I had kicked and resisted and resented? Is it our Master’s command? Is it even common sense? I have been shut out of hospitals into which I had been ordered to go by the Commander-in-Chief – obliged to stand outside the door in the snow till night – have been refused rations for as much as ten days at a time for the nurses I had brought by superior command. And I have been as good friends the day after with the officials who did these things – have resolutely ignored these things for the sake of the work ... Who am I that should not choose to bear what my Master chooses to bear?”[95]

  Florence Nightingale shone a light in the darkness of the Crimean War. The lamp she carried burned so bright because she herself had seen the light, because she walked in the light and was herself bathed in the light. We all have light to shine. Jesus tells us that we “are the light of the world” (Matthew 5:14), that this light is designed to be used so that it “gives light to everyone in the house” (Matthew 5:15) and that we should “let [our] light shine before men, that they may see [our] good deeds and praise [our] Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16). We do not have to tend wounded on a battlefield to obey this command. There are casualties and suffering aplenty on our doorstep.

  Like the apostle John, we need to “proclaim” (1 John 1:2 and 3), “declare” (1 John 1:5) and “testify” (1 John 1:2) concerning the light. We can do so by words and deeds. The prophet Isaiah put it thus: “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.” (Isaiah 60:1).

  Now is the time for us to shine.

  40. Soldiers of the Queen

  2 Corinthians 4.

  Key word: treasure.

  Around ten past one on 22 January 1879 an eclipse of the sun spread gloom over the southern skies of the Dark Continent. At that very moment British soldiers lay fighting and dying amidst rock and scrub in the foothills of the Drakensberg mountains, which form part of present-day South Africa. Just across the Mangeni River at Isandhlwana, a Zulu impi (army) of 20,000 had surprised one of the outlying units of Lord Chelmsford’s command. This column, along with four others, had been sent to secure the northern border of British domains and force the Zulu King Cetewayo kaMapande into submission. The British thereby planned to subdue a proud warrior nation which threatened its territory, had already overrun many tribes in the region and had fought bitterly in bygone years with Boer settlers.

  Instead, the redcoats were caught in the open, their camp unfortified. Outnumbered more than twenty to one, the soldiers of Queen Victoria fought and died with characteristic bravery. Little drummer boys of ten or twelve years old stood at their post as the enemy came in wave after wave towards them. Volleys were delivered with customary calm and discipline, to such good effect that at first the Zulus drew back, until a grizzled veteran urged them on again. Under the renewed assault bullets began to run short, for ammunition boxes could not be unscrewed fast enough. The 800 or so British and 500 native troops were overrun and slaughtered almost to a man. It was one of the British Empire’s most ignominious defeats.

  The blow to Imperial pride and prestige was enormous. In a fever of patriotic excitement, an expeditionary force was immediately raised to teach the Zulus a lesson. It was scarcely needed. Cetewayo’s commanders were unable to capitalise on small successes at Ntombe Drift and Hlobane, whilst at Rorke’s Drift a British garrison of just 140 was able to hold off repeated attacks by a force more than twenty times their size for the loss of just seventeen men.[96] A thousand and more Zulus lost their lives in that engagement and their warriors’ morale was broken by further bloody defeats at Gingindlovu, Kambula and Nyezane. The one-sided conflict was over less than six months after it started: on 4 July 1879 British forces took the Zulu capital of Ulundi following a half-hearted defence, deposed Cetewayo and split the Zulu kingdom into thirteen independent chiefdoms. Civil war ensued and, although Cetewayo was restored to part of his kingdom after a visit to London in 1882, he was subsequently driven from his realm and died a fugitive on
British soil on 8 February 1884. The Zulu lands were annexed to South Africa three years later.

  Jars of clay.

  Although so inferior to the British in technology, the Zulus were doughty warriors. King Chaka, who preceded Cetewayo’s father King Mpande on the throne and who unified the Zulu clans into a powerful military force, is said to have made his warriors discard their shoes and dance barefoot on thorns to toughen their feet and increase their mobility. Such men recognised and honoured bravery in their opponents. Their folk history retains eyewitness accounts of the battle at Isandhlwana. These tell that, as the fighting drew to a close, Captain Younghusband and a few comrades were all that remained of the British force. Their ammunition spent, they shook hand, fixed bayonets and charged to certain death amidst the massed ranks of the enemy, yelling defiance. Right to the last, they did not lose heart. One of their opponents said: “We really respected those men. They were men of enormous courage.” Another recalled: “Those red soldiers, how few they were, and how they fought! They fell like stones, each man in his place.”

  The words of St Paul to the Christians in Corinth might almost have been written for these British soldiers: “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.” (2 Corinthians 4:8-9). He continues: “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” (2 Corinthians 4:16-17).

  The picture that St Paul paints is of people brought almost to the last gasp. It is a study in the contrasts and paradoxes that inform the Christian life:

  • “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed” (2 Corinthians 4:8). So often, the forces ranged against us seem overwhelming and our resources pitifully inadequate. It is at precisely such times, when we have come to the end of what we can do on our own and are forced to rely utterly on God, that we see his power most clearly.

  • “We are ... perplexed but not in despair” (2 Corinthians 4:8). Often we are puzzled by what is happening, bewildered, anxious, embarrassed, confused and unable to understand. None of this should be a cause for despair. The antidote is to look beyond immediate circumstances and keep our eyes fixed on the eternal.

  • “We are ... persecuted but not abandoned” (2 Corinthians 4:9). The fact that, for a limited period, God allows persecution does not mean that he desires our suffering, still less that he abandons his people. There is no-one who knows more about hardship than Jesus, who took all the pain and wrongdoing of mankind on himself when he died on the cross. We can thus be assured that God is alongside us throughout our trials and suffers with us.

  • “We are ... struck down, but not destroyed.” (2 Corinthians 4:9). Through trials we grow and gain in spiritual strength: “we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.” (Romans 5:3). Through persecution the church expands and renews its vigour, for “unless a grain of what falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.” (John 12:24). This is not to belittle the appalling things through which many live. It is merely to recognise God’s ability to bring good results even from what is bad.

  • “Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.” (2 Corinthians 4:16). Our bodies are “jars of clay” (2 Corinthians 4:7) – weak, subject to failure and ageing, prey to disease and corruption. Yet whatever might happen to this outer shell, when we open ourselves to the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives we are “transformed by the renewing of [our] mind.” (Romans 12:2).

  Despite everything, St Paul is therefore able to affirm that “our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” (2 Corinthians 4:17).

  All-surpassing power.

  The key to the apostle’s ability to do this is his access to the treasure that consists in “God’s light [shining] in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.” (2 Corinthians 4:6). Jesus tells us that not just that “The kingdom of God is near” (Luke 10:9) but that “the kingdom of God is within [us].” (Luke 17:21). St Paul elaborates: “But we have this treasure in jars of clay [the human body] to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.” (2 Corinthians 4:7). Moreover, “We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body. So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.” (2 Corinthians 4:10-12). In other words, human weakness is the backdrop against which the power of God can be seen in stark relief. The very fact that man cannot measure up to divine standards or gain salvation on his own emphasises the glory, mercy and love of God in all its fullness. The inevitability of our physical death shows beyond a shadow of a doubt that eternal life is from the Almighty.

  When the Lord told St Paul that “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9), the apostle’s reaction was to say: “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:9-10).

  The men who fought so gallantly at Isandhlwana won glory and high renown, albeit a glory far below the heavenly glory that St Paul had in mind. Whilst such glory will be brought to final perfection in heaven, it is nevertheless present with us in some degree during our time on earth: “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made his light shine in our hearts to give us the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.” (2 Corinthians 4:6). We have God’s light in us and this reflection of his glory gives us “the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.” (2 Corinthians 4:6).

  The confidence that St Paul expresses is thus based not on the passing events of our lives on earth, but on the firm expectation of what is to come: “It is written: ‘I believed; therefore I have spoken.’ With that same spirit of faith we also believe and therefore speak, because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in his presence. All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.” (2 Corinthians 4:13-15).

  Good conscience.

  In pronouncing this message, St Paul makes an appeal to openness and good conscience: “Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.”(2 Corinthians 4:2). By saying that he “renounced secret and shameful ways”, St Paul draws a contrast between himself and the false teachers in Corinth. Unlike them, the apostle says “we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.” (2 Corinthians 4:5). Indeed, wherever we find what is secret, shameful, deceptive or distorting and whenever we come across someone who tries to lord it over others, false teaching is unlikely to be far behind. St Paul instead presents himself as a servant, priding himself on being straightforward and honest in the way that he lays out the treasure of “the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.” (2 Corinthians 4:6). This approach is what commends itself “to every man’s conscience” (2 Corinthians 4:2).

  All human beings have an experience at some point of suffering a guilty conscience. The anguish that this can cause makes us treasure peace of mind all the more, but keeping our conscience clear is not always easy. It often involves forgoing things that we w
ould like and even acting against our self-interest. In extreme cases, it might even cost us our lives. Some decades before Isandhlwana, the troopship Birkenhead was sent with reinforcements for an earlier war against southern African tribes. On 25 February 1852, not far from her destination, she struck a rock off the southernmost tip of Africa at Cape Agulhas. As the vessel sank, 500 soldiers paraded on deck in perfect order, allowing women and children to be evacuated first. Not a man broke rank. This order of priority is still known as the Birkenhead Drill. Most of the troops drowned, but they did so with a clear conscience, for they had not purchased their lives at the expense of those weaker than they. We need to recover some of the discipline and sense of duty that these men showed. It will help us do so if we “fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:18).

  Of course, there are some to whom an appeal to good conscience means nothing. Such people will be blind to all calls to duty and incapable of submitting to any discipline that stops them doing precisely as they want. They will be unable and unwilling to understand their need for forgiveness, still less to comprehend and take advantage of the free offer of salvation that Jesus made possible: “And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” (2 Corinthians 4:3-4). This is a tragedy, but there is no sense in denying it.