Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity, 2001
Ecclesiastes 3:1, 8

The Aftermath of September 11

In the year 1565 the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire attacked and laid siege to the Christian fortresses of Malta. The Sultan, Soleyman the Magnificent, already governed an empire that covered North Africa, the Middle East, Constantinople, and portions of Eastern Europe. Why would he unleash his war machine on a small island like Malta? He had good reason.

Malta is a little string of islands in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea. Still, Soleyman viewed Malta as the major obstacle to Islamic domination of the world, for Malta was the headquarters of the Noble Order of the Knights Hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem, also known as the Knights of St. John. The Knights of St. John was an order established in the Middle Ages to assist Christian pilgrims traveling to and from Jerusalem. It was originally intended that they be a medical brotherhood. Their primary task was that of founding hospitals and attending the injured, sick and dying. Eventually the Knights came to see the need to protect Christendom from the constant menace posed by the Moslem armies. Thus, a military arm of the order developed. The soldiers of this new branch dedicated their lives to an eternal war against Islam. During the Middle Ages, the three military Orders were, along with the Knights of St. John, the Knights Templars, and the Knights of the Teutonic Order.

Malta is strategically located below the boot of Italy, and has excellent harbors that can shelter an almost unlimited number of ships. With the Knights in charge of the Island, the Mediterranean was a Christian lake. The Sultan knew that by conquering Malta, the Mediterranean would be converted into a Moslem pond. The Knights must be eliminated. Therefore, the Sultan sent his spies to inspect the mighty walls and military capacity of Malta. The year was 1563. The spies reported back the next year that the island could be taken in a couple days.

Consequently, it was on March 29, 1565 that the Turkish fleet made its way through the Strait of Bosphorus toward Malta. One hundred and eighty one ships formed the Armada that carried a military force of 40,000 trained soldiers. The first naval vessels of the Sultan were spotted by the defenders of Malta a month and a half later.

The Grand Master of the Knights of St. John, La Valette, had found out through his own spies that the Sultan's armada was on the way. He commanded the entire population of the island to prepare for an all-out siege. He had under his command 9,000 fighting men, of these 900 were Knights of St. John, the rest were local Maltese soldiers and a mixture of Europeans.

The next four months would witness a titanic clash. Though left out of modern history books, it was one of the most important military battles of Western Civilization. The details of the Maltese siege are sometimes grisly, but this is a piece of history that can give us inspiration and perspective in the aftermath of this week's attack on America. [Penguin has an older edition of Ernle Bradford's book The Great Siege: Malta 1565 . The book has recently been reprinted by a publisher called Wordsworth. Highly recommended!]

After the Islamic ships landed on Malta and the troops disembarked it became clear what the military strategy of both sides would be. The Christians, lead by La Valette, would remain inside their three fortresses and fight from the walls. La Valette felt it unwise to openly and directly engage an adversary four times larger. On the other side, the Moslems, led by their General Mustapha, would attempt to undermine the foundations of the fortress walls by digging underground tunnels and setting off explosives; and above ground, to reduce to rubble the Christian citadels with unrelenting cannon and catapult bombardment. As soon as any wall was breached, the infantry would charge through and overpower the Christians within. One by one the fortresses would topple.

On the morning of May 24, Mustapha commenced the assault on the garrison called St. Elmo. Within an hour the lime and sandstone blocks with which the fort was built began to powder and flake. Here and there, blocks of stone started to fall away as the heavy shot pounded time and again on the weakened sections. Iron, stone, and marble cannon balls struck with an almost mathematical precision. Selecting one point, the Saracens hammered away at it hour after hour.

Ruptures began to appear in the walls, and as fast as the defenders tried to erect counter-walls behind them, these too were blown away. Before long they could expect a mass assault. One eyewitness account, describes St. Elmo in these days as being like a volcano in eruption, spouting fire and smoke. Another witness counted the number of rounds fired by the Turks. On most days, an average of not less than 6,000 to 7,000 shots were discharged at St. Elmo.

In a surprise military maneuver called a sortie, the Christian defenders went on the offence. In the small hours of May 29, the drawbridge was silently lowered and the Christians charged out and captured the advance Moslem trench. Caught off guard, the Turks were on the run. It was at this critical moment that Mustapha awakened and ordered into action his elite corps of troops called the Janissaries.

"Janissaries forward!" Mustapha roared.

As the disorganized battalions retreated, the invincible soldiers came through. In their long flowing robes, with their heron's plumes waving above their heads, their scimitars unsheathed and shining, their wailing cries rending the air, the Janissaries swept up to meet the Christian offensive. Like the white crest of an ocean roller they burst and fell on the advancing ranks of Christians like an inexhaustible wave.

Before the power of these supreme warriors, the Christians fell back, only reaching the safety of the gates in time for the cannon above their heads to open fire on the pursuing enemy. The smoke lay heavy and thick on the ground. It was not until some time after noon that the watchers on the other forts could see what had happened on the bare slope in front of the beleaguered fort. When they did, they realized that the early success of the morning had been to no avail. At great cost the Moslems had established themselves in a strong position right in the teeth of St. Elmo. The day ended in defeat. The fall of St. Elmo loomed.

It was now the end of May and the temperature was rising to the eighties. The nights were calm and cloudless, and during the day only light airs drifted across the island. Heat and thirst were an added burden to the besieged. The wounded lay in their blood and sweat wherever a little shade could be found. Bread soaked in wine and water was put between their lips. Supply parties made the rounds of the sentry posts and the repair gangs labored at the walls. Women brought food and water to the men, so that no time was wasted on meals. From the ditch beyond St. Elmo -- where friend and foe lay piled together since the Janissary assault -- the stench of decaying bodies pierced the atmosphere. There was no comfort for besiegers or besieged in such torrid weather. The Turks, as well as the Christians, became parched with thirst.

The bombardment continued relentlessly. A few days later the Janissaries attacked again. This time they stormed the walls of St. Elmo with ladders. The Christians defended themselves by raining down upon the frenzied attackers pots of wildfire, flaming hoops, cauldrons of bubbling tar, and boiling water. The long loose robes worn by the Turks -- suitable though they were for the heat of summer -- were the worst possible uniform for men confronted by blazing fire. Like human torches, the escalading soldiers fell back into the trench below the fort. The sweet, pork-like odor of burning flesh filled the air. From dawn until shortly after noon, the battle raged around the bridge and the landward walls of St. Elmo. Bundles of wool, piles of straw, and earth were thrown by the Turks into the trenches round the fort in order to more easily scale the walls. Soon, all this flammable material was smoldering from the wildfire. The stark ramparts of St. Elmo rose out of a mist of flames and smoke. When Mustapha finally called off his troops, it was evident that the Islamic hordes had lost thousands, the cream of the advance guard had been devastated.

Nevertheless, the canons continued without mercy. It was no longer possible for the Christians to sneak in reinforcements at night. Maddened by hashish, waves of frenzied fighters continued to storm the fort. Finally, on June 23, 1565 St. Elmo fell, having endured thirty-one days of continuous siege. The Christians in the other two forts could only look on helplessly. Mustapha ordered some of the Knights stripped of their armor and decapitated. In mockery of the crucifixion, the hands and feet of these headless soldiers were nailed to crossbeams. That night, the Moslems launched on the water toward the walls of the remaining two forts a number of these crucifixes. The next morning, the floating crossbeams washed up to the seaside base of the Christian forts and were discovered.

La Valette, who had realized from the outset that the siege of Malta was a war to the last extreme, did not hesitate. He would impress upon his Christian followers as well as the Turks that there could be no question of honorable surrender. He gave orders to behead the Turkish prisoners. There were many of them in the dungeons who had been captured in previous raids. They were at once taken before the executioners. Their heads were struck off and their bodies thrown into the sea.

In the meantime Mustapha's army had been plundering St. Elmo. Gleefully he prepared to send the trophies of war to Moslem controlled Constantinople. Then, the pillaging general was interrupted by the boom of cannons. The large guns from Fort St. Angelo were firing at them. However, these were not cannon balls falling around them, but the heads of Turkish prisoners.

The Grand Master, by his immediate and ruthless reply showed once and for all that this was a siege in which no clemency was to be expected. When he ordered the heads of his prisoners to be fired at the Turkish lines, he was, in effect, saying to all the garrison and the people of Malta: "There is no turning back. It is better to die in battle than to die like this."

The next stage of the siege was a simultaneous bombardment of both Senglea and St. Angelo; these two forts were connected by a bridge. The dull, distant booming could be heard all the way to Sicily and Italy. When an opening appeared in the wall, Mustapha stormed his troops through that breach. On numerous occasions the Islamic men in arms actually penetrated the citadels and then would ensue desperate hand-to-hand combat; Moslem and Christian locked together in deadly battle.

Once, when a vanguard of the Turks had poured through the breach, a brother of the order, Friar Roberto, led the counter-attack. With his robe hitched up around his waist, holding high a processional cross, he flew at the enemy, calling upon the defenders to die like men, and to perish for their Faith. The monk saved the day. Where warfare was so personal -- where a single man could act as a rallying point -- the example of a Friar Roberto was often capable of turning the scales.

On another occasion, the Grand Master himself lead the charge. The Turkish soldiers had succeeded in tunneling exactly under the base of the fortification and readying a massive bomb. The blow, when it hit, was not unexpected but it was nonetheless devastating in its effect. With a gigantic rumbling crash the mine exploded, and a great section of the main wall of the bastion fell with it. The dust cloud was still spilling outwards into the trench when Mustapha's troops flowed through in masse.

For a moment panic ensued among the defenders. The wounded staggered back from the breach, and in the general confusion it seemed as if the position was surely lost. Hardly had the smoke cleared away, and the first wave of Turks sprang over the ditch, gaining a foothold. They planted their banners on the torn and tottering rampart. Their spearhead began to drive forward into the very town itself. The bell of the Church was rung -- a prearranged signal that the enemy was within the fortifications. A chaplain of the Order, Brother Guillaume, seeing the Turkish standards waving over a stronghold rushed to the Grand Master.

"All is lost," he cried, "we must retreat." It was a moment when a flicker of indecision would have spelled ruin. La Valette, who was in his command post in the small square of St. Angelo, did not hesitate. The intrepid old man rushed boldly to meet the infidels. Seizing a pike from a soldier standing nearby, he called on his staff to follow him and led the way towards the Moslem-controlled bastion.

Seeing the Grand Master at the head of a small group of Knights running towards the point of danger, the Maltese inhabitants swarmed around to lend help. The waverers and the disheartened, hearing that the Grand Master himself was leading the counter-attack, forgot their moment of fear. Accompanied by the Knights who were immediately about his person, the Grand Master led so impetuous a charge that the tide was turned. Up the scarred and still smoking slopes where the mine had fractured the wall, La Valette led his band of Knights and townsfolk. A grenade burst alongside him and he was wounded in the leg by splinters. The cry went up, "The Grand Master! The Grand Master is in danger!" From every side Knights and soldiers came rushing to the attack. The Turkish vanguard staggered back and began to flee. Again the Saracens were to be denied victory.

The days dragged on and Mustapha's munitions started to run low. Meanwhile in the Christian camp, there flourished remarkable camaraderie, morale and faith. La Valette maintained his daily prayer and spiritual exercises meticulously. The worship of the daily office never ceased, even when under attack. Anytime there was anything approaching a victory, or a deliverance from some imminent danger, he saw that thanksgiving services were observed. Repeatedly he reminded his troops with the words, "No man can end his life more gloriously than in defense of the Faith." Seventy years old, exhausted by three months of continuous strain and responsibility, not forgetting active fighting, La Valette in these last days of August seemed to shine among his men like a flame. His white beard powdered with sandstone dust, his once bright armor dulled and dented, he never left his headquarters in the central square of the fort -- unless it was to go to the defense of the ramparts.

During those days there was not room in the garrison for a single useless hand. Men, women, and children, worked side by side, repairing the breaches, rebuilding the barriers in the streets, manufacturing incendiaries, and fixing damaged guns and weapons. The conditions of their ramparts and fortifications were like those of St. Elmo in its last hours. Bodies lay unburied in the streets, there being no time between the successive attacks to spare a single man for burial duties. Women and children lay dead beside Knight, soldier, and sailor. There were not enough men to spare to look after the wounded in the Hospital. The Maltese women now proved themselves a chief support of the Christian defense. They not only took over the duties of nurses to the sick, and cooks to the garrison, but they also carried ammunition, and worked at repairing the fortifications. When the Turkish attacks came, they reinforced the walls.

Finally, on September 8, 1565 nearly four months since the siege had begun, ships from Sicily landed at Malta carrying 10,000 fresh Christian troops. Mustapha ordered the immediate evacuation of the island.

The joy of the garrison knew no bounds. That morning, the Church bells rang for the celebration of the Mass. Gathered together in worship they sang the Te Deum Laudamus, (We Praise You, O Lord!") the victory canticle of the Church. They received the Eucharist, offering their thanks to the Lord for His mercy, and for the favors He had poured upon them.

What the Knights of St. John accomplished was monumental. It was a turning point in history. The Islamic army never fully recovered. Six years later in the naval battle of Lepanto the Turkish navy was decisively defeated. The Moslem threat would remain, but dramatically weakened. The entire Christian world celebrated the victory of the Knights of St. John. Queen Elizabeth recognized the significance of the moment, and accordingly Archbishop Parker appointed a Form of Thanksgiving to be prayed three times a week for six weeks. In each and every Anglican parish, believers thanked God for the triumph of Malta. After Malta and Lepanto, Islam was to remain 400 years a stagnant and parasitic religion. Only in the last decades has Radical Islam revived.

Let us now trace the lessons of the great siege that we can apply to our present circumstances. What does the siege of Malta teach us?

First, we must be willing to give up an indulgent life of ease. Christ calls us to take up His Cross daily and follow Him. That means we must not only be willing to suffer, but choose to suffer. It is a daily life of self-sacrifice.

The sacrifice of the Knights of St. John is impressive in this regard. They gave thanks to God for victory, but they knew how bitter a price had been paid for it. Nearly 250 Knights of the Order had lost their lives, and of those who remained, almost all were badly wounded or crippled for life. Of the other soldiers, 7,000 had died in the defense of the island. Out of a garrison force originally consisting of nearly 9,000 men, by the end, the Grand Master had only about 600 left still capable of bearing arms. The Turks lost an estimated 30,000 men. In our opulent age of whining and complaining when a sofa in front of the TV becomes a life style, the Knights of St. John show us a better way, the way of the Cross.

Secondly, consider the faith and courage demanded by Christ. The Knights evinced such faith and courage in their struggle. The Mullahs, the Muslim clerics, promised their troops that they would gain a special place in Paradise. According to Islamic tradition, all who fall with their face towards the enemy would not feel pain, but go directly to a perfect world. In Paradise the fallen soldier would drink from wells of clear spring-like water. The date palms would shade him in an eternal afternoon, and exquisite wine (though forbidden in this life) would refresh him. Most importantly, numerous divine young ladies would welcome such warriors in their arms, and the climax of love would last a full ten thousand years.

Motivated by these promises the Muslim hordes charged the Christian fortresses with a fury that made them oblivious to everything but the lust to kill. What does one do when attacked by a line of scimitar-wielding fanatics, the pupils of whose eyes are like needles, whose zeal is to kill, whose lips scream only one word, "Allah?" To face such savage hatred takes strength and courage. The Knights of St. John had it, and by God's grace we may also.

Today there are many peace-loving Muslim followers, but unfortunately, contemporary Islam is increasingly being taken over by the fanatics. The terrorists exhibit in their aggression a deification of blood, a worship of death, and an obsession with hatred that exceeds the Islamic militants of the Middle Ages. How else do you explain the suicide bombings, the applause and celebration in the streets when innocent Americans are slaughtered? Indeed, today's Muslim barbarians have become technologically competent, and they are interested in little more than killing as many Jews and Americans as possible.

One of the most moving stories of this last week was Flight 93 from Newark, N.J., that went down in a field outside of Pittsburgh. The four hijackers had already knifed a stewardess and had taken over the cockpit. Then passengers Jeremy Glick, Thomas Burnett, and Mark Bingham called their wives on their cell phones and found out that their plane was part of larger sinister strategy. They learned that the hijackers were using the jets as missiles to take out national landmarks. We know now that the hijackers were heading for the White House. The three hostages got together and decided that they would do whatever it took to prevent the fanatics from carrying out their hideous plan. Jeremy Glick notified his wife by phone, and joked that they would use their plastic butter knives to subdue the hijackers. He told his wife that he loved her. What happened next? We don't know. Flight 93 went down in an empty field at 10:10 a.m. killing all aboard. Surely the unarmed men charged the cockpit and foiled the devils from pulling off their ghastly mission. With the eye of the mind we picture their mad rush up the isle, the bloody struggle to the cockpit, grabbing the controls, the crash dive. Jeremy Glick, Thomas Burnett, and Mark Bingham are heroes, and let us honor them as such.

O that the Lord would grant us such faith and courage in the face of evil!

Next, let us acknowledge the war we are in. America is at war, and the Church needs to be involved in it. Fanatical Islam will not stop until all traces of Western Civilization and the Church are destroyed. In order to achieve these goals the terrorists will not hesitate to kill and maim innocent men, women and children. It seems that this is one of those rare times when the Church needs to enlist in a war. Scripture tells us over and again to defend the poor, the widow, and the orphan.

Of course some might object, "what about the teaching of Jesus when He said, 'whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also?' (Matthew 5:39) Doesn't that apply to the Islamic movement of today?" No, not really. Jesus' teaching that we turn the other cheek means that in our personal relationships with one another, we are not to be touchy, or easily offended. Christians should be able to put up with thoughtless remarks and deeds from people around them. We are not to be thin-skinned. Humbly, we bear one another and forgive one another (Col. 3:12-13). But let's not take Jesus' teaching to turn the other cheek as a prohibition against all violence and war. John the Baptist did not tell the soldiers who came to him to lay down their arms, nor did St. Paul tell Cornelius to drop out of the military. Instead, the apostle Paul said, "the governing authorities ... do not bear the sword in vain." (Romans 13:4) In other words, there is a time to turn the other cheek, and there is a time to fight. Likewise, Ecclesiastes tells us there is, "a time of war, and a time of peace." (Eccle. 3:8) In the vast majority of cases we turn the other cheek, but there are important exceptions.

St. Augustine understood this. In A.D. 427, Genserik, the barbarian king of the Vandals crossed the Strait of Gibraltar and advanced through North Africa, destroying everything in his path. The Churches were the special target of his enterprise. He had heard that some of them were very rich, and he was after their treasures. Refugees arrived in Hippo day after day, telling gruesome stories of attack and plunder that caused great depression among its citizens. It seemed very possible that after three centuries of diligent labor, the African churches would be destroyed. Therefore, Augustine went personally to encourage Count Boniface, the Christian Governor, to take up the sword in defense of the country, and in particular, of the Christian Church. What was the general's reply? He was thinking of entering a monastery. Augustine was outraged. He understood that earlier Christians had suffered martyrdom and that such noble bloodshed had been the seed that had given incredible growth for the Church. But Augustine was equally persuaded that what had helped the Church under Roman persecution would not necessarily work under barbarian rule. He was right. Boniface, the general did not lift a finger to try to halt the aggressor. As a result, the country was systematically plundered and the Church basically disappeared in Northern Africa. The cowardice of Boniface resulted in untold suffering and death for men, women and children. The Church underwent a defeat from which she has yet to recover after 1500 years.

There is a lesson for us here. If we do not fight the battle before us, North America could sink into a millennium of spiritual darkness and misery. Will our children and grandchildren look back to this hour and curse our cowardice, or praise our courage? We now stand at the crossroads.

No doubt, the Church will conquer in the end. We have the promise of Scripture that the Church will eventually gain victory throughout the world and in every nation. Nonetheless, a setback now could delay the triumph of Christ's kingdom for hundreds, or even thousands of years.

Lastly, the Knights of St. John teach us the priority of spiritual warfare. One of the secrets of La Vallete's success was the constant prayer and worship that he maintained in the midst of battle. The Apostle writes, "for we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against... the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places" (Eph. 6:12). The violence of last Tuesday, the disregard for human life, and the drive to commit such crimes can only be deemed diabolical at its core.

Spiritual warfare can develop into physical warfare, but at root the problem is spiritual, and the solution is spiritual. The problem with the Islamic extremists is a spiritual one. They hate the true God. Their hearts are hardened, they slaughter and terrorize, they deify the shedding of innocent blood because they have rejected God and surrendered themselves to the Devil and his demons.

Most of us will not be called to physically grapple in the war before us. Many of you know and remember Nathan Pierpoint, Randy and Karen's son who is in the Air Force. He probably will be involved in the battle of flesh and blood, and we need to pray for him, and support our government and Armed Forces in this battle. They need our prayers. Though most of us will not be involved in the physical war, we will be involved in the spiritual one. The spiritual war begins with the battle against our own propensities toward evil. The challenge before us today is to intensify the battle against the world, the flesh, and the devil.

That means a renewed devotion to Christ, a greater love for the Lord in prayer, worship and Bible study. We may not be called to fight in the war, but we can pray and worship. And since God is on His throne, and spiritual warfare is primary, prayer and worship is what truly move history. Wars have been won by worship alone. (2 Chron. 20)

In the aftermath of Tuesday's attack we are horrified, we grieve, we are angry, we are afraid. Yet, for the Christian there is an endless Source of comfort, hope, strength, and courage. He is Jesus Christ. He is our King and Savior. He is the Holy One who suffered; the One who shed His blood and died for you and me; the One who rose from the dead; the One who now sits at the right hand of the Father with all might, majesty and glory. If you are not a Christian, you can find no hope or solace in a tragedy like the one we have just experienced. Secularism is totally impotent to handle a crisis. On the other hand, if you area child of the King, then all things work together for your ultimate good (Romans 8:38). Come on up now to the throne room of King Jesus. Come to the transforming body and blood of Christ. Come in faith, and His Spirit will feed and comfort you in this dark hour. Bring your sorrow and your joy. Come for rest; come for hope; come to Him for the strength and courage you need.

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