Wooden Ships, released by Crosby, Stills, and Nash on their first album of the same name, is a song about the horrors of war. Two soldiers from opposing sides find themselves together on a ship. The war is over, and one soldier asks the other, “Who won?” A haunting question with a hollow ring to it.
Graham Nash says the opening words of the song came from a church sign in Florida: If you smile at me, I will understand cause that is something everybody everywhere does in the same language.
Listening to the words of Wooden Ships, I’m reminded that while common, everyday people don’t start wars, they’re the ones who pay the high price that wars bring. Gripped by horror as they hear the anguished cries of the dying, all these two men can do is “echo” the sorrow and suffering of those on the shore.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began while Sherri and I were on a cruise ship in the Caribbean. While we enjoyed our excursions in Belize, Costa Maya, and Roatan, the favorite part of our seven days was the time we spent getting to know the many internationals working on board. We disembarked the ship in New Orleans with new friends from places like the Philippines, China, Serbia, Romania, and many other countries.
We especially enjoyed Jie Sun from China. Jie Sun is from Wuhan. I know that because I asked. After a few evenings in which I shared my experiences as an international pastor, and my many friends from China this precious young lady shared something with my wife and me that broke my heart.
After learning she was from China, some United States citizens would make disparaging comments about her country and what they referred to as the “China Virus.” Jie Sun, of course, bears no responsibility for her government or our worldwide pandemic, whatever its cause. She is a precious young lady, married to a man from Eastern Europe, and together, the two are planning on beginning a family next year.
“Kingship,” or “the authority to rule over people,” writes Leslie Newbigin, “is, according to Scripture, something authorized by God and also something constantly corrupted by human sin.”1 Our calling as followers of Christ demands that we recognize the truth that all governments are ordained by God and even the best are corrupted by sin.
Ultimately, there is only one kingdom and one ruler that can bring an end to the pain and sorrow so prevalent in our broken world. And when the seventh angel sounds his trumpet, loud voices in heaven will cry out, “The kingdom of our world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah, and he will reign forever and ever.”2
And the best news is that when that kingdom is established in full (it exists now wherever God’s people are found), it will be made up of people from every tongue, tribe, and nation.
Every time I listen to Wooden Ships, I’m reminded of the words of the Psalmist, who tells us “He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth. He breaks the bow and shatters the spear.”3
You can listen to Wooden Ships here. Why don’t you take time to do that now and pray not only for those in Ukraine but all who suffer the pain and injustice of living in our broken world?
In Christ,
Dan
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Leslie Newbigin, Foolishness to the Greeks: The Gospel and Western Culture, p.126.
Revelation 11:15, NIV.
Psalm 46:9, NIV.