Thursday, August
31, 2017
Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are
his dear children. Live a life filled
with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a
sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God.
Ephesians 5:1-2(NLT)
I am always
somewhat embarrassed when someone refers to my brief stint as a member of the U.S.
Army and says: Thank you for your service.
It’s not that I’m ashamed; it’s just a part of my life that I endured. I did not join-up to defend home, hearth and freedom; I was drafted because my number
came up. I didn’t request to go to
Vietnam – I was assigned because they needed another grunt to fill a spot. I didn’t do anything particularly heroic; I
was there for a year
and came home. When I took the oath to
defend the United States against all enemies, domestic and foreign, it was for
two years, and then, if I survived, I would be free to go on with my normal life.
I’m glad I
survived, but there were those many that didn’t. They, along with many others from many other
wars, are part of a group to which we refer as heroes, those whose sacrifice made our freedom
possible. We don’t investigate those
lives too deeply. We want our heroes to
stay heroes; it’s much easier on Memorial Day to have a parade and be glad we
survived, and be at least momentarily thankful that others died to protect our
way of life.
But what of
the living heroes, those who gave up so much and yet survived to carry the
scars and stress, bearing the cost of our wars in their bodies and minds? And how do we genuinely honor such
sacrifice? I trust, for the sake of those
who live in the shadows of their horror–filled, PTSD daily nightmares, which can
never truly be repaid, we are finding ways to sacrificially support recovery
and rehabilitation. And that we do not
just throw money at the symptoms.
Of course
the sanest way to push-back against the need for the kind of heroes we honor
and memorialize is to make bigger heroes out of peacemakers, people who find
ways to diffuse anger and make war a faded archive.
How you do
that is another thing. I’ve never been
much of a joiner in the waves of political movements; I hate waving any kind of
flag. It may be somewhat emotionally exhilarating
to get on a charismatic leader’s bandwagon, but most of it is simply to get a
political career off the ground. Rather,
I see value in living an authentically changed life. I see movement one life at a time. I guess my calling as a pastor is tied to
that kind of core value; I cannot change the whole world and I know it. But if God can use me to make a difference
one life at a time, at one moment in time, it somehow resonates with Paul’s
challenge to live in imitation of Jesus who loved me, and loved us – enough to
sacrifice His life to clear our sins out of the pathway to God.
I cannot offer
a world peace strategy, or save everyone ravaged by the infections of natural
disaster, war or some heinous deed. But
I can be ready to be involved with the person right in front of me. I can come alongside and be a voice of hope
for one other human soul.
This is the
working out of what Jesus said is the key to genuine life:
If you try to
hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my
sake, you will save it. Luke 9:24(NLT)
Trying to
hold on to everything that benefits your selfish desires spends life like a prodigal
son in the far country, but a life of sacrifice, investing in the lives of
others is what will make our life blossom and mature into the kind of Kingdom
vine you were meant to be.
For You Today
You chew on
that as you hit the Rocky Road…have a blessed day!
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