WILLING TO DIE FOR?

What are you willing to die for? For what cause or person would you be willing to sacrifice your life? That's a good question to consider today, because this Memorial Day weekend is set aside to remember those who have died in the Armed Forces of our nation.

What are you willing to die for? You might ask that of Hilbert Schauer who grew up in Kansas during the dust bowl depression. Being from a large family, he saw the hopelessness that came from crop failure, banks closing and dust sifting through the cracks and into the home. It hit his family most terribly when Hilbert's father died from dust pneumonia, leaving a large family behind.

When America was attacked in WWII, Hilbert entered the Army and was commissioned an officer in charge of a company of black soldiers. Though he'd hardly even seen a black man before the war, he was now ranking officer in a company of them. 

And hardest of all, their task was munitions disposal. His company was there to get rid of unexploded bombs, shells, grenades and anything else that blew up. Many in his company including some officers, died in the course of their duties, but Hilbert made it through the war okay.

He became a lawyer and then was appointed a district court judge, and eventually even a judge in the Colorado Supreme Court where he served many years until he retired. I am certain his response to the question, "What are you willing to die for?" would have included a variety of answers. Hilbert is a fine Christian man and a fellow member of my church. He helped to establish three Lutheran congregations in the Parker, CO, area.

Maybe another question we might ask is, "What was Jesus willing to die for?" Would the people He died for be the good people, the noble, the well educated or the wealthy? Or would He also be willing to die for the poor, the sick and the sinners? 

We know that answer to that one. Jesus died for us all, the rich or the poor, the wise and the wise guys, the good guys and the bad guys. Jesus was willing to die for them all. And that includes you and me!

That ought to make our Memorial Day a little brighter.