Friday, July 9, 2004
Every once in a while we get a wakeup call regarding the meaning of the word "hero." In our culture, the word is used routinely to describe outstanding athletes. But then someone does something really heroic and we remember what the word really means. Pat Tillman, starting safety for professional football's Arizona Cardinals, gave us one of those "hero" wakeup calls. Oh, he was one that was playing on the football field, but then he shocked fans and players alike by walking away from millions of dollars to serve his country on the battlefield. He joined the Army Rangers, served on the front lines in Afghanistan, and one April day in pursuit of enemy forces, Pat Tillman was killed. He believed he was fighting for something greater than winning a game. He believed he was fighting so people could be free. And, in the eyes of millions, he gave meaning to that overused but important word - hero.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Giving Your Life for a Greater Cause."
That was the choice Pat Tillman made. He signed on for a bigger battle than the relatively unimportant battles he had fought on a football field. He decided to give himself to fighting for lives rather than fighting for glory. That's the kind of choice Jesus may be calling you to make.
It could be that you've been feeling a little restless about your life - not because it isn't full, but because it isn't fulfilling. God's the one who's making you restless because He has something bigger for you to do. It isn't that you're not fighting battles. There are plenty of issues and challenges in your everyday life at work, at home, at school, at church. But Jesus may be calling you to join Him in the battle for which He gave His life - the battle for the ever-living, never-dying souls of men and women. It's possible we're giving ourselves for battles that ultimately don't matter all that much, and missing the greatest battle of all - one in which all too few of God's people are actively involved.
God's summons is clear in our word for today from the Word of God in 2 Corinthians 5, beginning with verse 15. "He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for Him who died for them and rose again." Here's a call to leave a life that's largely about me and my little world. Here's the greater cause: "God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God."
God has one plan for letting the world know about what His Son did on the cross to forgive our sins - us. We're His plan. You're His plan. And He's calling you to join Heaven's Rangers and become part of His Life-Saving Force. It will start right where you are. You'll see your school, or your workplace, or your neighborhood as much more than just a place to survive or achieve. You'll see what Jesus sees - a battlefield for lives that Jesus died to save - people who will never know that if we don't tell them. You are where you are on a life-saving assignment from heaven. You'll go where you go everyday now with a higher calling.
And God may ultimately lead you from the field you're on to serve Him in an even greater assignment in the greatest battle of all. Your mission right now is this: do what you already do for Him and for the rescuing of spiritually dying people there. Commit yourself to Jesus to make the greatest possible difference you can with the rest of your life. Get on our knees and tell Jesus, "Put me where I can do the most for You. Use me mightily wherever You put me."
There are bigger battles than the little ones we think are so important. And there's a shortage of heroes. Heaven's calling you to give yourself to fight by Jesus' side for lives He gave His life for - to go for the only kind of glory that really matters - being one of Heaven's heroes!