We begin this week by celebrating Memorial Day as we remember all who have died in the service of our country. For those of us who have not lost family or friends in service, we may observe this day in some way, but then go on about our business. In war the number of fatalities and injured can be so staggering that we stop thinking in terms of people and lives, and we just see numbers. Many of us were relieved last week as “only” 24 people lost their lives in the tornado that hit Moore, OK. Regardless of the number, each life is important. And we must never forget those who died to win and maintain our freedom.
Following is a partial list of the wars and conflicts resulting in United States deaths. We must also remember all who have given their lives in ways that we will never know.
War or Conflict (Total Dead)
Civil War (~625,000)
World War I (116,516)
World War II (405,399)
Greek Civil War (6)
Korean War (36,516)
Vietnam War (58,209)
Bay of Pigs Invasion (4)
Iran (8)
El Salvador Civil War (37)
Beirut deployment (266)
Persian Gulf escorts (39)
Invasion of Grenada (19)
1986 Bombing of Libya (2)
Invasion of Panama (40)
Gulf War (294)
Operation Provide Comfort (19)
Somalia (43)
Haiti (4)
Colombia (8)
Bosnia-Herzegovina (12)
NATO bombing of Yugoslavia (20)
Afghanistan (2,031)
Iraq War (4,487)
War on Terror: Afghanistan and Iraq Wars (6,518)
Around Memorial Day, we hear phrases like “Some gave all. All gave some.”
What motivates a person to give all?
As Christians, we know we have dual citizenship: we are citizens of this world, but also citizens of heaven. We know that our freedom in both of these cannot be taken for granted. Martin Luther in The Freedom of a Christian reminds us that:
A Christian is a perfectly free lord of all, subject to none.
A Christian is a perfectly dutiful servant of all, subject to all.
As citizens both of this world and of heaven, we are free. We also bear responsibility to our neighbor.
This Week
Take time this week to do the following:
- Read Galatians 5:13-26
- Look up Bible verses related to freedom. You may want to use the concordance in the back of your Bible, a concordance, or one of the many online resources (BibleStudyTools.com, NET.Bible.org, BibleGateway.com. Feel free to share what you find on my blog or in Facebook. Be sure not only to read the verse, but the verses around it to get the context. Reading only select verses can lead to misinterpreting the intent of the Scriptures which is called “proof texting”.
- Write about the first time you recall being really aware of your freedom. You may want to include significant moments since then.
- What people in your life have influenced the development of your faith? What did they do? Could you do that for someone else?
- If you haven’t yet, please consider making a financial contribution to benefit Oklahoma.
Epicurious Lutheran 