Army Life Is Always Active

I visited one of our subordinate units this weekend in a place called Sturtevant (near Racine, south of Milwaukee).

Yesterday, I spent most of the day walking the hallways and visiting with the soldiers. When I first joined the Army, this type of introductory work intimidated me. I would walk the hallways aimlessly, shooting smiles at passing soldiers and hoping that someone would stop and want to talk. Now, I am much more at ease engaging a host of new faces. I can go up, shake a hand, introduce myself, and ask some basic questions (Where are you from? How long have you been in the Army? Married? Kids?).

There's a different breed of soldier out here.Virtually all of them are from Wisconsin or Chicago and are homegrown. Most have never gone through a divorce--either their own or their parents--though most are still acquainted with death. And most of the soldiers of this particular detachment of Army firefighters have never deployed. Unlike many soldiers I have known, these soldiers love coming to drill and there is a great espirit de corps.

The leaders of this unit clearly love their soldiers. While most of the soldiers haven't deployed, their NCOs have--numerous times. These NCOs are reachable at all hours of the day and take great pride in being able to care for their soldiers. One NCO today talked about coming home from Iraq and the older veterans who greeted his unit at the terminal at 1 in the morning. He got choked up.

At this morning's chapel service, virtually the whole detachment showed up (some 20 soldiers or so). This included a Muslim soldier from Iraq who I befriended yesterday. I read Isaiah 53 and we sang the first verse of Amazing Grace--a staple of chapel services conducted on the fly. I then read and preached from Matthew 27, when the Son of God was put on trial by mankind.

I emphasized the clear innocence of Jesus on that day, and the equally clear verdict of mankind (including us) to kill him. We do not reject Jesus because we don't see Him in the flesh or lack the miracles. We do not reject Jesus because Christians are hypocrites. We (mankind) had Him in the flesh, along with His miracles. And Jesus Christ, of all born in this world, was no hypocrite. We rejected Jesus because we hate God by nature, and thus killed the Son of God in the flesh.

The beauty of that passage comes with the knowledge that soon after the people cried out "His blood on us and our children" and invoked God's curse upon themselves, Jesus cried out "Father, forgive them" and shed His blood in mercy, not judgment. And though the criminal Barabbas deserved to die, it was the innocent Jesus who bore the death he deserved. Oh that we would confess hearts like Barabbas, that we would truly savor a Savior like Jesus!

Every soldier took one of my cards, and I hope that I am able to follow up with some of them in the future. I let them know that there's always a place at our table and an open bed in our home. I wish I could follow up with them every month, but am tied to the "mother" unit in Eau Claire. Pray that the Lord would bless this brief excursion with future opportunities to share the Gospel and love on soldiers!