Sunday 11/14/21 - Sidney UMC
Sermon Title: “Encouraging One Another!”
Old Testament Scripture: 1 Samuel 2:1-10
New Testament
Scripture: Hebrews 10:11-25
Gospel Lesson: Mark 13:1-8
So, I remember serving in the last two
churches that I served in the Finger Lakes District of our UNYUMC, doing my
first Veterans Day Sunday worship services. Each of the two churches that I
served had veterans and or had family members who were veterans. The reception
that I got for having worship services that honored veterans every year was
great. In fact, after this first year of doing these Veterans Day worship
services at these two churches, a veteran came up to me at one of the churches with
tears in his eyes.
This veteran thanked me and the church
for honoring his service to his country. This veteran then went on to tell me
how he was in the Army and how he went to Vietnam, during the Vietnam War. He
told me that he did not enlist in the US Army, however. He said instead that he
watched on television as numbers were drawn out of a rotating bingo cage. One
of the numbers that was chosen was the number of the group with which he was
classified. This meant that he was drafted into to the US Army. This meant that
he was likely going to go and fight in Vietnam. He went to basic training, and
sure enough went over to Vietnam as a Us Army Infantry Soldier. He served his
time, saw, and experienced various things, and made some good friends.
He then told me that we he got home,
it was very different from when his family members were in World War II. When
those soldiers came home, there were parades, fanfare, cheering, and the
soldiers were heroes. Then tearing up this veteran told me that when he got home
from Vietnam there were no parades, and some even tried to spit on him, and
some even called him a “baby killer.”
He was drafted in the US Army, he fought
in a war, he served his country, and when he got home, he felt treated like a
criminal or an outcast. When this man camp up to me after first Veterans Day
Sunday service I did at his church, he thanked me that his church and his pastor
cared enough about his service and his sacrifice to honor and acknowledge him.
Honoring our Veterans my friends is
not the same thing as promoting war. Instead, it is about honoring the
sacrifice, the suffering, and the experiences that our brave men and women have
been through. Further, it is not just our country that has a special day for
this. Many countries around the world do the same. As we think about the
history of our country and the wars that many soldiers have been involved in,
some of us might think in our heads that all of our wars were unjustified. Some
of us might think some of our wars were justified and others not. What I hope though,
is that we call all agree on honoring those who have served. Honoring our
Veterans is something I believe that we should all do, and they deserve our
respect and our love.
In researching the history and purpose
of Veterans Day, I found this:
“Veterans Day (originally known as Armistice Day) is a federal holiday in the United States observed annually on November 11, for honoring military veterans, who are people who have served in the United States Armed Forces (that were discharged under conditions other than dishonorable). It coincides with other holidays including Armistice Day and Remembrance Day which are celebrated in other countries that mark the anniversary of the end of World War I. Major hostilities of World War I were formally ended at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918 when the Armistice with Germany went into effect. At the urging of major U.S. veteran organizations, Armistice Day was renamed Veterans Day in 1954. Veterans Day is distinct from Memorial Day, a U.S. public holiday in May. Veterans Day celebrates the service of all U.S. military veterans, while Memorial Day honors those who had died while in military service (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veterans_Day).
So again, many countries do this, and as part of our worship
this morning we honor all of our veterans and their families.
In looking at our scriptures for this
morning, we hear in our Book of Hebrews reading once again, that Jesus is once
and for all sacrifice of the sins of humanity (Heb. 10:11-14, NRSV). In fact,
the scriptures say once again of Jesus, starting in 10:15:
15 And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us, for after saying, 16 “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds,” 17 he also adds, “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.” 18 Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin (Heb. 10:15-18, NRSV).
God is with us, and through his son Jesus Christ, we can be
forgiven. Through the shed blood of Jesus Christ, all of us are made worthy
before almighty God. I have seen in my life some veterans that needed to hear
that were forgiven by Jesus Christ.
I remember I went a three day Walk to Emmaus men’s retreat
some years ago. At this certain retreat of the many I had participated in, we
had a veteran of the Vietnam War. This man was a “Tunnel Rat” who sought out
enemy soldiers in underground tunnels. This man was exposed to agent orange and
had PTSD from his time in the service. One night on this retreat weekend, this
man rededicated his life to Jesus Christ, and he told us at breakfast the next
morning that the night before was the first full night’s sleep that he had
since coming back from Vietnam in the 1970s. He knew he was forgiven, and he
began to make peace with himself. War is an awful thing, and it is important to
honor and recognize our veterans.
I really like how our reading from the
Book Hebrews for this morning ends once again. The scripture for this morning
concludes with 10:24-25 saying:
24 And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching (Heb. 10:24-25, NRSV).
When we gather to worship, when we gather as Christians,
there are different kinds of people. We all are not the same age, and we all
have different background and different stories. Yet we are all part of the
body of Christ, and everyone is welcome. In fact, some of these people are
veterans, and it is important acknowledge who they are, and their service.
In looking at our gospel lesson from this morning once
again, Jesus predicts that the great temple in Jerusalem will be destroyed. In
fact, 30-40 years after Jesus’ death and resurrection the great temple was
destroyed. All that exists of where the temple used to be is the stone wall commonly
referred to as the “Wailing Wall.” This is the wall that people pray at and put
prayer notes into, between the stones.
Jesus then ends this gospel of Mark reading once again with
13:5-8 saying:
5 Then Jesus began to say to them, “Beware that no one leads you astray. 6 Many will come in my name and say, ‘I am he!’ and they will lead many astray. 7 When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed; this must take place, but the end is still to come. 8 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. This is but the beginning of the birth pangs (Mk. 13:5-8, NRSV).
Jesus reminds us to follow him, to put our trust in him,
and in him alone. Jesus predicts wars, upheavals, and famines. He is of course
speaking prophetically about his second coming, but since Jesus was resurrected
there has been a ton of wars.
I truly pray for the day of no more wars. I pray for the
day that no more soldiers will have to go off and fight. Yet, we live in the
real world, and we know that the world we live in is fallen. We live in a world
full of brokenness, sin, and some real danger. The people that defend this
country in battle, are our soldiers.
As a Christian, I seek peace, hope, love, and prosperity,
but since Jesus rose from the dead almost two-thousand years ago there has been
so much war and so much violence. Will it ever end? I know it will end when
Jesus returns. Until then, I believe that the best thing we can do is to follow
Jesus, to love each other, to care for all people, and to work towards making a
better world. Do I hope that in doing this there will be no more wars? I do,
but I have to say that after the centuries of human history, I am naïve to the
realities of this world.
As result, let us continue to be peace makers, hope
bringers, and people who shine the light, the life, and the love of Jesus
Christ everywhere we go. As the great quote goes, “War is Hell” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_Is_Hell),
but I still pray for no more war. Even though the history of humanity has not
been very good this area.
We are proud of our veterans, our current men and women serving in our armed services, and we have hope for a better tomorrow. May we actively work through God’s grace to build it, to promote it, and to seek it. May we look back in 20-years and say that we have not had a war in 20-years. This is my hope, this my prayer, but whatever happens, God is good, Jesus died for us, and veterans deserved to be honored and thanked. Happy Veterans Day Sunday. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment