On January 8, 1815, 2,000 men were killed and wounded in the Battle of New Orleans, two weeks after the Treaty of Ghent had been signed between the United States and Great Britain.  The war was already over, but the battle raged on because the only way to carry messages was by slow-moving ship.  Because the generals didn't know the war was over, they kept fighting and thousands died needlessly.

          Not a day goes by these days but that we are reminded that war is imminent.  Whether or not you agree with its necessity, it appears America is moving closer to war with every passing moment.  It's all part of human conflict, and conflict, whether local or international, is all around us.  Today's lessons point to a future great conflict, the kind of which will involve battles we can only imagine.  We poor humans imagine our conflicts important, but our personal battles are puny compared to the Great War behind it all, the one started when sin entered the world.

          Our battles usually center on an incident or pattern of behavior:  the office worker who gets us into trouble, the rumor started when half truths are accepted as fact, or a time we are snubbed, whether accidentally or intentionally.  Our battles happen when pride gets in the way or when we believe we are wronged in the eyes of others.  But these are only minor compared to those of the Greatest War.  This one is the greatest because it involves the greatest forces who can come into conflict, God and Satan.  World War I was called the "Great War" because it involved more nations than any other war, but the Greatest War involves the greatest powers, and it is happening yet even as we speak.

          Today in the Church's Year we remember the angels, specifically Michael, the prince of angels, the archangel who in Daniel's lesson protects God's people, even as they discover their battles are part of being purified and strengthened in their faith.  Revelation's lesson describes a battle in heaven between Michael and the dragon, and in it the dragon loses.  Michael and the angels win the battles because God has already won the war.  That's what Revelation is all about, God winning the Greatest Victory in the Greatest War with the greatest enemy.

          We Christians need not fear this war because we already know the outcome, so we rejoice that our names are known by God and written in heaven.  Christ has already overcome Satan and defeated him with the power of God's Word.  The final chapter in this war book is already written, and so we know the outcome.  Some people hate finding out how a book ends, but not in this case.  The stakes are too high, and our peace of mind too important to keep the ending a secret.  The Good News for today is that the victory belongs to the Lord, won for us on the battlefield of the world.

          While visiting Carol's family this past week I read another pocket western called Passin' Through.  It had the usual fare of the good guy minding his own business but getting continually harassed and shot at for no good reason by bad guys who never have any redeeming qualities.  And the bad guys never let the good guys alone.  Somehow they know where the good guys are and are forever trying to kill them.  These books usually fit a pattern where by the fourth or fifth chapter you can usually figure out most of the rest of the book.  But this one was different.  I couldn't figure out how it was going to end.  Even as I approached the last few pages, I wasn't sure how the author would end it.  It almost seemed as if the author himself didn't know how he'd wrap it up.  But I resisted temptation!  I didn't read the last chapter until I got to it.  But it was really, really tempting to do so.

          Friends, in the Greatest War, the final chapter is already written - and we can read it over and over.  We can relax about this;  the bad guy lost and the Good Guy won!  Trouble is, minor battles still rage all around us, and by what we see, we're inclined to think the bad guy is winning.  His henchmen never seem to give up.  They're behind every tree threatening and shooting.  They annoy us because they never go away, and they trick us into thinking this is the real war when it's not.  Whenever something foolish happens in church or society, we think it's a battle lost.

          But that's the illusion of sin.  What appear to be losses are minor skirmishes.  Your disagreement with someone is not the war.  The infightings of a denomination are not the real war.  The struggles of personalities are not the war.  Even nations rising up against nations and religions trying to erase other religions are not the real war.  It's God against Satan, and though we live amidst the dogfights, we already know the outcome.  God is the victor.  Michael and His angels carry the day.  The battle belongs to the Lord, and the Lord wins hands down.

          Let us never forget that our Lord Jesus has defeated Satan.  His death on Calvary is the death of eternal death.  His life on earth has earned us eternal life.  His love and mercy cover all our sins, no matter what they are.  All that's left for us is to believe that He's done it all, that Christ has defeated the powers of darkness and purchased us a place in eternal life.  In Christ, we have victory, the Greatest Victory in the Greatest War.

          So what does this mean?  What does this mean for you and me right now?  How does knowing the final chapter help get us through the day?  The answer is in the little things.  The value of God's Greatest Victory comes to us through daily little victories, especially when we forgive as we have been forgiven.  Forgiving a minor offense is a little victory resulting from the big one.  Overlooking something that doesn't matter brings the victory to our front doors.  Setting pride aside and letting the other person have her way is a little victory with big consequences.  Knowing the final chapter means we don't sweat the small stuff any more, because most all of it is small stuff.

          One of the great privileges of being Christian is that we have the freedom to forgive.  In Christ, the strongest person is the one most willing to forgive, to step aside for the weaker to come through.  This is not looking the other way in weakness, but forgiving the other person with God's strength.  The Greatest Victory, then, is not our defeating the other, but our stepping aside to forgive the other.  Satan wins when we persist in the fight, but when we forgive, we cut him off at the legs.  The Greatest Victory is in reconciliation, because it defeats Satan in his daily skirmishes.  If you want to join God in the victory dance, it must always begin with reconciliation.

          Did you know the only animal a Grizzly Bear with share its food with is a skunk?  It isn't that the Grizzly wants to share its food, but rather that he chooses to, for he could easily crush the skunk with a swipe of his paw.  So why does this powerful creature allow the lowly skunk to eat with him?  Because he knows the high cost of getting even with a skunk.  Clever bear!  Undoubtedly he learned the hard way.  So why is it that we humans aren't as smart?  So often we'd rather carry our grudges around, always hurting ourselves more than the ones we'd like to get even with, failing to see how damaging an unforgiving spirit is.  Like a doctor once told his patient, "If you don't cut out your resentment, one of these days I'll have to cut out your intestines."  Nursing hard feelings hurts everyone, but reconciliation is sweet to the whole world.

          Reconciliation can also mean letting something alone, letting it heal.  I once hurt my leg while ice skating on a frozen ditch pond.  I fell down and cut a good sized gash in my shin.  My Mom cleaned it and bandaged it but I wouldn't leave it alone.  I'd take the bandage off and pick at the wound, thinking I was helping.  If I'd left it alone, it would have healed much faster.  Today I have a scar there because I kept picking at the scab.  A sore won't heal if you don't leave it alone.  The more we rehearse our hurts, the more we risk the scar of never getting over them.

          Last Friday night Carol attended her High School reunion and was disappointed her good friends weren't there.  Some of her classmates hardly recognized anyone, and one thought maybe she was attending the wrong year.  I told her not to worry, that when you're that many decades away from graduation, you're lucky to remember a name much less a face.  I don't think she appreciated my attempt to cheer her up.  But Carol enjoyed having some of the men talk to her who never did in High School.  Carol said it was funny that at her 20th reunion she was still single and everyone else was married.  At her 40th, she was finally married and everyone else was divorced!

          One of the secrets to peace in life is to let go of the petty and let God deal with it.  Another is rejoicing that our names are known by God and written in heaven.  It's an amazing thing to realize the way to win a war is to let God do it.  Praise God for St. Michael and all the angels who help give us the Greatest Victory in the Greatest War.  Amen!

Copyright © 2002 by Pastor Bob Tasler.  All rights reserved.