INTRODUCTION
Opening Statement: Allow me to clear something up. When it comes to the subject of the war, people are usually found somewhere between the emotions of anger and gratitude: anger for what is happening right now in the middle east or gratitude for a nation that is committed to making the world a safer place. Quite honestly, I personally have leaned further to the side of gratitude than I have to anger.
Key Word: I want to first of all balance the emotion of anger toward what is happening with Biblical truth. Then, I want to tell you why I am more grateful these days than I am angry.
Balance Your Anger with Biblical Truth
While some in our country have opposed the war in which we are presently engaged, opposition at this juncture is a mute point. We are now in the war, so lets support our troops and let¡¦s understand the role of government. I believe it is important for us to understand that God placed government and our governing authorities in place with a purpose to protect the people and punish evildoers. When a military operation like a terrorist group, or a nation that is representing evil strikes out, we must fight to stop the evil.
Scriptural Observations:
„X "There is a time for war and a time for peace." Eccl. 3:8
„X "When justice is done, it brings joy to the righteous but terror to evildoers." Proverbs 21:15
„X "(Government) is there to serve God for your benefit. If you break the law, however, you may well have fear. . . he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God’s servant, an agent of justice to bring punishment on the wrongdoer." Romans 13:4 (JB and NIV) Fallen, sinful people hurt each other and God has set up government to hold that in check.
There are many, many examples in the Bible where God commanded a war, where God said, "Go to war!" When you look at the great heroes of the faith in Hebrews 11 -- Joshua, David, Gideon, Samson -- these guys were all warriors. When you look at the Bible you find that sometimes war was the right thing to do.
In the Gospels, we note that Jesus never told a Roman soldier to leave the army. If Jesus had been a total pacifist, He would have said every time He saw a soldier, "Leave your army! Come follow Me." But not once did He ever say it was morally wrong for them to be in the service. In fact, in Matthew 24:6, He said there will always be wars in the world until the Prince of Peace comes back. There will always be wars. Twice in the New Testament, Jesus cleansed the temple by force. It says He made a whip and He went in and He cleansed the temple. He didn’t politely ask them, "Would you guys, pretty please get out of here?" He forced them out. They were in the wrong place, so He forced them out.
Application: We are not to passively sit back and allow evil to run it¡¦s terrible course if we have the God-given capacity and ability to protect innocent human lives by holding accountable those who have proven that they will use whatever means necessary to take innocent lives. Some leaders must be forced out when they allow their country to become a safe-haven for evil to prosper.
Transition: This is not where I want to focus today. It¡¦s just a point of clarification. Here¡¦s what I want to say¡K
Express Your Gratitude by Doing Your Duty
Opening Statement: Prisoner of war Pfc. Jessica Lynch was rescued in a U.S. commando raid on an Iraqi hospital this past week. U.S. special operations forces slipped behind enemy lines and seized Lynch from the Saddam Hospital under cover of darkness on Tuesday. Lynch was treated for undisclosed injuries. U.S. officials in Kuwait said on condition of anonymity that she is believed to have broken legs, a broken arm and at least one gunshot wound. An Iraqi pharmacist who works at Saddam Hospital told Britain’s Sky television that he treated Lynch for leg injuries but that she was otherwise healthy and that "every day I saw her crying about wanting to go home." The pharmacist, who gave his name only as Imad, told the TV network that Lynch knew the U.S. troops were on the other side of the Euphrates River and "she kept wondering if the American Army was coming to save her." Until Tuesday, Lynch had been listed as missing in action, and her family did not know whether she was dead or alive. "You would not believe the joys, cries, bawling, hugging, screaming, carrying on," Lynch’s cousin Pam Nicolais said after the rescue. "You just have to be here."
Transition: When I hear stories like this, a sense of gratitude rises up within me. All of my life I have been grateful for things, for people, and for my country. Perhaps, nothing impacts me more deeply than my American heritage and American heroes who make sure that their fellow Americans get to come home.
Illustration: I am so proud to be an American that I got my passport a couple of years ago and still haven¡¦t used it yet! When I received it in the mail, I just held it in my hands for a while with deepest gratitude.
Explanation: Excluding my salvation, nothing means more to me and my family than this unique privilege and honor we have to be called ¡§Americans¡¨. You see, we know the home that Jessica Lynch cried out for every day while in captivity. America means so many things to us. It¡¦s white two-story houses in country meadows. Red barns. Green mountains. Meandering streams. White-capped water falls. Rich fields. Stalks of Indiana corn. Autumn leaves. Moonlit nights. It¡¦s catching that first fish. America is shooting baskets with Dad. Learning to drive. Prom night. College pennants hanging in dorm rooms. America is Thanksgiving dinner and ¡§Silent Night¡¨ every Christmas. America is football on the weekends. It¡¦s unhindered worship in white Indiana churches. American is homecomings and reunions. Memorial Day and July 4 fireworks. It¡¦s crickets chirping late into the summer evening. Baseball on the radio. Andy Griffith re-runs. Fire flies. America is the pride you feel when four fighter jets fly overhead after the National Anthem. It¡¦s pride in our armed forces as they prepare to make the world a safer place. America is screen doors that screech and pop shut. Apply pie and ice cream. America is front-porch swings, weddings, and smiles. Dedicated babies and united families. America is an honest living. It¡¦s about a 20-year olds sense of humor and zest for life. It¡¦s a great movie. State parks. Exciting cities. Lifelong learning. Available information. It¡¦s about parents who love you. America is about having a place to call home; a place to share life and it experiences with others. It¡¦s beautiful music, aged antiques, and old paintings. America is the place where I learned about what happened for me and the entire world over 2000 years ago in the far away land of Palestine. It¡¦s a place where as a small child, my mother took me to worship, prayed with me often, and read to me the Biblical stories of the faith. Thanks to her influence, as a child, I was converted and I knew for a fact that I had been forgiven by Christ¡¦s atoning death on the Cross. My little mind could not grasp the theology of it all, but somehow I knew that in the words of hymn writer Charles Wesley, ¡§His blood availed for me.¡¨
Transition: All of these blessing that have come to me by virtue of the fact that I am a Christian and an American, creates within me one primary thing: a sense of duty.
Title: Living with a Sense of Duty
Comment: In light of all these tremendous blessings, I must live my life with duty and responsibility. First, to the God who created me and redeemed me, I must offer a life of acceptable service. I am not free to squander any talent or ability that he has given to me. I must be a proper steward of these resources for His honor and glory. Second, I must serve my country in gratitude for what she has done to provide me and my family life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. You see it¡¦s my duty.
Quotation: Augustine once said that the Christian is the best of citizens because the Christian does out of the love of God what others do only because they are required by law. Augustine understood that the best of citizens in a free society understand that they have been extremely blessed by both their Creator and their Country and that his prompts a sense of duty.
Transition: Perhaps, the one verse that underscores this sense of duty the best is¡K
Text: Hebrews 12:28, 29
Recitation:
NASV: Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe; for our God is a consuming fire.
Net Bible:12:28 So since we are receiving an unshakable kingdom, let us give thanks, and through this let us offer worship pleasing to God in devotion and awe. 12:29 For our God is indeed a devouring fire.
OUTLINE
Background: The book of Hebrews was written to a group of suffering Christians who were considering abandoning Christ. The option that the readers think they have is to temporarily give up their salvation, go back to Judaism, wait until the persecution subsides, and then express their loyalty to Christ again later; this new salvation would erase their sin of apostasy. The Hebrew writer argues against this logic. There is no guarantee that they would be able to come back to a place of faith. The writer gave several warning passages to offset this way of thinking and to encourage them to press on to maturity. It helps to know this because in the conclusion of his final warning, the Hebrew writer wrote:
Quotation: Therefore, since we receive a kingdom, which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe; for our God is a consuming fire. [Quote from Deut. 4:24]
Exposition: Don¡¦t turn back now. When you became a believer, you began to receive an unshakable kingdom. In order to continue to receive it, you must press on, even though life around you may be shaking and crumbling! You began to receive spiritual blessings in Christ ¡V a positive eternal destiny, Spirit-enabled living, a part of God¡¦s overall, broad purpose to change the world and to prepare the people within it to get ready for the literal kingdom that will come. Biblical eschatology teaches us that our spiritual blessings will eventually merge into a physical Kingdom from heaven. This kingdom will literally break into the kingdoms of this earth and overwhelm them (see the book of Daniel). So, don¡¦t turn back the Hebrew writer proclaims! Instead, allow these tremendous blessings of the present and those of the future to inspire within you a sense of duty today that result in offering your lives as acts of worship to God with devotion and awe. Gratitude gives way to an act of the will, to our duty.
Application: "Therefore let us be grateful" -- to God that we have a place to stand when all around is being shaken. Is your world shaken? In the Kingdom of Jesus, forgiveness is real. Love endures. Hope is alive. Heaven is sure. It is great to have a place to stand, which cannot be shaken. What praise rises from my heart to God for the unshakable things that cannot be removed! When everything else begins to rock and shake, when our foundations are trembling and there is upheaval on every side, how grateful we ought to be for things, which cannot be shaken. Frankly, it moves me to duty.
Clarification: While I believe in a coming heavenly kingdom that will be established on this earth, I also believe that God has providentially positioned America as a free nation and Christians around the world to prepare the present world for the Kingdom that is to come. This inspires within me a sense of duty. However, should America or any other nation or an individual, choose a different path or a different kingdom, know that God is a consuming fire, as our text says. In God¡¦s presence, all sins are exposed and judged. His judgment comes to rest on those who persistently say ¡§No¡¨ throughout their entire lifetimes to a life lived for God. But for the believer and only the believer, those judgment flames become refining flames, consuming and devouring the judgment that is meant for the unbeliever. In light of this wonderful new hope, we are inspired to fulfill our duty.
Question: The question we have before us today is whether or not we will invest our lives in the lasting, unshakable kingdom to come? When you ask that question of duty that has been born out of gratitude, duty stands up and says, ¡§Yes! I will do it!¡¨
Amplification: Duty is what we have to do and ought to do, not necessarily what we want to do.
„X Becoming Jesus¡¦ disciple may not be what we want to do; but it¡¦s what we must do because of what He¡¦s already done for us in grace. One gospel parable teaches that if you have to go and sell everything you have to insure a place in His kingdom, it¡¦s worth it because you are receiving and unshakable kingdom and it¡¦s your duty.
„X Continuing in your present job may not sound very glamorous, but you do your duty and view what you¡¦re doing in life as a calling from God. I don¡¦t care what your profession is. You do it to the glory of God. You make things happen there until another open door comes along. It¡¦s the way in which you witness and bring His kingdom to bear in our world. You are receiving an unshakable kingdom; it¡¦s your duty.
„X Sacrificing our lives in war is not what we want to do; it¡¦s what we must do when we are called upon to do so. We have been blessed as a nation, now we must sacrifice for that nation. And if you ever doubted our resolve to sacrifice, just look at our memorials. We are receiving an unshakable kingdom; it¡¦s your duty.
Quotation: Chuck Colson lucidly makes this point when he said: The just war doctrine, in my opinion, applies most clearly to Iraq, provided that there is a connection drawn between the terrorists and the Iraqi regime. Any question about that connection was settled this past few weeks by Saddam Hussein. Saddam told his commanders before the onslaught of the war, "When the enemy starts a large-scale battle, he must realize that the battle between us will be open wherever there is sky, land, and water in the entire world." His threat assumes a connection to global terrorism. Our enemy is not interested in conquest, but rather destabilizing civilization. That is why President Bush has adopted a strategy of confronting the axis of evil, nations that are producing weapons of mass destruction and that are willing to supply terrorists.
CONCLUSION
Illustration: Chuck Colson tells about a visit to Czechoslovakia a few years ago. He wanted to meet one man more than any other. His name was Vaclav Maly. He was the Catholic priest who in 1981 had been defrocked for preaching the gospel. He was relegated to cleaning the toilets in the subway system of Prague. But on Christmas Eve, 1989, when the crowds began to move out into the streets when it looked like the people were no longer going to stand for Communism in their country anymore, the crowd started chanting, ¡§Maly! Maly!¡¨ Up out of the subway system came the priest. He led them down to the main square of old Prague and eight hundred thousand people gathered around while Maly administered a service and offered forgiveness to all the Communists. The person who became president of the country after this revolution called Maly. ¡§Father Maly,¡¨ he said, ¡§You can be anything you want in this government, from prime minister on down.¡¨ Maly said, ¡§Oh no! I just want to preach the gospel.¡¨ And so, he went back to his church to do just that.
Colson finally got to meet Father Maly in his home in 1991. It was a little gray apartment building on the outskirts of Prague that he shared with his father. Colson said that mail from all over the world was on his table and the phone rang constantly. Colson wrote: ¡§As I left, I turned and said, ¡¥I want you to know what a hero you are to many of us in the West.¡¦ Father Maly replied: ¡¥Oh no, Chuck! I am not a hero. A hero is someone who does something he doesn¡¦t have to do. I was simply doing my duty.¡¦¡¨
Application: You have already been blessed far more than you ever deserve. Give something back. Do your Christian and civic duty out of gratitude.
