Happy Veterans Day week to you and a sincere “thank you” to thank those who have served in our nation’s armed forces!  

So. . . why did you enlist? Why did you decide to become an officer? Why did you join the ROTC program at your college? Why did you choose this branch of service?  

I like to ask these questions because I honestly want to understand you better, and quite honestly, it helps build a relationship.  

“Why” is an important question to ask whether you are on active duty, guard, or reserve, a veteran, or a civilian listening to this devotion.  

The apostle Paul reminds you that no matter what vocation God gives you, motivation always remains constant. He writes, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship” (Romans 12:1).    

Do you see why it is necessary to keep this before our eyes? By nature we are turned in on ourselves. We are naturally selfish creatures, always thinking “What’s in it for me?” Sadly, that attitude is alive and well inside each of us.Thankfully, the apostle Paul turns us outside of ourselves and points our eyes to God’s mercy.    

“In view of God’s mercy. . . ” It is good to ask God, “Why did you show me mercy?” Because he loves you and has loved you from before the beginning of time itself. And how did he show mercy? God sacrificed his life in service to others. When he lived on this earth, he was selfless,  loving, forgiving, and compassionate toward all. And then God sacrificed his life unto death to pay the price for your self-serving attitudes.   

In view of that well known mercy, go and live. Offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God. Constantly be thinking, “How can I love and serve those whom God has put in my life today?” This means that you are never without purpose and meaning in your life. This is your spiritual act of worship to God.  

Need examples? Keep reading the rest of Romans chapter 12 and then continue on through the rest of Romans. Everything that follows goes back to chapter 12 verse 1 as your “why”: Why do I do all of this for others? In view of God’s mercy to me! Go then and serve. Live for others, for this is holy and pleasing to God.   

Here in San Diego, we have a lot of Navy and Coast Guard ships and boats. One thing that has always impressed me is that since a ship operates 24 hours a day someone is always standing watch making sure that the ship and those aboard are safe and secure. This is not unique to the Navy or Coast Guard. When I visit Air Force, Marine Corps bases, or an Army post, someone is always standing guard, not just at the gate but at other secure locations around the installation.  

For those of you who have stood watch, this is not the most exciting part of your vocation. Because it can become very monotonous and repetitious. And yet, your standing watch is so vital to the mission and safety of everyone on that vessel or duty station.  

Jesus and the apostles and the OT prophets all use similar language when they call believers to watch, because Christ is coming soon. God gives us repeated warnings to wake up, to watch, to stand guard, to wait with vigilance because he knows how monotonous and repetitious it can be to wait. He knows that by nature we tend to get distracted by other more exciting things in our lives than reading his Word, devoting time to prayer, receiving the Lord’s Supper, going to church, participating in a Bible study. Someone once said to me, “Pastor, it seems that when I come to church, I hear the same thing.” To which I replied, “Well that’s good! That means you’re hearing the story of Christ crucified and risen for you again and again.” This is how we stand watch, how we wait.  

Because he tells us, “You know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. . . So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert” (1 Thessalonians 5:2,6) and self-controlled.   

And so, we stand watch—we wait—we prepare. Ask the Holy Spirit to move in you a rededication to faithful study of his Word, for his Word is life for you. The apostle Paul ends this section of his letter by saying, “For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath, but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. . . Therefore, encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing” (1 Thessalonians 5:9,11).  

Every time you pass through the gate or board the ship, and you have to flash your ID, let that be a reminder: Now is the time for me to keep the watch for my soul. For Jesus is coming. He is coming soon. When he does, your watch will end and you will rest from your watching and waiting.   

Earlier this month I joined several thousand San Diegans and families and friends to welcome home the 4,600 Sailors and Marines aboard the USS Lincoln, among them a friend who is a senior officer. Over dinner that evening he shared stories of their longer than expected deployment. He laughed and said, “There were junior enlisted who didn’t believe that we were actually coming home. Even after we had left Guam and then Pearl Harbor, they believed the Department of War could still send us back out again. They were still uncertain of our homecoming.”  

In the early to mid 2000s when I served as pastor of our church in Radcliff, Ky., more than one Soldier stationed at Fort Knox shared with me that they felt unsure if they were coming back home from Iraq or Afghanistan.    

Earlier this month a 30-year-old Marine died during MARSOC training off the coast of South Florida. He left home certain he would return from training.   

When you experience loss, and bear unimaginable grief, when you wrestle with the “what ifs,” and reflect on your own mortality, and wonder, “When am I coming home? Will I come home?” Jesus wants you to know that you will come home and that homecoming will never end. God has seen it already and shares it with you.  

In his Revelation the apostle John saw “a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes”(Revelation 7:9). Robes that were “washed” and “made. . . white in the blood of the Lamb” (Revelation 7:14). That Lamb John saw at “the center of the throne [and he] will be their shepherd; ‘he will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes’” (Revelation 7:17).  

The Lamb, Jesus Christ, was slain for you. He rose victorious for you. He lives forever for you so that you know with certainty, he will welcome you home to heaven, with the waving of palm branches instead of flags. Where he will dry all tears. Where he will satisfy our longings and grant us everlasting peace as he leads us to drink living water.  

That homecoming will happen for you and for me, but that time and place is uncertain for us, and the Lamb knows and that is all that matters. For you who have been washed in the blood of the Lamb already have eternal life, aglorious homecoming celebration that will never end. That is certain. I pray that this confidence will dry your tears and give you hope and joy when you face deployments that seem to never end. There is a homecoming that will never end.   

Dan worked for the government. Dan was a believer in the one true God. Dan enjoyed the free exercise of his faith in the one true God under this government. One day the government decided to change its policy about the free exercise of one’s religious beliefs. What did Dan do? He went home and prayed, giving thanks to God. Dan asked God for his help in this situation.  

Dan had fellow government employees who did not like him very much because he was a believer in the one true God. They spied on Dan and witnessed him violating the new government policy. They went to their supreme leader and ratted Dan out. Dan was slated for execution because of what he had done.  

Dan’s story might sound familiar to some of you, because it is the story of Daniel in the book that bears his name. I’d encourage you to read Daniel chapter 6 today, because Dan’s story is very much like yours.  

As a war fighter, you are an employee of the federal government. Our constitution protects the free exercise of your religious beliefs. Military chaplains exist to protect the free exercise of all religions within the United States military. The Religious Freedom Restoration Act prohibits the government from substantially burdening a person’s exercise of their religious beliefs and practices.  

But you and I know that it is not always easy to be faithful. When you are the only one who requests religious accommodation, and you stand out because you are “special,” when you are the one who bows your head in prayer before every meal, when you are the one who has the Bible or this blue devotion book on your desk in your room or your office or in the barracks, when you are the one who reads that Bible or devotion book, when you are the one who does not embody the “work hard–play hard” mentality, you might feel like Daniel. 

And do you feel some guilt for those times that you have not lived as Daniel did? But God has made some promises to you. And he gives us the story of Daniel to show us the kind of God that he is for us when it is difficult to live as Christians.  

Dan was slated for execution by being thrown into a den of hungry lions. But God sent an angel to shut the mouths of the lions and preserved Daniel’s life.  

God never promised Daniel that he would rescue him in that way. But he had made a promise to Daniel “never to leave [him] or forsake [him]” (Deuteronomy 31:8). God had promised to always be Daniel’s Savior. He had promised Daniel that eternal life was his. And Daniel trusted those promises.   

Jesus has made promises to you. About those times when you stand up and say something about the truth of the Scriptures, “Do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.” And then Jesus promised, “You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved” (Matthew 10:19-20, 22).  

Stand firm even when it is not easy to do so. For it is Jesus who causes you to stand firm in him and his promises.   

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.