Dearly Beloved Brothers and Sisters in
the Lord, praise be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, our heavenly
Father for the gift and grace of the new
month of March. The month of March is the third
month of the year in our modern-day Gregorian
calendar but it was originally the first month of the
year in the Roman calendar.
In ancient Roman religion and mythology, Mars
was the god of war, the most prominent of the
military god in the Roman army. The ancient
Roman kingdom had fought many wars and battles
so much so that it carved a niche for itself in these
spheres. Wars and battles were a source of prestige
since the Roman legion were ruthless conquerors
and efficient warriors, enjoying territorial conquest.
Wars of conquest brought a lot of benefits to the
Roman State – they increased in wealth, power and
prestige. The month of March was named Martius,
after the Roman god of war, a name that reverber-
ates the entire warfare of the Roman Empire.
The Book of Exodus has a number of events and
texts that display a persistent emphasis on God as
a warrior fighting on Israel’s behalf and subduing
God’s and Israel’s enemy. Yahweh’s encounter with
Pharaoh is coated with battle scenarios and lan-
guage (See Exodus chapters 12–14). In fact, a defin-
ing phrase in this historic book is found in Chapter
14 verse 14 when Moses says to the People “The
Lord will fight for you and you have only to be still”.
Indeed, having experienced the military might of
Yahweh, the Israelite sang a song of exaltation to
God which had, as part of the lyrics, “The Lord is a
warrior, the Lord is his name” (Ex. 15:3. See also 1
Sam 17:47; Ps. 24:8).
However, in the Bible when we encounter God as
a warrior we need to remember that war/warrior
language used, is a metaphorical expression from
the realm of human experience that points to an
aspect of God. For example, when we call God our
Shepherd, it points to his direction and care. God’s
designation as a warrior points to his unsurpassed
might and power. A point of serious concern is the
fact that the warrior metaphor used for God does
not automatically sanction human warfare.
Does this have anything to do with us? I am
convinced in a number of ways that there is more
to glean from this brief history. We do not have
our faith in a god but God. Viewing this from the
clear lens of Christian identity and values, there
is a certain kind of war that we have to wage at
all times. However,there is another kind that is
abhorrent and should not be brewed. I would like
to emphasize an earlier point made, and that is the
fact that the warrior metaphor used for God does
notautomatically sanction human warfare. This is a
crystal clear distinction between the Christian God
and the Roman god of war.
The current socio-political clime of our dear
country Nigeria, is indeed volatile as we witness al-
most intermittently the unbridled spate of killings,
shameful insecurity techniques at all levels and a
sheer lack of respect for our common humanity.
It seems to be that nothing really sears us away
from each other more dangerously than religion;
religious ideals and practices that trample upon
the very core of our existence. What else can be
responsible for this if not the egregious discrepancy
between faith and reason? On the occasion that
one of the other tilts to the extreme of the scale,
the result cannot but be devastating.Faith without
reason and reason without faith is never good for
the survival of societies.
In the midst of these threatening and highly
inflammable times, Christians must stand to ‘wage
war’ against these menaces that give us a horrific
stare, with all the weapons of Christian moral
values and a surprising attitude of non-violence to
a violent society. Our war isn’t that of bloodshed,
vengeance, anger, hatred but the conquering of
evil and its perpetrators with the light of truth and
the balance between faith and reason that exalts
humanity as the centre of every endeavour.
What kind of strategy is this? How long shall we
continue to take this nonsense and be spat upon,
insulted and murdered? This is a point where
Christianity stands alone, and it is undoubtedly a
challenging approach. Nonetheless, the one person
who guarantees this balance is our master and Sav-
iour JESUS who by his example separates us from
the schemes of the world and the ius talionis mode
of operation – an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.
Is this to mask the feelings of sadness, or the anger
that we genuinely feel? Definitely no. Are we going
to lie about how tempted we are to revenge and
send a message that we aren’t fools? No, we cannot.
Yet the very question that strikes us at heart is, what
would Jesus do and what would he have us do?
My dear brethren, nothing should stop our
witnessing in the face of what seems to be the fate
of the Nigerian Christian. Like Cain in the Bible
whom the Lord put a mark on, we seem to have
been marked out, since we are Christians, by these
bloodthirsty human beings. The Prophet Ezekiel
speaks about those who received a mark on their
heads because of their righteousness and faithful-
ness, in order to separate them from the corrupt
and immoral people of the time and also to save
them from animpending punishment (See Ezekiel
9). As we read in the Revelation of John, the faithful
as they stand with the Lamb, shall see him face to
face and his name will be written on their foreheads
(Rev. 14: 1). At our Baptism, we were marked with
the sign of the cross, as we were claimed for Christ,
a subtle death to the world. At the beginning of
our prayer or Liturgy, we place the sign of the cross
over ourselves and the name – Father, Son, Holy
Spirit – a delicate reminder that Christ himself has
marked us out to be washed in the blood of the
Lamb.
At this point, I am moved strongly to reiterate the
message of the Catholics Bishops Conference of
Nigeria to all the faithful; “We make a passionate
appeal: The present situation in Nigeria challenges
all of us to a life of coherent witnessing to the Gos-
pel. The impact of our Christian faith must be felt
in public life. This is not a time for compromises
for the sake of personal convenience, but rather for
heroism in Christian virtues. Remember the words
of our Lord: “Do not be afraid of those who kill
the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, be afraid
of the one who can destroy both soul and body in
Gehenna” (Matthew 10: 28) Furthermore, foresee-
ing a period like this in the life of his disciples, our
Lord said: “You will be hated by all because of my
name, but no hair on your head will be destroyed.
By your perseverance you will secure your lives”
(Luke 21: 19).
May we kindly offer our prayers for all the victims
of the ruthless acts of these terror groups, for their
families and friends that the Lord may console and
comfort them. In all of these, our consolation is
that evil and death never have the final say, this is
the meaning of the Resurrection of JESUS: he has
triumphed over evil, darkness and death.
† Alfred Adewale Martins
Archbishop of Lagos
