Happy Veterans Day!

            Today we celebrate Veterans Day. I am so grateful to the men and women who choose to serve so that the rest of us can enjoy our freedoms. My Dad was veteran, as is my brother-in-law. My brother served as well. I have many friends who are veterans, and are proud to serve. Veterans and their families know the meaning of sacrifice. Most of them have thought through what they are fighting for, and what they value most in life. They understand discipline and the value of hard work. They know what it is to fight for others who often cannot fight for themselves, and sometimes to fight for those who are hostile to them and their uniform. They fight anyway. The United States, the world, is a better place because of them.

            The Christian faith has been compared to being in an army. One children’s song speaks of being in the Lord’s Army. In the World War II era, the idea of an army was positive; it was a group of men who arrived to save. We had an enemy so evil that we could easily unite and agree to thwart him. In today’s society, the idea of an army is ambiguous at best. We understand that the issues are not cut and dried, that different people have different ideas about how we should interact in our world, and we see the horrors and damage that are the result of armed force. Our soldiers put themselves in harms way, and often bear the scars. Innocents often bear them as well. This post is not a condemnation of our fighting men and women. It is a reminder that the United States and the people of God are two different entities. We are not Christian simply because we are American. The two are not the same.

            God has made it clear that we are not his army. He certainly doesn’t need us fighting and killing for him. The Army of the Lord is made of his heavenly hosts, and he fights the battles for us.

“Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord Almighty.” Zech. 4:1

 At one point when Joshua was fighting to claim the promised land, God rained hail down upon his enemy, killing them before Joshua and his men even got there. When Gideon was going against the Midianites, God surrounded them with an angelic army, and opened Gideon’s eyes to encourage him. To God belonged the battle.

            No, we are not God’s army; we are his body. We aren’t fighting battles. God is doing that. He gives us armor to protect us, and then tells us to stand firm. He’s doing the actual fighting. We are his physical body, the way he reaches to a physical world. We are his arms, to hug and hold the hurting. We are his feet, taking his message of peace to an angry world. We are his lips, singing the songs of mercy and bringing the words of salvation.

“How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion,

‘Your God Reigns!’ Isaiah 52:7

           

We are to be the people with the beautiful feet! We have news to share, and it is good news, indeed. We have news of restoration and help for the people of the Philippines today. We have news of peace for people in Syria. We have news of healing and completeness for the wounded Veterans around the United States.

I am so grateful for our Veterans. I am both American and Christian, and I am blessed by both of those facts. My gratitude needs to go beyond a blog post or a Facebook posting on Veterans Day. I need to see them, to thank them, to offer whatever help I can every day. I need to live as his body.

How will we live as his body today?