DEVOTION TO DUTY

Genesis 24: 34-38; 42-49, 58-67; Matthew 8: 5-10

There are times when the paths of the cross and the flag ought not to cross because they are crossways with one another: today is not such a time.  The very devotion to duty that makes a chain of command work in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, or the National Guard is built on the backbone of those who know their job, carry out their job, and have pride in their job. We’ll refer to two Bible stories that exemplify such devotion to duty too. Over fifty years ago General Eisenhower rebuked one of his generals for referring to a soldier as “just a private.” Eisenhower retorted, “If this war is won, it will be won by privates.” He was right and his concept was right. There might be a general with a great vision and strategic plan, but without men and women to carry it out faithfully, the plan will fail. Hollywood sometimes finds its stories in those who are flashy, who do things against orders, who try something new on their own, or who become rebels on the screen.  But armed forces are successful from those at the receiving end of orders carrying out their duty. And devotion to that duty is heightened when there is belief in the person giving the orders.  The work forces of automobile, computer, construction companies, and shipyards produce excellent products when there is devotion among their workers: common devotion.  Walt Disney, and later Michael Eisner, worked to make a visit to the Magic Kingdom magical, with an ethos of excellence, cleanliness, and hospitality. When producing a product, a goal of zero defects seems lofty when 99.9% percent seems attainable. But one study produced these frightening results when 99.9% right: We would all have one hour of unsafe drinking water every month; 20,000 incorrect drug prescriptions would be given each year; 500 incorrect surgical operations would be performed each week; 50 babies would be dropped at birth by their doctors, and 32,000 heartbeats would be skipped by the average human being each year! Suddenly zero defects or errors seem worthwhile, and they all depend on believing in leaders, following a plan, and having devotion to duty.  How many people refuse to work or do it with a disgruntled attitude simply because they think they are “too good” for their job? Work done well is both admirable and necessary.  In a church, for example, there is no job that is lowly and no job that is unimportant. In addition to what pastors do, producing bulletins and newsletters, serving food, cleaning floors, repairing locks, sharpening pencils,  and pulling weeds, are all important for this ship to sail smoothly. On a cruise, you might have a captain who greets you in a stately manner, but if your stateroom is dirty or your food inedible, the voyage would be most unpleasant. Devotion to a task, and working in tandem with others is vital. Before he was a Princeton professor, J. Gresham Machan served in World War I. He was already a fine theologian and could have counseled countless men in their times of anguish or despair. Instead at one point, he was assigned to make hot chocolate every morning to be ready by 7 am. Long before the days of instant anything, he got up before 5:00 am each morning and took chocolate bars and shaved them into slivers. Then he’d melt them, adding condensed milk and water and heat all the ingredients. From 7:00 until 9:00 am, he served the drinks to others, not getting to pause for his own breakfast until mid-morning. Machen honored his Savior, who, at one point washed the feet of his disciples, and he honored the chain of command by doing his task without complaining. The world is better because of such hard working and faithful servants.

Today we learn about a man who took the word of, or one might say, the “authority of,” Jesus and on his word went back to find his servant healed. His request of Jesus inspires our faith even today: “Lord, just speak the word and my servant will be healed, for I also am a man under authority.” To those who command or lead, and to those who are commanded or follow, the same trust and devotion blesses all if it blesses one. It was a life-changing day to have twelve rough and rugged men see their master lean down and clean their dirty, cut-covered and calloused feet.  That example, like a ripple in a pond, has changed the world, and it should most often change Christians. Sadly, there are some Christian preachers and priests over the years who have been treated more like a king, or movie star than as a servant. All would do well to remember Jesus’ example: washing feet, riding a donkey, speaking to women and men of questionable cleanliness: Jesus did all of those; and as he faced the cross, he didn’t buy into Judas’ idea of revolt as the better idea; as much as it troubled and perhaps even terrified him, he stayed devoted to his Heavenly Father, to live out a deadly plan, only through which, life was snatched from the jaws of death. If our Lord had not “followed orders” so to speak, the world and its salvation plan would be drastically different.

So one of the great stories of devotion to duty and honor to God is in Genesis 24.  It  repeats itself a couple of times, but in the parts read today I hope you followed the story: Father Abraham was getting older and wanted to find a bride for his son Isaac, which in those days a father sometimes did. He asked his servant to swear to him by sacred oath that he would bring someone willing to marry Isaac, sight unseen, but not one of the locals; he wanted a girl from his hometown; and he didn’t want Isaac moving back there, he wanted her willing to move where he was! He gave his servant the words to use and told him that if he did as requested, Abraham would ask God to send an angel along with him to make his trip successful. Certainly in our world today there would have been room for protest! “You want me to take camels and do what? And to whom? And for what reason?” But the faithful servant instead follows directions. He sets out, loaded with gold for the bride price and hospitality gold to pay for a room, and he prays for God to lead him to the right person. As providence would have it, a girl named Rebekah, the one of God’s dreams and of Abraham’s request, is the one he came to first. She is kind and gracious, and agrees to his request to stay overnight with her family for the night. The servant also is a man of God, and asks God to cause a specific conversation with a specific action to take place to show him he has the right girl. With flying colors he believes in Rebekah and returns with her to her family. They all talk, he shows them his gifts that amount to earnest money on their daughter as the bride of Isaac, and they agree. In their heart of hearts, they ask for her to stay ten extra days before she goes, but the servant is under orders and asks that it be left up to Rebekah. She agrees to leave right away, and in faith accompanies that servant back to a foreign land to honor his request and meet the man she is to marry. She trusts in part because Abraham is an uncle and marrying cousins happened all the time in those days. As she draws close to the place where Abraham lived, she sees Isaac walking toward them, slips from her camel, covers her face in the custom of modesty and as a sign of her virginity (as described in verse 16), and meets her future husband.

Nothing in God’s plan would have worked in the same way if Abraham had not trusted God, the servant had not believed in God or been willing to follow his master’s requests, if Rebekah had not been willing or her parents not cooperative. Today, whether speaking about faith, or family, or the flag, devotion and faithful work is the linchpin of success. In our day of replying “No way!” or “Why?” there are examples where willingness to work is the way that honors God and serves a greater good.  Like a General who honored the private, the theologian who shaved chocolate, the centurion who took Jesus at his word, and the young woman who agreed to travel to another country with a servant: honoring work, workers, and the one who blesses us is the higher way of living, the Christian way of living, and the way that has, and still can, change the world.

Jeffrey A. Sumner                                                  July 6, 2008