A Word about Selfless Service

 

Today I want to share a word about selfless service, as I comment on Joshua 10:5-15. This passage reads:

So the five Amorite kings—the kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon—joined forces, advanced with all their armies, besieged Gibeon, and fought against it. Then the men of Gibeon sent word to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal: “Don’t abandon your servants. Come quickly and save us! Help us, for all the Amorite kings living in the hill country have joined forces against us.” So Joshua and his whole military force, including all the fighting men, came from Gilgal. The LORD said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid of them, for I have handed them over to you. Not one of them will be able to stand against you. So Joshua caught them by surprise, after marching all night from Gilgal. The LORD threw them into confusion before Israel. He defeated them in a great slaughter at Gibeon, chased them through the ascent of Beth-horon, and struck them down as far as Azekah and Makkedah.

Army Values:

I'm an old Soldier and a retired chaplain, and one of the themes which Army leaders constantly emphasized during my years in uniform were the Army Values. These are the Army's core values and they include:

Loyalty

Duty

Respect

Selfless Service 

Honor 

Integrity

Personal Courage

I think it is no coincidence that the value of Selfless Service is in the center of the list for I believe that Selfless Service is central to being a Soldier, Sailor, Marine, Airman, or Coast Guardsman. 

I believe that Selfless Service is also the focus of Memorial Day, a day in which we remember all those to have paid the ultimate price in the service of our country. I want to look at this concept today using our focal passage from Joshua 10 to give us some context. 

A Sacred Covenant:

The Children of Israel, upon entering into Canaan had been fooled by a tribe called the Gibeonites. The story is too long to relate here, but the Gibeonites had deceived Joshua into making a covenant with them. The Gibeonites would become a workforce for the Israelites, and the Israelites would provide them protection.

The day came in which the Gibeonites came under attack by the Five Kings of the Amorites. The Gibeonites called 911 and cried for help, and Joshua responded. He told his men to saddle up, and they did so. He told them that they were going to march all night, and they did so. He told them that they were going straight into an attack, and they did so. 

We can see many remarkable aspects to this story but in the interest of time I want to mention just one. 

It is absolutely remarkable that the Israelites conducted a night approach march into battle. In today’s world it would be odd if you didn’t take advantage of the dark, , but in those days, people did not venture out at night. They had no night vision googles, they had no GPS, and they didn’t even have flashlights. Yet they followed Joshua, made that night approach march, launched into an attack, and they routed their foe. 

Why did they do that? Because of Selfless Service.

A Sacred Vow:

The Army defines Selfless Service as putting the welfare of the Nation, the Army, and your comrades before your own. In this case the Israelites took extraordinary measures to put the welfare of the Gibeonites before their own welfare, or the welfare of their families.

In a deeper sense, they also did it because of the sacred vow that their nation had made to the Gibeonites. It was not just a covenant that Joshua had made, but one that all the people had made.

What does this history lesson have to do with our Memorial Day holiday?  Just this: Our nation has also made a sacred vow.  As Abraham Lincoln put it in the Gettysburg address, “Our forefathers brought forth a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.” 

The documents that established our nation asserted the inalienable rights that all people have to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The United States is not just the most powerful nation on earth; it is also the first nation on earth that committed itself to protecting the freedom and liberty given by God to all people, but enjoyed by far too few in the fallen world in which we live.

We have not always gotten this task right. We have made many grievous errors in our history, but we have always moved forward in our sacred task of preserving liberty. We must continue to do so, but the imperfect world in which we live makes that a difficult, and sometimes a seemingly impossible task. We are a shining city set upon a hill, but unfortunately, that also makes us a target.

In this world live bad men who align themselves with the forces of evil to take away the liberty and freedom of people. These bad men will stop at nothing to achieve their heinous goals. They would have all peoples living in bondage to the same twisted and evil philosophies in which they have ensnared themselves. They will stop at nothing, and so they must be stopped.

Selfless Service:

This then is where we come to today. We have set today aside to honor the Selfless Service of those who put their nation, their families, and their friends above themselves. Today we honor those who cashed the check that our nation wrote in our founding documents, the ones who paid the price for the cause of freedom and justice.

We honor those who followed the example of the Israelites, who, when they were called upon to fulfill their sacred duty, did so and who went above and beyond to accomplish their mission. Today we honor those who, when their nation asked “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us,” answered in the manner of the prophet Isaiah, who said “Here am I, send me.”

All who have worn their county’s uniform know of Selfless Service. They had to leave their homes, their families, and their friends to go to places they had never heard of before. They endured the hardships of training and preparation, and they learned to live in the most difficult locations and climates. 

Yes, all who wore the uniform know the meaning of Selfless Service, but only a few know what it means to give that last full measure of service, and we honor those today who laid their lives down on the altar of freedom. They have paid the price to stop those bad men who would not in the past, and still will not today, stop at anything so that the cause of freedom might die and the cause of oppression would rise triumphant. God forbid that this ever happens!

Dedication to the Fallen and to the Future:

Our honored dead took seriously their oath to “protect and defend the Constitution of the United States from all enemies foreign and domestic.” For them it was not just a ritual or a formality of enlistment, but also a sacred duty that cost them and their families everything. So today, as we remember those fallen for the cause of freedom, let us not do so with empty words. 

Today, let us renew our own devotion to protecting liberty and freedom so that these we remember will not have died in vain. Let us vow to never waste the Selfless Service of those gave their all on the altar of freedom.

Every blessing,

Dr. Otis Corbitt

A Word about Vision

 

Today I want to share a word about vision, as I comment on Acts 16:9-15. This passage reads:

During the night Paul had a vision: there stood a man of Macedonia pleading with him and saying, "Come over to Macedonia and help us." When he had seen the vision, we immediately tried to cross over to Macedonia, being convinced that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them. We set sail from Troas and took a straight course to Samothrace, the following day to Neapolis, and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city for some days. On the sabbath day we went outside the gate by the river, where we supposed there was a place of prayer; and we sat down and spoke to the women who had gathered there. A certain woman named Lydia, a worshiper of God, was listening to us; she was from the city of Thyatira and a dealer in purple cloth. The Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul. When she and her household were baptized, she urged us, saying, "If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my home." And she prevailed upon us.

Today as I share a word about vision, I am reminded of a conversation I had with my father years ago when I was a child. 

Jack of All Trades:

My dad was working on our carport, building a room divider with a counter top to install between our kitchen and our living room. As I watched him work, I was impressed in my young mind about how many things my dad could do with his hands. As he often told me, he was a “jack of all trades and a master of none," yet despite that I can’t remember any of his projects that did not turn out well.

In any case, as I was watching him work and handing him a tool when he needed me to, I asked him about the plans for the room divider. I did not see him working from any drawings and I was curious about how the design of this piece of furniture had come about. My dad just smiled, pointed to his head and said, “The plans are in here.” Then he bent back to his work.

A Clear Vision:

That was not the first or last time my father had a vision for a project, and then proceeded to carry-out that vision. Time and time again, I saw my dad ponder a project, see a solution to a problem, and then make it happen.

Come to think about it, he taught me to do the same thing; although I am not nearly as skilled with my hands as he was. Yet, his physical skills were not the vital issue with my dad’s projects. No, the key issue was vision. He saw what the future looked like in terms of a garden, a tractor shed, a room divider, or a back porch, and then he set out to realize that vision.

This is the same thing we observe in our focal passage for today. Paul had a vision that the people of Macedonia, in Europe, needed help. Of course, the best help anyone can give or get is the Gospel message, and so Paul and Silas took the Gospel to a new continent, one which was previously unreached by the church. Paul saw the Gospel penetrating Europe, and led and empowered by the Holy Spirit, he realized that vision.

I would never say that the scale and impact of my father’s visions for his projects would match the vision of Paul, but the fact is, without a vision, neither man would have accomplished what they did, size and import notwithstanding. I have heard the importance of a vision described in this way, “If you don’t see it before you see it, you’ll never see it!”

Take Off the Blinders:

What about us, today? Do we have a vision for what our churches could be like? Do we have a vision about what our individual ministries could be like? What about our families or our schools or our work places or our nation? 

So often the saying that we “can’t see the forest for the trees” applies to our lives. We go about our day-to-day existence like mules with blinders on as they walk in a circle powering a syrup mill (yes, my dad was from the country, and yes, I do live in Alabama).

We just plod along, one foot after the other, trudging through life. It doesn’t have to be that way, however.

Conclusion:

Let’s seek out God’s vision for our lives, our families, and our churches. Next, let us pray and ponder and meditate until God shows us the way to realize that vision. Then, like Paul on the grand stage of history, and like my father on the carport of our home, let’s make it happen!

Every blessing,

Dr. Otis Corbitt

A Word about a Ram

 

Today I want to share a word about a ram, as I comment on Genesis 22:6-14. This passage reads:

So Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife, and the two of them went together. But Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” Then he said, “Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” And Abraham said, “My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.” So the two of them went together. Then they came to the place of which God had told him. And Abraham built an altar there and placed the wood in order; and he bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, upon the wood. And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” So he said, “Here I am.” And He said, “Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.” Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son. And Abraham called the name of the place, The-Lord-Will-Provide; as it is said to this day, “In the Mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”

The Goats of My Pasture: 

As many of you already know, for the past eight years or so, my wife and I have maintained a small herd of goats our our rural homestead. We initially acquired a buck and two does so that they could keep the grass cropped in a field I had previously been mowing. We also got them to help clear out the underbrush in a stand of trees behind that field. They have done a great job of doing both these things, and they are also entertaining to watch as well. We have been impressed by how powerful they are when butting one another. They rear back only a few inches and the lunge forward with their heads in an impressive show of strength which reminds me of a coiled spring . . .  a massive coiled spring at that.

The species of goat in our herd is the Boer goat, which was originally bred in South Africa to produce meat. As such, they have a rambunctious nature and more aggressive personalities than diary goats. They are also inquisitive, and they can get themselves in trouble. Someone told me once that they are born trying to kill themselves, and I can see that. I have rescued several of our goats who got stuck in various trees and vines, and I often have to free the smaller animals from our pasture fence.

Our smaller goats will stick their heads through the wires squares in the fence to try to reach something that they imagine is good to eat. Their horns are curved to the rear, and they easily pass through the fence moving forward. Sadly, when they try to withdraw their heads, the horns, like the barbs on a fish hook, catch on the fence and they are stuck. Then they begin bleating and crying for help. Of course, their herd members would like to help them, but they can’t, and so they are stuck until my wife or I can come free them. 

Goats are alert and wily animals when it comes to threats from predators. I have often commented to my wife about how “tactically sound” they are. When they move in a column they send the weakest adult goats forward first, so that they can flush out any threats so that the biggest goats in the rear can respond with a counterattack. They graze in a skirmish line, and they circle-up to chew their cud with 360 degree security. If they could carry a rifle and use a compass they’d be great candidates for the US Army Ranger School! :-)

As alert as they are to the threats of  predators, inanimate objects seem to have them flummoxed. Every one of our goats has gotten caught in a tree, or vine, or fence at least once, and currently, a posse of three small brown ones need to be rescued frequently. Yet, we enjoy having them, and they serve us well in trimming the grass in a portion of our property. By the way, we don’t sell our goats for meat; they are too valuable to us as gardeners!

Because we have goats, and because sheep were an important part of the economy and society were we served as missionaries in West Africa, I am always drawn to Bible passages about sheep and goats. Our passage for today is particularly interesting because it involves a ram which was caught in a bush. This passage is primarily about Abraham’s faith and trust in God, but the ram does illustrate several points.

A Humbled Ram:

First, rams are aggressive and self assured creatures, that is, until they are humbled. Our buck goat is named Buster Junior after his father. Like his father, Buster is the Alpha male in our herd, and he has tried to bully me in the past. He tried, that is, until I kicked him in the teeth. After that, I have been the Alpha creature when I am inside the gate.

In this case, a mighty and powerful ram was caught by a humble thicket of thorns or vines. The ram was trapped and brought low so that God could make use of it for His own purposes. So it is with humans also. We bluster and bully our way though life until God kicks us in the teeth and confronts us with our sin and human frailties.

We must remember that God, “resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” Sometimes we have to get caught in a thicket to become the people God wants us to be.

An Available Ram:

I also think that the story of this ram is a great example of a divine appointment. It was no coincidence that this animal entrapped himself just when Abraham need to make a sacrifice to God. God brought that ram there, and He caught that ram in the thicket for His purposes and for the use by Abraham. Timing, and they say, is everything, but in this case it was a “God thing!”

The Biblical record and our own personal experiences tell us that God makes appointments for us that we don’t anticipate. This is what Esther was told in that famous passage that says, 

“For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?” Esther 4:14.

Paul told us to “redeem the time,” which is another way of saying “seize the day.” When God gives us the opportunity to be used by Him, we must take it, embrace it, and pursue it with all our being.  In the case of the ram, it meant being a sacrifice, and, to be honest, we also need to willing to be a sacrifice and well. As I have often heard Dr. Chuck Kelley say, “The problem with living sacrifices is that they crawl off the altar!” 

Let’s look for those divine appointments and take full advantage of them for God’s Kingdom.

A Captured Ram:

Finally, you can run but you can’t hide. If He wants to, God will catch you like He caught this ram. The Biblical record is clear and abundant that this is the case:

God found Adam and Eve after they has sinned.

God caught Jacob when he was on the run from Esau.

God chose Saul even though he hid behind his family.

God waited on David to come in from herding the sheep.

God appointed a fish to swallow Jonah to give him time to change his mind.

God called some back country fishermen to be fishers of men.

God kicked Saul in the teeth on the road to Damascus.

God caused Peter to dream of bacon and ham and shrimp and lobster (ok, that’s a little poetic license, I will admit, but its essential correct).

The moral of the story of the ram is this, “Never run from God, because all you’ll do is get tired before you get caught.”

Conclusion:

One reason I love the Bible it that is is so real, and so relatable to our lives. Even though our modern lives are so very different than in Biblical times, God’s Word has an amazing way of shining down through the centuries to shine like a spotlight on our lives. 

Let's learn from the story of this ram. Be humble, be available, and be willing to get caught but God. Not only will we be blessed, but God will also use us to bless others!

Every blessing,

I’m Dr. Otis Corbitt

A Word about Balance

 

Today I want to share a word about being in balance, as I comment on Matthew 6:9-13. This passage reads:

In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

The Struggle is Real:

It is always hard to people to keep their lives balanced. When we get out of balance, some disastrous things can happen. Let me illustrate that with an example of something I see almost every working day of my life.

The offices of the Baptist association I serve are located across the road and almost even with the end of the runaway of our local airport. Airplanes and helicopters fly in an out every day that the weather allows and sometimes it get pretty loud. I have gotten so accustomed to the sound that I really don’t hear it anymore. Airplanes of all shapes and sizes land at our airport, but there is one thing that they all have in common: they all have two wings. Balance is a vital factor for aviators, because an airplane that is not in balance from side to side and from front to back will crash. The same is true for our spiritual lives and our ministries as well. We must find the right balance. 

For example, we are reminded often that we must balance outreach and evangelism with discipleship and sanctification. This is true, even if it is hard to do. In the past I believe we have over-emphasized getting people baptized, while at the present time I fear we are over-emphasizing “going deep in our spiritual lives.” We humans are frail and limited and like Goldilocks, we find it hard to get it “just right.”

I am a Baptist and one of our major doctrines is the autonomy of the local church. Each Baptist church is self-governing under the Lordship and Christ and the leading of the Holy Spirit. I agree with this position, but I also know that sometimes we Baptists turn inward, become insular and isolationist and that we forget our broader responsibilities to the world. Often, I see Baptists who seem to think, “As long as everything is going well in our church, then all is right with the world.” Truth be told, we can substitute many different terms  for “church” in that statement above, including, “life,” “family,” “school,” “job,” “community,” or even “hobby,”

God's Point of View:

Our God, however, has a perspective much broader than our own. He is Sovereign over everything, and He has a fatherly concern for all Creation, and for all peoples. While we often have blinders on, God sees everything, and He cares about everything and everyone. Because Jesus is our Lord, good stewardship of our lives and our testimony for Him dictates that if God cares about something, or someone, we also need to care about them as well.

When we consider the Lord’s Prayer, we should be reminded that the Kingdom belongs to Jesus and that we belong to Jesus. As Paul taught, we have been bought with a price, and it was a high price. Therefore, we are servants of the Sovereign King, and if He is concerned about a crisis in a nation like Ukraine, then we need to be concerned about Ukraine. If God is concerned about justice and mercy, then we need to be concerned about justice and mercy. If God is concerned about righteousness and holiness, then we need to be concerned about righteousness and holiness. If God is concerned about a different church than ours, then we need to be concerned about that church as well.

To be balanced in this commentary, I know that even when we are concerned about the issues and people God is concerned about, we may not have an opportunity to act. To that point, I assert that when we do have the opportunity to take action, we should. When we don’t have the opportunity to take action, we can always pray, and in fact we should also pray before, during, and after taking action.

God did not intend for us to belong hermit churches. The way I see it, the doctrine of the Kingdom of God is a great balance to the doctrine of the autonomy of the local church. We need to be Kingdom-minded people, churches, and pastors. 

If our Sovereign cares about something, so should we!

Every blessing,

Dr. Otis Corbitt

A Word about a Worthy Lamb

Today I want to share a word about a Worthy Lamb, as I comment on Revelation 5:11-14. This passage reads: 

Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels surrounding the throne and the living creatures and the elders; they numbered myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, singing with full voice, "Worthy is the Lamb that was slaughtered to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!" Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, singing, "To the one seated on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!" And the four living creatures said, "Amen!" And the elders fell down and worshiped.

It is always hard to say goodbye. One of the most memorable goodbyes ever said happened in 1983, when the TV show M*A*S*H ended its 11 year run.  The final episode was entitled “Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen.”  It remains one of the highest rated TV episodes ever. 

In this episode, the Korean war has come to an end and each of the characters is considering what they will do with their future and they are saying their goodbyes to one another, all except one character. In the show, the character of B.J. Honeycutt refuses to tell anyone goodbye, insisting that he will see his friends again.

 In the same way today, when that time comes for us to part will do not say goodbye, instead we will say, “Farewell.” We say this because we know that we will meet again, and when we do we will be gathered for an unusual purpose.  We will be gathered to praise a humble little lamb.

What is a lamb worth?  $50?  $75?  Maybe $100?  A single little humble lamb isn't worth very much in today's economy is it?  Yet in Biblical times, a single lamb was worth a great deal, both  economically and spiritually.  This is especially true if it was an unblemished lamb prepared for sacrifice. 

FIRST WE SEE THAT THE LAMB IS WORTHY TO BE PRAISED:

Jesus is God. He is sinless, righteous, perfect. He is also loving, kind, and giving. He’s all knowing, all powerful, all present.

Jesus was also human. Even while we were sinners, He left heaven to come to earth. He came down to earth and limited Himself for us. He identified Himself with us, and lived like we do.

Jesus became our Sacrificial Lamb: He paid our debt and He suffered for our sin. He bridged the gap between God and Us.

Who else is truly worthy of praise? What politician?  What entertainer? What athlete? What preacher? All pale in comparison with the Lamb Which Was Slain!

NEXT WE SEE THAT THE LAMB IS WORTHY TO SAVE US:

In manufacturing, the quality of material is vital. Good quality material may produce a good product, but bad quality material will produce a bad product. As the saying goes in programming computers: “Garbage in, garbage out.” 

A famous house along the lower Mississippi River in Louisiana was named Nottoway Plantation because no timbers with knots were used in its construction. It survives even today as an example of a beautiful antebellum home. Its builder used only the best material available to him.

God's perfect processes require perfect materials. He is perfect, and He can't abide any imperfection. A speck of dust can ruin an electronic instrument and an almost microscopic tobacco leaf could puncture a tube in tire, when cars used them. The Bible says our righteousness is filthy rags before God and we simply can't satisfy God's requirements.

Only Christ is worthy to save. Only He lived a perfect human life. Only He died a perfect sacrifice. Only He is worthy to open the Book of Life. Only He is worthy to bring this world to a just end.

FINALLY, WE MUST ADMIT THAT THE LAMB IS WORTHY TO BE OBEYED:

 To whom do you listen? Those whom you respect and those whom you feel are worthy of your time and effort. These are people like, your physician, your lawyer, your accountant, or an architect or an engineer. Revelation tells us that Jesus is far more worthy than any of these!

Expert advice should be heeded; they know what we don't. They have skills we don't. For their abilities to help us, however, we must follow their advice. Many business owners have ignored of their accountant, and in the end they paid expensive fines and other penalties.

Jesus is an expert on abundant life! John 10:10 He said that. “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. Jesus has abundant advice on how to live abundantly, but his advice does us no good if we ignore it!

CONCLUSION:

John the Revelator gave us a glimpse of Heaven and a glimpse of our future in Revelation 5. He showed us that the destiny of all Christians is to gather around the Throne for eternity and proclaim that the Lamb is worthy. If we are going to be doing that in the hereafter, why don’t we start doing that in the here-and-now? 

Good question, no? Do we have a good answer?

Every blessing,

Dr. Otis Corbitt