Are You A Veteran?
I wonder how many veterans we have in attendance today? If you have ever served in any branch of the armed forces, please raise your hand. I am a veteran of WW2, serving in the army from 1943 to 1945 in the U.S., Great Britain, and France. WW2 veterans are passing off the scene in great rapidity at the rate of 1000 a day, not 1000 a month, but 1000 a day. When I was a boy it was common to come in contact with a veteran from WW1. Very few if any WW 1 veterans are still alive. My father was a veteran of the Spanish American War in 1898. Somewhere at home I have a copy of his discharge papers. I can remember when November 11 was called Armistice Day in memory of the end of WW1. We didn’t get the day off from school. But at 11 A.M. we would have a moment of silence.
All of us are not veterans of some branch of the armed forces or have served at home or abroad, but we should all be veterans in the service of the Lord. A veteran is one who is much experienced in any service, especially as a soldier or an ex soldier. But you can be a veteran without having served in the armed forces. A veteran is one who has had long experience of any kind of service. We speak of a veteran lawmaker, a veteran teacher, or a veteran lawyer.
All of us who are believers and followers of Jesus Christ are veterans in his service. In the Bible, followers of Jesus Christ are often described in military terms. We are described as being involved in spiritual warfare. And in our text in 2 Tim 2:3,4, followers of Christ are described as soldiers. No matter how long or brief has been our service, we are veterans in his army. Some of us have had a long experience in the service of the Lord. We have come through dangers seen and unseen. We have been through the fire and the storm. We have been through howling winds, tossing waves, and deep floods.
Others of us have not been in the service too long. But you are a veteran if you have been tested in the service of the Lord. When you take a stand for Jesus Christ, the forces of evil will test you to see how strong your stand is. You will be tempted to see how sincere you are about your new life. You say you don’t do what you used to do. But sooner or later somebody is going to entice you to do something you said you were not going to do. You don’t have to be in the service too long before experiencing temptation along the way. So young or old, much experience or little experience, we are all veterans in the service of the Lord. We are soldiers in his army.
Now there is a difference between being a veteran from the armed forces and being a veteran in the service of the Lord. A veteran from some branch of the armed forces is usually not on active service. But a veteran in the service of the Lord is never retired from active duty. When you become a soldier in the army of the Lord, you are in the battle until you die. What really is involved in being a veteran in the service of the Lord?
First of all, you have been chosen and enlisted in the service of the Lord. God has chosen us to be his followers. Some people think they are doing God a favor by choosing to serve him. But God has chosen his followers from the dawn of time. It’s a great mystery of the Christian faith that God has chosen some to follow him.
Take 2 children in the same family, raised by the same parents, subject to the same discipline, nurtured in the Christian faith, brought up in the same church. Yet one of these children becomes a practicing Christian while the other rejects Christianity. One decides to serve the Lord. The other couldn’t care less about the church or the Christian faith. One frequently attends church. The other hardly darkens to doors of anybody’s church. How do you account for it? One has been chosen by God’s grace, while the other may not have been chosen. We can’t say for sure for it is never too late to come to Jesus. There is always room at the cross for one more.
Now years ago when I went into the army, I was drafted. The physical exam I took was a farce. If you were warm and breathing you were accepted. But nowadays the armed forces are careful who they accept. You must be chosen. The standards are high. Everybody is not accepted. There is a screening process. But there is another side to being chosen. The person chosen must accept the call.
President-elect Obama chose Mr. Emanuel to be his chief of staff. But Emanuel had to accept the call. Obama couldn’t force him to take the job. God has chosen some for his service. But those chosen must accept the call to service. You must enlist or sign up for service. The armed forces have an all volunteer service now. No more draftees. No more of those forced into service like I was back in the second World War. I went in kicking and screaming. I did not enlist. I did not volunteer to go in. I was forced in.
But God won’t force you to serve him. You must volunteer for service. God has an all volunteer army. You must sign up for service and you must report for duty. Now theologically there is a mystery here. Somehow God’s grace and our free will work together. God must choose us by his grace. But we must accept the call by our free will. That’s a mystery that will never be solved on this earth. You can’t
enlist unless you are chosen. But if you are chosen you must enlist to be in his service. Don’t stay up tonight trying to figure that one out. Just accept it by faith. But if you have enlisted in the service of the Lord it is a sign that you have been chosen by God for his service. Just praise God for choosing you. Thank him for his amazing grace that saved a wretch like you. Praise him for his grace that caused you to sign up for service with the King. Praise him that you have the privilege of serving a mighty God. What a mighty God we serve. Now God will never go back on his choice of you.
I heard the story of a young man who told his pastor that the Lord had called him into the ministry. And for several months he was busy in the work of the Lord, serving in the pulpit, leading Bible studies, going to prayer meeting, and so on. But then all of a sudden he stopped coming to church. The pastor called him and said, “What happened? You were so diligent in serving the Lord. Now all of a sudden you stopped coming. What happened?” The man replied, “The Lord told me to never mind.” But God will never go back on his call to us. He will never change his mind.
But the second thing involved in being a veteran in the service of the Lord is to endure hardship, sacrifice, and suffering as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. Soldiers must be toughened up before they can be of service. They must be go through basic training. The army and no other branch of service is a bed of roses. A soldier does not expect to go through service in the army on flowery beds of ease. A soldier enlists in the army knowing the sacrifice and hard times that await him.
Paul was writing this letter to Timothy who was a pastor. Suffering and hardships can be voluntary or involuntary. Voluntary suffering or hardship comes as a result of faithfully preaching the gospel. You will suffer persecution and hardship as you preach the gospel or as you live the Christian life. The world is opposed to the gospel of Jesus Christ and everything it stands for. Whenever you take a stand for Jesus Christ, you will suffer persecution. If you are a nominal Christian you can get by. But once you get serious for the Lord you will be called all kinds of names. You will be called an old foggy, a holy Joe or Jane, a religious fanatic, or much worse. The very fact that you are a consecrated believer in Jesus Christ sets you apart from the world. We are in the world, but not of the world. The Christian does not have the luxury of doing everything the world does.
We are to be holy. Holy means to be set apart, to be separate from. Holy means to be different. The Bible is holy because it is different from all other books. The temple in Jerusalem was holy because it was different from all other buildings. The Christian believer in Christ is holy because he or she is different from others. When you become a Christian the Holy spirit does a transforming transaction on you that makes you different from all others. You have the desire and the power to live a life different from others.
The problem that some Christians and some churches have is that too often they expect non-Christians to act like Christians. A non-Christian cannot act like a Christian. It is an impossibility. A person who has not been born again cannot act like a Christian. He may pretend to be a Christian, but he is living a lie. Some Christians, particularly the more fundamental and evangelical churches decry immorality, sexual promiscuity, homosexual activity, violence, corruption. But sinners, those who are not born again, are doing what comes naturally. If they haven’t been born again, they have no desire or power to live different lives. So when a Christian comes modeling the Christian life, he or she will be discriminated against, persecuted, made fun of, ridiculed, talked about. The Christian will be automatically persecuted simply for being different from other people. People will resent you because you model all that they are not. You are a living Bible to others that shows them up for the sinners they are.
When Christians are transformed and not conformed to the world, they must expect to suffer for the cause of Christ. But involuntary suffering comes upon us seemingly without rhyme or reason. Sometimes things happen to us for which we do not have a clue. Only God understands what is going on in your life. Job didn’t understand why he had to suffer as he did. Job never did get an answer to the cause of his suffering. He was just told that God was sufficient, that God is in charge of everything, and that was enough for Job. Involuntary suffering and hardships come upon us without warning: The death of a child, the death of a spouse, a sudden illness, the loss of a job, the loss of a house, an accident that leaves us incapacitated.
Sometimes it seems like the harder we serve the Lord , the greater are the trials and tribulations that come upon us. Those living in the wrong seem to have everything going their way, while we who serve the Lord travel the road of trials and tribulations. We don’t know why hardships and trials come upon Christians. One man wrote a book entitled, When bad things happen to good people.
But some translations of 2nd Tim. 2:3 talk about sharing in suffering. We are to share in the suffering of fellow Christian soldiers. We don’t serve alone in this Christian army. You cannot understand or feel for others in their suffering unless you have experienced some suffering yourself. Sometimes we suffer affliction so we can help somebody else who is in trials and tribulations. When you go through the fire of suffering you come out on the other side the stronger because of it. Peter says after you have suffered awhile you come out as pure gold. After you have suffered awhile you can help somebody else along the way. After you have suffered awhile you can share in the sufferings of others.
We are all in this army together. The suffering must be shared. We are connected to each other in this army. When one is sad, all are sad. When one is in trouble, all are in trouble. When one is suffering, all are suffering. When one is going through a hard time, we all are going through a hard time. We are not individuals in this army. We are connected to each other.
This letter was written to Timothy, the pastor. But young ministers come out of seminary well trained in the fundamentals of the ministry. They have studied bible interpretation and exegesis. They know how to produce good sermons. They have been trained in the elements of pastoral care. But what is missing is that they “ain’t” suffered nothing yet. It’s not their fault, but unless you have been through something yourself, you can’t really help people in trouble. Someone talked about the wounded healer.
That’s why Jesus went to the cross so he could experience the suffering we go through. But after preachers have suffered awhile, after they have been through something, then they will know what the suffering saints in their churches are going through. When you have suffered the loss of a spouse, the loss of a child, a financial calamity, some problems in the church, when you have been through something then you can help somebody else along the journey.
I sometimes look at some of the sermons I preached 25 years or so ago. But they were written before I suffered the loss of three wives, the agonizing illness of one of them for five years with ALS, the death of one of them after only 3 years of marriage, the mugging I received on the doorstep of my house, being literally kicked out of the house the same night my wife died, and experiencing the hard days and bitter nights of loneliness and pain. After I have suffered for awhile I can better help somebody else in the crucible of suffering and woe. I am a better preacher because of the suffering I have experienced.
You may be suffering as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. You didn’t ask for the suffering, but you are going through it just the same. But when God brings you out of the suffering you are the better for it. Suffering doesn’t last always. Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning. And in the morning you will come out better because of the night of suffering. But who knows that God may be preparing you to share your suffering with somebody else? Who know but that God is fitting you to comfort somebody else in the midnight hour of suffering and woe? We are to share the suffering of each other.
President Obama was criticized for saying that the wealth must be spread around. But the suffering must be spread around so we can share our burdens. We are in this army together. We are bound together in it. We are called to suffer together for the cause of Christ. After you have suffered awhile, you will know what that widow is going through. After you have suffered awhile, you know what the man without a job is going through. After you have suffered awhile, you can reach out and help a soul who is hungry. After you have suffered awhile, you can touch a spirit in despair. After you have suffered awhile, you can touch a life torn and dirty. After you have suffered awhile you can touch a man that is lonely. After you have suffered awhile you can help somebody that needs you. After you have suffered awhile, you can reach to a friend who is weary. After you have suffered awhile, you can help somebody else along the journey of life.
Don’t despise your suffering. God has a purpose for you in the midst of your suffering. All things do work for good according to the purpose of God. Suffering is redemptive. Something good can come out of your suffering. Suffer on a little longer until you discover what God is trying to teach you. We are in this army together. “Blest be the tie that binds our hearts in Christian love. The fellowship of kindred minds is like to that above. We share our mutual woes in the army of the Lord. Our mutual burdens bear. And often for each other flows the sympathizing tear.” Good soldiers help one another along the way.
Finally, as good soldiers we are to keep our minds stayed on the cause of the gospel. A soldier does not get entangled with the concerns of civilian life. His mind is focused on the job at hand. Soldiers have a goal to be the best soldiers they can be. Soldiers are determined to give of their best to the master. Soldiers are determined to fight the good fight with all their might. Soldiers are determined to keep the charge they have and to fit their souls for the skies. Soldiers are determined to stay on the battlefield for the Lord. Soldiers are determined to put on the whole armor of God. Soldiers are determined to surrender all to Jesus. Soldiers are determined to let nothing between their souls and the Savior. Soldiers are determined to walk in the pathway of duty. Soldiers are determined to live so God can use them each and every day. Soldiers are determined to rise in the arms of faith and to be closer drawn to God. Soldiers are determined to keep on leaning on Jesus. Soldiers are determined to plant their feet on higher ground. Soldiers are determined to lift Jesus up by living as a Christian ought to live.
How about you? Are you a veteran in the service of the Lord. I don’t know about you, but I am a veteran in the army of the Lord. I was only in the army of the U. S. for a little over 2 years. But I have been in the army of the Lord for almost 80 years. “And I don’t feel no ways tired. I’ve come too far from where I started from. Nobody told me the road would be easy. But I don’t believe he brought me this far to leave me.” I signed up in his army by deciding to follow Jesus and there’s no turning back, no turning back. “I started out a long time ago, and I’m going through. I’ll pay the price whatever others my say. I’ll take the way with the Lord’s despised few. I’ve started with Jesus and I’m going through.”
Are you a good soldier of the Lord?. Is Jesus satisfied with your service in his army?. We often talk about how Jesus satisfies us. But is Jesus satisfied with us?. Is Jesus pleased with our service in his army? I want Jesus to be pleased with me. I want Jesus to be satisfied with me.
When I’ve given him the best of my service, telling the world that the Savior is come. I won’t be dismayed when folks don’t believe me. For He’ll understand and say, “well done.“
“Oh when I come to the end of my journey, weary of life and the battle is won, carrying the staff and cross of redemption, He’ll understand and say, “Well done.”
