; A Statement on the Attempt to Free the Hostages
. John M. Buchanan
! Broad Street Presbyterian Church
Columbus, Ohio
April 27, 1980

The Fourth Gospel portrays the Last Supper as the occasion for an
extended conversation between Jesus and his disciples in the midst of
which he said:

",..This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have
loved you. Greater love has no man than this, that a man Lay
down his life for his friends.”

Ever since Jesus said that ~ because he said it - that part of human-
ity called Judeo-Christian has regarded the laying down of life itself to
be the highest, most moral, most human act of all...an indicator of the
greatest of love...

Last week eight American young men laid down their lives for their
friends...

They did not die for abstractions. They did not even die for poli-
tical goals such as justice, or the revolution, or the defeat of the enemy.
They died, very simply, trying to set their countrymen free. They died be-
cause they had thought about it, and the freedom of their countrymen was
regarded as worth the risk.

t am saying this to you this morning because I think it needs saying:
and because what those young men did is getting lost in the frantic attempt
to find someone to blame for the failure of the rescue mission and what we
regard as further humiliation. That, it seems to me, is tragic, and essen-
tially wrong.

The act of heroism — courage - selflessness — can never indicate
humiliation. It is rather - our culture at its best and strongest,

The agony of recent months - all our military power neutralized by
a handful of militants ~ is not humiliation. Our restraint, our refusai
to retalitate by killing and bombing uninvolved people is Western Civili-
zation at its strongest and best.

~ am embarrassed, not by by my country's weakness, but by newspaper
editorials which, from the safety of mid-Ohio, presume to criticize the
President and advise the Pentagon on the precise tactics necessary...

I am embarrassed by officials now using tragedy to gain political
advantage.

Eight young men laid down their their lives. This nation - this fra-
gile idea ~ will not die, so long as young man do that.

Let us Pray:

God of all nations, we give you thanks for the lives of eight country-
men and particularly for their courage and selflessness...

We pray, our Father, for their parents and wives and children - comfort
them with your love and assure them that you know what it means to lose a
young son.

We pray, God of all, for our countrymen in continued bondage. Give
them renewed strength - and in this hour a determined hope.

We pray, Father, for the people of Iran + for the authorities and the
militants -

And we pray for our nation. Bless with your gifts of wisdom and
courage - our President and his advisors. Give him strength and heaith
and confidence.

God Almighty, guide this nation in the days ahead, Through Jesus
Christ our Lord. Amen.