Good Morning
All,
Psalm 146; 3&5; “Put not your trust in
princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation…Blessed is he whose
help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is on the Lord his God.”
On Veteran’s Day we hear a lot about the “11th hour of the 11th
day of the 11th month.” This
was the time that the armistice which brought a cessation of hostilities and an
end to the First World War. This was
supposed to be the war to end all wars; well maybe the next one will. Yet even as we honor, even hallow, that
phrase and what it means; it holds a darker meaning.
The final details of the armistice were hammered out and agreed to at
5:00 am on Nov. 11th. For
whatever reason, the armistice would not take effect until 11:00am. It may have been for the symmetry, it may
have been logistical, it may simply have been thought that it would take that
long for the news to travel the frontlines, we may never know with absolute
certainty but what we do know is that in those six hours between the agreement
being made and the agreement going into effect; over 6000 men lost their lives
in continued fighting. The generals and
the commanders knew the armistice was signed but they continued to fight the
war.
There are reasons for this. It is
hard to trust your enemy to all of a sudden stop fighting. Some thought it was only a rumor, yet some
sought out one last chance to gain a little ground, a little glory and a little
prestige to take home. So the war raged
on, some saying it even intensified during the last couple of hours. It was almost like the combatants decided to
fire the ammunition rather than take it home and men died fighting a war that
was ended hours earlier.
This should in no way stop us from honoring the men and now women who
place their lives on the line every day to keep us safe. Most soldiers and most veterans offer a
simple answer, “I go where they send me.” There is only honor in that willingness to
serve a nation and a people in this way.
Yet we are, once again, seeming to look to men for the right answers
instead of God. We are listening to the
princes of this world, to their thoughts, opinions, ideas and edicts as the
answer to life’s problems and these princes will let us down time and time
again. For these princes of the world
truly only seek vain glory, selfish acknowledgement and sinful, delusions of
greatness.
Our hope, our only hope, is in Jesus.
He is our only true hope of salvation.
It is only through the blood of Jesus which was shed on the cross that
we have forgiveness. This is our only
hope. There is no hope found anywhere
else in all of creation. So we preach
Jesus, we confess Jesus, we cling to Jesus in all trials and we look only to
Jesus to bring us into the eternal glory of his everlasting kingdom. Blessed is
he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is on the Lord his God.
Father
of all mercies; guide us by your Spirit that we may only look to you for all
our truth. Keep us from trusting in men
of this age and princes of this world who only seek their desires. Set our eyes on you that we may hold fast to
your beloved truth, comfort and hope. In
the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.
God’s Peace,
Pastor Bret
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