“There is no greater sacrifice than for a man to lay down
his life for his friends.” Christ knew
what He was talking about. In this
statement He reveals the sanctity of life, and the precious gift our soldiers,
our policemen, our first responders, and our emergency services workers often
yield for us. Their professions demand
accomplishing mission over self preservation.
Military commanders have often had to order men into impossible
scenarios to achieve victory, knowing they ask their men to yield up their
lives. The men understand the request,
and follow the orders. Sometimes hope
and against hope, they prevail, but when this does not occur, both accept what
is required of them.
It is against self interest to take on a responsibility that
may demand your very life. It is against
the very essence of our nature to defy self-preservation to accomplish a
greater goal. Thinking, men of reason,
would call this foolish. They would say
it makes no sense to yield up one’s life in the pursuit of any cause. But intelligence cannot defeat evil,
sometimes blood is required. And
thinking, reasoned men, have the luxury of analysis, because it is paid for by
the blood of those “fools” who were willing to pay it. We owe a debt we cannot repay.
When asked why they fight, service men seem to always reply
their primary reason is the brother who fights beside them. “Brothers in arms” means something when under
fire. Policemen never earn salaries that
even approach those of the drug dealers, and organized criminals they may
encounter, yet their honor demands they continue fighting a battle against
crime they can never hope to fully win.
An EMT runs into the face of explosions, and scenes of horror of every
kind, to seek out the dying, the injured, the helpless, and bring them
relief. All risk life and limb to
perform these jobs. All must find
courage in the face of danger. All must
face death in a moment’s notice.
I stand in awe at the courage of these men and women. I am speechless when I consider the depth of
sacrifice that has already been made so that my life could exist as it
does. How do you repay courage of this
magnitude? How do you even begin to
understand what someone else lost on your behalf? The fallen are heroes without measure. Those that serve still are titans on the
earth. But there is one I admire most of
all …
No, not my paternal grandfather who saw action in the
Pacific theatre during World War II. He
went from enlisted to a full bird colonel in the Army Air Force in that war
from his leadership and bravery. He now
rests in Arlington, next to his wife who joined him some years ago. Nor do I admire my maternal grandfather who
saw action in the European theatre, working as an experimental airplane
mechanic, fixing new machines, mid-air, risking death on many levels. He and his wife are now at rest as well. My father and many uncles served and they too
are heroic to me, even though there is one I admire even more.
For me, I look back even further. I stand in awe of the courage and fortitude
it took, to forsake the throne, and become a servant of all. I cannot imagine the restraint required when
you have the ability to vanquish your enemies with but a word; instead you keep
silent sealing your own doom, to accomplish the greater goal. I cannot fathom the courage it took to hold
up under torture, ultimate humiliation, and then death by those who you came to
save. How could He do it? What could keep Him resolved in the face of
this insanity? Why am I so worth saving? Why am I so loved?
You see our current heroes that serve in the military, and
on the front lines of danger, do not know me personally. They sacrifice for me, but only in the
context of my belonging to the country, or the neighborhood, or the community
in which they are familiar. While my
debt to them is still real, and frankly unpayable, we speak in the language of
the collective, not of the individual. I
try to honor them by adhering to the laws our nation sets up, and paying the
tax burden I owe to help fund their needs.
But my feeble efforts at honoring those who serve cannot even begin to
repay what so many, even in the collective, have done for me. In tandem, they allow me to live.
But where Christ is concerned, the collective language ceases
to be relevant. It is me He came to
save. It is my sin that needs to be
removed from me. It is my death, my
torture, and my separation from God that He paid in my stead. It is my sin He died for, so that I could
live. And He would have done it, if only
for me. Forget the Roman guard who
nailed His precious hands to the uncomfortable cross; the hammer sits in my
hands as with every fresh new evil I indulge in, I must pound away anew. His aching flesh must cringe under my hammer
and my nails. It is me who puts the
crown of thorns and humiliation on to His perfect brow. I push down on it. I see His blood flow from what I thought
“necessary” in my life. Oh the cost of
my decisions, of my actions, of my self-interest. I owe a debt I can never repay.
This is the primary reason why the entire plan of Salvation
devised by God to save us from evil is a gift.
It is because no-one would ever be capable of repaying it. Were we to purchase our redemption, no price
could ever be enough. Were we to try to
earn it, our efforts would look so pathetic next to the level of sacrifice He
made. Just as we accept the sacrifice of
our heroes today, owing them a debt we know can never be repaid – we can accept
the gift and the sacrifice Christ has made for each of us. Our living heroes sacrifice to prolong our
lives. Our Savior sacrificed to make the
lives we live worth living. He died to
free us from the self inflicted pain we have come to know as evil, or
self-interest.
I serve no fascist Nazi figurehead as both my grandfather’s
risked life and limb to defeat them, and prolong our freedom and way of
life. And I need not serve the dictator
that lives in my mirror whose history of trying to serve only self, leads only
to pain; because of the freedom my Savior offers to me as a gift so
precious. Christ longs to recreate the
core of who I am, as I allow Him to. As
I learn to submit my will to Him, I die daily, and a new creature is reborn
within me – not of my design, but of His.
In this we are capable of so much more than we ever imagined. In experiencing Salvation the good news of
the gospel is reborn within us, not as words of a story, but as a life altering
experience that removes the self-inflicted pain we have been slave to so long.
There is a courage I have never experienced but appreciate
beyond the measure of my soul. There is
a debt I cannot repay and a sacrifice I will never be worthy of, but I will
accept. May we learn to embrace perfect
submission to Christ, and in so doing begin to honor those around us, who have
given so much of themselves for us. May
we finally learn that in submission lies perfect service …
No comments:
Post a Comment