"Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus." --the apostle Paul, in II Timothy 2:3
[Twenty-one steps. Turn to face the tomb and pause for twenty-one seconds. Twenty-one steps in the opposite direction. Turn to face the tomb and pause for twenty-one seconds. Twenty-one steps in the opposite direction…… Twenty-four hours a day. Three hundred sixty-five days a year. Rain, sleet, hail, thunder, lightning.]
In September, 2003, a terrible storm bore down on Washington, D.C. For the first time in the history of the Tomb of the Unknowns, soldiers guarding the burial site of these honored dead at Arlington National Cemetery were given permission to leave their posts for safety if Hurricane Isabel came. The guards response?
Not a chance!
So, through driving rain and potentially mind-numbing winds, while the city of Washington scurried for cover, the soldiers of the 3rd U.S. Infantry (Old Guard), marched twenty-one steps, turned to face the tomb, pausing twenty-one seconds in respect for soldiers who died for their country "known but to God", and then paced off twenty-one steps in the opposite direction…
Who could not be moved by that tribute?
Christians sometimes resist the language of the soldier in the description of their commitment to Jesus Christ. Scripture does not. In fact, terms like "fellow soldier" "soldiers of Jesus Christ" and "armor of God" are embraced, recognizing duty, honor, and sacrifice as some of our most noble human traits.
Our chance to be in fellowship with God was purchased at a terrible cost. The agony of Jesus’ prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane the night before His death moves us beyond words…or it should. The horrible assault on His physical body by the torturous crucifixion moves us to utterly humbled gratitude…or it should. The unspeakable attack on His divine nature by the heaping of our sins on His sinless self cements our passionate loyalty to whatever duty He calls us to…or it should.
Sixty seconds a minute, sixty minutes an hour., twenty-four hours a day, Christians stand guard over the honor of God, choosing by their actions to glorify Him or to cause Him deep sorrow.
Every breath we take, every job we do, every person we encounter, every crisis we face brings us a chance to serve God, to honor Him by remembering our duty to Him, to be willing to sacrifice our very existence if His service demands it.
Even in the hurricanes of our lives, when the driving rain of pain, and the mind-numbing winds of struggle tempt us to seek the shelter of surrender and inaction, a tomb filled and emptied two thousand years ago beckons us to pace our own twenty-one steps, pause to honor Christ, and take the next faithful twenty-one steps of service guarding the glory of the One whose sacrifice gives us eternity.
Grant us strength, O Lord, this very day to persevere, returning honor to Your name in the culture where we serve.
--Randy Kilgore
rkilgore@marketplacenetwork.com
www.marketplacenetwork.com
