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Earn It

May 25, 2008                                                                                                                      Pat Mahin

I used to hate it in school when the teacher would say.  “Close your books and get your pencils out for a test.”  Well I’m not going to give you a test; it’s really more of a quiz.  I’m going to give you a lead in description and want to you answer my question.  I’ll give you a hint; they all have to do with some type of memorial.  Through the ages mankind has wanted to remember significant events or people who have made major contributions. Here goes.  Just shout out your answer, class participation is required:

What would this memorial commemorate?

The original design, a combination of Greek and Egyptian architecture, called for a 600 foot obelisk centered on a circular colonnaded pantheon, 250 feet in diameter and 100 feet high. It was to have 30 spaces set aside between the columns to eventually be filled with statues of prominent Americans, and over the entrance was to be a toga-clad US president driving a triumphal chariot.  That’s not how it turned out but what is this memorial?

Yes.  The Washington Monument is the correct answer.  I guess they just kept the Obelisk.  Wasn’t that a good decision?  Gosh, what a monstrosity that would have been.

 How about this one?

It’s made of steel and commemorates the US western expansion in the 19^th century.  What is it?

The Gateway Arch in St. Louis.

Or this?

A gift of friendship from a European nation and is a symbol of freedom and democracy. It was dedicated in the late 1800’s. 

Statue of Liberty

You got to turn your time machine back a little now, back to bible times.

It was a pile of 12 rocks and was erected on the west bank of the Jordan River.  What does it commemorate?

The crossing of Hebrew people into the Promised Land. 

And the last one:   What is the memorial event we celebrate on a regular basis in this room? 

The last supper commemorating Christ’s sacrifice for us.

Well, tomorrow is one of those events that we celebrate.  It is unique since it does not commemorate one event, but rather a series of individual events.  On Memorial Day we celebrate the sacrifice of the lives of men and women of our armed forces who gave their lives in defense of this country.  Since Memorial Day was initiated in 1886, we have set aside a day of remembrance for our war dead.  This slide shows the numbers.  I am going to put up a slide.  This is kind of a disturbing slide.  It does show what these contributions, sacrifices, have been over the years.  So look at that for a moment or two and you can see the number of war debts that we have experienced ever since the Revolutionary War.  This is over a million lives, about a million two, something in that vicinity; and of course our Iraq War that is still ticking.

This is the sad reality of the scope of the sacrifices our service men and women have made over the years.  And with each death there is a family that is involved.  For they too have sacrificed much.  Tomorrow we honor all those who have made these sacrifices.  Today I wanted to recognize that loss.  But how can we really express our gratitude to these heroes?  We can’t come close.  But we try. I’ve asked any of the veterans in the congregation to wear their uniforms or parts of their uniforms today.  We don’t do it for ourselves who have worn the uniform.  We do this to honor those who have made the greatest sacrifice any one person can make.  This message will not just be about our war dead and about their memory.  It certainly is that in part but it’s also about many other gifts we have received and how we can honor that gift. Memorials such as tomorrow and all memorials are not just about remembering.  I think it calls for action.  And I will give you the bottom line of this message now.  It’s in a form of a question.  What is your response to what you have already been given?  Or what will your response be what you’ve already been given. 

I’m going to use a clip from the movie, “Saving Private Ryan” to illustrate the point of how we can respond to such sacrificial gifts.  As you watch the images in this short clip, especially of the cemetery in Normandy, I want you to look at all those crosses and some Stars of David out there.  They represent the magnitude of the sacrifice of what our World War II vets have given.  In our first service and I know there are some here in this service who were part of that conflict.  They lost their buddies and comrades.  You’ve sacrificed and we thank you for that.  But as you see these crosses, think about this conflict.  Think about all the other war dead including the most recent conflict in Iraq.  Sadly we give thanks for those sacrifices.  After we do that we can move on to what our response can be.  Here is the set up for this clip. 

·         Private James Ryan’s three only brothers have been killed in the European theater of operations.  The War Department has directed that he be returned home to his family.  A squad of 9 men has been sent to find him and get him out of the war. This is the story line of the movie 

·         Eventually this squad finds Ryan and they begin to extract him from the war.  They encounter resistance as they fight their way out, in the final days of the war.  One by one the squad is killed in the fighting.  In the final battle scene, as they hold up in a small French village, there are three left including the squad leader, Capt John Miller. Ryan is safe.  This is the end of the war.   Miller is mortally wounded and as he dies, he pulls Ryan close to him and whispers:  “Earn this.  Earn it”.  As you will see in this clip, that encounter and that admonishment are etched in Ryan’s mind.  What you will hear at the beginning of the clip is the voice of General George C. Marshall, Army Chief of Staff, who is reading the letter to the mother of Private Ryan reporting on his rescue.  But within this letter that he is reading is a letter that Abraham Lincoln has written to a mother of a war-dead from the Civil War.

·         As he reads this, you will see the face of the young James Ryan transform into the face of the elder James Ryan many years later as he stands at the grave of Captain Miller in the cemetery in Normandy France, and he is thinking of this burning line that Miller gave him.

[Audio of Video clip ]

I take great pleasure in joining the Secretary of War, the men and women of the United States Army, and the citizens of a grateful nation in wishing you good health and many years of happiness with James at your side.  Nothing, not even the safe return of a beloved son, can compensate you or the thousands of other American families who have suffered great loss in this tragic war and I might share with you some words which have sustained me through long dark nights of peril, loss and heartache, and I quote: 

“I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of you bereavement and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost and the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom.”  Abraham Lincoln

Yours very sincerely,

Respectfully,

George C. Marshall, General, Chief of Staff

(James Ryan speaking)

.My family is with me today.  They wanted to come with me.  To be honest with you I wasn’t sure how I would feel coming back here.  Every day I think about what you said to me that day on the bridge and I have tried to live my life the best I could.  I hope that was enough.  I hope that at least in your eyes I earned what all of you have done for me.

(James speaking to wife)

Tell me I have led a good life.  Tell me I am a good man.

(Wife speaking)

You are.

[End of Audio text]

This is a powerful scene.  Ryan has not forgotten the dying words of Miller.  And he wonders if he has “earned it”.

What does it mean to earn something? If we do something or perform a service we get paid, that’s earning.  We’ve all done that. But how do we earn it or what can we do deserve the payment we’ve already been given? 

What was Capt. Miller saying? How could Ryan “earn it”? I think he wanted Ryan to live a life that was deserving of the sacrifices that he and other men in the squad made to return Ryan to his family.  In this case he wanted Ryan to do more that remember the contribution. Remembering is important and celebrating those events is what we should do.  But do we need to do more than that?  Miller wanted him to do something.

How can we live our lives and do it a way that honors what others have sacrificed for us? We all have that inner question that the elder Ryan had.  He said to his wife: “Tell me I lived a good life!  Tell me I’m a good man”. 

I think the question then comes down for all of us: How can I earn what is already been given to me?  Do I just silently say:  “thanks”?   Is expressing our appreciation enough?  No, I think we are called to respond.  I’d like to think that we can get the answer to that question in the Bible.  Let’s take a look at couple of scriptures. Let’s first look at what Jesus taught about how we should live.  Jesus is talking to the Pharisees and they pose a question.

 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”  Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’  This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’  All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”   Matthew 22:36-40

Besides loving God we are to love our neighbor.  Loving our neighbor can take on many dimensions:  Humanitarian aid, working at food shelves, doing Loaves and Fishes, doing Families Moving Forward, responding to earthquakes and cyclones, taking dinners to shut in, and writing to service men and women serving overseas.   

Paul’s letter to the Romans contains lots of stories of people who have put their faith into action.  Here is what he wrote.

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.  Romans 12:1

Now we are being called to serve God and others through our actions.  Here a couple of biblical examples.  In Romans, Paul writes about:    

§  Phoebe who worked tirelessly as servant of the church

§  The saints of Macedonia and Achaia who contributed to the needs of the impoverished Christians in Jerusalem.

§  Priscilla and Aquila who risked their lives for the Gospel

Later in this chapter of Romans, Paul goes on to talk about the body of the church and about our unique gifts and how each of us by sharing those gifts can contribute to our common good.  And Paul is telling us in this first verse that we have an obligation because of what God has given us.  And through our service to him we are in fact performing an act of worship. 

Well we want to live a good life.  But what does living a good life mean?  I think we want to have a meaningful life or a life in which we make a mark or some impact.  I’m going to show you a short clip by Erwin McManus. He is a pastor and a thoughtful speaker and teacher. As we go into this short video I want you to think of it in terms of this familiar scripture.  It speaks to this issue of what McManus calls “leaving the fingerprints of God”.

You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.  Matthew 5:14-16

[Video] 

I love that phrase, “leaving the fingerprints of God”. We act as Gods agent in this world.  I think that’s all about “earning it”.   The idea of getting dented might be scary.  Sometimes we do have to step out and do some things that are uncomfortable.  We see biblical examples of that that are models for this.  Nehemiah asking to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the city walls,  Esther asking the king to save the Jews living in Babylon or Abraham picking up and moving his entire clan to an unknown part of the world because God asked him to.  But you know we are not in this alone.  Let me read you a short passage of Greg Boyd’s book, Is God to Blame?    

We who align ourselves with God’s will--the church--are to receive God’s love and replicate that love in the world around us….  We have made the decisive choice to accept God’s love, receive God’s forgiveness and acknowledge Christ as Lord of our life.  But choices in life still make a difference.  God has given us real say-so to help bring about a future God desires.  Thus, scripture calls us coworkers with God.

We are partners with God.  God is looking for a response.  Although as committed Christians, He offers us grace, a free gift, but he does ask for response.  He asks us to be living sacrifices, he commands us to love our neighbors, and he demands much because we have been given much (Luke 12:48).  And one of the gifts we must remember on a day like Memorial Day is the gift of freedom that we have received from our fallen soldiers over the years. 

So lets get out and be willing to be dented and to show our love for others and God.  We never know when that occasion will arise.  I’d like to close with a story by one of my favorite pastors and Christian speakers, Tony Campolo. I grew up in Philadelphia, so I love this story because I can picture the encounter in a location I know.

I walked down Chestnut Street in Philadelphia.  There was a filthy bum covered with soot from head to toe.  He held up a cup of McDonald’s coffee and mumbled as he walked by along the street.  He spotted me and said, “Hey Mister, you want some coffee?”  I knew I should take some to be nice, so I did and gave it back to him and said, “You are being very generous giving your coffee away this morning. What’s gotten into you?”  “Well”, he said, “if the coffee was especially delicious this morning, and I figured if God gives you something good, you ought to share it with people.” (This is the bum talking.)  And I said, “Is there anything I can give you in return?”  I was sure he was going to hit me up for five dollars. (Campolo says.)  And he says, the bum said, “Yeah, you can give me a hug.”  (I was hoping for five dollars.)  He put his arms around me and I put my arms around him and I realized something.  He wasn’t going to let go.  He was holding on to me.  Here I am, an establishment guy and this bum is hanging on to me. He is hugging me.  He’s not going to let me go.  People are passing on the street and they are staring at me.  I am embarrassed; but little by little my embarrassment turns to awe.  I heard a voice echoing down the corridors of time, saying, “I was hungry; did you feed me?   I was naked; did you clothe me?  I was sick; did you care for me?  I was the bum you met on Chestnut Street; did you hug me?  For, if you did it unto the least of these my brothers and sisters, you did it to me.  And if you failed to do it to the least of these my brothers and sisters, you failed to do it unto me.”

I love this story, but it gives the example of a response.  A little response, but you never know where they are going to come up.  So think about how we can earn it.   Think about how we can make an impact.  Think about getting dented a little bit.

Let’s pray. 

We have all been given many gifts.

We have been given the gift of freedom based on the living sacrifice of our service men and women.  Some have given their lives. Some have lost their spouses, sons and daughters.   Some have given their health; some have given years of service to our country.  For that we remember. For that we give thanks.

We have been given the gift of eternal life by Christ in his suffering and death.  For those of us who have accepted Him as our Lord and Savior we are comforted.  And if any here have not made that commitment to Him, we can do that right now by asking Him to come into our lives.  It’s as simple as that.   You may do that as I pause in this prayer……

So we lift up our loved ones who have gone before us, we lift up our fallen heroes; we lift up our service men and women who are now serving. We want to earn all that we have received and we want to be a co-worker with you in the future that you desire.  In Jesus Name.  Amen