Let Us Remember … the Greatest War of All
Shalom and blessings in the name of Messiah Jesus on this Memorial Day. On this day we must remember those who came before us in our ever vigilant fight for freedom. One of my uncles on my father’s side was a POW in the Philippines during World War II. His service and sacrifice resulted in an early death that took him from his wife and sons much too soon. I salute him today. Four of my uncles on my mother’s side also fought in World War II — one in Philadelphia, one in Alaska, one returned with MacArthur to the Philippines, and one was the personal cook for Blood and Guts Patton. They are all heroes. They all sacrificed to ensure American freedom.
I want to also remember those heroes who fought another type of war and who sacrificed it all for as Steven Curtis Chapman describes it as “for the sake of the call.” My father on July 2, 2000, preached his last sermon on the ultimate independence day little knowing that he would experience its reality just two days later. David Livingstone’s literal heart was buried in Africa because he did not want to be separated from the continent and people he had sacrificed everything for in the 19th century. Jim Elliot wrote “he is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose” only a few short years before he was martyred by the end of an Aucan spear. Felicitas and Perpetua from Foxe’s Book of Martyrs discovered the horrors of the Colisuem’s lions because they would not renounce their faith in Messiah Jesus. Yesterday, today, and tomorrow Chinese and Sudanese and Arab Christians will be renounced, arrested and martyred for their faith in our Lord.
So I want to ask you one question — are we willing to give our all in this greatest war of all? This great war that calls us to renounce all of our long-held hopes and dreams for the salvation of just one Jewish soul. This great war that few understand and fewer still fight along side of us. This great war that offers no earthly glory or rewards but promises all of us to one day hear, “Well done thou good and faithful servant.”
I know my answer to these statements/questions. Despite the blows and arrows, I have no choice but to continue on with this war. Too many souls are at stake. However, I discovered there is one less soul today than there was yesterday. I received the news that a Jewish woman who I had been desperate to reach with the Gospel died today and only God knows her eternal destination. I also discovered that 150,000 Brazilian Jewish souls are not as important as an “infrastructure necessary to perpetuate a ministry to the Jews” — did not know you needed an infrastructure simply to share the Gospel! So let us remember the Jack Downey’s, the David Livingstone’s, the Jim Elliot’s, the Perpetua and Felicitas’, and the Christians around the world who are and have given their all for the greatest war of all — the salvation of just one more person. Happy Memorial Day.
