Today is Veteran’s Day 2007. It is the day we set aside to remember and celebrate the sacrifices made by those who have in the past, and are currently, serving God, us, and our country in the military. (I also think it appropriate to include police officers, firefighters and all those who protect our lives and freedoms.)
In John 15:13, Jesus tells us that, “There is no greater love than this, that one lay down one’s life for his friends.” We most often take this to mean, “to die” for one’s friends. We celebrate Memorial Day to remember those who gave the “ultimate sacrifice” for our country by giving their lives in service. Today, however, we are recognizing those who fortunately did not have to give the “ultimate sacrifice” and die in their service, but who nonetheless are included in Jesus’ message of sacrifice.
Let’s look at what Jesus’ words, “lay down your life” means to us as written in John 15. The Greek word translated as “lay down” is “tith-ay-mee”. Besides being translated as “lay down”, it also means to “commit, give, kneel down, ordain, purpose, and set forth”. So we see here that to “lay down” one’s life does not necessarily mean to end one’s life. Yet why do we so often think of it in that way?
We do so because when we generally think of Jesus “laying down His life” we think of His death on the Cross. But what is it that made Jesus’ death so powerful? It was His life. Jesus died for us, that is true, but He also lived for us. He lived His life for the Father and was obedient to the Father’s will even when it was not His personal preference. Jesus “committed, gave, ordained and purposed” His life for the Father. Jesus tells us we are to do the same for Him, and for each other all the time.
I ask you, is it really giving our life to someone if we only do it for a few hours one day a week? Is that laying down our life for one another? Let’s say that I am going to give you a brand new car. It can be whatever brand and model you like. A brand spanking new 2008, whatever-you-want car to drive around. You would be pretty excited wouldn’t you?
But now let’s say there is one catch. You can only have the car for a few hours, one day a week. The rest of the time the new car stays at my house. Oh yeah, on that one morning a week that you can use the car, I will drive over and pick you up. You can sit in the passenger’s seat and we will only go where I want to go, and after a couple of hours I will drop you off again until the next week.
Not quite the same, is it? Yet many of us “Christians” do this to God far too often. We let God ride in the passenger seat as we take Him where we want to go. Oh, sometimes we may take Him to church with us, but in an hour or so, we drop Him off and continue doing what we want to do and going where we want to go. That is not “laying down” our lives for Him in any way, shape or form. That is being a “Timecard Christian”. That is “clocking in” when walking into the church doors and “clocking out” when leaving the service.
When we accept Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, we “lay down our life” for Him. We go to Jesus in prayer and say, “Use me, Lord.” But sadly, when He comes to us, many are just “too busy with important things to do this week to be able to do Your will, Lord. Maybe next week.” If you have truly “given your life to Him”, “laid down your life for Him”, then it is to be all the time, not just an hour or two a week. Christianity is a lifestyle, not just a religion.
The apostle Paul paints a wonderful picture to the Gentile converts to Christianity in Galatia of the lifestyle changes that should be brought about by a conversion from paganism to Christianity in Galatians 5:17, 19- 26. Paul contrasts the lifestyle lived by many of them before their conversion, with the Christian spiritual lifestyle that should be brought about by their conversion.
In Galatians 1:13-14, Paul speaks of his very own lifestyle, as a Jew, before his conversion on the Damascus Road. He says, among other things, that he was “more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of his fathers.”
Here is a man who was a “Pharisee’s Pharisee”, who delighted in and earnestly took to the task of destroying the followers of this Jesus Christ, whom Paul thought to be a blasphemy to the Jewish teachings of God. Then Paul describes his conversion as becoming a “new man”. We see that nowhere in all of his writings does Paul ever speak of his change of lifestyle as being a once-a-week thing. He talks of completely “putting off” the old man. It is an all-the-time change.
You know, it is not too difficult to be Christian in church. We pray, we sing songs, we hear Scripture read, and we focus on God for the hour we are here. But once out in the “real world”, it is sometimes difficult to keep that same focus. In church, we are surrounded by other Christians and we feel safe in our beliefs in here. But out in the world, where only about half the people profess to be Christian, it can be more difficult to maintain a Christian lifestyle.
So we must go out into the world and understand that to be the case. If it were too easy to be a Christian and live the Christian lifestyle, everyone would be one. It is not easy though. The Christian lifestyle requires us to “lay down our lives”, “give our lives”, “commit our lives”, “ordain our lives”, and “purpose our lives” for Christ and one another all the time.
Most of us pray before eating in our homes, but how many pray before eating in a restaurant when dining with a co-worker or non-Christian friend? If we don’t, why not? Many times it is because of the pressure of the outside world. We become self-conscious about what people are thinking. Some people may even stare at you if you pray in a restaurant. Jesus knew that it would be this way and worse. Yet He does not relieve us of the command to honor Him before men. In fact, He warns of the consequence when we do not do so. Jesus says, “He who acknowledges Me before men, I will acknowledge before the Father. But He who denies Me before men, I will also deny before the Father.” Friends, our silence is our denial!
I wish to conclude with this. Laying down your life is not necessarily ending your life. It is giving your life, committing your life, ordaining your life, or purposing your life. We do that for each other. We do that for Jesus Christ. We do that for God the Father. Following the example of Jesus Christ, we commit and submit to the will of God the Father completely, just as Jesus did. He took His commitment with Him to the Cross as did several of His disciples and others throughout history. But it is not absolutely necessary to be martyred to give your life to each other and to God. Just as the men we honor on this Veteran’s Day gave their lives in service to this country even though they did not have to make the “ultimate” sacrifice. So we can give our lives to God by changing our lifestyle, putting off the old man or woman and putting on the new. It is not an easy step, but it is a necessary one. We need to be living out our Christian faith and beliefs.
Someone once said, “Your life may be the only Bible some people will ever see.” What will they see when they look at me? What will they see when they look at you? What will they see when they look at us?
Truly lay down your life for Jesus Christ, not because I say you should or ask you to, not because a friend, family member, or anyone else thinks you should, but because Jesus Christ laid down His life for you and took that commitment with Him all the way to the Cross of Calvary’s hill. Amen.