I write this on Veteran’s Day, a
day set aside to honor men and women who have served and who are currently
serving in the United States military. My family includes generations of people who
have served or who are currently serving in every branch of military
service. Many friends with whom I
graduated high school and college have also worn the uniform of the
military. Each one of their faces comes to mind on days like these. Only God,
their families, and they themselves know the hours of work, preparation, and sacrifice
that have gone into their commitment to serve in the armed forces. Most of them I have spoken with through the
years – including my own family members who have served – have said that their
biggest fears while serving are not about their own safety, but about the
safety and health of family members and friends they are away from. They find their thoughts drifting homeward,
wondering if a friend or loved one is safely going about their day, even though
a soldier’s life has far more potential dangers than the average person. With these things in mind, and with genuine
respect for men and women who have served and who are serving, I want to share
an outline of a prayer.
I. As a Christian, I look forward
with you to the day when your job is deemed unnecessary. Jesus
came as the Prince of Peace, and the Bible, in both the Old and New Testaments,
calls forth images of a day when we will “beat our swords [and AK-47s and
tanks, etc.] into plowshares and
study war no more” (Isaiah 2:4). In my
prayers, I join with countless others – including most military personnel I
know – in praying for that day to come quickly.
Every Christian, especially those who are in the military, is called to
follow this Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ, whose ultimate goal is not war, but
peace. Moving toward a time when we can
say, “We no longer need weapons of any kind.
What we need now is more folks to harvest all of the bounty that God has
provided us,” sounds like an impossible dream given the current state of our
world. It would be impossible if not for
one thing: God has promised it! So, even
as men and women serve and fight, we pray that each battle would be the last
and look forward to the day when they no longer have to be called upon to serve
in this way.
II. I pray that we honor our
military without worshiping it. No Christian would say that he or she
worships anyone or anything but God.
However, the nature of idolatry (the worship of things other than God)
is subtlety. It creeps in little by
little and takes the place of the True God.
Sometimes in showing our appreciation for precious men and women who
serve in the military, we unwittingly turn them into Christlike figures. In showing our appreciation for the military
might and skill of our nation, we sometimes show more enthusiasm for might and
power than we do for the One who came as a humble servant, Jesus Christ our
Lord. I pray that we can say to those
who serve in the military “thank you,” while reminding them of the Scriptures
that say that when a nation trusts in its own might it is doomed, because our
strength really comes in trusting the ways of God (see Psalm 20:7, for
instance).
III. Sometimes even the best
nations get it wrong. When we say “yes” to following Jesus Christ,
we commit to a new kingdom: God’s kingdom.
We are still residents of other kingdoms – kingdoms like the United
States, Canada, Great Britain, Malawi, etc.
However, we have said to Jesus, “We believe Your kingdom is the best
one, and so anything that comes into conflict with Your kingdom must take a
back seat.” Anything less than this,
according to Jesus, is not Christianity.
Now, as good as my country is at times – and my country of birth, the
United States, has done a lot of good things – there will be (and have been)
many times when it has been at odds with God’s approach to things. At those times, I owe it to the kingdom of my
highest loyalty, which is the Kingdom of God, to say something. My prayer is that I would not share these
criticisms with a mean or disrespectful spirit.
But my prayer is also that I would have the moral courage to say
something – to “speak the truth in love,” as the Bible says – so that there can
be a clear witness in regard to the Kingdom of God. Sometimes that may involve making the Left or
the Right or the Centrists or even the military uncomfortable. If so, with all due respect, so be it.
IV. I want people to live in
peace. This is only because the Lord I seek to follow and the Bible I seek to
live by is filled with calls for peace – real peace. I am called to pray for enemies, and to do
the best I can to “live at peace with all people,” to paraphrase the Apostle
Paul in the New Testament. When our
nation, including our military, is working toward those ends, I am solidly in
harmony with them. Sometimes peace may come about in ways that I and others will
not be fond of, which would include the killing of people on a battlefield. At other times, peace will come without a
shot being fired. Ultimately, my prayer
is that the goal of our nation, including our military, would be peace, and
that this peace would be so rooted in God’s ways that it would be lasting.
To keep this prayer outline from
being just a pipe dream, I will actually share a prayer. Because I believe in this God whose Kingdom
is defined by service, forgiveness, love, and peace, I believe He is big enough
to answer this prayer. And I pray that
all people –including soldiers of every era – would join me in this prayer:
Gracious God: You are the author
of life. You give us life, and then you
offer us a life filled with your presence and your peace. We are in a fallen world that values power
over humility. We value killing over
conversation. We value death over life. Radically change our hearts and give us the
discernment we need to bring about your kind of peace in your way: the way
modeled so beautifully by your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Give us holy boldness and wisdom, so that we
do not elevate any other kingdom over yours.
Give us loving hearts, so that even when we feel led to critique our
nation or its leaders or its military, we would do so in love with redemptive
purpose. We pray for protection and
peace for those who serve in the armed forces.
We pray for protection and peace for their families. We join them in praying that you will speed
the day when all nations would “beat their weapons into tools for prosperity
and good, and study war no more.” In the
name of the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ our Lord, we pray. Amen.
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