Service Is Sacrifice, For Our Savior & Our Nation

Word-Of-The-Day: (12) <Jesus said,> ”My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. (13) Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. (14) You are my friends if you do what I command.” (John 15:12-14)

Tomorrow is Veterans’ Day,  the day we remember all those who once served in our Armed Forces.  Many confuse it with Memorial Day, which the day we remember those who died in the service of our nation; at one time for those just in the military but expanding it to cover those who died while serving as a first responder (especially after the 11 September 2001 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center towers, and the Pentagon).  But at some point, on either day, John 15:13 is mentioned, and there is truth in those statements, in some part, for every veteran, whether they died while in service or lived through their experiences. 

If you go down the list of Medal of Honor recipients, the majority of Medals of Honor awarded are posthumously; the soldier, sailor, airman, or Marine so deservedly awarded was killed in action in performance of their duty above and beyond what was asked of them. 

No one is ordered to jump on a grenade, or to charge a position from the front with heavy suppression fire coming from it in order to save their comrades.  Men of such valor often react instinctively, knowing that their action is likely certain death for them, but that it will save their comrades in arms. 

Certainly not all actions of valor attain this level of commitment, and not all casualties are valorous.   Sometimes it is that one who is unfortunately sitting in a bunker or foxhole, thinking they’re safe, and the enemy fires at the right angle at the wrong time and gets the (un)lucky hit. 

Nevertheless, especially since the end of the Vietnam Conflict as the draft ended, all veterans have volunteered to serve and sacrifice at least part of their lives in the calling of military service, and most come home unscathed.  Some come home with scars in various degrees, physically or mentally.  Memorial Day is for those who come home to be laid to rest, or don’t come home at all.   Veterans Day is for those who came home, and try – again to varying degrees, to establish a life outside of the military.

It is a great sacrifice, whether one lives or one dies while in service.  The military provides discipline and commitment, there are no ‘former’ soldiers, sailors, airmen, or Marines.  All veterans become ‘inactive’ in a sense, the necessity to maintain military decorum and standards may not be there, but there is still a sense of commitment, and the discipline may be changed to focus on the civilian tasks that replace the military ones. 

The sacrifice is military service over self; it is answering a call greater than one’s self-desires.  There is a sense of helping each other, doing your best, and honoring your commitments.  As with all things, this may not be universal by every veteran, but it is true in the broadest spectrum of the veteran community.

But what Jesus said is a bit deeper than military discipline and commitment to Him as our Lord, which triumphs national allegiance.  First, He says we are commanded to love as He loves.  His love is agape love; an encompassing and enveloping love that is unconditional and irrevocable.  It is a love that means one is willing to do anything possible for another person, to stop what they’re doing to help another. 

This duty to Christ is to answer the call to perform in obedience the tasks He lays before us.  All require sacrifice, it may a little sacrifice – or it may the ultimate sacrifice.  Jesus is the example!  He sacrificed much, leaving His Heavenly home, experiencing humanity and walking with us, and then allowing Himself to be the Lamb sacrificed on the cross for our sins. 

Most may never be called to perform such a capital sacrifice, but some are; the martyrs in nations where Christian Faith is outlawed or shunned, mission work to people groups who have rarely seen outsiders, or simply those who attempt to witness to those who hate Christians and wish to silence the voices of Righteousness.  Fortunately, most of what Jesus calls upon us will not lead to such a great sacrifice, but in order to obey Christ, some sacrifice to serve Christ must be made over self.

We should have this love when we pack shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child, or provide for those less fortunate as we collect for the holiday food baskets..  This is the love we should have when writing out the tithe check, or assisting in a church function or event, not done out of duty, but done out of love.  Giving of yourself, selflessly, in compassion and empathy for others is the love Jesus wants us to have.  John 15:13 is not just for our honored dead, on Memorial Day; but for us, veteran and civilian, to do each and every day in our lives.