A couple of weeks ago I was running through the canyon near our home here in San Diego and out of nowhere an aircraft came screaming over the treetops. I looked up and saw the recognizable bright blue paint and the words “US NAVY” underneath. It was the Blue Angels, rehearsing for the two-day airshow at Miramar Marine Corps Air Base near our house. I wondered, “How much does it cost to put on a two-day airshow like that? And who pays for it?” It’s probably your taxes and my taxes that pay for that airshow.   

How do you feel about paying your taxes? Before you answer that question, let’s first listen to what God has to say through the apostle Paul:   

“This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes” (Romans 13:6-7). 

The apostle Paul makes the point that God has established the authority of the government for the purpose of protecting our property and bodies. One of the ways the government does that is by collecting taxes. They use tax dollars to establish a standing Army and Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard, Air Force and Space Force. Paul explains that you who are warfighters, carry out your vocation for this purpose: “For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer” (Romans 13:4). 

You may not always agree with the orders you receive while you serve in the military. You may not always be happy with the way our government uses our taxes. But God uses it for his good purposes.  

It’s good for us to remember that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, paid his taxes faithfully and willingly. He honored those in authority over him in the state. He was the perfect citizen. And even though that same government that he respected and to which he paid taxes used his taxes to crucify him. God used it for good, to forgive your sins. For all the times that you complained about paying your taxes, or were less than honest in submitting your taxes, or those times you disrespected your government, Jesus’ righteous life covers over it all. His death pays the penalty for those sins.  

And so, he has set you free from complaining, set you free from dishonesty, and set you free to go and be a faithful citizen, to be a faithful warfighter, to carry out your vocations, to serve your neighbor and to share the gospel with your neighbors and to pay your taxes willingly and gladly.  

It is not always easy to be a citizen of two kingdoms—the kingdom of God and the kingdom of the State —but God has shown us the way, and he shows us his Son, Jesus, the perfect citizen, who lived and died and rose so that we might live in his perfect kingdom forever. Let us keep our eyes fixed on these truths as we live in two kingdoms.

I’m going to apologize in advance. If I see you in a restaurant or at the store or out in our community or at an airport and you’re wearing your uniform, I will probably stop and talk to you.  Not because it’s my job, but because I care very deeply for those who serve in our nation’s military. And your uniform says something about you. It’s going to tell me which branch you serve; your rank insignia will tell me whether you’re enlisted or officer and maybe how long you’ve been serving. The patches on your arm will tell me a little bit about your MOS or your rate, your job in in the military. Your uniform says something about you. 

The apostle Paul talks about this when he writes, “I am not ashamed of the gospel” (Romans 1:16). The gospel is the good news about Jesus. Paul is not ashamed of that good news about Jesus. He wears it like a uniform. Anybody that came into contact with the apostle Paul knew that he was a Christian because of the way he carried himself, the way he answered questions, the way he forgave people, the way he loved them, the way he was so selfless; he wasn’t so much concerned about what people thought about him but that people knew about Jesus. 

When you put on your uniform and go to work, you work alongside people in a religiously pluralistic environment. There are people that work alongside you who come from all sorts of different faiths and beliefs, even people who say they don’t believe anything about God. Sometimes this can make sharing your faith a little uncomfortable. Senior NCO and officers have shared with me that this is hard for them to do because they don’t want to project that their faith is the faith of their command or unit.They have to be very careful about that. There are war fighters who have shared that they are a little bit shy about sharing the gospel because they want to fit in with those around them.  

Paul says, “I am unashamed. I am honored to wear the gospel as a uniform.” Why? He goes on to say, “I’m not ashamed of the gospel because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16). Paul wanted everyone to know that he wore the uniform of the gospel so that other people might know Jesus.  

When you wear the gospel as your uniform people will know that you are a Christian. They will know it because of the way you talk to people, the way that you are service-minded and not self-centered, the way that you forgive and are patient and loving. Wearing that uniform builds bridges with people. As you build those bridges, God is going to open doors so that you can build a bridge to Jesus. Jesus is what they need. 

Paul goes on to say in the very next verse that this righteousness that they need to know is not a righteousness of their own. They are righteous before God, not because of things that they have done, but because of what Jesus has done for them. Behonored to wear that righteousness which God has given you, for righteous is what he has declared you to be in Christ Jesus.   

Be honored to wear the uniform of the gospel, that good news of Jesus, so that others may wear this uniform, too.   

How will this end? What will this look like? How do I know we will be ok?  A lingering war in Iran, uncertainty with China, and all of the other “unofficial” places we’re involved militarily. . . and then here in the States, families are concerned about affordability and thinking ahead to the mid-terms next month. How will this end?  

Anxieties are the “what ifs” that race through our brains and hearts.  Now, I’m not going to tell you, “Don’t be anxious.” Anxiety is an emotion and sometimes we feel anxious. But I do want to talk about what you do about anxiety. If it’s three or four glasses of bourbon, or binging on food that’s not good for you, or raging about things that haven’t even happened yet, or grabbing every ear that will listen to your “what ifs,” those aren’t healthy, and they are sinful. If you continue down that path, they will be the heavy burden that weighs on your heart and soul and mind, and your body will feel the effects. Do you feel that weight?   

God doesn’t want this for you. In fact, he wants you to take your “what ifs” to him in prayer and then leave them there. He’ll take care of them in his time and in his way. He promises. But then he wants you to linger near him for a while longer, and to listen to him after he’s listened to you. Listen now.  

Through his Apostle Paul who knew anxiety and who had experience with some big sized “what ifs,” he tells you how this will end: “God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. . . Our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body” (Philippians 3:14b, 20-21).  

Take a deep breath and let it out. It’s going to be ok. Your Savior has everything under his control. He died and rose from the dead and ascended to heaven where he sits at the right hand of the Father with all power and authority. He’s got this. He shows you his end game. He’s coming back for you. You, my friend, are going to heaven. He will take your body and mind and soul and make them new again, with a brain that won’t be able to run laps with “what if,” with a body that won’t feel the effects of stress, with a soul that is perfectly calm and at rest, all the time.      

You know how this ends, because Jesus just told you so.  

There he was, a grown man sitting in my office, and he was sobbing. He was a veteran of our nation’s military and was successful with his career. He was now serving as a civilian and was doing well there, too, but that day, he sat in my office sobbing. He said, “Pastor Horn, I am embarrassed. I’m ashamed to even be sitting here talking to you, but I don’t know who else to talk to because I’m just stuck. I have sinned and I don’t know what to do, but I know something needs to change.” 

It was his computer and the Internet and pornography. . . and he realized how much it consumed his time, how it turned him into a liar and someone who would sneak away and hide so he could watch. It was affecting his marriage with his wife and his relationship with his children and the way that he interacted with his coworkers and his neighbors. He knew something needed to change. What was he to do? 

The LORD said through his prophet Ezekiel:  

Repent! Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not be your downfall. Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, people of Israel? For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign LORD (Ezekiel 18:30-32).  

This man did what the Lord has called us to do, to repent. The way the Bible describes repentance is like receiving an order for an “about face,” to completely turn around. Repentance is recognizing sin for what it is—an offense against God—and to be sincerely sorry for that offensive thing and to turn away from it. If you do an “about face” away from sin, you need to turn toward something else. 

I helped this man who sat in my office sobbing to do an “about face” from his sin and guilt to Christ, and helped him see Christ’s cross, and said to him, “My brother, your sin is forgiven for Christ has put it to death. And look! See in the waters of your baptism that Jesus has drowned that sin. He has washed you. He has cleansed you. And look here! I have bread and wine through which Christ makes his body and blood truly present for the forgiveness of your sins!” And right there we celebrated the Lord’s supper together. We laughed and we cried and did this “about face” together.  

If you’re going to do this “about face,” then it also means living with the new heart and the new life Jesus has created in you. So, we put a plan together for that new life. We set boundaries. We found resources to help him and people he could call so that when he struggled and fought against the lie of pornography, he had a solid foundation to help him walk the way that God would have a man and a husband and a father and a coworker and a friend to walk.  

What is it for you? What thing have you done that you are embarrassed or ashamed to talk about? My friend, repent so that you might not die but live. Talk to a chaplain, a pastor, a friend, and confess your sin and then be ashamed no more. Do that “about face” and turn to Christ and his cross and see, my friend, that you are forgiven! No matter what it is that you have done, go to the waters of your baptism and see there that your sin has been drowned. See that Christ has created in you a new heart and given you a new life!  

So go now and do that “about face” and walk in the life that is truly life, life in Christ.  

I don’t know about you but every time I read the story of Jonah in the Bible, I am amazed. It’s not so much that part where the giant fish swallows Jonah to preserve his life. . . And I apologize, if you’re totally lost right now. Go and read the book of Jonah before you continue reading this devotion. It’s only four chapters long. It really won’t take you long. Ok, now. . . what amazes me about that story is that God spared the entire city of Nineveh. This was the seat of power for the Assyrian kingdom. It was also the seat of wickedness and witchcraft and all sorts of godlessness.  

The LORD sent Jonah to the city of Nineveh to call them to repentance. God wanted to teach Jonah a lesson about his mercy and grace. And Jonah was actually upset about this—that God would spare the Assyrians. Not only were they godless and wicked, but they were mortal enemies of the people of Israel! The amazing part about this story is that the people listened to Jonah’s call to repentance. God listened to their genuine repentance, and he spared the people.  

The city of Nineveh was eventually destroyed by the Babylonians 150 years later. The region changed political hands over the years but about 500 years later St. Thomas, one of Jesus’ own apostles, traveled to Nineveh and proclaimed the message of God’s grace. That seed of the gospel was planted and remained there for about 2,000 years. Because of your military service and deployments some of you have been there—the city of Mosul in northern Iraq, on the eastern bank of the Tigris River.  

Christianity has been there up until about 2014 when ISIS came in and either drove all the Christians away or slaughtered them. Some reports say that less than 70 Christian families reside in Mosul. Maybe it’s time to go back? That would be a little bit tricky wouldn’t it, to send a pastor as a missionary to Iraq? It wouldn’t be safe. What about you? Would you go?  

The amazing thing about this story of Jonah is that God still works this way. He sends people with his radical grace and mercy to others who clearly don’t deserve it. They listen and they believe and God saves them from themselves and from destruction, from death and hell and all of it, and he gathers them into his house—people from all over the world with different skin colors and languages and cultures. Amazing!  

What’s amazing about this story is that it involves you! You are one of those to whom God sent someone to pour water on your head. In your baptism he gathered you into his home. You are one to whom God sent someone to speak his words: “You are forgiven in Christ.” He caused his Word to be planted in your heart, and he caused faith to grow in your heart to trust that Word so that you know—as unworthy as you and I are, and we know that we are unworthy because of the things that we have done and the things that we have left undone—we know the amazing impossible thing is that God causes us to believe and to trust that this is for us.   

The apostle Paul put it this way: “It does not, therefore, depend on man’s desire or effort, but on God’s mercy” (Romans 9:16). The Father is generous with his grace and mercy. He told Jonah, “Should I not be concerned about that great city?” (Jonah 4:11). The amazing thing about this story is that God is concerned about our cities, too. 

I don’t need to go over to Iraq. There are Iraqis living right here in San Diego. You should meet my neighbors who live in my little part of San Diego. All the different nationalities and cultures they represent; it’s incredible. I’m sure the same is true for you and the important city where God has placed you. What’s incredible is that he calls you and me to be dispensers of this same amazing grace.