St George by the Rev’d Stuart Ansell

John 15:18-21 
"If the world hates you, be aware that it hated me before it hated you. [19] If you belonged to the world, the world would love you as its own. Because you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world--therefore the world hates you. [20] Remember the word that I said to you, 'Servants are not greater than their master.' If they persecuted me, they will persecute you; if they kept my word, they will keep yours also. [21] But they will do all these things to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me. 
Some saints were real people, some were angels or archangels. St George was a real person. He was a nobleman, born into a Christian family in Cappadocia during the third century. His mother was Palestinian, and when his father died, George went back to Palestine with his mother. The idea was that George should run the family estate there. But unfortunately George and his mother were there during the reign of the infamous Emperor Diocletian (245-313) who was a notorious persecutor of Christians from about 302. 
George was a tribune in the Roman army, and objected volubly to the persecution of Christians. Needless to say, Diocletian deplored this personal intervention and George was thrown into prison, tortured, dragged through the streets, and since he refused to recant despite all this, was later beheaded at Lydda in Palestine. There are many colourful tales told of miraculous happenings through George's life and even through his corpse. One legend insisted that milk instead of blood flowed from George's severed head. 
After the execution, the Emperor's wife Alexandria became a Christian because she was so impressed with George's courage, but her reward for embracing the Christian faith was to embrace a similar sticky end. 
As well as being the Patron Saint of England, George has also long been venerated as a soldier saint. He was said to have appeared to the Christian army before the Battle of Antioch, to have appeared to Richard I (the Lionheart) during his Crusade against the Saracens, and many stories are told of his bravery and protection in battle. Some of these stories are told in "The Acts of Saint George", which was written at a very early date but outlawed by Pope Gelasius in AD 496, but there was another set of Acts held by the Greeks, and these Acts were thought to be more accurate. It's in these Acts and the writings of Metaphrastes, that the legends are told. 
Apart from his amazing exploits in battle, the golden legend surrounding St George is that of the slaying of the dragon. It dates from the 14th century and has a number of variations, but the main legend is as follows: 
The dragon lived in a marshy swamp near Silena in Libya and terrorised the town. Worse, the dragon's swampy breath was causing pestilence amongst the people. In order to placate the dragon and satisfy its hunger, two sheep were thrown to it on a daily basis, but in due course the sheep proved to be insufficient to appease the dragon's voracious appetite. The hierarchy of the town then decided that human sacrifice must be the order of the day, and needless to say, pure young virgins were those chosen to be fed to the rapacious dragon. When the supply of pure young virgins was exhausted, it fell to the lot of the King's only daughter to be fed to the dragon. Enter St George, drawing his lance and riding his white charger. As the fair princess dressed in her bridal gown prepared to accept her fate, St George made the sign of the cross, rode straight at the dragon and pierced its heart with a single blow of his lance. 
After this astonishing feat, George then converted the admiring locals by a wonderful sermon, and he further deeply impressed them by giving away to the poor the large reward he'd earned from the king. Then he rode away. 
Some people suggest that the symbols in the legend are representative. The dragon is said to represent Satan and the Princess to represent the Christian Church. St George rescued the pagans from evil by vanquishing the dragon and thus he saved the Church from being devoured by the insatiable forces of darkness. 
St George was greatly admired and venerated from the 10th century onwards, and in 1222 the Council of Oxford appointed 23rd April as his Feast Day. By the 15th century his feast day was as popular and important as Christmas. He was always seen as a knight on horseback, and as such he was the inspiration behind the celebrated Knights of the Garter, who are actually Knights of the Order of St George. 
Like today's gospel reading from John 15, the New Testament has several passages warning Christians about persecution when they follow Christ. George is one of the saints who by his own example of chivalry and courage, enabled Christians to withstand persecution in the early years of Christianity. Like Jesus, St George stood firm in the face of torture with legendary bravery and eventually gave his life for his beliefs. 
Few Western Christians are called upon to withstand physical persecution today, but we are called to stand firm in the face of hostility and apathy. Perhaps we too can follow the example of St George and slay the dragons of hostility and apathy if we wish to rescue the princess of Christianity in our own day.