Washington, a Man of Valor 2/20/44
Scripture: I Samuel 16: 14-23
Text: I Samuel 16: 18; “..... a mighty valiant man....”
Saul’s servant spoke of David as “a mighty valiant man.” Expressions describing men as valiant, or as a man of valor are often used in the Old Testament. Such an expression is applied to Gideon, and to Kish, the father of Saul, and the first king of Israel. It is applied to David, while he is still young, but still old enough to have proved his courage in the line of ordinary duty.
Let us suppose that to be a valiant man is to be brave, chivalrous, honorable, dependable, and generous in spirit -- even to a foe. The American people have known many valiant citizens, men and women of high faith, of great courage and strength, and probably none more valiant than the father of his country, George Washington, whose birthday we observe this week. More than two hundred years have passed since Washington’s birth, and over 140 since his death. The great Virginian, master of Mount Vernon, has stood well the test of these years. A man’s greatness is often not certain until after his death, when the years have had time to prove whether or not he was truly great. [Kirkegaard].
For years after his death, Washington was nearly worshipped by his biographers. People, in their minds, placed him on a high pedestal where he stood lofty and at some distance from our familiarity. Biographers of twenty years ago, in accordance with the tendency then in vogue in writing about anybody, undertook to take him down from the pedestal and talked about his petty vanities, his weak points, and his false teeth. Yet, no matter whether biographers try to make a saint or a sinner of him, nothing can dim the deserved fame of George Washington or make him less than the “mighty valiant” man who successfully led his countrymen to freedom when they needed his leadership.
Washington’s birth and background is familiar to all students of American history. He was born a gentleman, so to speak. He was a landowner, a slave owner, a fox hunter, a gentleman used to formal functions. He belonged to a privileged class of people.
To be a leader of the struggling American colonists, he had to rise out of his class and environment into genuine sympathy with, and understanding of, all classes of people. This is a tremendous test, and not many can fully meet it. It may be easier to conquer the environment of poverty, as did Lincoln, than to turn one’s back on rank, ease, and delightful surroundings in order to carry the burden of a people’s cause. Washington’s greatness is partly due to the fact that he did turn his back on these advantages in order to serve all of the people. And a multitude of his countrymen, then and since, have been grateful to him for doing so. Some others have been unheeding, and hence ungrateful.
The author of the book of Lamentations says, “It is good to bear the yoke in youth.” [Lamentations 3: 27]. Washington’s youth was distinguished by self-discipline, privation and much outdoor life. As a young surveyor and soldier, he learned self-reliance, resourcefulness, and skill in handling difficulties. There was nothing “soft” in his early life. He was not pampered nor spoiled. He was raised as a gentleman, but he was not spared from hardship. He knew how to make his bed in the open on cold nights, while he was a surveyor. He knew what it was like to sleep in dirty shacks and cabins. He climbed mountains and cut his way through thickets all in his days’ work. This hard work and self-mastery in youth is one of the things that accounts for his greatness.
Let me repeat that, though he lived a hardy life, Washington was brought up with good manners. He learned courtesy and gallantry. The word “gentleman” meant much to him. He is said to have had over 100 rules of civility. Here are some of them: “Let the gesture of thy body be agreeable to the manner of thy discourse.” “Sleep not when others speak.” “Read no letters, or books, or papers in company.” “Labor to keep alive in your heart that little spark of celestial fire called conscience.”
Washington conducted himself in all of his relations with men, women, children, servants, public and private assemblies with invariable courtesy and thoughtful consideration. He was even just and kind toward his opponents. We don’t make enough of good manners in a democracy. There is one respect in which we ought to become an aristocracy - the aristocracy of good manners characteristic of gentle folk.
Washington was attracted to the army as a young man and there were generations behind him who took pride in a soldier’s life. In his later life, he thought of war as a calamity and became a peacemaker. As commander of the American troops during the American revolution, he was a valorous soldier and leader. Military experts may agree or disagree as to whether or not he was a great general. He was not a Napoleon or a Caesar. But he was more than a military strategist. He took a relatively small body of poorly equipped and poorly trained men and made of it a fairly good army. That army was fortunate to have him for its leader. It couldn’t have endured Valley Forge without his bravery, capability, and force of character.
As a statesman, Washington was a man of valor. He was not a great political thinker. But he knew how to encourage the makers of the Constitution. And he knew how to use men of differing political parties and schools of thought in his cabinet. As he grew older, he improved in the knack of getting along with men of differing views. He helped, in a great measure, to dignify and stabilize the new American government.
Washington was at heart a home man. [It was hard to leave his home so much.] He loved his home, Mount Vernon, with a great love. He was never so happy as when there, riding out over the plantation, watching his dogs frolicking about him, looking over the crops at all seasons, superintending the shipping of his products, strolling in his garden, entertaining guests with good meals and delightful conversation. He took marked interest in his step-children and other relatives.
His wife, Martha, was a fine, sturdy and worthy woman. She was devoted to him while he lived, and found life bleak and barren after his death. Washington had no children of his own, but for the greater part of his middle and later life he was almost constantly helping some member of the family group.
Washington was very human. He loved ceremony. He liked good clothes and wore them very well. He was a little vain, but recognized his vanity as a weakness and tried to control it. The deceit, discourtesy and even treason of some of his countrymen wounded him deeply. Toward the end of his second term as president, he had occasion to feel the ingratitude of many of his countrymen, and it caused his anguish.
On his lighter side, he liked theatrical plays; he delighted to dance the minuet; he liked to dine out with friends. He liked to hunt or to race horses. He was not much of a reader, but he kept himself well informed. He wrote neatly and well. He was regular in his habits and kept a daily journal, noting such things as the weather, the state of his crops, the birth of puppies, colts, and other livestock.
Was this valiant American a Christian? People differ in their answers. He was an Episcopalian church member and used to attend that church fairly regularly, though he was not often present at a communion service. In fact, he usually retired during the communion service, though his wife remained. His diaries do not refer to the Bible, prayer, Jesus Christ, theology or church attendance, except during his public career. (Some men talk better of these things.) On the other hand, he praised religious institutions highly. And he conducted himself as a Christian gentleman. After his death, President Timothy Dwight of Yale said: “If he was not a Christian, he was more like one than any man of the same description whose life has hitherto been recorded.”
Washington may or may not have been Christian in the technical sense of accepting the doctrines of the church in his day, reading the Bible habitually, attending to daily devotions or regular public worship. But he was a Christian in his belief in God and in the two commandments that Jesus said are fundamental, love of God and love to one’s fellow man. He was a Christian in his high ideals of honor, justice, truthfulness, self-sacrificing and devoted leadership, reverence for sacred things, greatness of mind, and generosity of heart.
He believed in law and order. He believed in the blessings of a religious faith and in the steadying influence of the church upon people. He was strong in his assertion that religion is necessary for the highest type of morality.
A mighty valiant man in life, Washington likewise faced death fearlessly and valiantly. On a snowy day in December, he rode around his plantation, caught cold, had an attack of quinsy with complications and, after a night and a day of dreadful suffering, was dead. But he showed no weakness of character while he suffered. He pressed Dr. Craik’s hand and said, “Doctor, I die hard but I am not afraid to go.” He insisted that a colored servant who was stationed at the foot of his bed be allowed to sit down.
At a later date, Daniel Webster spoke of George Washington as “the clear upper sky of our American firmament.” There were giants in those days - men whose characters matched the mountains - but above many in the clear sky is this towering character, this mighty valiant man, George Washington.
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Dates and Places delivered:
Kahului Union Church, February 21, 1932
Wailuku Union Church, February 26, 1933
Kahului Union Church, February 17, 1935
Wananalua Church, Hana, February 16, 1936
Lahainaluna, February 21, 1936
Pilgrim Church, Honolulu, February 21, 1937 PM
Wisconsin Rapids, February 20, 1944