The Lutheran Hour
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"Liberty and Justice for All"
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Text: Isaiah 49:1-9
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Liberty and Justice: powerful words. Usually, they are accomplished by means of military action – even war.
Today, Memorial Day, Americans remember those who wear the uniform of the United States and serve on our behalf. Today, we honor the great deeds of sacrifice of those who gave their lives so that freedom might endure.
Cpl Jason Dunham, 3rd Battalion 7th Marines was one such young man who made the ultimate sacrifice.
On April 14, 2004, Corporal Dunham’s squad was conducting a reconnaissance mission in the town of Karabilah, Iraq, when they heard rocket-propelled grenade and small arms fire erupt approximately two kilometers to the west. Discovering seven Iraqi vehicles in a column attempting to depart, Corporal Dunham and his team stopped the vehicles to search them for weapons. As they approached the vehicles, an insurgent leaped out and attacked Corporal Dunham. Corporal Dunham wrestled the insurgent to the ground and in the ensuing struggle saw the insurgent release a grenade. Corporal Dunham covered the grenade with his helmet and body, bearing the brunt of the explosion and shielding his Marines from the blast. And in an ultimate and selfless act of bravery in which he was mortally wounded, Cpl Jason Dunham saved the lives of at least two fellow Marines.
On January 11, 2007 President Bush presented to the parents of Cpl Jason Dunham the highest medal that our nation can bestow – the Medal of Honor.
In 2007, I was serving as the Battalion Chaplain for 3rd Battalion 7th Marines – Cpl Jason Dunham’s old unit. I did not know Cpl Dunham as he had died before I was assigned to the battalion but I do know that he was a Christian young man. Jason believed in Jesus as his Lord and Savior. I had the opportunity to meet his parents one time briefly in Twentynine Palms, CA. And in that moment I told them this message, “One day, when Jesus comes again to judge the living and the dead, he will restore God’s creation to as it was in the Garden of Eden before the fall of humanity. One day Jason’s body, which you placed in the ground, and soul, which is even now with the Lord, will be united together again in a glorified body and you will physically hug Jason. One day Jesus will make it like there wasn’t even a war.”
War is the context of Isaiah chapter 49. In fact, a majority of the book of Isaiah is about war. First Assyria brought war to Israel. Now, Babylon comes to destroy. Israel, God’s chosen people will be made captives, slaves, prisoners of war because of their sin. Their royal city and their temple will be destroyed with swords and arrows because of their stubbornness and idolatry. The people will lose their land, be deported and a foreign king will rule over them because they were blind and deaf to Yahweh’s word.
War has plagued humanity ever since the first sin in the Garden of Eden. Brother has risen up against brother. Cain killed Abel. And it started with people not listening to God’s Word and not controlling their anger.
War is still going on right now. It is the war for the very souls of all humanity.If we go back to chapter 14 of Isaiah we see that Satan was cast out of heaven because he tried to ascend to God’s throne. In other words, he wanted to be like God. And after he gets thrown out Satan goes to the Garden of Eden and with the same sin that he got thrown out of heaven he asked Adam and Eve in Genesis chapter 3 “Don’t you want to be like God?” Satan knew exactly what he was doing. He was crafty. He knew that Adam and Eve would be thrown out of God’s presence if they sinned because that is exactly what happened to him.
Because of sin all human beings are captives of Satan. Like a dragon, Satan has us in his lair, chained to our sin, being tortured and awaiting execution.
Yet, Yahweh has a secret weapon – the Holy One of Israel; a Knight born to fight. In fact, when Jesus was born the angels sang, “Glory to God in the highest, and peace on earth and goodwill towards men.”
Jesus’ mission – Go behind enemy lines, disrupt the plans of the enemy, rescue the prisoners of war.
United States Special Forces do this today – Go behind enemy lines, disrupt the plans of the enemy, rescue the captives. The Holy One of Israel is more awesome than the best trained Special Forces operators.
“This is what the Lord says: ‘In the time of my favor I will answer you, and in the day of salvation I will help you; I will keep you to be a covenant for the people, to restore the land and to reassign its desolate inheritances, to say to the captives, ‘Come out’ and to those in darkness, ‘Be free.'”
Born of a woman, Jesus went behind enemy lines. Yet, since Jesus was incarnate by the Holy Spirit His blood was not tainted by original sin. Jesus disrupted the plans of Satan by not only listening to God’s Word but living God’s Word perfectly in His actions. And on the cross Jesus, God’s polished arrow, God’s silver bullet, destroys the enemies by crushing the head of the ancient serpent.
And so the warrior becomes the one destroyed by war. Now that was the first part of Jesus’ mission. The second part is very much connected to the first and that is to undo the effects of war.
Earlier I said all human beings are plagued with war. God’s once beautiful, perfect creation groans in agony. Not listening to God’s Word, enmity (that is hatred), pain, a desire to rule, and broken relationships are all consequences of war.
This all begins in the human heart.
What is the solution, the cure? And remember it has to be a solution that not only brings wars to an end but changes hearts. It has to be a cure that not only brings peace but eliminates enmity. The solution must undo completely and totally the effects of war. The cure must bring liberty to the captives, heal the wounded, bring justice to evil doers, and raise to life the dead. In essence, the solution, the cure must make it as if there never was a war.
God’s answer to the effects of war is for the Holy One of Israel to take our place. He will redeem Israel.
Now often when we hear the word “redeem,” we think to buy back. In this context in Isaiah chapters 40-55, the verb form is linked to bringing shalom – peace. The Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, will not only go behind enemy lines, disrupt the plan of the enemy, rescue the captives, but will also bring peace. In a most miraculous substitution Jesus, the Lord of Hosts, brings peace between God and humanity. He sets the world right. He makes it to be like before the war.
I am a US Navy chaplain currently serving at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, South Carolina. I have been in five years and I have gone to war. I went with an infantry battalion, 3rd Battalion 7th Marines to Ramadi, Iraq. The Marines destroyed this city in some of the fiercest fighting of the war. Yet, by the end of the deployment, the Marine Corps was acting like the Peace Corps. They rebuilt the city. They restored electricity. They fixed the sewage. They paved roads, rebuilt schools, and painted buildings. By the time we left some parts of the city looked as if there never was a war.
This is what the Redeemer will do. The Redeemer will restore God’s creation to a state of perfection and make it as if there never was a war.
He will bring the people back from exile like Abraham went into harm’s way to rescue Lot. He will remove the sword so that people may enter into the Promised Land. He will make it so we can listen to the Father. But more than this, the Redeemer will do what no one else has the power to do – the Redeemer will raise the dead to life.
Jesus is the first born from the dead. Jesus is the death of death. His resurrection proves that His sacrifice was pure and holy and acceptable to God the Father.
You know it is common at military funerals for “Taps” to play. Taps means the day is done.
A Christian man wrote out in his will the details of his funeral. Two trumpeters were placed high in the balcony. As the last note of Taps sounded from the first trumpet, the second trumpet played Reveille. Reveille means it is time to get up in the morning.One day the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised imperishable. And those who have been redeemed by Christ the Crucified will receive more than the Medal of Honor. They will receive the crown of everlasting life.
Today, Memorial Day let me conclude by reminding you of two things. First, we are still a nation at war. There are those kings and rulers who despise and abhor this nation. They want to kill you just because you are free. They hate our liberty and justice for all. They hate religious freedom and the fact that we can praise the Holy One of Israel.
This earthly war though has not affected most of you. That is because we have those who serve in uniform. They go to war so that you don’t have to go. Every day they train physically, mentally, spiritually for war. They know that if they are physically weak or lazy they can be killed. They understand that if the enemy out thinks them they can be killed. So Marines, sailors, soldiers, Airmen, Coasties train.
Secondly, we are still a Christian people at war. There are those who want to kill you just because you are a Christian. Ephesians 6:12 says, “For our fight is not against flesh and blood, but against authorities and powers, against the world-rulers of this dark night, against the spirits of evil in the heavens.”
You are at war. And you have the best Special Forces Warrior by your side: Jesus Christ.
You know, I said I was at Parris Island. You know what they do there? Marine Corps boot camp: 70 training days of initial training, starting their day at 4:00 in the morning going to 8:00 every evening, learning Marine Corps martial arts, survival swimming and how to fire a rifle. They are, in fact, learning how to kill the enemy. And afterwards they go to the School of Infantry for more training, so that they can then go to the fleet for more training, so that they then can go to war and even there more training.Today, Memorial Day, I want to encourage you in your training. You have been called and brought near to God by Israel reduced to One -that is Jesus Christ. Jesus completed His mission. Jesus went to war. Jesus has won the battle. Look to His hands and His feet for His battle scars. Jesus defeats our enemies. Jesus brings us back from the exile of sin. Jesus makes it as if there never was a war. Look to the empty tomb. As Christian people, we too have a memorial day -a day to eat and to drink Christ’s body and blood in remembrance of His victory.
LUTHERAN HOUR MAILBOX (Questions & Answers)
May 29,2011
Topic: Chain Letters Chained UpMark: And it’s time once again for questions from listeners. I’m Mark Eischer, here with our
Speaker Emeritus, Pastor Ken Klaus.Ken: Hi, Mark. Good to be here. Especially so since I’m sure you have a challenging question for us to discuss today.
Mark: Well, this is about chain e-mails, you know, those unsolicited messages that ask you to forward the message on to everyone on your contact list. If you pass the letter along you will be blessed in some way-but if you break the chain, all sorts of terrible things are going to happen.
Ken: Yeah, I imagine almost everybody has received those kinds of emails.
Mark: Well, our listener received this particular message from a friend of hers. She adds
Ken: Probably a good rule of thumb, right there, Did you know that almost 90% of e-mail nowadays is spam or junk of one sort or another? And, according to BreaktheChain,org, these chain e-mails pose significant privacy and security risks to the people who send them and receive them,
Mark: That’s right. Anytime you forward something on like this, your e-mail address could literally end up anywhere in the world, So there are good practical reasons not to do it.
Ken: So, does our listener have any spiritual issues here, as well?
Mark: She touches on that. She says, “Sometimes I’m tempted to forward these letters, but I believe it would be a poor witness as to where I’m placing my trust.”
Ken: “,as if a chain letter could exert some sort of power over us, or there’s some sort of superstitious force at work here,
Mark: Of course, we certainly believe there are unseen spiritual forces at work in the world, Otherwise, we wouldn’t be doing this program,
Ken: Which gets us back to what our listener said-it’s a question of where we place our trust.
Mark: And, she sent us an example of a recent chain email she received from a friend,
Ken: In other words, she forwarded it to us, OK, never mind”,
Mark: Well, it says this year has unusual dates”, for example, January 1 st was 1/1/11 ‘” and the email claims such a thing only happens every 823 years, And according to an ancient proverb called “Moneybags,” that makes this the “year of money,” Therefore, send this message on to eight of your friends and in four days, money will appear, and it all has something to do with the principles of Chinese feng-shu!.
Ken: I’m sorry, Mark, In truth, I don’t think I’ve ever heard anything more messed up than this email.
Mark: What would you like to point out about it?
Ken: There is nothing unique or special about the dates of this year, Next year we will have a 12/12/12, Last year, we had a 10/10/10, The Western calendar produces these sorts of patterns far more often than every 823 years, As far as I know, there is no proverb out there that talks about the “year of money,” Certainly no mechanism by which it will produce money for somebody, no matter whether you send it to eight or a gazillion friends, And even those folks who do believe in feng-shui say the idea is ludicrous,
Mark: So, on the basis of truthfulness alone, you would recommend our listener not send such a letter on,
Ken: Absolutely, But that’s just one of the reasons I wouldn’t send it on,
Mark: What are some of the others?
Ken: Such a letter encourages people to be superstitious and put their trust in fate, or kismet, or moire, or luck, Far better, they put themselves in the hands of our loving Lord and Savior, He’s the One Who died and rose for us, He will give us what we need,
Mark: What else?
Ken: I don’t like the blackmail sound of these kinds of letters, “Do this”, or else,” That’s not acceptable,
Mark: Well, what could our listener say to the friend who sent out such em ails?
Ken: Aw, that’s easy one, Go to our website and download a copy of this Question and Answer and send it to the people who sent the message to you in the first place, Oh, wail… we’ve just generated another round of unsolicited e-mail.”
Mark: So, I guess the best thing would be to politely ask your friends please take your name off the distribution list, on account of the security concerns we mentioned earlier.
Mark: Thank you, Pastor Klaus. And, this has been a presentation of Lutheran Hour Ministries.
Music selection for this program:
“A Mighty Fortress” arranged by Chris Bergmann. Used by permission.
“To Thee, Our God, We Fly” arr. Henry Gerike. Used by permission.
“Oh, That I Had a Thousand Voices” arr. John Behnke. From For All Seasons, vol. 2 by
John Behnke (© 2001 John A. Behnke) Augsburg-Fortress“All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name” arr. Jeffrey Blersch. From Resounding Alleluias by Jeffrey Blersch (© 2005 Jeffrey Blersch) Concordia Publishing House