St George was probably a soldier living in Palestine at the beginning of the fourth century. He was martyred at Lydda in about the year 304, the beginning of the Diocletian persecution, and became known throughout the East as 'The Great Martyr'. There were churches in England dedicated to St George before the Norman conquest. The story of his slaying the dragon is probably due to his being mistaken in iconography for St Michael, himself usually depicted wearing armour; or it may again be a mistaken identity representing Perseus's slaying of the sea monster, a myth also associated with the area of Lydda. George replaced Edward the Confessor as Patron Saint of England following the Crusades, when returning soldiers brought back with them a renewed cult of St George. Edward III made St George patron of the Order of the Garter, which seems finally to have confirmed his position.
In Hebrews 11 we are given a roll-call of heroes of the faith. It starts as we would expect: “They shut the mouths of lions, put out fierce fires, escaped being killed by the sword. They were weak, but became strong; they were mighty in battle and defeated the armies of foreigners. Through faith women received their dead relatives raised back to life.” But then it changes tack: “Others, refusing to accept freedom, died under torture in order to be raised to a better life. Some were mocked and whipped, and others were put in chains and taken off to prison. They were stoned, they were sawed in two, they were killed by the sword. They went around clothed in skins of sheep or goats—poor, persecuted, and mistreated. The world was not good enough for them! They wandered like refugees in the deserts and hills, living in caves and holes in the ground.”
“What a record all of these have won by their faith!” the writer of this letter ends by saying and what an encouragement to us when we don’t always see St George defeating the dragon. Martin Luther King Jr concluded his last sermon, delivered at the Bishop Charles Mason Temple in Memphis, Tennessee on the eve of his assassination, by saying: "I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people will get to the promised land. And I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord." That is the attitude and trust that we need when facing dragons.
Just like Martin Luther King saying those words on the eve of his assassination, so the writer to the Hebrews says, “They did not receive the things God had promised, but from a long way off they saw them and welcomed them.” Howard Zinn, who was involved in the Civil Rights Movement, wrote this: “Social movements may have many 'defeats' — failing to achieve objectives in the short run — but in the course of the struggle the strength of the old order begins to erode, the minds of people begin to change; the protesters are momentarily defeated but not crushed, and have been lifted, heartened, by their ability to fight back."
The stories of the saints, like that of St George, aren’t there to give us a fool-proof cast-iron methodology for overcoming dragons but they can give us the inspiration and encouragement to take to the field and play our part. The saints have been an inspiration to many who have faced impossible odds in personal lives, communities, and globally. So, we pray: God of hosts, who so kindled the flame of love in the heart of your servant George that he bore witness to the risen Lord by his life and by his death: give us the same faith and power of love that we who rejoice in his triumphs may come to share with him the fullness of the resurrection. Amen.
For more on Hebrews 11, see my VCS exhibition 'A Question of Faith'.
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C.O.B. - Sheba's Return/Lion Of Judah.
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