A reflection on sacrifice, heroism, and purpose

My wife and I saw the latest film in the Mission: Impossible franchise over the weekend. Mission: Impossible—The Final Reckoning is filled with incredible (even terrifying) stunts and astounding cinematography. Tom Cruise succeeds once again in his iconic role. As a “summer blockbuster,” the movie deserves its accolades.

However, I am thinking today about a scene near the end of the film that captures the essence of the franchise’s message. I won’t give away the plot by quoting these lines:

Like it or not, we are masters of our fate. Nothing is written. And our cause, however righteous, pales in comparison to the impact of our effect. Any hope for a better future comes from willing that future into being. A future reflecting the measure of good within ourselves.

And all that is good inside us is measured by the good we do for others. We all share the same fate—the same future. The sum of our infinite choices. One such future is built on kindness, trust, and mutual understanding, should we choose to accept it. Driving without question towards a light we cannot see. Not just for those we hold close but for those we’ll never meet.

Here we find the essence of America’s highest ethos: character is measured by service to others. This ethos is worthy of reflection on this solemn day.

On Memorial Day, our nation rightly remembers and honors the more than 1.1 million Americans who have died in military service to our nation. Each gave what Abraham Lincoln called “the last full measure of devotion” to our country.

If you know someone who died in war or their grieving family and friends, this day is deeply personal for you. If you do not, it is about our fallen heroes across our history and the cause for which they sacrificed their lives.

What is that cause?

Why “the true soldier fights”

The British writer G. K. Chesterton noted: “The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.” I can testify that this was the case for my father, who fought the Japanese in World War II, and his father, who fought the Germans in World War I.

To my knowledge, neither knew any Japanese or German soldiers personally. While Pearl Harbor had grieved my father, the deaths of 2,400 Americans he did not know on an island he had never visited were not personal for him. Germany’s submarine warfare, which led America into World War I, had no effect on my grandfather as he worked his family’s farm in Kansas.

Both chose to risk their lives in service to their country, not because they hated the enemy, but because they loved America. They fought for freedom for their loved ones and for the democracy that ensured their freedom.

However, Chesterton’s statement applies not just to the cause “behind” our military heroes but to the heroes at their sides as well. Through bonds forged in the fires of conflict, many become what Stephen Ambrose called a “band of brothers.”

And so, more than a million Americans died for the cause of freedom—in the words of the movie script, “not just for those we hold close but for those we’ll never meet.”

Are we “masters of our fate”?

How can you and I serve this cause in practical ways today?

The psalmist declared, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lᴏʀᴅ” (Psalm 33:12). Then he explained:

The king is not saved by his great army; a warrior is not delivered by his great strength. The war horse is a false hope for salvation, and by its great might it cannot rescue. Behold, the eye of the Lᴏʀᴅ is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love, that he may deliver their soul from death (vv. 16–19).

Here we find the biblical counter to the Mission Impossible declaration that “we are masters of our fate” and its claim that “any hope for a better future comes from willing that future into being.”

Consider America’s founding declaration that “all men are created equal.” We have enshrined this principle in our laws and defended it with our blood, but for all our efforts, we fall short of its ideals in practice. This is because humans are fallen creatures who cannot change their future simply by “willing that future into being.”

Rather, we need the “steadfast love” of a God who alone can deliver our “soul from death” and remake us into our best selves (2 Corinthians 5:17). We need the forgiveness for sin he alone can give (1 John 2:12), the character his Spirit alone can impart (Galatians 5:22–23), the selfless love for others his love for us inspires and empowers (John 13:34–35).

How to share the highest freedom

Let us renew our commitment today to the cause for which our military heroes died—the cause of freedom for those we “hold close” and “those we’ll never meet.” To do this, let us pay any price to share the highest freedom—the spiritual freedom found in the liberating grace of Christ (Romans 6:6–18)—through our words, witness, and service.

And let us measure success by the degree to which we extend the eternal “light we cannot see” to those we can.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. famously noted, “If a man hasn’t found something he will die for, he isn’t fit to live.”

Will you be “fit to live” today?

Quote for the day:

“They who for their country die shall fill an honored grave, for glory lights the soldier’s tomb, and beauty weeps the brave.” —Joseph Rodman Drake

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