Good morning, My Dear Friends,
As you read this, Imagine Church is beginning the second week of serving as an early voting location for York County. We felt it was a way we could offer meaningful community service, and that it allowed our church family members to fulfill a patriotic duty. The experience has reminded me of all kinds of patriotic stories as well.
There was the time back during the Civil War when President Abraham Lincoln was in desperate need of information about enemy troop movements. He met with someone who had experience serving as a secret agent. As the two men visited together, Lincoln said, “Jim, how much do you love your country?” “I reckon I would die for her,” said Jim. “I can find 10,000 men who are willing to die for America,” replied Lincoln. “I want you to live for her.” Lincoln fully understood the risks and dangers of espionage. If caught and exposed, the agent could well suffer a fate worse than death.
Will Rogers once said, “A lot of people who say they are willing to die for a cause ain’t willing to live for it.” That’s the point Lincoln was trying to make to his friend on that long-ago day. Values worth dying for are also worth living for. Some things are worth the investment of our lives.
For one, there is the matter of our self-esteem. I once read a penetrating question, “If everything that could be taken from us were gone, what would we have left?” That’s an interesting area for thought. We hold so few permanent possessions. Health is always subject to unexpected illness; family circles can be broken by death; wealth can be eroded by economic conditions. Only a few things can’t be taken from us unless we are willing to give them away. Among those possessions is integrity — that inner sense of rightness which comes from an allegiance to principle.
In a biography of Robert E. Lee, there is an illustration about the sterling character of that esteemed American. Lee was asked to lend his name to a highly lucrative scheme but one of questionable ethics. He is reported to have said, “I lost everything in the war except my name, and that is not for sale. If I lose that, I have nothing.”
Another possession worth living for is inner peace. There is an old painting about the final trial of Jesus. Pilate is dressed in his royal robes, with the symbol of his authority in his hand. Before him stood Jesus in simple white, completely helpless and without defense. Pilate attempted to badger Jesus, but the prisoner stood quietly and confidently and said not a single word. The painting is entitled, “Christ Before Pilate,” but we now know it was the other way around. It was Pilate who was on trial that day. The Nazarene carpenter claims the allegiance of millions, while Pilate’s name is only a footnote in history. Jesus knew that honor and decency prevail in this world and not even the power of Rome can set them aside.
Finally, the future is worth living for. There is an old fable about a land where the king could only rule for one year. At the end of that year, he was banished to an island to spend the rest of his days. Each king who reigned lived in mortal fear of that day. One king, however, was wise. He chose his island. While he was still king, he took his treasures and established a paradise in which to live when he no longer had his throne.
Indeed, each of us is a king with limited tenure here. Happy is the person who uses what he or she has today as an investment in tomorrow. Anyone who lives one’s life so that he or she can look back and not be ashamed is rich.
May you have a peace that no one can give you or take away,
Bruce Jones, Pastor
Imagine Church
