Sermon - I'm in the Lord's Army

I’m in the Lord’s Army!

26/08/07

When I was young we used to sing a song in Sunday School called “I’m in the Lord’s Army”. The version we sang was a little different to the original –here’s how we used to do it…

I’m in the Lord’s Army

I’m too young to march in the infantry, Ride in the cavalry, Shoot the artillery.
I’m too young to fly o'er the enemy, But I'm in the Lord's army. (yes, sir!)
I'm in the Lord's army, (yes, sir!) I'm in the Lord's army, (yes, sir!)
I’m too young to march in the infantry, Ride in the Calvary, Shoot the artillery.
I’m too young to fly o'er the enemy, But I'm in the Lord's army. (yes, sir!)

We used to really love singing that song! I’m not sure how much I understood about what it means to be in the Lord’s army, but whatever it was, armies mean battles and weapons and armour and all that sort of stuff that little boys love!

It reminds me of another song that I sing sometimes called “I was only 19”. One of the lines in it goes like this:

“And the ANZAC legends didn’t mention mud and blood and tears. And the stories that my father told me never seemed quite real.”

The ideas that children have about things like armies and war and battles as children are usually to do with adventure and heroism. They usually don’t involve the pain and fear and futility that real war brings.

But the song I sang as a child was not talking about real war. It was talking about being in a spiritual battle. And the concept of being in this battle, which once seemed so exciting, often seems to lose it’s appeal as we get older, and we become more aware of what it costs.

Matthew 6:24

^24 “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.

There is a general principle here, followed by a specific application. Jesus is saying that you cannot serve 2 masters. You cannot have divided loyalties. You will either be devoted to one or the other. Whatever you are not devoted to, you will despise in comparison.

Jesus talks about God and Money. There’s nothing wrong with money. There’s nothing wrong with making a lot of money. But if you are devoted to money, you will despise God in comparison. If you are devoted to God, you will despise money in comparison.

What would the people closest to you say that you most care about? Would people say that you care most about money? Would they say that you care most about having a good time? Perhaps it’s your devotion to your family? Maybe it’s your reputation or some cause that you are involved with.

What would you say of yourself? What do you most care about? Who do you most care about?

This week I watched the last half of a movie called “The Devil Wears Prada”. A young lady works for a tyrannical boss, but is also lured by the glamour of her job and the “success” she is experiencing. At a key moment she is trying to work things through with her boyfriend and her mobile phone rings – it’s her boss. The boyfriend says “You know, in case you were wondering - the person whose calls you always take? That's the relationship you're in. I hope you two are very happy together.”

That young lady had not realised that when you are fully devoted to something, you despise anything that gets in the way of your devotion. Her boyfriend and her other friends had come to realise that even though she genuinely cared for them, they always came second to the job and to the demands of the boss. Every time a decision had to be made, the job won. Every time someone had to be disappointed or let down, it was them. They began to resent that.

I wonder if God feels like that with us sometimes. I wonder if God gets sick of having His appointments with us cancelled because of work demands or leisure activities or social commitments. I wonder if God wishes that we would put some more effort into our relationship with Him and our work for His kingdom, instead of being pulled away by other masters?

Jesus says in Matthew 10:37-34…

“Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; ^38 and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. ^39 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”

We can only have one Master!

Paul writes on the same theme to Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:3-4…

Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. ^4 No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs—he wants to please his commanding officer.

We are faced with decisions about what we get involved with all the time. We are always being pulled in one direction or another. Do you take the time to consider what will please your commanding officer? Do you remember that you are in the Lord’s Army? Do you remember that we are in a spiritual battle, not a pleasure cruise or a working holiday?

What does it mean for us to not get involved in civilian affairs? Does that mean that we can join a Bible study group but not the Tennis club?

Nope - it means that whatever we do, we do it for Christ.

I had a discussion about this during the week with Carolyn. We were talking about the book club that I’m in, and my reasons for joining it. I want to share those reasons with you as an illustration of what we’re talking about today.

I am in a book club because I am a Christian. I am a Christian who enjoys reading, and thinking about what I read. I am a Christian who wants to be involved with people who don’t yet know Christ. I am a Christian who wants opportunities to talk with people about meaningful and interesting subjects, in the hope that as we do so there will be something that shines out of me that reflects the character of Jesus. I want to build relationships with people that provide opportunities to share the gospel appropriately. I am not there for fun, even though I enjoy it. I am not there to gain friends, even though I really enjoy and respect the other members and want to grow in friendship with them. I find some of these things a bit frightening, but I am there because I am in the Lord’s army. Otherwise I would be at home playing computer games or watching T.V.!

However, despite my motives for joining book club it would still be quite easy for me to lose sight of those motives. Plenty of people have joined clubs and groups or gotten into the habit of going to certain places for good reasons, only to lose sight of those reasons and get pulled into a “civilian” (what we often call “secular”) agenda. Instead of being a godly influence on others, we allow the “world” to influence us. We need to keep in step with the Spirit. We need to be keeping our attention on Christ in everything that we do. We need to be asking for His help to do the things that He has called us to do. If we go into battle without our spiritual armour on, we are walking into danger.

When you think about your work life, family life, community life, church life and so on; are you able to say that you are doing what your commanding officer wants you to do? Or are you involved in civilian affairs? Have you forgotten that being a Christian means coming under the Lordship of Christ, and have you wandered off doing what you think is best or what you feel pressured into?

No-one can serve 2 masters. Whom do you serve?