John 15:13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.

THE STORY OF THE FOUR CHAPLAINS

The story of the Four Chaplains is one of faithful service and sacrifice so others could live. The Dorchester was a coastal passenger steamship ship first launched in 1926. As America mobilized for WW II, it was delivered to the War Shipping Administration and converted to a troopship in New York where it was fitted with additional lifeboats, life rafts, and armament.

The Dorchester departed New York on January 23rd, 1943 bound for St. John’s Newfoundland where it would join a convoy bound for the Army Command Base at Narsarsuaq, Greenland.
It was the evening of Feb. 2, 1943, and the Dorchester was crowded to capacity with 904 souls aboard. Hans Danielsen, the ship’s captain, was a cautious man. He knew they were in dangerous waters and that German U- boats were constantly prowling the sea lanes, and several ships had already been sunk. While only 150 miles from its destination, the captain ordered the men to sleep that night in their clothing with their life jackets on. Many soldiers sleeping deep in the ship’s hold disregarded the order because of the engine’s heat. Others ignored it because the life jackets were
uncomfortable.

On Feb. 3, at about 1 AM, a periscope broke the chilly Atlantic waters and the German submarine U-223 spotted the Dorchester and fired. One torpedo hit —striking the starboard side — far below the water line. Within minutes the Captain gave the order to abandon ship. In less than 20 minutes, the Dorchester would slip beneath the Atlantic’s icy waters. Panic and chaos had set in. Men jumped from the ship into lifeboats, over-crowding them to the point of capsizing. Through the chaos, four Army chaplains brought hope in despair and light in darkness. Those chaplains were Lt. George Fox, Methodist; Lt. Alexander Goode, Jewish; Lt. John Washington, Roman Catholic; and Lt. Clark Poling, Dutch Reformed. Quickly and quietly, the four spread out among the soldiers and sailors. There they tried to calm the frightened, tend the wounded and guide the disoriented toward safety. One Army Private found himself floating in oil- smeared water surrounded by dead bodies and debris. “I could hear men crying, pleading, praying,” He recalled. “I could also hear the chaplains preaching courage and calling us to them. Their voices were the only thing that kept me going.” Another, sailor PO John Mahoney tried to reenter his cabin, but Rabbi Goode stopped him. The sailor explained he had forgotten his gloves. “Never mind,” CH Goode responded. “I have two pairs.” The rabbi then gave the petty officer his own gloves. In retrospect, Mahoney realized that Rabbi Goode was not carrying two pairs of gloves, and that the rabbi had decided not to leave the Dorchester.

By this time, most of the men were topside, and the chaplains opened a storage locker and began distributing life jackets. It was then that Engineer Grady Clark witnessed an astonishing sight. When there were no more lifejackets in the storage room, the chaplains removed theirs and gave them to four frightened young men. “It was the finest thing I have seen or hope to see this side of heaven,” said John Ladd, another survivor who saw the chaplains’ selfless act. Ladd’s response is understandable. The altruistic action of the four chaplains constitutes one of the purest spiritual and ethical acts a person can make. When giving their life jackets, Rabbi Goode did not call out for a Jew; Father Washington did not call out for a Catholic; nor did the Reverends Fox and Poling call out for a Protestant. They simply gave their life jackets to the next man in line. As the ship went down, survivors in nearby rafts could see the four chaplains —arms linked and braced against the slanting deck. Their voices could also be heard, offering prayers. When the news reached American shores, the nation was stunned by the magnitude of the tragedy and heroic conduct of the four chaplains.

In John 15:13, Jesus said, “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends (John 15:13 NIV).” That night those four chaplains passed love’s ultimate test. In doing so, they became an enduring example of extraordinary faith, courage, and selflessness.

As a postscript I want you to know that the Dorchester is best remembered today by the Four Chaplains who died because they gave up their life jackets to save others. And to note:
• On December 19, 1944, all four chaplains were posthumously awarded the Purple Heart and the Distinguished Service Cross.
• In 1948 the U.S. Post Office issued a commemorative stamp in honor of the heroism and sacrifice of the chaplains. This stamp was highly unusual, because until 2011, U.S. stamps were not normally issued in honor of someone other than a President of the United States until at least ten years after his or her death.

• On July 14, 1960, Congress created the Chaplain’s Medal for Heroism. It was presented posthumously to the next of kin of each of the chaplains in ceremonies at Fort Myer, Virginia on January 18, 1961.
• In 1998, on the 55th anniversary of the sinking of the Dorchester,
Congress established February 3 as “Four Chaplains Day” to commemorate their act of heroism.
• And most Army Chapels hold a Four Chaplains service on the first
Sunday in February ever year.

Let this story of four faithful Christian Ministers give you strength to stand strong in the battles you are fighting. Allow the Holy Spirit to give you strength, honor, and service to those whom God puts in your path. As you do, your Lightnside will shine bright and others will be blessed.

Remember the Four Chaplains

This devotion was presented to the National Adult & Teen Challenge Board meeting in April by John J. Rossi.

Romans 8:22 For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now.

One of the lessons from the scripture today may be one we do not particularly want to hear. Before the resurrection, there is a cross. Good Friday comes before Easter. The hard lesson for today is sooner or later, life will involve us in real pain.

The gift nobody wants! The symptoms of pain and illness are not the same thing. The illness exists long before the symptoms of pain. The feeling of pain can be the beginning cure of the illness. The fact that they are unwanted makes them even more a phenomenon of grace— a gift of God to initiate self-examination and repair.   M. SCOTT PECK

C.S. Lewis The Problem with Pain

 From the loss of his mother at a young age to the untimely death of his wife Joy, Lewis experienced pain as God’s megaphone, as he says, to rouse a deaf world. Pain leads us somewhere – to something. That something is a life of faith. Just as there is importance placed in a strong rope when you’re dangling from a precipice, faith is the only way to pull ourselves out from a life of desperation, a life of anxiety and need, a life of doubt and insecurity.

But how can faith be present if we don’t realize we need something beyond our own person? How do we believe unless we recognize how frail our efforts have become to maintain everything just so?

Lewis says that we must understand our fallenness. He interprets the fall of humanity not only as an opportunity for evil to thrive, but also the choice to ignore the purpose of pain. Christianity creates the problem of pain because it provides hope for righteousness and love. Without the revelation that God loves us, the painful world would make sense. Pain would have no cause. Let’s face it: it’s much easier to dismiss God or to regard him only as an airman regards his parachute, as Lewis says, there only if he needs it but he hopes he never does.

When we run headlong into God, Lewis contends that pain is demanded. Why? “How impossible it is to enact the surrender of the self by doing what we like,” he says. The truth is that at the heart of God’s love is a suffering Messiah and followers who take up crosses and follow in like fashion.

“If I knew any way of escape I would crawl through sewers to find it,” Lewis writes. “I am not arguing that pain is not painful. Pain hurts. That is what the word means. I am only trying to show that the old Christian doctrine of being made “perfect through suffering” is not incredible. To prove it palatable is beyond my design.”

The Power of Pain

 Maturity

I Peter 5:10 “But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, establish, strengthen, settle you.”

Humility

Paul’s thorn in the flesh helped him remember that he was still human walking in the flesh. II Corinthians 12:7 “And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.”

 Birth – physical and spiritual – requires pain.

 Physical – John 16:21 “A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembered no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world.”

Spiritual – James 1:2-4 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

Eternity for the Saints, no more pain.

Revelation 21:4 “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.” 

When in pain, remember it is God’s gift and desire to do more excellent work in our life for physical, emotional, and spiritual health. Lightnside

New wine must be put into new wineskins

Mark 2:21-22   No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; or else the new piece pulls away from the old, and the tear is made worse. ²² And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine bursts the wineskins, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But new wine must be put into new wineskins.”

In Mark the religious leaders criticized Jesus for almost everything.  Healing on Sunday, eating with tax collectors and not fasting the traditional way with the traditional rules. Jesus responded with a comment that was not just about fasting but all the issues listed in Mark.  There is a new kingdom coming into the world that will not work with the existing traditional rules and expectations.

New Wine is a new level of Holy Spirit power.

Jesus said this new kingdom or new spiritual experience that is coming cannot co-exist with the structure and rigidness of the existing expectations.  The new kingdom can only exist in a new structure.  Trying to experience a new spiritual life without any change in their current behaviors and expectations would be a disaster.  Not only would it not work, but even the existing structure would break down in where you would be worse off than if you had not sought a new experience with Christ.

In my devotion, I began to meditate on this truth.  New wine needs new containers.  New patches of cloth can only be used on new material.  Obviously, Christ and the Holy Spirit are the source of the new vine or spiritual empowering.  But before we can receive this new ability or spiritual gifting from God there must be intentional work in our lives to prepare ourselves. A hunger for more of God. Submitting to spending time in the word and in prayer.

New wine preparation

Are you being challenged by new responsibilities or frustrated by your management ability?  Is God nudging you to deal with a sin issue or challenging you to be aware of an issue of your personality that could use refining?  Are you working harder on your daily devotions, work habits, or more concerned about a social issue that you never noticed before?  The Holy Spirit may be leading you in developing a new wineskin in preparation for a new spiritual assignment.   Allow this process to do its work.  Be determined with self-control and focus on these issues.  God is preparing you for some New Wine for some new assignment or influence in your world.

Ask the Holy Spirit to help you develop new wineskins to receive new anointing from the Holy Spirit.

The new wine is God’s work.  The wineskin is our work. God will give you guidance and ability but the work is yours.  It requires self-control, commitment, seeking truth and advice, adjusting your priorities and faith. Your lightnside will shine as new wine from the Holy Spirit is poured into your heart.

When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.  For day and night, your hand was heavy on me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer.  Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord .” And you forgave the guilt of my sin.  Psalm 32:3‭-‬5 NIV11

Groaning hearts and bodies

As a  Christian we enjoy the power of God and the presence of Christ.  However we are still part of the fallen nature of man.  We sin.  We are turned by our desires and traps designed by our enemy (James 1:14-15  “14 but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. 15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.“)  Like King David our eyes see something we may not even have been looking for.  Our carnal fallen nature rises up and we find ourselves falling into sin.

The first response is to justify and minimize the sin.  Using our logic we devise a world where we can live with the pleasure and pretend it has no effect on our relationship with God.  But, we notice a dryness of God’s presence.  The desire of seeking God’s presence is reduced or replaced.  Day after day a decrease of seeking God is replaced by the carnal desires you tasted and liked.

If this is you,  listen to your body and heart.  As David described during his sin his body reacted to the lack of God’s presence.  There is pressure and groaning in our bodies.  You feel it.  Trying to escape this pressure you keep yourself occupied with distractions and entertainment. But all along a Christian’s body that houses God’s presence moans and suffers. The joy of God’s presence is dampened as the Holy Spirit calls for repentance.  This is a difficult and uncomfortable feeling.  The clash of God’s presence with our selfish desires is an inward battle.

Listen to the Holy Spirit

I am glad the Holy Spirit does not give up.  I know I need to confess and reject that carnal pleasure that was birthed by gossip, lust, anger, or any other emotion.  Once I begin to confess this to God, a sweet presence floods my life.  I am forgiven.  I am free of inward pain. The joy of seeking God and His word returns and strengthens me.  We serve a great God who knows we are part of a fallen world.  He understands and His grace covers us during these times of wondering.  We can continue to reject Christ to our own shame and judgment but as I confess, I am restored.

Listen to Jesus’ understanding and compassion

Jesus prayed for Peter (also called Simon) when He saw his future denial of Christ.  Luke 22:31-32 NIV “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. [32] But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” Jesus knew Peter would deny Him but Jesus prayed for him as He is interceding for you today.

Be still and listen to your body and God’s still voice. Let your lightnside beat strong and faithful.