Our daughter got married last month, and someone was missing at that wedding. Our son-in-law’s younger brother could not attend. He is currently in school, training to be a diver for the Navy, and of course, he had training that weekend. My brother-in-law who serves in the US Army had to report to his new duty station that weekend, and he missed the wedding celebration. That’s hard for a family and for the war fighter who signed up to give their entire life in service to their country.  

Separation. This is a common theme I hear when I listen to war fighters who are deployed or in school. When I was in Korea and Okinawa in June, I asked our Soldiers and Marines, “What’s been the thing that you struggle with the most?” Separation. Missing out on weddings, birthdays, the birth of a child, anniversaries, funerals—one naval officer missed his son’s high school graduation in Japan this spring.  

The other answer I receive is this: “We miss church. Yes, we can watch online, but it’s not the same. We miss being in person with our church family.”      

There is another side of separation that I think applies here. As a war fighter, especially one who has experienced trauma or moral injury, symptoms of depression and anxiety can create a separation in the relationships you have; sometimes it’s a past tense “had.” That’s difficult.

As you think about all these types of separation, the Apostle Paul asks the question that we need to ask, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?” (Romans 8:35). Now, the Apostle Paul isn’t implying that your other relationships aren’t important. They are important. But isn’t the most important relationship that we can have with Christ, our Savior? When we experience deep separation from family, from major life events, from church family, it helps to know where we stand with him.  

Paul answers the question for us: “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38,39).

You will miss major life events. Your heart will ache because many miles and circumstances isolate you from others who love you. But there is no distance, no circumstance, no military order that can keep Christ from being present with you, nor can it keep him from loving you.  

He is there with you right now as you listen to these words. He has promised it. He is with your loved ones and friends. He promises it. He loves them. He loves you. The proof is that he chose to be separated from God his Father on the cross so that you might never know separation from God.  

When you feel that you are missing God’s presence in your life, pick up this book. Open up to Romans chapter 8 and read it out loud. And listen. God speaks to your heart. God makes his love known to you in Christ. God is present. Nothing can separate you from his love for you.  

At the time of this recording, I first learned the names of the four US Soldiers who gave their lives in service to our country: Sgt. Michael Swinton, Sgt. Angel Rampersad, 1st Lt. Tyler Feehan, Pfc. Isabella Gonzales.  

Combat, war, death, physical wounds, the unseen wounds of trauma and moral injury—these are all evidence of the presence of the devil at work in our world, and the influence of sin on the hearts of sinful people who want to kill and destroy.  

During times like this, you wonder, and you ask God questions, “How am I to trust you when there is no guarantee that I will make it home from deployment in one piece or alive at all? How am I to trust you when I have prayed to come home, and we continue to be extended indefinitely? How am I to trust you when my loved one or friend is downrange and life is falling apart around me?”     

When you wonder if God cares for you, when you question his love for you, when you believe Satan’s lie that God is not capable to provide or protect you. . .then ask, “What does God say in times like this?”  

Listen to these truths from the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, “For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves” (Ephesians 1:4-6).    

Before God created the world, he decided in his heart that he would choose you to be saved. In time he made that election and calling certain at your baptism. Baptized in water and the Word, he adopted you into his family. You are his son or daughter, for now and for eternity. He did all of this in Christ, that is, because of what Jesus Christ has done for you. He was blameless and holy for you. He shed his blood for you. He loved you. And so, God chose you in Christ. 

War and combat, injury of mind and soul, grief and sorrow, not even death can change this truth: You are chosen in Christ. Therefore, you are his son. You are his daughter. You are the object of his love, in life and in death.    

I read a recent news article that outlined the discussions between the Senate Armed Services Committee, House Appropriations Committee and Congress and how they are looking at a proposed tiered military pay raise. In my honest opinion I don’t think you are paid enough for what you do, especially knowing how food insecurity can be an issue especially among junior enlisted, barracks conditions, housing affordability, issues with BAH and BAS, costs with PCS moves and quality of life challenges. I know that Congress has been trying to address these issues. The current disagreement is whether pay increases should focus on those facing the greatest financial challenges—which are junior enlisted—or should be distributed evenly. I don’t know the answer.  

What I do know is that a lot of you did not join our nation’s military to become wealthy. Some of you joined because you want to serve. Others joined for the ability to pay for continuing education later in life. Still others joined to learn skills in a vocation that would transition well into the civilian world. Even though you didn’t join the military to become wealthy, you can still fall into one of these two ditches when it comes to money and wealth. The one ditch is that you trust too much in your wealth, when you look to your wealth as your security. The other ditch is despair when it appears that you are not receiving your daily bread.  

This is why Jesus gave us the Lord’s Prayer, specifically the fourth petition. When we pray, “Give us today our daily bread,” we trust our Father to do just that: Father, give us what you promise! And we will rest content with what he so graciously provides us. Part of that petition includes prayers for your government, which provides your housing and food, and so we pray for wisdom for our leaders.  

Out of all the temptations Jesus warns us about, he focuses the most on wealth and money, because he knows what a trap the love of money can be for his people.  

Today, he calls us to repent, and then to look to Christ who never fell into either ditch. He rested perfectly contented in his Father’s ability to provide. This is your true treasure, your true wealth: Christ Jesus. Earthly wealth comes and goes, but forgiveness—the cancellation of all your debt to God—the resurrection from the dead, life eternal, the strength to continue here on this earth until that day comes, that is priceless.  

Listen to the Apostle Paul’s encouragement in Colossians 3:1,2, “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ. . . set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.”   

Keep Christ in your hearts as your most prized possession.  

What are you willing to fight for? When you signed the dotted line, you said to the country, “I am willing to fight for you, for justice, for freedom; I am willing to fight against all enemies foreign and domestic.” And I thank you for that.  

Take that same willingness and apply it to your spiritual life. What are you willing to fight for? In a letter to another pastor the apostle Paul commands Timothy, “Fight the good fight of the faith.” The faith, the trust, and belief in the truth that Jesus Christ is God and man, the faith in the truth that he lived a righteous life, that he truly died, that he rose from the dead—the faith that he did this for you, so that you, by believing, by having faith in this truth, might “take hold of the eternal life” (1 Timothy 6:12).   

How is your faith fight? Whether you perceive it or not, you are engaged in a fight, a wrestling match, combat if you will, every single day of your life. This fracas is against the lie from Satan that it is just not worth your time or effort, the lie that you can get after it later, the lie that it is not as important as all the other things you have going on in your life, as relationships, your wealth and finances, your physical health, what you do on leave or liberty. The truth is that all those things suffer when we don’t fight the good fight of the faith.  

The apostle Paul reassures Pastor Timothy and you, where you and I have become apathetic or disinterested in our fight, Jesus fought the good fight for us. Paul points us to a skirmish that shows Jesus’ persistence. “While testifying before Pontius Pilate [Jesus] made the good confession” (1 Timothy 6:13).  

My fellow fighters, when the battle is long, when you are weary, when you have lapsed, flee to Christ and see your failures pardoned in Christ’s persistent faith.  

Then stand on your feet and get ready to “pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness” (1 Timothy 6:11). Fight the good fight of the faith until Jesus appears and you may rest from your struggle.  

When I visited the Republic of Korea last month, I met with Jim Brandt and his wife Kathy. They live in Thailand and are part of the Asia-Oceania Team. Part of their responsibilities are to plant house churches. Jim mentors and coaches over 700 groups who gather around Word and Sacrament in the Asia-Oceania region. That’s incredible! Over 700 groups of people who want to grow in the promises of Jesus and who are going out with those promises of Jesus.  

It’s incredible because this is how God first planted faith in your heart. For some of you, it was at your baptism. Through water and his Word, the Holy Spirit planted the seed of faith in your heart so that you believe Jesus has saved you from death, from sin, from the devil, and has saved you for eternal life. For others, it was a friend, family member or stranger who shared the good news of Jesus with you. Through that Word the Holy Spirit planted the seed in your heart.  

What does all of this have to do with WELS Ministry to the Military? Sometimes military members retire and stay in the area of their last duty station. That is true for at least one individual right here in the Republic of Korea. He will retire this year and remain here. He is already being trained through the Friends Network. He is already working with Great Light Lutheran Church in Seoul. He wants to sow the seed of the gospel among fellow US service members and the ROK Army Soldiers.  

I am not saying that you need to up and move to Asia to do this work. God has put you right where you are for a very specific purpose. Plant the seed of the gospel wherever God has planted you. Whether that’s in the barracks, on base housing or off base/post housing, at the range, in the schoolhouse or downrange – grow in that life-giving and life-sustaining Word that has been planted in you. And then go. Go and plant the seed of the gospel and let God do the work.  

Listen to God’s promise through Isaiah: “As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for eater, so is my Word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it” (Isaiah 55:10-11) .