BE THOU COURAGEOUS
Sunday after Lee - Jackson DayO LORD, we beseech thee mercifully to receive the prayers of thy people who call upon thee; and grant that they may both perceive and know what things they ought to do, and also may have grace and power faithfully to fulfil the same; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
[Collect for the 1st Sunday after Epiphany]
Be thou strong and very courageous
Joshua i
Be strong and of a good courage: for unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land, which I sware unto their fathers to give them. Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper withersoever thou goest. This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.
[Morning Prayer, 1st Lesson, 1st Day of April, 1863]
Grace unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
I prepare this lesson on Lee-Jackson Day, as it is celebrated in the great Commonwealth of Virginia, and look forward to commemorating the birth of General Robert E. Lee tomorrow on the 19th, and his brother in arms, General Thomas J. Jackson on the 21st. I hope that most of you will be doing the same in towns and villages throughout our great land.
The prayer that opened this lesson was familiar in the camps, for it came from the prayer book, and would have been rehearsed at prayer morning and evening throughout the week of the Sunday after the Epiphany.
Likewise the Old Testament lesson from Joshua would have been very familiar, as it was read annually on the 1st of April, just about a month before the fury of Chancellorsville. Both this prayer and others like it, and this Old Testament reading, I believe, helped to shape these two men and formed the bedrock of their remarkably command ability. No other two Generals in these latter days have surpassed their accomplishments together. The battles in and about Frederick and Chancellorsville in the Winter and Spring of 1862-63 have set a standard of study for military historians for all time in courage, wisdom, finesse, and --- well, something more that cannot be easily explained in military terms and which is lost to secular humanists.
One thing that all historians recognize, is that the faith of these men played a very large role in their command. Another is that they out-generaled and out-fought their rivals against enormous odds, with a boldness that was uncommon. Lee is considered the most audacious commander of not only the War of Independence, but of his century -- throughout the world. No less bold was his senior Lieutenant and "right hand", Stonewall Jackson, whose envelopment of the forces of Hooker at Chancellorsville was magnificent. Like Caleb and Joshua, the faithful remnant of the people of the wilderness, who led the Israelites in the battles of Jericho and Ai, Lee and Jackson moved forward with remarkable élan against overwhelming odds, and with an Old Testament-like faith.
Our generals are known for some sayings which bear directly on today's lesson:
General Lee said,Duty, then is the sublimest word in our language. Do your duty in all things. You cannot do more; you should never wish to do less.
For Lee, Duty was sacred, and Duty to God stood above all other duties. I've no doubt that he constantly prayed a prayer like that today, asking that God would lead him as a commander and give him the resolve he needed to do the right thing. Once he had decided, through prayer, what his duty was, there was nothing that could deter him; except for the ultimate assessment of "what was right", for he said,
I think it better to do right, even if we suffer in so doing, than to incur the reproach of our consciences and posterity.
General Jackson knew today's lesson well too. He was a great admirer of the Book of Joshua. He cited Joshua for the way a commander should write his battle reports saying,
"Look at Joshua… brevity, fairness, modesty, and he traces the victory to its proper source – the blessing of God." Likewise, he lived the crux of today’s prayer. Jackson said,
"The most important thing in the world is to know the will of God, and then to do it!"
Let us carefully consider these lessons and adopt their truths as our own. If we Sons of Confederate Veterans would always follow these tenants of faith and life: to do God's will in all things known through his Word, to seek his guidance in things uncertain, and to courageously implement what we believed to be right in God's eyes as a matter of sacred duty to the best of our ability, then our lives would be a living memorial to the Confederate Veteran, and would honour their sacrifice.
Let us pray,
O Lord, grant, we beseech thee, that through following the example of faith and courage our forefathers set forth in their Cause, may we find that Peace of God which the world cannot give. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, Commander of the Host and deliverer of the faithful, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, for ever and ever. Amen
Deo vindice
The Reverend Mark Carroll,
Colonel Ben Caudill Camp
Friday of the 1st Sunday after the Epiphany, Lee-Jackson Day, in the Year of Our Lord MMVIII
