This month marks the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the battle of Gettysberg. Almost exactly one hundred and fifty years ago, on July 2, 1863, Major William Worthington Goldsborough was put in charge of the Confederate's 2nd Maryland infantry because their commander was injured. William was a printer by trade. His brother Charles served as a surgeon of the Union's Fifth Maryland Infantry. He held his ground that day on the craggy slopes of Culp's Hill.
The next morning, Goldsborough was ordered to lead his troops into a devastating hail of enemy fire. He obeyed. But before he left, he told one of his comrades that it was "nothing less than murder to send men into that slaughter pen." Two-thirds of Goldsborough's men were killed and a musket ripped into the left side of his chest, passed through his lung, and exited his back. Goldsborough was terribly wounded. After months in the hospital, he became a prisoner of war. He was locked in a crude stockade for 45 days where he was subjected to brutalities and three of his friends died of starvation.
Goldsborough would live until the age of 70. On his deathbed, he said to his wife, "Dont bury me among the damned Yankees here."
Do you see the Bible on the altar? This is not our normal gospel book. This Bible is on loan to us from Don Neifert. It was printed in 1771. In those years, Anglican churches would have had box pews, communion only very seldom and the clergy would be proud of sermons that could last for an hour or more. In today's service, we are worshipping using the words that would have been spoken at a communion service in 1776. Rich and beautiful, these words still speak to us today. Let them wash over you and remind you of our rich heritage as a nation.
Back in 1776, the enemy of this country was not ourselves but Great Britain. We were desperate to announce our independence, our ability to govern ourselves, to be free. We were tired of paying taxes to people who never walked on our soil, tired of being governed by another.
This country's history is forged on the battlefield. It is a great, tragic and beautiful history of men and women who died serving the cause of freedom. We have had many enemies in our history. In fact, if we are honest with ourselves, most human beings have enemies, people who threaten us in some way and want to cause us harm. It is easy for us to pray for this country that we adore. I am so grateful to live here as I know that all of you are.
But what is not easy is what Jesus asks of us today. Jesus asks us to pray for our enemies. He even asks us to love them. And, like Goldsborough, most of us are willing to fight for freedom and even die for a cause, but we are not able to love our enemies. Goldsborough's own brother was a Union doctor and yet he could not stand the thought of being buried next to him. Even on his deathbed, he was consumed with anger.
Why does Jesus ask us to pray for our enemies? What could possibly come of doing that? Does it mean that we are to condone evil or allow injustice to exist because we are called to love our enemies? How could he ask us to do something so non-sensical?
Do you remember the story of the Garden of Eden? Things were perfect for us there until we took that fruit that was not freely given to us. In that garden, we had a kind of freedom and peace that was beyond anything we have known since. But once we took what was not ours, our lives became full of violence and animosity. One of the first things that happened after the fall was the murder of Abel. Cain and Abel were brothers, born both of Eve. But when Cain became jealous of his brother Abel, he killed his own brother. His brother became his enemy and the march of conflict and hatred began.
So long as we are unable to forgive, the march of violence continues. True freedom comes when we can forgive our enemies. Although Goldsborough was released from prison, he was never free. On his deathbed, he was still running from his enemies, from his own brother. He could never be free because he could never forgive.
But how can we as a country forgive some of the atrocities that have occurred in our history? I do not know if we can ever forgive as a country, but I do know that we can forgive as individuals. And on this point, Jesus is very specific. He asks us to love our enemies and pray for them.
If we are going to begin the almost impossible task of loving our enemies, the only way to start is to pray for them. Pray for those who use you and persecute you. Just pray for them.
If you sit down to pray every day and you only pray for those who are sick or those who you love, you are not doing what Jesus asks of you. He is very clear that we are asked to pray for those who hate us.
I have a list that I read every day. It is long. It is full of people who have asked me to pray for them. But it took me years before I began to put on that list the names of people who trouble me, enemies of my county and people who have wronged me. And every day, when I speak their names, it is hard. I get a catch in my throat. I studder. But day in and day out, I pray.
You see, when we sit down and pray for those who have hurt us the worst, for our enemies both abroad and at home, we return, for just a brief moment, to Eden. Be perfect, Jesus tells us, as God is perfect and as you once were perfect before all this mess occurred. You were not meant for violence or war or hatred, those are the expressions of our fallen world. Sometimes they are the least inadequate solutions. But no matter how angry you are or how unfair your life has become, you can pray. And in prayer, you can unite yourself to God in forgiveness. For the sake of your own soul, you must learn to forgive.
I want you to take a moment and think in your mind of who your enemies are. (silence) Who are they, both at home and abroad? Have you thought of them? Name them. Picture them. These are the people that you must remember in prayer.
I do wonder what might take place if every American were to pray for his or her enemies. Pray for the opposing political party, pray for whatever part of the government you feel fails you, pray for close friends and family who have wounded you deeply, pray for terrorists who threaten our safety as a nation and brutal dictators abroad. Pray for them all, not to condone their behavior but simply because Jesus told us to do it. And when we pray, we open ourselves up to a miracle. And, perhaps most importantly, we become truly free again.
