NoblePurpose Blog

Several years ago, I shared with our church family some insights gained from talking with soldiers who had been wounded in combat.  Their attitudes provided me with an appreciation of the importance of belonging to a family of believers, being involved in the lives of one another, and sharing responsibility that comes from being in relationships.  I want to share those insights with you.

The Sunday theme of worship that week was focused on fellowship.  I was once again amazed by the way God works things together.  I had been studying and thinking of the power of fellowship over the past few weeks.  Talking with wounded soldiers, I was humbled by their unwavering desire to return to their units.  I asked medical professionals at Walter Reed Army Hospital where such commitment came from.  The answer was summarized in a single word – fellowship.

To help you understand the setting for these thoughts you should know that our church tradition celebrates the Lord’s Supper each week.  These were the remarks that I shared to prepare for that celebration.

“We have come to the period of worship where we pause and remember the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for us all.  This period of worship has many names – Lord’s Supper, Holy Sacrament, Holy Communion, or simply Communion.  All of these names refer to sharing, sharing the emblems of this worship (the bread and the wine), sharing the belief in our Savior (that He was the Son of God, born of the Virgin Mary, lived as a perfect example of God on earth, and died that we might be saved), sharing in the grace given to us through His sacrifice (grace freely given, not earned, but provided at an awful price by God) – Fellowship.

During my last assignment before coming back to the Pentagon, I was privileged to command Fort McCoy, Wisconsin.  As the installation commander my duties included the honor of caring for 30 to 150 wounded and injured soldiers.  Many of these young men and women had suffered severe injuries.  One had been blown from his vehicle by a roadside bomb and was recovering from a broken neck.  Another had been shot in the face and lost his left eye.  A young lady had been shot in the knee and eventually lost her leg.  Others had lost arms and legs.  However, each of these patriots consistently asked two common questions.  The first question was, “Can I stay in the Army?”  We worked each case through a lengthy bureaucratic process and many of them stayed in the Army. Their second question, even while their wounds were fresh, was “when can I get back to my unit?  They need me!”  What a profound statement.  Their units “needed” them.  These wounded heroes yearned for the fellowship of their comrades.  They had shared good times and bad times.  They had horrific experiences in terrible conditions.  However, they had formed a bound of unity by pursuing a common cause and a shared commitment.  They now shared a heritage together.”
Acts 2: 42-44 reads, “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common.”

We can learn a lot from these soldiers who yearn to be with their comrades.  Our souls are wounded by sin.  We want to be with others and find camaraderie. It’s natural.  God made us this way.   Others contributed to these soldiers’ recovery, mentally as well as physically.  They experienced an outpouring of affection from their units.  They knew that their units wanted their injured comrade as much as the injured soldier wanted to be back with their units.  Is that how we are with our Christian comrades?  Do we yearn to be together?  When someone is injured, seriously injured by sin, do they know we want them back with us?  How do they know?
In Him,
Dan
www.noblepurposeministries.org

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