In the film, General George Patton, played by George C. Scott, calls for the Chaplain. The Chaplain reports to the General who demands a prayer. A weather prayer. The Chaplain is confused. A weather prayer, sir? he asks. Patton says: “Let's see if we can't get God helping us with this thing.” The Chaplain in the film says, “It'll take a pretty thick rug for that kind of prayer.” To which the General replies, “I don't care if it takes a flying carpet.”
The prayer is written, the General reads it, the skies clear, and the enemy is defeated. In the movie, the General tells his assistant to put the chaplain in for a medal because “That chaplain stands in good with the Lord and I want to give him a medal.”
[Here is another account of the chaplain and the General.]
Whenever I see that scene, I chuckle. We live in a world of specialization. When you want to fix something in a house, there are few handy-folk out there… but most often you must have a plumber, a carpenter, an electrician, a roofer, a mason to deal with whatever particular problem is in front of you. Nothing wrong with that. But when you want to do a small job that crosses specialties, it can get pretty big pretty fast! When I was in hospital ministry, I really saw this in action. There were nurses, respiratory therapists, x-ray technicians, and so on. Everyone had a specialty. So, it stood to reason that the Chaplain was the paid, professional, God-person.
Lessons like today’s gospel tend to reinforce this notion.
Luke’s is the only Gospel that tells of Jesus sending out 70 disciples into the
surrounding villages. They are to travel light, but they are armed with special
powers to confront evil and heal the sick. When they return, they are ecstatic
at their success!
But who were these folks? Of course, they are followers of
Jesus. Some of them, scholars think, became Apostles. We tend to think of
apostles as clergy, because apostles ordained bishops and through them priests
and deacons, we tend to think that the point of this story is to inspire the
clergy to do a better job for us.
Besides, when Jesus sends out the 70, we can’t help but think of how
Moses also called 70 people to assist him in his task of shepherding Israel as
it moved through the desert. Like Moses, Jesus created a team to assist him and
sent them into the world. But does that necessarily mean that this team was the
first clergy? Is it really only the ordained who carry out Jesus’ mission?
Not in the least!
Certainly, there were pastors, preachers, celebrants of the
sacraments, among those who led these emerging Christian communities. But we
are wrong if we think that all those called and sent filled that description,
or were a first-century version of specialized, professional God-people.
And this is just as true today. All the baptized are called
and sent today. Today’s gospel is about you!
The gospel tells us two things about every baptized
Christian.
The first is that we all have the task of telling the
Good News to others and we all do that in many different ways! We might
communicate the Gospel quietly or spectacularly, with our words or through our
actions, through our intellect or through our behavior. No matter how we go
about it, all of us share the same purpose and that is to communicate the love
of God to a world in deep pain and craving purpose, hope, comfort, and
direction. In an age of specialization, Jesus is a magnificent generalist!
The second thing the gospel tells us is that we have the power
to communicate Good News. Sometimes we don’t believe it. We need that power
because we often say things like “I’m an introvert,” “It’s not in my nature,”
“I get embarrassed,” “I don’t want to be pushy or rude,” and these feelings can
get in our way.
The Gospel assures us that we are all have been given
the power, through the same Holy Spirit that descended on the whole church—not
just the apostles! —on Pentecost, to witness in the world. The power that God
gives is not the same as natural talent.
Imagine that one day you are visiting a friend in the
hospital, standing, or sitting by a sick person’s bed. It can feel
uncomfortable. Everything in you tells you to cut and run because you may not
know what to say, feel inadequate and weird. And yet you stay, maybe holding a
hand and just sitting there, or making small talk. And even though you have had
no special training, even though it feels strange, you have brought comfort and
cheer to a sick person. How? Through the Holy Spirit’s power given to you in
baptism and reinforced every time you receive Holy Communion.
Or maybe you find yourself in line at the store; and in
front of you is an irate customer is yelling at the cashier. It’s not her
fault. She is close to tears. When you get to her, your notice her name, speak
it to her, smile and offer her silent comfort. You say, “thank you” and “I hope
that you have a better day.” See? Without any particular training you have used
the grace given to you in baptism to care for a person in pain!
It takes no special training to be kind, to listen, to help
a young mom in the Thrift Store, to feed a person in a community meal, or
deliver a meal or communion to a shut-in elderly person, or to help a child
learn to read in an after-school program.
In all these moments, you communicate Good News. You are
living out the very commission that Jesus gave that first group of 70: the
power to cast out evil by offering goodness, a measure of kindness in the form
of practical, everyday love.
The film “Patton” did not tell the whole story about the
Chaplain and his prayer. The movie made it seem like magic…a good prayer led to
clear skies…but there is more to the story and it’s even better than the movie!
In the weeks before the Battle of the Bulge, Patton (an
Episcopalian, by the way) did in fact call in Father James Hugh O'Neill, a
Catholic priest, and asked for a prayer. The Third Army was getting ready in
early December for a direct invasion of Germany through Luxembourg and the
Saar. According to Father O’Neill, Patton wanted to give every soldier a prayer
card…because the General believed that it was not enough for just the chaplain
or even Patton himself to pray…but that each soldier should take the time to
pray. Patton told O’Neill that he wanted more than the prayer of desperate men
under fire, but a prayer meant to focus on the purpose behind the mission
ahead. A copy of the famous prayer was in fact given to every soldier as a
Christmas greeting from the General. The troops had these in their hands five
days before their famous turn north to the Ardennes to come to the aid of the
troops of 101st Airborne Division who were surrounded in Bastogne.
So, it wasn’t some magic prayer said by a specialist or a
General that saved the day, as the movie implies. It was the common prayer said by common soldiers,
sometimes under great stress, that turned the tide. I imagine that some read
that prayer fervently, some perfunctorily, and others indifferently. Whatever
the case, it made all the difference. Not because the prayer magically won the battle or actually invoked God's favor for "our side," but because of how it reminded everyone who read it of their common bond and common cause. Fr. O’Neill may have won a Bronze Star,
but it was ordinary people, who perhaps had no idea that they had any special
gifts who were empowered to do the unimaginable.
Jesus continues to call us,
send us, and empower us. We all have a vocation to ministry. And this week, in
our quiet times, take the time to reflect, or even to pray. God has given you
the grace that will take you beyond your strength or talents, allow you to
leave your comfort zone, to do the work that Jesus has sent us to do and
communicate the Good News of Jesus in everyday ways that brings extraordinary
grace to the people who need it the most.
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Here is a link to the bulletin for the Fourth Sunday after Pentecost at St. John's Episcopal Church, Clearwater
Here is a link to the Scripture readings.
Here is a link to a video of the sermon.
Here is a link to a video of the liturgy.
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