Celebrating veterans this week, and applying some lessons from their diligence and service to our faith walk. Coming up… Thanksgiving! Mark your calendars for Pie Social on Wednesday November 24 at 4 pm. Meanwhile, the regular schedule continues with Food Pantry on Tuesdays 5-7 (with a hot meal to-go thanks to our Soup Sisters), Bible Study on Wednesdays 6-8 (working on Jeremiah), and Sunday School, Worship Service, and Fellowship time on Sundays. Look forward to seeing you soon.
Father of all that is good and holy, creator of our very being, thank you! Thank you, Lord, for all that you are doing for the good in this world and what a world it would be if we all followed your plans for redemption and grace. Please forgive us our missing the mark as we forgive others in our own lives, and help us to grow in you and your ways Father, in your Son’s heavenly and precious name, Jesus our Savoir. Amen!
Thank You Warriors of the Working Day!
This is a special time of the year in our Faith and in our country. People all across our land each year experience with the changing of the trees, the crispness in the air we breath each morning, plus the thoughtfulness and reflection that comes with fall. And yes, to live a thankful solemness unlike the rest of the year.
For me there are four things in particular that make this such a special time of the year. Here are my picks, please feel free to use them if you wish to build your own list of reasons for loving this time of year, the season of Fall.
Nationally, the beginning of November generally brings us any elections on tap for our communities of the given year, and the sacredness our right to vote as citizens of this most gifted of nations. November ends with our country setting aside a day for National thanks for all that God and Providence has bestowed upon our most blessed land.
Couched in between our ongoing maintenance of the republic’s franchise with voting, and our day of national appreciation with Thanksgiving towards the end of the month, we have the anniversary of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. This is where Lincoln eulogized solders both north and south (Americans) on November 19th, and encapsulating this country’s fight for a new birth of freedom for all people! Additionally, and most importantly for today, America observes Veterans Day. Our day just for the Veterans who have served to protect the common values that form the greatest Democratic Republic that has ever been on the face of this Earth.
This last Thursday November 11, America indeed observed our Veterans, with many of us taking a moment to reflect on just how much; the many, benefit from the valiant few. The Men and Women who have served our country, from its inception unto this time come from all walks of life. With different religions, education, social backgrounds, skin, hair, and eye colors, accents, likes and dislikes in food, politics and music. Combining different hopes for their personal futures, with a common goal and purpose for service before self, honor, and a common hope for a bright future for this country. Put simply, this country is blessed by a unique people with a unique calling. Hence today’s title; Thank You Warriors of the Working Day!
Warriors of the Working Day I’m sad to say is not my own origin. I’m not that good. It’s a reference to Shakespeare’s play; Henry V. Where the King is giving a pep talk to the troops before fighting the battle of Agincourt where the English are greatly outnumbered by the French. I wish I could say this from my in depth reading but again, I’m not that good. I watched the Kenneth Branagh movie. In a sense, we members in the war against sin are much the same; we few, we happy few, Christians of the working day!
Back to Veteran’s Day. Originated as “Armistice Day” commemorating the end of World War One, on the 11th minute, 11th hour, of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1919, to end the war to end all wars. Armistice Day was made a National Holliday 11 November 1938, and the name changed from Armistice to Veterans by President Eisenhour in 1954. Unlike Memorial Day, Veteran’s Day pays tribute to all Veterans living and dead, but especially to the living who have served honorably in time of war or peace.
This day gives all of us a reminder to thank those who have given of them selves through service to our Nation, also to thank God that there are people with such a calling for service before self. It also reminds many Christians that there are always choices (many of them hard choices) that we are required to make in this life.
As the members in the Armed Forces are often forced to reflect on the hard choices at hand when in conflict, many of us stand in awe on their ability to give and in some cases give as Lincoln said at Gettysburg “the last full measure” of devotion to this land of ours.
Today, I wanted to visit just a portion of that reverence that we feel for our Veterans and apply some of the diligence our military is known for to our own Faith Walk in the Lord. As alluded to in today’s Message Reading from Paul’s Letter to the Church in Ephesus we have the Apostle instructing us to put on the full Armor of God in life. Reading again from Ephesians 6:10-18
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
*Side Note; Speaking of the powers of this dark world, I think it important to note that we as a church pray for the authority in power in the country, we love regardless of who or what political party is in charge at the given time. We are not a political church and if you are looking for one, there are plenty out there for your perusal. We pray for all people and especially those who we individually disagree with.
The dark forces that Paul speaks of come in a whole assortment of agendas, allegiances, and preferences, but primarily originate in the selfishness, greed, fear, and godless attitudes that permeate western society, humanity in general, and many times from our own inner battles of the sin we seek freedom from.
Like our military, our love of this blessed nation, and in deference to the Lord and our Faith walk in Him who gives all, supersedes political considerations when praying for our country’s leadership. That in the end the only voice that our leaders should harken to is not ours or mine, but the Lord’s, and His council.
God’s will be done! How soon that will be realized, will reflect the amount of pain we all will witness in the days ahead. In the mean time like the military and the veterans we honor today, our singlemindedness of purpose is for the good of the country that has given us so much due to it’s Godly beginnings.
Continuing now from verse 13;
13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.
Side Note Again; We stand firm against all of the things that have a habit of sidetracking our walk with and in the Lord and each other, and when we fall (and we do), we get back up dust off and try again and again. Continuing now;
14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.
Note; The battle of God is not won on our part by brute force, but in the examples given by our Lord through His own trials. We win when we live our faith through love, and share that Good News with others.
16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
Note; Please let me refer you to Hebrews 4:12: let me paraphrase, the word of God is sharper than any two headed sword. It is the word we judge truth and base our way ahead with. Finally, now, verse 18;
18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.
I would add that for so many of our Veterans that have departed or that are still with us, their access to prayer and God’s deliverance in His Celestial way is something unique and different each time a person comes to the Lord in their own individual angst and pain.
If you are suffering today from the indescribable pain that lingers with you, that is tearing your sole apart and you just can’t seem to find relief… Maybe it’s time to walk your walk with a God that can forgive anything that has happened. From the fog of military service, to the day to day lives we all face together, we have a God that loves us in spit of us. Let that percolate and scrimmage in your mind for a while…
If you are a Veteran from this last non official war that we have been engaged in (the war of Terror whose location has been everywhere including Afghanistan, and is not ended), or a Vet. from the Cold War earlier on, or if you are just a bewildered citizen. The last few months could very well have been exasperating, hart-aching, or even down right Hell for you…
You have every right to feel confused and even anger at how things have unfolded recently, but with anger comes our need for reconciliation. To reach deep and to seek the council from a God who has seen this all before, and then to search out those struggling more than you and help them through this time of pain.
Please do not lose hope! You are not alone. As old as time is, there have always been times of discouragement, adversity, and challenge, with God providing path for us to walk with Him through the darkest of valleys and the hardest of times.
What makes us a unique people is that we as a people find ways through God to heal and then move on to the next challenge. God has a plan, our goal must be to discern His will, support others in their struggles and build our lives together one step at a time.
Perhaps if we think of our hardships in terms of how God has delivered His children in the past, things can be put in some perspective. I am thinking of the high walls and ramparts of Jericho in the Old Testament. We know from Joshua 6:1-7, that God had His children do the improbable to make a reality out of His majesty.
6 Now the gates of Jericho were securely barred because of the Israelites. No one went out and no one came in.
2 Then the Lord said to Joshua, “See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men. 3 March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for six days. 4 Have seven priests carry trumpets of rams’ horns in front of the ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets. 5 When you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpets, have the whole army give a loud shout; then the wall of the city will collapse and the army will go up, everyone straight in.”
6 So Joshua son of Nun called the priests and said to them, “Take up the ark of the covenant of the Lord and have seven priests carry trumpets in front of it.” 7 And he ordered the army, “Advance! March around the city, with an armed guard going ahead of the ark of the Lord.”
And they did. You can just imagine the guys up on the walls inside laughing and busting a gut at the expense of the children of Israel. Well, until they were not around to laugh anymore. We know from verse 20;
When the trumpets sounded, the army shouted, and at the sound of the trumpet, when the men gave a loud shout, the wall collapsed; so everyone charged straight in, and they took the city.
All but Rahab and those who were with her, were lost in the city. God took an impossible military situation for Israel, and made it impossible for the opponent. God can do the very same thing in our own lives when we are battling the things that are pulling us down. If we are willing to walk with the Lord and build with Him, our lives. A future that God will let us own with Him.
So today if you are hurting, down and out emotionally, lost spiritually, or just warn out, there is hope on the doorstep of your future. Not a flick, flick, and all is better, as in magic and all better. No. But a step by step (with a little moonwalking that happens in life included), way ahead. Sometime hard, but available for everyone listening to my voice or sensing my heart.
I am reminded of the Psalm from David in today’s Call to Worship, that captures a little of David’s adversity, and his resolution to follow the Lord in the midst of challenge. Reading again from Psalm 16;
1 Keep me safe, my God,
for in you I take refuge.
2 I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord;
apart from you I have no good thing.”
3 I say of the holy people who are in the land,
“They are the noble ones in whom is all my delight.”
4 Those who run after other gods will suffer more and more.
I will not pour out libations of blood to such gods
or take up their names on my lips.
5 Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup;
you make my lot secure.
6 The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
surely I have a delightful inheritance.
7 I will praise the Lord, who counsels me;
even at night my heart instructs me.
8 I keep my eyes always on the Lord.
With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
9 Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
my body also will rest secure,
10 because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead,
nor will you let your faithfulone see decay.
11 You make known to me the path of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence,
with eternal pleasures at your right hand.
Put simply, when we rely on the Lord, all is possible and available. And even when others are chasing after their own selves, loaded down with the payloads of impossible selfish wants of greed infested lives, we have it within us to triumph above ourselves when walking in the Lord.
Even when you feel invisible in the midst of a crowd, your Lord knows your thoughts and still loves you, and will walk with you as you build upon your life. Yes; Thank You Warriors of the Working Day! Is our message to you from we the Christians of the working day, who are praying for you, hoping for you, and are ready like the Lord to build a future with you.
May all of you this week, seek your walk, find your stride, and share of yourselves liberally with others in need. Find a Veteran, adopt them (they don’t even have to it about it), and love them through the quiet struggles many of them journey all to often alone! God bless you who have and who continue to serve an idea bigger than all of us combined.
Amen!