THE GREATEST GENERATION
Introduction: Tom Brokaw refers to the current generation of Sr. Adults as the Greatest Generation. Of them He writes, “They came of age during the Great Depression and the Second World War and went on to build modern America – men and women whose everyday lives of duty, honor, achievement, and courage gave us the world we have today.” Although not writing from a religious point of view, the words of Mr. Brokaw could be said of the Sr. Adults of First Church and the building of this body of believers. But what makes the World War II generation so great.
I) Commitment to Family
“For better or for worse…” It was the last generation in which, broadly speaking, marriage was a commitment and divorce was not an option. Tom Brokaw (The Greatest Generation)
During War family takes on an importance that perhaps it does not have at other times. During World War II many young brides returned home to live with their parents and await the return of the soldier husband. Many children were either too young when their fathers left for the war or were born while their fathers were away at war. Some did not get to know their fathers until they were 4 or 5 years old. I was told my grandmother that this was the case for my dad. Born in November of 1941 my father was just week old when Pearl Harbor was bombed and my grandfather join the Navy. When he returned home, my dad insisted that this man was not his father and ran down the hall to the get the picture of my grandfather and proudly proclaimed this is my dad.
Others children never got to know their fathers at all. For many wives and children, the joyful reunion scene experienced by my dad’s family would never occur as 292,000 American Service lost their lives overseas.
The scene that was so familiar on the screen of my boyhood television with John, Olivia, Grandpa, Grandma and all the Walton children was not all that unfamiliar. Unlike today, the families of the past stayed closer together in geography. They understood that they were the primary communicators, of values and morals for their children. As a result the family was the center of the social structure of society.
Ephes. 5:21-31
Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.
[22] Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. [23] For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. [24] Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.
[25] Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her [26] to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, [27] and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. [28] In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. [29] After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church-- [30] for we are members of his body. [31] "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh."
Ephes. 6:1-4
Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. [2] "Honor your father and mother"--which is the first commandment with a promise-- [3] "that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth."
[4] Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.
For the World War II and Depression generation family went well beyond blood.
Matthew 25:35-40
For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, [36] I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'
[37] "Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? [38] When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? [39] When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'
[40] "The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'
II) Commitment to Disciplined Life
“In a way no one could have anticipated at the time, military training and discipline required to win World War II became an accelerated course in how to prepare a young generation to run a large, modern, and complex industrial society. Nearly every veteran, however painful the military experience may have been, seems to be grateful for the discipline and leadership training they were exposed to at such a formative time.” Tom Brokaw (The Greatest Generation p. 45)
With the War and the Great Depression coming so closely together, this generation did not take lightly the idea of a disciplined life. Those who were disciplined lived, those who were not died. It was that simple. Families and communities learned to depend on each other during the Great Depression and the military men and women learned to depend on each other in war. There was no room for a maverick. Your life and the life of so many others were so intricately intertwined that to lose any part was to risk losing the whole.
There is story after story of men and women who risked their own lives in battle to save others. On the home front many and women were working untold hour to keep our military moving. Americans were making sacrifices in order to protect freedom.
“Everyone should learn the meaning of that famous little four-letter word – Work.” Bob Bush (The Greatest Generation p.110)
1 Cor. 12:4-31
4There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men.
7Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 8To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. 11All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.
12The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. 13For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body--whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free--and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.
14Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. 15If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. 16And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. 17If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20As it is, there are many parts, but one body.
21The eye cannot say to the hand, "I don't need you!" And the head cannot say to the feet, "I don't need you!" 22On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, 24while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, 25so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.
27Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. 28And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues. 29Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? 31But eagerly desire the greater gifts.
And now I will show you the most excellent way.
IV) Commitment to Duty
“During World War II the use of the phrase ‘you’re a hero’ was likely to bring a quick rejoinder, ‘No I’m not; I’m just doing my job here – Like everyone else.’ The fighting men and women were so dependant on each other and shared so many common experiences they were embarrassed to be singled out.” Tom Brokaw (The Greatest Generation p. 103)
“Well you know, it was very difficult. We had to dig foxholes. Hygiene was terrible. We had lice but we had a job to do, and mine was to help people hurt in the war. I was happy to do it. Bob Bush to his 14 year old son. (The Greatest Generation p.111)
“For them responsibility was their juice. They loved responsibility. They took it on head-on, and anytime they could get a task and to be responsible, that was what really got’ em going.” Rick Bush(The Greatest Generation p.112)
Eccles. 12:13
Now all has been heard;
here is the conclusion of the matter:
Fear God and keep his commandments,
for this is the whole duty of man.
Acts 23:1
Paul looked straight at the Sanhedrin and said, "My brothers, I have fulfilled my duty to God in all good conscience to this day."
Romans 15:16
to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles with the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.
Matthew 28:18-20
Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
V) Commitment to God
“Faith in God was not a casual part of the lives of the World war II generation. The men and women who went off to war, or stayed home, volunteer that their spiritual beliefs helped them cope with the constant presence of possible death, serious injury, or the other anxieties attendant to the disruptions brought on by war.” Tom Brokaw (The Greatest Generation p.55)
“Since I was a little girl I’ve trusted in the Lord. I had faith it would all work out.” Helen Van Gorder (The Greatest Generation p.34)
“I saw more bodies in a short time than most undertakers will see in a lifetime. Young men dead alongside the road. Every night I would pray for those guys and myself. I think it deepened my faith.” Harry Reginald Hammond (The Greatest Generation p.56)
“You need something to keep you going. It made me realize that there was something much larger than me. I realized it had to be God.” Harry Reginald Hammond (The Greatest Generation p.59)
Commitment to a Common Moral Value
“God does not bring war upon us. We bring it upon ourselves. Man’s inhumanity to man is not God-driven.” Harry Reginald Hammond (The Greatest Generation p.55)
VI) Commitment to Vision
Proverbs 29:18
Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.
One criticism of the older generation is that they oppose change. Truth be told no one really likes change. But to the Sr. adult generation, change was truly a matter of life or death. From electricity and indoor plumbing to the exploration of space the World War II generation has seen more change in their lifetime than any generation before or since. The invention of the television, first with a black and white picture and later a color picture brought their radio stories to life and brought war into our living rooms. The computer made storing information and the calculation of complex formulas possible. Air conditioning, the automatic dishwasher, the automatic washer and dryer, the microwave oven, convection cooking, tape players, CD players, calculators, digital clocks, air travel, e-mail, the internet, the video camera, the Polaroid camera, the digital camera and so much more are among the changes that this generation has experienced first hand. In many cases these changes necessitated other changes just for survival. One of the most vivid examples of this is the disappearance of ice delivery for your icebox.
Vision Means Change
