The Unknown Soldier

“Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Him with her sons, kneeling down and asking something from Him.  And He said to her, “What do you wish?” She said to Him, “Grant that these two sons of mine may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on the left, in Your kingdom.” But Jesus answered and said, “You do not know what you ask. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?” They said to Him, “We are able.”

So He said to them, “You will indeed drink My cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with; but to sit on My right hand and on My left is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared by My Father.”
"And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your servant just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” Matthew 20:20-23,27-28

The tomb of the Unknown Soldier is one of the most famous monuments in the United States.  It is guarded 24/7 with great ceremony and honor and yet…it represents people with no names.  Soldiers that gave their lives defending this country whose bodies were never found or identified.  It’s like an oxymoron…the FAMOUS Tomb of the UNKNOWN.

What a wonderful example of how you don’t have to make a name for yourself to be honored.  And yet most of us waste so much time trying to impress people that may not even care about us.  Call it “brown nosing”, “kissing up” or “fighting our way up the ladder”, it still amounts to just that…trying to make ourselves famous.  Grant it, we must have initiative, especially in the job market of today, but we have seen it when it goes to the outer limits and it can be very ugly.

In the scriptures above this mother was the biblical version of what we would call today a “stage mother”.  She wanted her boys to be famous.  She saw that Jesus was pretty well known and she wanted her boys to have a piece of the action or a piece of the throne in this case.  But Jesus astonished her I’m sure when He asked them were they willing to pay the price.

I am convinced that the most famous people are those that we will never know their names, but only their deeds. A good example would be: Do you know the name of the person that first told Billy Graham about Christ?  And yet because this person was faithful in sharing the good news to a young man, God used Billy Graham to reach millions over the years for Christ.  So who’s REALLY famous?

Today is Veteran’s day and I would like to say “Thank you” to all the men and women that gave and are giving their lives to defend this great country. And I also would like to salute the soldiers that we will never know their names…Unknown to us, but Known to God…”Thank you!”  You maybe Unknown , but you allowed yourselves to be Servants so your deeds are known and you are famous in the eyes and hearts of us.

Dear Lord, help us not to try to impress others, but let us be Your servants…