It’s hard to live in the southern United States and miss Memorial Day. Flags appear everywhere. The lakes fill with people. Businesses are closed. It is a fitting day set aside to remember those men and women who have given their lives protecting our country.
I never served in the Armed Forces. I was pastoring a church when my friends went to the Marine recruiter. I went with them and seriously thought about joining. (My grandfather was a Marine and my dad was in the Army.) As I thought about the decision to join up, one of my mentors asked me how I would continue to serve the church if I added our country to the list of my employers. He was right. I had a job. I didn’t need another. My friends ended up going to Iraq. They came home with a lot of baggage that wouldn’t fit in a duffle.
I don’t have a context to fit warfare into, outside of the spiritual. I can’t relate to the reality of landmines, grenades, bombs and machine gun fire aimed directly at me. I don’t know the fear of facing a man who is going to do his best to take my life. I know this reality that I have not even scratched the surface of here, is one that over 40 million Americans can describe in detail since the days of WWII. That leaves me feeling profoundly grateful and extremely helpless to do much to express my gratitude. I do believe this large group of soldiers has created a safer home for us to live in.
I find hope in the idea of Heaven. In Heaven, God offers the promise of a fully restored life and world for us to live in. In Heaven we see soldiers relieved of the burden of warfare and the grief that comes with it. We see marriages wounded by battle scars, fully healed. We see men and women laying down the guilt of things done against their consciences in battle. Why can’t this happen now? Why do we have to wait for Heaven?
This old world has been full of darkness from the time sin first entered it. Brokenness has framed its time periods. Many of its leaders have been selfish, arrogant, power-hungry individuals that drove it deeper into darkness instead of leading it closer to the Light. The world is filled with disease, much of which is debilitating and eventually fatal. Crime is rampant in many cities around the globe, as is poverty and hunger. Most of all, death is a sinister enemy that all of us must face. Brokenness is everywhere. Sounds like a battlefield, doesn’t it?
The world God designed is so incredibly different. He gave us boundaries to live within that make it so. Things like a pure marriage, hands that don’t steal and kill, lips that don’t lie, minds that don’t want everything they can’t have and parents who are thankful for their kids shape God’s intended world. The problem is, every single person on earth has broken these boundaries or the terms of the treaty. Just like Russia and Ukraine, prisoners are exchanged while missiles are being launched. Good and bad happen simultaneously. Because we’ve broken God’s law, judgment must come. God is a good Judge. It’s not a good judge who says “I see that you murdered someone, but because you’ve done good in other areas, I’m going to let you go.” That’s a bad judge! God is a good Judge. He gives judgment where judgment is due. That’s when Jesus enters in.
God promises Heaven and opens the door for anyone to enter through Jesus. A restored reality becomes possible through Him. All of the things Heaven promises become possible in Christ. My battle is helping people see this. My war is wading through the darkness with an incredibly bright Light, inviting people to join me as we walk to Jesus.
Jesus died to defeat our sin and Satan, the one who keeps evil alive. He rose from the dead and defeated death once and for all. He stands today as living proof that you and I do not have to live as prisoners of war any longer. Anyone who asks Jesus to forgive them for breaking God’s law and believes that Jesus has the authority to be the leader of their life, can be set free today.
Heaven is what we fight for. The promise of a right world and mended relationships is what we hope for. In Heaven, every nation will be family. There will be no more war; no more bloodshed. Hatred will be banished forever. Until Heaven, I can work to make this a better place and you can, too! Will you join me as a Light-bearer, a torch-carrier?
