Last week, I toured a couple of Civil War battlefield sites. They were clean, green, and beautiful, much different than they were the days that made them famous. Antietam was a particularly sobering place to tour. Our guide walked us to several places where ferocious combats were fought, places where thousands of men died. To emphasize the terrible outcome of the battle, the ranger told us that on that day, a soldier was either killed or injured every two seconds for twelve hours straight. Most of the wounded died from their injuries. It was the highest one-day loss of life due to war in the history of our country.
Later, I had the chance to chat with the spokesman of the 5th Michigan, a regiment of men who gather to reenact civil war era military training and battle tactics for park visitors. We agreed on the horrific nature of the battleground and what it represented. I wondered at the people who were quoted (repeatedly and in many places) as saying that they fought because they believed in their cause so deeply that they were willing to die for it. For some, it was to end slavery. For others, it was to defend their homeland and way of life. Still others to preserve or destroy the “Union.” But the commitment was to the death.
His response was sobering as well. “There aren’t a lot of folks nowadays who believe like that,” he said. Huh. Nothing worth dying for…
I’ve heard occasionally that there were things “to die for,” but those were most often luxuries, items that were costly and so enjoyable that they were rare and coveted. The experience of such things was “to die for!” Of course, that’s nonsense. No luxury is worth dying for, and we all know it.
But these men went without luxury or even daily necessities in order to fight for something they believed in. Many had no shoes, most fought with empty stomachs and empty pockets – almost nothing to their name but their beliefs. They marched for days with little to eat and no rest, only to charge into a bloody battle at the end. They endured things most of us could never imagine, and did so voluntarily, all because they believed in something profoundly enough to lose their lives for it.
I have to ask myself, “What do I believe in enough to face the muzzle of a loaded cannon at 70 feet, and still charge?” It makes me wonder about my own beliefs and commitments.
It also reminds me of Someone else who rushed toward a different kind of terrible death. He believed in something enough to die for it – and we were part of that something. Jesus took a whole lot worse than an empty stomach and shoe-less feet to his death. He took the sins of us all, and did so willingly. He knew exactly why and for what he fought – joy and our freedom from sin (see Hebrews 12:1-2).
I think the apostle Paul provides us a good example of that kind of commitment, too. He almost died repeatedly because he believed in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and wasn’t afraid to declare it. Later, he summed it up succinctly. “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” (Philippians 1:21)
I am somewhat surprised by the implication in his statement. If we have something we can die for, then we have something to live for, too…
The people who died at Antietam did so with honor and bravery. Jesus did so with love and mercy. Paul faced his with commitment and other-centeredness. Their examples encourage me to live in a similar manner. And so I shall, as God gives me strength and wisdom to do so.
“If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.” (Rom. 14:8)
May our Lord grant us all grace to live as though we are ready to die…