Saturday, May 16, is Armed Forces
Day. Since 1950 the third Saturday in
May has been designated to honor those who are currently serving in the Army,
Navy, Marines, Air Force, or Coast Guard.
Those who wear the uniform of one of the branches of the military
perform a valuable service in protecting the nation. When they put on the uniform they are
expected to act with integrity, honesty, loyalty, and bravery. One of the reasons for the use of military
uniforms is to instill in an instinctive way the sense that this uniform calls
those who wear it to act in an honorable way.
In
Ephesians 6:11 St.
Paul encourages all Christians, civilian or military,
to “put on the whole armor of God.” And
then starting in verse 14 he uses the uniform of an ordinary soldier of his day
to describe how Christians in every age should equip themselves. He writes “Stand therefore, having girded
your loins with the truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness,
and having shod your feet with the equipment of the gospel of peace; besides
all these, taking the shield of faith, with which you can quench all the
flaming darts of the evil one. And take
the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of
God.”
This
image spoke well to the people of his day, whether in Ephesus
or elsewhere, for Roman soldiers were everywhere in his world. Among the ways the faith spread from one
country to the next in those early years was that a soldier was posted to Judea ,
for instance, was baptized there and then transferred to Gaul
where he witnessed to another soldier who was then baptized and transferred to Albion ,
and so on. Every day these Christian soldiers
put on a military uniform, and as they did so were reminded of the Christian
virtues of truth, righteousness, faith, and peace as well as the Roman virtues
of bravery, integrity, and obedience.
They may have noticed that the only offensive weapon on Paul’s list is
the sword, which represents the Word of God, but even then its purpose is to
give life. Hebrews 4:12 says, “the Word
of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the
division of soul and spirit, of joint and marrow, and discerning the thoughts
and intentions of the heart.” When the
Word of God touches the heart there is life and salvation. As Paul said in Romans 10:9 “if you confess
with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him
from the dead, you will be saved.”
May
you proudly wear the uniform that Paul describes, being saved because the Word
of God has touched your heart so that you confess Jesus Christ as Lord with
your lips and believe in your heart God raised him from the dead. And may you be equipped with truth, righteousness,
faith, and above all, peace.
Pastor Gary Halverson
Pastor Gary Halverson
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