This coming Tuesday is our yearly Veteran’s Day holiday. It is a time set apart to remember, celebrate and honor our veterans. But to do so properly, I think we should know what the word “veteran” means. So, I looked it up in the dictionary.
The definition of “veteran” is defined as:
“Someone having extensive experience in some field” or,
“Someone who has served in their nation’s military.”
I think we can safely assume that anyone who has served in the military has extensive experience in some field …. and most probably the field of manual labor.
Sadly, many churches today do not honor veterans on Veteran’s Day. Some are led now by people who have either never served in the military, or have been around anyone who has, so they do not understand the depth of emotion associated with veterans.
Still others do not celebrate it because they feel that celebrating and honoring veterans, is tantamount to celebrating and honoring war itself. Let me set the record straight on that. NO! It is NOT the same thing by any leap of the imagination!
War is from Satan. It is meant for no other reason than to satisfy the flesh of some ungodly men who are in charge of a nation. There is no good to be found in war. But as much as we hate war, we are forever grateful for our young men and women who are willing to go to bad places, be totally apart from their loved ones, and to fight and even die for those left at home.
That is why we honor veterans on Veterans Day: To tell them “thank you” for keeping us free.
After the Civil War, General Sherman gave the commencement address at a military academy in Michigan. In that speech, he said that “war is hell”. Later, in a newspaper interview, he repeated that, but then added, “and thank God soldiers are from Heaven.”
Even though we do not like, nor do we celebrate war in any way, we do know that God ordains the principles of sending soldiers into battle to defeat evil, even if it means fighting.
DEUTERONOMY 20:10-12
“When you draw near to a city to fight against it, offer terms of peace to it. And if it responds to you peaceably and it opens to you, then all the people who are found in it shall do forced labor for you and shall serve you. But if it makes no peace with you, but makes war against you, then you shall besiege it.”
Our veterans must leave home and go to terrible places, to be surrounded by terrible people, yet they are willing to do so. They spend their time remembering their loved ones. They suffer loneliness and homesickness. They are dedicated to their nation and they know they may be called upon to give the ultimate sacrifice – their very lives, for the sake of others. What kind of people do this?
What kind of people are willing to do this?
In JOHN 15:13, Jesus called them “friends” when He said, “There is no greater love than laying down one’s life for a friend.”
I believe that verse describes a veteran very well. He may not like the idea of doing so, and certainly does not look forward to it, but is willing to lay his own life down to save another if the situation demands he do so.
And so, as we celebrate and honor our veterans this Tuesday, we should give them what they need and what they deserve: our remembrance and thanks for what they have done; our respect and Godly encouragement. Let’s take our lead from the Apostle Paul when he said in;
ROMANS 1:8-10 –
“ 8 I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world. 9 God, whom I serve with my whole heart in preaching the gospel of His Son, is my witness how I constantly remember you 10 in my prayers at all times …”
It was not our preachers who gave us the freedom to worship, it was the veteran who was willing to do battle to keep that freedom. Likewise, it was not the community organizer who made this nation a great nation, it was the veteran who was willing to stand in defense of it. And it was not the lawyer who gave us the right to vote. It was the veteran who was willing to die if necessary, to keep us from losing that right.
Yes, our veterans have given us so very much, but I think the most precious gift of all was that they gave us a part of themselves. How can we not honor and appreciate them for doing that?
PHILIPPIANS 2:4 gives us instruction.
“Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.”
Part of looking out for the interest of others is by remembering them and paying attention to them.
When our Founding Fathers grew tired of the tyranny they faced in England, they set out for this new land in which they could start over. That sounds eerily familiar with how the Israelites left the tyranny in Egypt and headed to the Promised Land to start over, too, doesn’t it?
The problem they faced, though, was that when they got here, England still wanted to rule over them. So the new settlers had to make a hard decision. Did they just give up and accept this tyrannical government, or did they stand up and fight to be free, knowing that many would lose their lives? They chose to fight for freedom.
And every generation since has fought their own war for the very same reason; to remain free from tyrants and evil men. My great grandfather fought in the Civil War. My grandfather fought in WW1. My dad fought in WW2. My brother fought in the Korean Conflict. I was in Vietnam, and my son was in the Gulf War in Iraq. And your family’s history is almost identical.
Just as the American Revolutionary soldier went to war so his children and neighbors could live in freedom; and just as the soldiers of both World Wars did the same thing; as well as the soldiers in Vietnam and Iraq and Afghanistan, there is also another who left His home and went to walk among men so that evil could be dominated and defeated.
That man is Jesus Christ, our Savior. It is to the above military men that I take my hat off to and salute, and to Jesus Christ who I choose to worship. I remember them with a heart that grieves for their pain, yet delights in their desires and accomplishments.
Their thoughts were not on themselves but on us. They were not concerned so much for their safety as they were for our safety. And they need to be remembered; they need to be thanked; and they need to be supported. And in the case of Jesus, He needs to be exalted and followed.
I am very proud to be an American citizen, living in the land of the free, provided by the men who were brave. I am proud to be a veteran of the United States military. But I am even more proud to be a Christian, a person who realizes the value of a future spent in Heaven because of decisions made today.
MATTHEW 5:43-44 says,
“43 You have heard the law that says, 'Love your neighbor' and hate your enemy. 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”
I have been talking about remembering our veterans, but there is something else we, as a nation, must do, also. And that is to learn how to lay down our hateful differences. I heard the story of how an American army sergeant by the name of William Hickory was being held as a POW in a Japanese internment camp during WW2.
He said it was in the middle of a very cold winter and he and other American POWs were being transported by train to another POW camp higher in the mountains. The train they were on was open, in other words, they were on flat open cars with no sides. He told of how brutal the cold wind was.
They came to a train station and the train stopped. Alongside came another train and when it pulled aside his train, it also stopped. But there were no American POWs on that train. There was just gravely wounded and dying Japanese soldiers. He said the Americans stared in disbelief at how much suffering was seen on the other train. It was not long before some of the American medics jumped onto the other train and started rendering medical help to the Japanese wounded. Others followed, taking their water and rations to share with the hungry wounded. Still other American soldiers went over and held the hands of the dying while they prayed for them.
Although the Japanese could not understand the words of the prayers, they understood the intent of what the Americans were doing and it showed in their eyes. One American later said that when it came time to leave, the Japanese soldier whose hand he was holding would not let go of his hand. He wanted and needed the closeness of the American in his time of brutal suffering.
Sergeant Hickory said that as he watched this exchange between the enemy soldiers, the same soldiers they would have gladly killed one week ago, he saw something amazing. He saw God at work in the hearts of both sides. He saw love. And he said that was the very moment he realized that God really did exist. And that is when he gave his life to Jesus Christ – on a bitter cold day in a mountain in Japan, surrounded by death and suffering.
We are called to do many things by God. We are called to love our enemies as ourselves, and we are called to do unto others as we would have them do unto us. And we are called to stop the dissention with others.
In today’s America, we have enemies, too, even among our own citizenry. We have on political party hating the other; we have one skin color fighting the other; and we have many other areas of absolute idiotic dissention among our neighbors. This must stop! We are called to lay down our differences and become united.
A small minority of people felt offended at all things Godly, and two generations ago they sued to have prayer stopped in schools. The court made it illegal to pray in schools. And Christians sat back, did nothing, and said “Fine.”
Next, reading Bibles were made illegal in schools, and once again, Christians sat back and gave their approval by their lack of action against it.
And since then, very slowly, Christians have been sued and persecuted for nearly everything we do. Who do I blame for this? To be honest, I blame Christians, because when we had the chance to fight this evil, we did nothing because we were comfortable. And now we have two generations who believe that God should be left out of our public lives and that Christians are wrong and evil.
And now, our government has told our soldiers they cannot take Bibles with them when they are deployed to Islamic nations because the Bible offends them. Our military chaplains are told that they cannot invoke the name of Jesus in their prayers or sermons. And we then send our troops out onto the battlefield without any armor of God around them.
And our government sits back, scratches their heads, and wonder why things are not going to well for America anymore! If our politicians would awake from their collective slumber, we could refocus and save our nation! We need to follow the example set by the Israelites.
They lived in Egypt and were loved by Pharaoh. He had blessed them with abundance in Egypt. But the day came when a new Pharaoh took his place over Egypt and things changed drastically for the worse. He hated the Israelites so much he had them all put in captivity as slaves. And there they stayed, in these harsh conditions for over 400 years before God set them free.
Why did it take God that long to notice them? It didn’t. It took that long for the Israelites to refocus and cry out to God for help, in unity as a nation. Once they did that, God began setting in motion the things that would set them free.
If America ever gets serious about saving out nation, all we have to do is call out to God in sincerity. After all, He gave us His solemn vow that is all we have to do.
2 CHRONICLES 7:14 is that promise.
“If My people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves, pray, turn from their wicked ways and seek My face, I will then hear from Heaven and I will forgive their sins and heal their lands.”
That is not a suggestion or something God might do – it is a promise of what God WILL do if we will just refocus on Him and start relying on Him again.
In short, we each need to have such a close personal relationship with God, through a belief in Jesus Christ, that sends us into a panic when we realize we aren’t walking with God every with every step we take.
My wife and I were in Hobby Lobby the other day, when a woman with two children came down the aisle we were standing in. The little girl looked to be around 2-years old and was in the shopping cart. The little boy looked to be around 5-years old and was walking beside his mother.
He stopped for a moment and was looking at something on the shelf. What got my attention was this little boy was mesmerized by whatever it was he was looking at, but he had the good manners not to touch it – he just looked at it.
While his attention was on the shelf, his mother reached the end of the aisle and had turned. When he looked up and did not see her, his little face immediately went into panic mode. He yelled out very loudly, “MOMMY! MOMMY!” And he began to pucker up as if he was going to cry.
But his mother came back into view and softly said, “Here I am. Come here.” And with that, his face began to beam with joy and he ran to his mother and held onto her leg with all his young might.
That is the type of relationship with should have with God! We should rely so much on Him for everything, that when we aren’t with Him, we start to panic! You know in your heart if you have that kind of relationship or not. If you do not, I encourage you to come to me now and let me proudly stand with you in prayer, as we go to God in unison.
INVITATION
