Hello Friends,
Back on November 13, I attended a wonderful chapel service at Eastside Christian School. Here's an excerpt from the Veterans' Day Chapel service message delivered by Eastside Christian’s Director of Student Ministries, Todd Green. Eastside is a great school. Let me know if you’re interested in learning more about this great place for kids to learn.
Veteran’s Day Chapel (by Todd Green - Eastside Christian School - 11/13/08)
Our Veteran’s Day chapel is an annual event for us and it is our opportunity to honor the people who have served our country in the military – it’s our way of saying thanks and showing our appreciation for what US soldiers have done for us in the past and continue to do for our world even as we speak. It is also a way for us to think about what is important for us to do in the future.
American veterans have sacrificed for all of us in order to secure our freedom and protect us from harm.
A sacrifice is something of great value that you give up. It’s a choice that you make in order to obtain a greater good. And in the case of Veteran’s it’s not just for themselves – it’s a greater good that’s enjoyed by everyone.
A relative few have made that kind of sacrifice but all of us enjoy the benefits of it.
Throughout history U.S. soldiers have made that sacrifice by putting others before themselves – putting their own careers, and dreams on hold in order to serve our country.
And not only our country. US soldiers have fought, and many have given their lives, for the sake of people they never knew, for people who didn’t speak their language or live like they did, people who never would have a chance to thank them.
In 1961 John F. Kennedy spoke these words that so accurately encapsulate this ideal – He said: “Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to ensure the survival and success of freedom.”
US soldiers living out this creed is to me is the epitome of courage, it is the height of selflessness, it is the absolute definition of heroism.
That kind of heroism has it’s root in a far deeper place than just the human heart. In John 15:13, Jesus said, “Greater has no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.”
Whenever I think of the Veterans of this country I am unable to ignore the link between what they’ve done for our nation and what Jesus Christ did for me on the cross. The sacrifice made by these men and women is a vivid reflection of what Jesus did for each and every one of us. The only difference is that to Him, none of us were strangers – far from it - He went to that hill knowing every fragment of our sinfulness – and He poured out His life for each of us anyway. That is courage, that is sacrifice, THAT is heroism.
So today we give glory to God, but we also honor you Veteran’s today. The entire nation owes you a debt that we can never repay. May God bless you and your families and may these young people fully grasp the example that you have set before them.
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