Perry’s Scope: Christian sermons, lessons, and resources for teachers

Listen my children and you shall hear
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere,
On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-five;
Hardly a man is now alive
Who remembers that famous day and year.

So begins Longfellow’s poem of Paul Revere’s famous ride to warn of the coming British. In particular, the Redcoats were after John Hancock and Samuel Adams. Revere’s ride was primarily to warn them. He did so, finding them asleep at the home of Minister, Jonas Clarke, he informed them of the British intentions.

Along the way, he warned other colonists of the British advance. Before the evening was over, there were upwards of forty messengers sounding the alarm. This included William Dawes, who appeared at the Clarke parsonage repeating the same warning.

Revere and other messengers headed for Concord. The British were not easily evaded and three of them were detained. Two escaped, but Revere was interrogated by an officer who held and gun to his head and threatened his life. The next day he was able to escape and went on foot to help Hancock and his family escape.

There are some spiritual lessons for us in this great tale of courage. First, there is the concentration of an important task. This ride may not have seemed that significant to Paul Revere and the others. They may have thought that it was a job that needed to be done and they were willing hands. In retrospect, of course, what Revere, Dawes, Prescott and others did was risky and of great significance to the cause of freedom.

Second, mission is infectious. As the initial riders went through the countryside sounding the alarm of the approaching British, other patriots joined the cause and rode with the same warnings. It is too bad that Al Gore had not yet invented the internet or Bell the telephone. Either would have made things much quicker.

Third, there is the matter of seeing a task completed. Revere was captured, interrogated, intimidated, and escaped. Many of us would have found the quickest way home and gone. Our famous silversmith did the honorable thing. He went back to where he could best serve the cause and helped the people he came to warn.

Jesus lived out these lessons and impacted the believers of the eighteenth century. Jesus came with a job to do – the will of his Father (John 4:34). He intended that we all catch the vision he presented and share the message of both warning and good news (Matthew 28.18-20). He made sure that he completed the task that was set before him (John 19:30).

Paul Revere and the patriots of old are heroes. They risked life and property for the American cause. In doing so, they imitated some of the great qualities of the Son of God. Perhaps a reason that they did so was because they spent great amounts of time coming to know him.

Keep The Light Burning!

Perry Greene