When You Go Home, Tell My People I Don't Care

In high school - I attended a military high school, by the way - we used to sing a song sometimes when we went jogging in the morning. The song was part of a story. The story was of a young man that left home to join the military. His folks and other relatives had not seen him for a long while. And when someone was traveling back to his hometown and would very likely run into the soldier's relatives, the young man asked him to tell his people that he didn't care about a thing.

 

When you go home, tell my people I don't care (2ce)

Anything can happen-o; I don't care

Whether good or bad-o; I don't care

If a fight, we will fight it-o; I don't care

If a death, we will die it-o; I don't care

When you go home, tell my people-o; I don't care!

 

Yesterday, we talked about what it means to be in the Lord's Army. Today, we shall continue that discussion by talking about a crucial quality that members of the Lord's Army should have: courage. If you've seen Mel Gibson's Brave Heart, you probably have an idea of what courage is. It is moving forward in the face of otherwise scary obstacles, frightful challenges. It is moving forward when everything seems to indicate you should be moving backwards instead. As soldiers in the Lord's Army, life is challenging. Persecutions abound. Temptations to abandon our faith abound. But we must not retreat. We cannot desert the platoon; we really cannot afford to be deserters! Jesus said: "No one that puts his hand to the plough and looks back is worthy of the kingdom of God" (Luke 9:62). Cowardice is not a quality to be found in a member of the Lord's Army. Bravery alone is acceptable.

 

Looking back, doubting our resolve, forsaking the mission - these are definite no-no's. We have to stay the course. When the naysayers quibble and quip, we simply should retort: "I don't care." Nothing should move us. Psalm 125 says that those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion that cannot be moved. Again, concerning a soldier of the Lord, Jeremiah says: "Just like a tree planted by the river, he shall not be moved" (Jer. 17:8). And the reason we shall not be moved is because we don't care. We are not bothered by all the bad news and events. We are like the house built on solid rock that stayed standing even when the storms buffeted it left, right and center. "The Lord remains for us a refuge and strength, a shelter close at hand in time of distress, so we shall not fear though the earth should rock, though the mountains fall into the depths of the sea" (Psalm 42:1-3). The Psalm further describes the resolve of the soldier of the Lord "even though the sea rages and foams; even though the mountains be shaken by its waves, because the Lord of Hosts is with us, the God of Jacob is our stronghold" (Ibid.v4). This resolve keeps "through nations being in tumult and kingdoms shaking, especially since the voice of the Lord calms every upheaval" (Ibid.v7). Indeed, "the Lord of Hosts is always with us; our citadel remains the God of Jacob" (Psalm 46:8).

 

"Come consider the works of the Lord, the redoubtable deeds he has done on the earth. He puts an end to wars over all the earth; the bow he breaks, the spear he snaps; he burns the shields with fire. He says, 'Be still and know that I am God; supreme among the nations, supreme on the earth'" (Psalm 46:9-11). And indeed it is because of this unsurpassable power of God that we stay grounded in faith, grounded in the raging mission. God supports us; God keeps us going. Even when no one seems to join us; even when material support appears to be collapsing. God says: "Fear not; I will uphold you with my victorious right hand" (Isa. 41:10). This right hand of God is the one that "holds us fast" (Psalm 63:9b). This is why we don't care. This is why we are unperturbed by the trials and temptations that we see all around us.

 

Concerning the trials he faced on his missionary journey, St Paul says: "Five times I received from the Jews thirty-nine lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have spent in the deep. I have been on frequent journeys; in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren; in toil and hardship, and through many sleepless nights, through hunger and thirst, through frequent fasting, and through cold and exposure. And apart from these things, there is pressure upon me because of my anxiety for the welfare of the churches" (2 Cor. 11:25-28). St Paul was facing serious trials and temptations and persecutions, but he did not care, not for his own comfort or security. All he was concerned about was the welfare of the churches; the mission; the work of soldering on in the Lord's Army. He was secure in his mission and in his passion for the work of Christ.

 

The young man who left home to join the military and sent a person going back to his hometown with a message of nonchalance for his own comfort and security is a model for us soldiers of the Lord. We are positioned for service in the Lord's Army, and so we truly are unconcerned about our material comfort. Indeed, if we are concerned about anything at all, it is the mission, the work of the Lord. We are not bothered about material stuff. Once when Jesus sent his disciples on mission, he said: Do not get any gold or silver or copper to take with you in your belts; no bag for the journey or extra shirt or sandals or a staff" (Matt. 10:9-10). They were not to care about anything, "whether good or bad." The young man sending a message home about his nonchalance said he was going to fight the good fight of God's soldiers; a fight we talked about yesterday, a fight against the negative emotions occasioned by evil spirits. He was prepared to suffer, to die to sin, and to reap the reward of righteousness, for "gold is tested by fire" (1 Pet. 1:7).

 

But what if his parents would take the news badly - would the nonchalant soldier care? Hardly. He was interested only in the righteous mission of fighting negative emotions. Jesus said: "I have come to set a fire on the earth, and how I wish it were blazing already. There is a baptism with which I must be baptized and I long for its coming. Do you think I have come to establish peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law" (Luke 12:49-53). And when Jesus was once told that his mother and siblings were looking for him, he replied that only those that did the will of God were his family (Matt. 12:50). And so the nonchalant young soldier would not care whether his parents liked the message he was sending home or not.

 

The lesson here is this: Stay the course, no matter what. Keep your head in the game, your eye on the ball. Remain vigilant in the fight against the negative emotions occasioned by evil spirits. Never let up. Never buckle under pressure. Keep up the fight. Do not look back. No, no, no!