Got Mittens?

Got Mittens?
(a brief Lectionary reflection by Steve Orr)

D-Day was mere days behind them. Dad and his crew continued to operate their British 40MM Bofors gun, so they had little opportunity to fire their rifles. He and his crew had one of six the U. S. Army had borrowed from the Brits for the D-Day Invasion. The gun had originally been intended as an anti-aircraft weapon, and was still used that way by the British. The U.S. Army, however, had decided it made a very nice anti-tank weapon.

They engaged the enemy daily, sometimes in multiple battles. And since they were part of the infantry, they were always in the thick of the fighting. It was in these early battles that Dad heard something strange.

The voices were, of course, heavily accented; but Dad could think of no other phrase that made any sense. And even that made no sense. But there was no mistaking what he was hearing. For some reason, as they charged Dad’s position, the German soldiers were shouting “Got Mittens!” Over and over Dad heard them shout “Got Mittens!”; so many of them shouting it that the nearly continuous rattle and thump-thump-thump of gunfire did not drown it out.

But, strange as he thought that was, it didn’t even come CLOSE to how strange Dad thought it was when he learned what they were REALLY shouting.

Dad couldn’t say exactly when he came into possession of the belt buckle; but it was after one of those early battles. He found it just lying on the battlefield, a ragged piece of webbed belt still clinging to one side of it. He picked it up, turning it over and over in his hand. Even without close scrutiny he knew it wasn’t one of theirs; it had to be German. And when he saw the swastika gripped in the Eagle’s talons, he knew for certain. Then, he saw something else. At first, he didn’t realize he was looking at words; he thought them just symbols embossed as part of the design. But then he really saw them. There, stamped into the thin metal of the buckle, in a tight circle around the Eagle and Swastika, were the words, “GOTT MIT UNS.”

Dad stared at the words. It took a little bit; but slowly his mind worked it out. And before he could actually think the words, Dad felt his skin begin to crawl; some part of his brain already realizing. There on the belt buckle were the words he had been hearing as wave upon wave of Germans assailed their positions all throughout those early battles. “Gott Mit Uns! Gott Mit Uns! Gott Mit Uns!”

God with us.

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While it was a shocking moment for my Dad, it wasn’t a new thing in World War II for armies to claim God was on “their” side in the conflict. Even the armies of the late Roman Empire used “God with us!” as their battle cry. But at what point does it become wrong to use God’s name? In Exodus 20:7, we are all warned, “You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses His name.” At what point do we cross the line?

There is certainly no scripture that says a soldier should not believe God is with him or her when he or she is in battle. In fact, that seems to be one of those times you would REALLY want God to be with you; would want to CALL on God to be with you. And yet … one must wonder about an army of soldiers on whose belt buckles are embossed “God with us.” It is one thing to send soldiers into battle to serve their country. It is quite another to tell them to do so in the name of God.

To “make wrongful use” of God’s name must include, at a minimum, the use of God’s name to convince others to act wrongly. Lest you think this is a diatribe against war, let me assure you, I am not writing about war. I am writing about whether, whatever the topic, we honor God with the things we do in His name and with those actions we convince others to take in His name. We risk our very souls if we do otherwise.

LECTIONARY READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK
Proper 22 (27) (October 2, 2011)
o Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20
o Psalm 19
o Isaiah 5:1-7
o Psalm 80:7-15
o Philippians 3:4b-14
o Matthew 21:33-46

If you are in Waco Friday morning, join us. Maybe we'll talk about whether we must still follow the 10 Commandments, or, perhaps the difference between “looking” and “lusting.” The only way to know for sure is to come. We'll be at Cafe Cappuccino (8:00 a.m., downtown on 6th Street, near the Courthouse) for breakfast and a great time kicking around this week's Lectionary passages. We would love to have you drop in.

Enjoy!