THE GRIEVOUSNESS OF WAR
Isaiah 21:15. The grievousness of war.
In our quiet sanctuary, so full of holy and peaceful memories, let us think about war; the more deeply we do so, the more will the aptness of the phrase which forms our text become apparent to us.
I. The grievousness of war is seen in its causes. War is grievous in its origin and in all the things that foster it. It has its origin in the unholy lusts and pitiful mistakes of mankind (James 4:1). These lusts and mistakes, what are they?
1. The lust for increased possessions and for power (P. D., 143, 150).
2. The false glory with which war has been invested. To steal and kill on a small scale is infamous, but to do so on a huge scale is heroic! The wholesale butcher surrounds himself with pomp and pageantry that dazzle the eye and enslave the mind (P. D., 3470, 3476).
3. Blindness to the real fields on which true courage and heroism are manifested. The Christian courage which can meet and overcome the assaults of wickedness, which can turn aside the edge of scorn, and hurl back the weapons of temptation; that can urge men through living martyrdoms which do not keep time to music or song, which carries Moffat into South Africa, &c.,—this is too ethereal for most men to discern or admire. They have no suspicion of the moral victories that might be theirs on the fields of humble service and self-sacrifice.
4. Insensibility to the worth of human souls. A suspicion of the value of life would unnerve the warrior for his task; he could not then, as he does now, regard men as mere food for powder.
II. The grievousness of war is seen in its effects. These are twofold:—
1. Physical. “The grievousness of war” cannot be exaggerated, if we look at it from this point of view alone. Think—
(1) of the physical and mental suffering that is caused by it (P. D., 3468, 3469, 3472, 3476);
(2) of the far-reaching and crushing desolation caused by it (P. D., 3466);
(3) of the frightful cost of preparation for war; of the armed truce in which the nations of Europe live.
2. Moral. These are still more terrible.
(1.) War brutalises those actually engaged in it (P. D., 3464).
(2.) War makes criminals by producing a state of want.
(3.) War aggravates national animosities, and leaves to unborn generations a legacy of hatred. Every war sows the seeds of future conflict.
(4.) War and preparation for war check the progress of those agencies by which the misery of our race would be abated, and its happiness indefinitely increased. The cause of education, of missions, of the Gospel, languishes under the blight of the war-spirit. The cost of a very few wars would evangelise the world (P. D., 3476).
Let this meditation move us to action.
1. Let us exert our utmost influence to bring it to pass that national power shall be wielded by men who love peace.
2. Let us encourage everything that tends to facilitate international intercourse (P. D., 3461).
3. Let us on every possible occasion exalt moral qualities above mere physical daring (P. D., 1798, 1801–1803).
4. Let us put forth every effort to diffuse the principles of Christianity. The Gospel is the only true and effectual peacemaker; only in Christ will men ever be lastingly reconciled to each other.—William Manning.