Veteran’s Day 2012
Scott R. Bayles, preacher
Blooming Grove Christian Church: 11/11/2012
Good morning and welcome to the Grove. You know, one of the things I’m thankful for today is the beautiful sunshiny weather we’ve had this weekend. It almost makes you forget that it’s November, doesn’t it? I’m also thankful for each one of you here. I hope, especially if you’re visiting with us, that you feel welcomed and appreciated every time you worship with us.
In many churches, just like ours, there stand two flags—the American Flag and the Christian Flag. These two flags represent two types of freedom. One is a freedom that allows us to go where we want to go, say what we want to say, to live where we want to live, to dream big dreams and pursue them. Someone once wrote:
It is the veteran, not the reporter, who has given us freedom of the press.
It is the veteran, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech.
It is the veteran, not the campus organizer, who has given us freedom to assemble.
It is the veteran, not the politician, who has given us the right to vote.
It is the veteran, not the preacher, who has given us freedom of religion.
Veterans over the centuries have sacrificed so much to obtain and preserve this precious freedom—which also includes the God-given right to worship our Creator anytime anywhere. That leads us to the other type of freedom, represented by the Christian Flag—a greater freedom that can only be found in Christ, who died as a ransom to set us free. This is a freedom from a life of futility, freedom from the tyranny of sin, regret, hate, and bitterness. It’s the freedom to love God and love our neighbor.
To serve either of these flags (and the freedoms they represent) faithfully and effectively, we must meet certain requirements. Before one can become a Veteran, they must first be a good soldier. So my question for you today is—what does it take to become a Veteran? Not just a military Veteran, but a spiritual Veteran?
The Apostle Paul knew a little something about that.
Having enlisted in the Lord’s army after encountering Jesus on the road to Damascus and enduring countless dangers, toils, and snares as a result, Paul was a Veteran Christian if there ever was one. Toward the end of his life—while facing execution for his commitment to Christ—Paul sat in a cold Roman prison, cut off from the world, with just a quill and some parchment. Paul knew that he would soon be executed and so he wrote his final thoughts to a young pastor named Timothy, passing to him the torch of leadership, reminding him of what was truly important and encouraging him to keep the faith. In 2 Timothy 2:3-4, Paul makes this brief statement:
“You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier.” (2 Timothy 2:3-4 NKJV).
In these two short verses Paul uses four e-words—enlist, endure, engage, and entangle—each representing a different aspect of what it takes to become a Veteran soldier of Christ. I actually want to start with the last e-word, which is—enlist.
• ENLIST
You can’t become a Veteran if you don’t enlist. As Paul says in another translation, “A soldier wants to please his enlisting officer” (2 Timothy 2:3-4 NCV). Thankfully, our country no longer uses a forced draft. Recruitment officers are sent out to encourage people to volunteer, but men and women have the freedom to choose whether or not they serve in the American military today. And people make that choice for different reasons.
A lot of young people I’ve talked to enlist so that they can go collage, others out of a sense of patriotic duty, some were raised in military families, and still others because they’re looking for some sense of direction or purpose for their lives. No matter what the reasons are, it’s a tough decision—life changing, to simply leave everything behind.
God does not force anyone to serve in the service of His Kingdom, either. He does send out recruitment officers, like you and me, to encourage people to serve in His Army, but it’s our choice. People make the decision for different reasons. Maybe you were brought up with the faith of your parents, maybe you sensed God’s leading in your life, or maybe you came to Christ looking for a sense of purpose and direction. No matter the reason, it’s a life changing decision and not one to be taken lightly. Jesus said, “If anyone comes to me but loves his father, mother, wife, children, brothers, or sisters—or even life—more than me, he cannot be my follower. Whoever is not willing to carry his cross and follow me cannot be my follower” (Luke 14:26-27 NCV). Following Jesus is a life-altering commitment that requires full devotion. It’s a personal pledge that you are going to let Christ become the leader of your life. And I’m certain there are many here today who testify that it was the best decision they ever made!
The first step to becoming a spiritual Veteran is enlisting.
The next step is enduring.
• ENDURE
American soldiers in ever branch of the military have a lot to endure, not the least of which is the grueling physical punishment experienced during basic training. My cousin, Tyler, recently enlisted in the Army and during basic training wrote several letters home to his mom and dad. In one of those letters he talks about the gas chamber. He said it was the worst thing he has ever had to endure. Your eyes feel like they have soap in them. It feels like someone is holding a lighter under your nose and you can’t breathe.
Of course, there are many less physical hardships that soldiers have to endure as well. One of the most difficult things is just being away from their families. And then there’s the rigidity of military life—often personified in ranking officers.
I read this week about an Air Force Major that was promoted to Colonel and got a new office. The first morning he was in his new office, an airman knocked on the door and asked to speak to him. The Colonel, feeling the urge to impress the young airman, picked up his phone and began talking. “Yes, General, thank you. Yes, I will pass that information along to the President this afternoon. Yes, goodbye, sir.” Then, turning to the airman, he barked, “And what do you want?” The airman said, “Nothing important, sir. I just came to hook up your telephone.”
If you want to be a Veteran, you have to have endurance.
As Paul told Timothy, “You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ” (2 Timothy 2:3 NKJV). Thank God that we living a country where Christians don’t experience the kind of hardships they do in other parts of the world—hardships like the ones Paul experienced. During his missionary journeys Paul was flogged, stoned, shipwrecked and much more. But even in America, life is full of hardships. Bad things happen. Our faith if tested.
James reminds us, “when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow” (James 1:2-3 NLT). As soldiers of Christ, we have to endure. We have to keep the faith. And we have to praise God, even in the midst of our struggles.
So, we enlist, we endure. And next we engage.
• ENGAGE
General Sherman once said, “You don’t know the horrible aspects of war. I’ve been through two wars and I know. I’ve seen cities and homes in ashes. I’ve seen thousands of men lying on the ground, their dead faces looking up at the skies. I tell you, war is hell!”
While I’ve never experienced the horrible aspects of war, I have great respect for those who have been engaged in war. Even those service men and women who were blessed to serve during peacetime, however, must still be prepared to engage the enemy. Through training exercises and combat practice they stay sharp and vigilant, always prepared for battle.
As Christians we need to do the same. As Paul explains, “The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:4-5 NIV).
In other words, as good soldiers of Jesus Christ, we have to be prepared to engage in spiritual warfare. We battle temptation. We stand opposed to false religions and worldviews that are hostile toward Christianity. We are called to defend our faith with reason and precision. We can’t be afraid to stand up for Jesus either in the public square or in our personal relationships. God is counting on us to “takes captives,” which means surrendering our own thought and beliefs to Christ, but also leading other to do the same—with gentleness and respect. See in the Lord’s Army, we don’t kill our enemies; rather, we make them our allies.
And in the Lord’s Army, we aren’t fighting alone. Just as soldiers in a squad, platoon or company, depend on each other, Christians rely on our church family to support us and stand beside us. Even more, we have God on our side.
David Dykes, a Baptist minister from Texas, once shared an amazing story. He writes, “During WWII, soldiers were often given Bibles to take into battle. I recall one veteran showing me his. A German bullet punctured it and traveled halfway through until it stopped in Psalm 91.” The bullet seemed as if it was pointing directly at Psalm 91:11, which says, “For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.” Isn’t that amazing? As Christians, we shouldn’t ever be afraid to engage our friends, co-workers or culture. After all, if God is for us, who can be against us?
In order to be a Veteran we must enlist, endure, engage, and finally, don’t get entangled.
• ENTANGLED
The last e-word that Paul uses in these two verses is entangled: “No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in the concerns of civilian life” (2 Timothy 2:4 HCSB).
I heard about a new recruit, shortly after joining the Navy, who asked his officer for a pass so he could attend a wedding. The officer gave him the pass, but informed the young man he would have to be back by 7 p.m. Sunday. “You don’t understand, sir,” said the recruit. “I’m in the wedding.”
“No, you don’t understand,” the officer shot back. “You’re in the Navy!”
When you serve this (American) flag, you are expected to be completely committed to your country and to allow nothing to prevent you from performing your duties and serving faithfully.
When you serve this (Christian) flag, you are also expected to be completely committed to Christ and His Kingdom. You are expected to serve Him faithfully, not allowing anything to keep you from doing His will.
Unfortunately, countless Christians, after coming to Christ in faith, do get entangled in the affairs of this world. They let other things become more important to them than Jesus. In fact, Jesus told a story about that very thing. He talked about a farmer who scattered seed everywhere he went. Then Jesus said, “The seeds that fell among the thorns represent those who hear the message, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the cares and riches and pleasures of this life. And so they never grow into maturity” (Luke 8:14 NLT).
We need to be careful about the things we let distract us from Jesus. As Paul has said elsewhere, “Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ” (Philippians 3:8 NLT).
Conclusion
As I said before, there are two types of freedom—embodied in two flags. We want to say many thanks to the Veterans who have served to preserve our political freedoms, which allow us to freely worship our Creator who gives us that greater freedom we all so desperately need.
Invitation
Maybe you’re entangled in the cares and worries of this life, maybe you’re afraid to engage people in spiritual conversation, maybe you’re enduring some hardship and need someone to stand with you and help you to fight the good fight, or maybe you haven’t yet enlisted in God’s army but you’re thinking about it and you need someone to talk to. I don’t know where you are in your relationship with God, but if there is anything I can do to help you become a spiritual Veteran, come talk to me while we stand and sing.
