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The Supremacy of Christ
by
General Eva Burrows (Rtd)
excerpted from FAMOUS LAST WORDS, edited by
Lieutenant Kim Haworth, 2008.
Perhaps I am
nearer than I know to saying my last words, famous or not.
When I answered a phone call at home not long ago, a rather
distinguished voice informed me that he had been assigned by
The Times of London to write my obituary. To which I
indignantly responded, “But I’m not dead yet.” And he
nonchalantly replied, “Óh, but we have to be ready !”
No doubt he was
ready with his obituary, which I hope The Times editor
has accepted. Certainly I can assure you that I am ready -
ready for that final Home-call from the Lord whenever it does
come. Though I must admit, I am enjoying Christ’s company and
being His servant here on earth so much, that I hope The
Times will need to keep the obituary on file for a long
time yet.
Writing your
own ‘Famous Last Words’ is very different and more
challenging than writing an obituary. I wondered how I
would tackle it, and decided that I might concentrate on the
conviction that has developed as I have lived my life under
the Lord’s influence since I became a soldier of Christ and of
The Salvation Army 60 years ago.
My life’s
conviction, my life theme, has become,
In everything, Christ has the supremacy
That started
early in life. I am a daughter of officers; the eighth of
nine children. I was born in good Salvation Army style on
Sunday morning in the officers’ quarters, when my father was
leading the kneedrill in the hall next door. Always a highly
confident child, I innocently thought I was one who was
especially loved by Jesus. In my family I was always called
Eve, and at Sunday school we used to sing a chorus which I
thought was “ I am so glad that Jesus loves me, Jesus
loves Eve and me”. Was it an early sign of the pride
and self-confidence which was often to trip me up? Certainly
I was devastated when, after I had learnt to read, I
discovered the words were “Jesus
loves even me.”
Now I know that
it is a wonder that He loved “even” me, with all my
faults and failings, with all the arrogance and rebellion of
my youth, my desire to take my own path of disobedience.
The conviction
that my life was no longer centred on my own ego, but on
Christ, and on Christ alone, came when as a university student
I handed my life over to Jesus. After vowing that I would
never go to the Salvation Army, I ended up at a youth councils
and finally at the mercy seat. I sought Christ’s deep
forgiveness, and my spiritual mind-set from that moment was
not just to follow Christ, but to identify my whole life’s
purpose with His - and serve as an officer. And it has been
my life’s theme ever since.
It was when I
was a cadet, that I found the Bible verse that expressed by
life’s motivation in Colossians 1: 18 [In those days we used the King James version.]
That in all things, Christ shall have the
pre-eminence.
I imagine when
you come to speak your “Last Words”, you usually are
reflection back on your life. So as I reflect over my life,
my appointments and the countries where I have served, I
would like to share with you some of the Lasting
Impressions that remain, and they all centre on Christ
Jesus.
I was a 23 year
old probationary lieutenant when I went to Africa, an exuberant, enthusiastic missionary teacher. At our
mission station, Howard Institute, I was ready to do or die
for Jesus; to live incarnationally; to love as He loved, and
serve as He served. There I learnt to see Christ through
African eyes, and loved Him even more.
You can
understand why the words of an elderly African Salvationist
made a lasting impression on me when he said, “Captain,
if I thought my prayers could be answered, I would pray for
you to be black.” I offered those words to the Lord as a
gift.
For 17 years
Zimbabwe was my home. I never thought I would leave. In
reflection I treasure the opportunities that so enriched my
life. There I discovered and developed the leadership
qualities and gifts which I hadn’t known I possessed. I felt
so much at home there, that when the Army leaders instructed
me to leave and take an appointment in London, it was like a
grief experience. By now I was principal of our
Girls Secondary
Boarding School.
I saw my role as giving African young women the chance to
shine in a culture where they were often rated 2nd
class, and to find through Christ life of the best quality.
The school became known as one of the finest girls secondary
schools in the country.
Everything that
happens to us contributes value to life if we know how to use
it under the Sprit’s guidance. After the simplicity and
frugality of life in Africa, it was a struggle for a time to adjust to living in the Western world,
but God had lots for me to learn. The lasting impression
of my years in leadership at The Army’s
International
College for Officers was the way God opened my eyes to the
world-encircling internationalism of The Army. I shared with,
listened to, and taught officers from every part of the globe
I was at the hub of the Army’s world, and at the centre where
Army history came alive. No longer was William Booth just a
figure of history, but very real. I absorbed something of his
spirit and passion for souls, his care for the disadvantaged,
and for the extension of our movement to every corner of the
globe. Among my last words, there will still be,
Christ for the World: the World for Christ.
I am the kind of person who
doesn’t think of what’s coming next in life. I immerse myself
in what I am doing, give myself to it intensely, and let God
handle what comes next. A NOW person. So my life has lots of
surprises. . Big surprises! After thinking that my future as
an officer would be in the educational field, and rather
looking forward to that, there came a bolt from the blue. At
least a bolt from the General, who appointed me in charge of
the Women’s Social Services of Great Britain. What is the Lord
up to here? I wondered. I was pretty soon to find out that
Christ’s bias for the poor went far beyond the disadvantaged
and needy of Africa, to the last, the least and the lost of
the marginalized in the crowded cities of Britain. It was an
illumination: His deep love for the poor, the abandoned, the
unloved permeated my soul with a passion that has never left
me, and will colour my life on earth till I die.
As I look back,
my next move was also unexpected, an appointment to Sri Lanka
for my first territorial command. My usual confidence took a
nosedive, as I looked at impressive, high profile TCs around
the world. But it is never good to look sideways, I looked
up, and the Lord whom I had always trusted never left my side.
. What lasting impressions were made by my years there
where I was faced with leading our Army in an Eastern
culture? I discovered a new dimension to life, serving where
there were strongly entrenched non-Christian faiths. Learning
to respect the sincere believers of the Buddhist, Hindu and
Islamic religions was bringing me to a new awareness of the
uniqueness of Jesus Christ.
Imagine my
surprise when, invited to present a Christian “Thought for
the Day” on the English radio in Colombo, I discovered there
was a “Thought for the Day” by each of the four religions.
Fortunately I was able to listen to the four broadcasts for a
few weeks before it was my turn. As I listened. It seemed to
me that there was little difference between them for mostly
they were a series of admonitions on how to live a good,
religiously moral life in order to please God. Reflecting on
this challenge to my participation, I realized in a new and
meaningful way that what Christianity had to offer was not an
introduction to a set of ethical rules but an introduction to
Jesus Christ Himself, the living Christ. He is not dead like
the Buddha or Mohamed, and He does not merely show us the way
but He is the WAY. Yes, I had known that as a
theological truth, but now like an incandescent light it came
to my soul with new realism and power. That is what I must
proclaim. From that time on I have said that I do not preach
Christianity, but I preach Christ. - our glorious Saviour and
Lord. That I will do till I die.
Not long after
that experience in Colombo, I was having lunch in the home of
a wealthy Indian, and was impressed by a magnificent painting
on the wall with the portraits of Moses, Buddha, Jesus and
Mohammed. In answer to my questions about its origin, he said
he had paid for it to be painted because, though he was not a
follower of any religion, he admired all four. They were the
founders of the great faiths of the world, and he saw them as
of equal value to mankind. I concurred with his first point
but then, with courtesy, told him why I could not agree with
his second point. explaining that Jesus Christ, unlike the
others, rose from the dead, and lives to walk with us along
our journey of life. This confirmation of my ‘Thought for the
Day’ experience was another reminder that the resurrection of
our Lord is not just an important theological tenet, but the
key to our faith. The crucifixion and the resurrection are
essential aspects of the one mighty redeeming act of Christ
whose saving grace triumphed when He rose from the dead. My
‘famous last words’ could even be, “He lives. My Redeemer
lives.”
Among the
lasting impressions of my life at this time
was my first attendance at a High Council to elect the next
General at Sunbury Court. I was the newest territorial
commander there, rather over-awed by the many, high-powered
Army notables present. My feeling was that it would be best
for me to listen and learn and say nothing, sitting as I was
at the end of the lin of seniority. At the close of the first
session I was staggered to be called up by the President of
the Council, who said he wished to appoint me the Chaplain of
the High Council. I had the temerity to say, “But
Commissioner, do you know I am the youngest and least
experienced leader here?” His gracious reply was, “My dear
Colonel, spiritual authority does not depend on age or
experience.” It was a lesson that I took seriously to heart,
and put into practice.
After gaining
practice as a territorial commander in Sri Lanka, the General
appointed me to command The Salvation Army in Scotland. My
lasting impression there was the first serious
illness of my life. I suppose when we are always healthy,
we never think we will ever be unwell. So when I suffered a
heart attack, it was a great shock. News flashed to
international headquarters, and even around the world, that
thie promising woman leader had passed away. But God had
other plans. Waking in a hospital bed after emerging from
sedation, there was a black nurse sitting by my bed, and I
thought I was in Africa. When the nurse turned out to be one of my former students at Usher
Institute who was studying coronary nursing care in
Glasgow,
I knew that the Lord was graciously looking after me. So after
a time of recuperation, I was back on duty, and enjoying my
service among the ardent and enthusiastic Salvationists of
Scotland.
The next stage
of my life was a return home to Australia. After 31 years of
officership in many parts of the world, this was my first
appointment here. The Lord calmed my fears, and I was amazed
at how quickly that inner adjustment mechanism got into
action. I felt at home right away. I’ll never forget how
pleased I was when, after giving a talk at the meeting on
Christmas day at the Gill Memorial hostel for homeless men,
one of them said to me as I shock his hand, “You talk real
ocker, you know.”
But then
haven’t we found that we can feel ‘at home’ anywhere and
everywhere when the Lord is with us.
Pretty soon I
got to know the Army here in Australia, being able to call
soldiers and officers by name. That’s when I gained the
reputation for having a good memory for names. It wasn’t
really a memory for name, but a memory for people. In my life
Jesus comes first and people come next.
What I wanted
most of all was to lead the territory after the style of Jesus
Christ. Was that too simple an ambition in a modern,
sophisticated Western territory? My introduction of Church
Growth programs was not to use some popular technique to grow
The Salvation Army, but as a way to introduce Aussies, often
cynical about Christianity and the church, to Jesus Christ
Himself. My passion to give unemployed young people a chance
to learn job skills and find hope for the future led to
Employment 2000. My ardent speech at the Taxation Summit in
Canberra was to highlight our motivation and Christ’s mission
through this movement. But my lasting impressions of
those years are the miracles that Christ brought into the
lives of people by His Spirit, and how He lead us forward to
accomplish His will and grow His Army through its diverse
ministries.
In 1986, at my
third High Council attendance, my election as General changed
the whole course of my final years of active officer service.
A lasting impression of those years is the constant
sense of privilege I felt at being granted this role as
Christ’s servant. You’d never take the job on unless you
believed God had placed you there, and you can only do it in
His strength. For me those seven years encompassed the
challenge of returning to the lands formerly dominated by the
Communist, atheistic philosophy where The Salvation Army had
been banned for so many decades. It led to the restructuring
of the administration of The Army in the United Kingdom and
globally. It allowed me opportunity to develop the training
in leadership of officers from the areas or Asia and Africa
who would soon take positions of responsibility in a wider,
multicultural leadership of The Salvation
Army.
My brief
included traveling to all corners of the world to visit, to
preach, teach and inspire our people. It was with quiet
delight that I heard an African Salvationist say in his words
of thanks for my visit, ”General, you are our global parent.”
The congregation gave him a wild round of applause. Yes, I
thought, our Army is one Army, one great family crossing all
national and cultural boundaries. One in Christ. On the
screen of my mind flashed the sight of a mercy seat, in the
shape of a massive cross, in the arena of The Royal Albert
Hall in London at the International Congress meeting a short
time before. At that cross were kneeling ‘a great multitude of
very nation, and tribe, and language’, hundreds of
Salvationists in every style and colour of uniform, kneeling
by the cross of our Saviour and Lord. Yes, I thought, Christ
has the supremacy in The Salvation Army.
To recount the
lasting impressions of those years would take a book in
itself. But most impressive of all were not meetings with
kings. queens or presidents, but the beautiful, unforgettable
Salvation soldiers of the cross whom it will always be a joy
to reflect on until I greet them again in glory.
Salvationists like CSM Thankimah in east India, who began life
selling watches on the streets of Aizawl. Now, prospered by
the Lord, and owning a magnificent business, he spends his
wealth on paying the salaries of couples to evangelise in
unreached areas of his country. Or YPSM Clara Page, an
exuberant African-American of South Carolina whose
organization of a Sunday School of over a thousand, young and
old, was magnificent, She told me how she passionately longed
for all to come to know her Saviour. Or Major Yin Hung Shun
who led our Army in China after the forced expulsion of our
missionaries. His endurance under the cruel conditions of a
Communist labour camp during the Cultural Revolution made him
into a hero of the faith and an inspiration to me and the
whole Army world.
But life
doesn’t end at retirement from active officer service; lasting
impressions continue to mount up; open doors of service for
Christ continue to open. I am now an active soldier of
Melbourne Temple 614 Corps, where we are concerned for the
lost, the last and the least in this inner urban area. I see
as many miracles on Bourke Street Melbourne as I saw in the
villages of Africa, or the hostels of London, or
the streets of Colombo. In the last twelve months I have had
the exciting task of preparing 8 young men and women to take
their place in the ranks of the Army as soldiers, ready to
make the values of the kingdom of Christ and not the values of
the world the standard for their life, to fight passionately
against social injustice, and to seek to win the world for
Jesus.
No wonder I
hope The Times of London does not need to publish my
obituary just yet.
But whenever
that day does come, my last words will be that Jesus Christ
has ever been the supreme and passionate love of my life.. I
have earnestly endeavoured to centre my teaching, and
preaching, and serving on Him though it has been so
imperfectly.
Now I await
with patience the golden dawning, when I shall behold Him face
to face.
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