Everyone who has ever served has one particular saying pummeled into them throughout their time in the military, “Leave no man behind.” Whether it’s your closest battle buddy or a soldier from another unit, you knew that everyone understood that whether alive or dead, we were all coming home. Being a Combat medic, this was even closer to my heart. We all knew that those men to our left and to our right would chance death from a hellfire of incoming fire for a brother in arms. We lived this concept for the entire time we served and there is no reason why we shouldn’t do the same after we leave the military. There is no reason why we should allow any veteran to suffer or to be lost. With all the VA issues and government carelessness that has come to light in recent days, it has become clear that we are going to have to do a lot of the heavy lifting ourselves. So how can we transition “leave no man behind” to the civilian world? How can we gather veterans together as warriors of faith to help veterans in need?
Luke 15: 1-7 says that when a sheep goes missing from the flock we must leave the 99 to find the one. During a combat mission, if a vehicle in a convoy was struck and disabled, leaving the men of that crew stranded, everyone in the area would go out in full force to go recover and rescue our men and equipment. We have to link up with our fellow veterans to create a force of faithful warriors. We must gear up with the armor of God and walk out into the battlefield in order to rescue and recover our brothers and sisters who are hurting, lost and cannot find their way home.
Luke 15:8-10, the parable of the woman who lost one of her ten coins shows us that every person must be fought for. This woman lit up her house, grabbed her broom, cleaned and searched for her lost coin, and when she found it she rejoiced and announced it to everyone. This shows us what the next part of our retraining must be. During the war, whenever there was a mission to recover a lost soldier, we would exhaust all means to make sure that we were ready and that, no matter what, we would succeed. We would make sure that our gear was ready, we would plan our approach and then plan for contingencies. We would execute to perfection and God willing, the moment we returned with our brethren, we would celebrate. Why wouldn’t we perfect our method for saving our veterans? We must make sure that every hurting veteran knows that God awaits for them to come home. He is ready to welcome everyone of us into His embracing arms. He watches every day for us to return home, patiently waiting for the day He sees us walking down the road towards Him.
In Luke 15:11-32 the good news is explained in detail. How our Father waits and on that day we return, how He will throw his best coat upon us. How He will kiss us upon our heads and hold us tightly. How He will place the ring on our finger stating to the world we are His sons and daughters. The celebration to follow will be unlike any other. In this verse the father harvests the fattest calf he has. Not some dinky barbeque, but a feast to feed every neighbor. Every city official and anyone walking by at the time will be told to let the world know His son has arrived at last. If you are lost or in pain, turn to Him. He is waiting eagerly for your return.
Let’s now act to create a fellowship amongst ourselves. Get your best gear, plan the mission and plan for contingencies. Search and exhaust all means possible, never quit, never fail, and with every veteran we help home, let us rejoice and give thanks to God. For it’s His plan and His timing.
