Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops. And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Matthew 10:27-28
Having commemorated the fallen soldiers who died in defense of our nation on Memorial Day this past week, I was reminded of a speech by Winston Churchill before the British House of Commons in the height of their war efforts against Nazi Germany. In this speech on August 20, 1940, Churchill highlighted the bravery and sacrifice of the Royal Air Force pilots who fought off German attacks in the Battle of Britain. This is one of Churchill’s most famous speeches, and the most famous line of this speech is the inspiration for this article as well as the new sermon series we are beginning. In describing the impact of the RAF pilots in the war effort he said, “Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.” The RAF became known as “The Few” after this speech. The Germans might well have taken Great Britain without the brave efforts of the RAF which could have changed the global landscape for ages to come. This is why Churchill pointed out the debt of so many to so few.
I want to make a comparison of this concept to an even greater conflict in world history. In the passage above from Matthew 10, Jesus prepared His disciples to accept the harsh realities that lay ahead for them in the ministry He was giving them. In the context, troubles were coming to them for serving the Christ (Matthew 10:16-40). This reality is repeated throughout the New Testament, validating Paul’s description of Christianity as a spiritual warfare (2 Corinthians 10:3-4; Ephesians 6:10-20; 2 Timothy 2:3-4). History tells us that all the apostles except for John were put to death for their testimony to the risen Christ. John’s plight was not much better as he was exiled to the island of Patmos (Revelation 1:9).
Like the RAF, this begs the question why these men were willing to give their lives for the sake of others. Those RAF pilots saw the terrible danger and the harm being perpetrated against helpless human beings, and they determined it was worth the ultimate sacrifice to fight to save them. The apostles understood that all of humanity is eternally lost and doomed to destruction without the gospel of Christ (Romans 1:160-17; 6:23; 10:13-17; etc.), and they determined it was worth their earthly lives to share the soul-saving gospel of Christ.
While we ultimately owe our thanksgiving to God for saving us through Christ, Christ for giving Himself, and the Holy Spirit for revealing the gospel, we also owe a debt of gratitude to the few who went out and served as His spokesmen. In John 17:6-19, Jesus prayed for the apostles that God would protect them from the evil one when He sent them out into the world. In 17:20-23, He shifted that prayer to “…those who will believe in Me through their word…” This is where the parallel comes into our quote from Churchill. As the whole world owes a debt of gratitude to “The Few” who fought to keep us free from the evil designs of Nazi Germany, the whole world also owes a debt of gratitude to the few (disciples of the Lord) who fought to free us from the evil designs of Satan. To this day, the few are continuing this spiritual warfare for the glory of God and the good of the many.