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A reservist friend of mine served in the
Regular Army during the Vietnam War. He was and is a wonderful man. He emulates
his own life motto in every respect, and it is, “Know your stuff, (well that’s not exactly the word he used). Take care of
your people. Be a man.”
Decades ago, Staff Sergeant ‘Cliff Landon’
(not his real name) served in a very singular and morbidly unpleasant position.
He was assigned as an
supervisor with the Army Casualties Team
during the Vietnam War. Cliff performed the initial processing which expedited
shipment of our deceased soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines, killed in
battle, back to the United States.
He routinely unzipped body bag after body bag;
orange deodorant spray in one hand, and a wooden baton in the other hand.
Oft times, military casualties lay on the
field of their labor for days at a time, and what I would call, “vermin” would
often hitch a ride in the body bags, having been scooped up with the deceased
military men; (thus the need for the club).
As the months rolled by, one day was very much
like another, and Sergeant Cliff became almost immune to the sights and odors
of his gruesome profession. And so, it was until that one particular day…
The hardened soldier bent to unzip another
bag; among the dozens which covered the hanger floor. It was then he noticed a
slight movement, and he raised the club above his head. Zip went the bag, and
at that instant something happened which never occurred in all his months in
this gruesome vocation.
“Whew.
It’s hot in here!”
Well,
my dear readers, I assure you Sergeant Landon almost “lost it.”
“We have a live one. We have a live one!!!” my
friend screamed. From somewhere in the distance medics came running, and the
wounded soldier was rushed to a nearby operating room.
And rather than keep you in suspense, I can
tell you that young soldier was spared, and is alive and well today. Granted,
he came away from the experience with only one arm, and one leg, but he will
tell you how fortunate he is to still be among “the land of the living.”
A footnote to this story.
Sergeant Landon was, ultimately, released from
active duty, and later registered at a local community college. It was the
first day of the semester, and he reported to a Room 203, and sat down. First
course. First semester. First year of college.
Suddenly, Cliff heard someone wheel in behind
him, and turned to look.
To his amazement he recognized a very familiar
face, and the body below it. A man with one arm and one leg. The smiling fellow
managed to wheel himself up to our hero, and the reunion was nothing short of
outstanding.
Interestingly enough, (at
least to me) the earlier passage of scripture is eerily similar to the
predicament of the poor soldier in the body bag.
Let me refresh it for you.
“O,
wretched man that I am. who will deliver me from the body of this death?”
As I mentioned earlier, I
love the hidden implications of various passages of scripture, verses which we
are prone to “run right by,” but which spoke volumes to believers of the first
century church.
Allow me to characterize the
meaning of this scripture.
During the time of Christ,
the Roman government used a primary form of execution; Crucifixion. However,
this wasn’t the only method by which a condemned criminal was put to death.
(And after I summarize this secondary method, any felon would have begged to be
hung on a cross).
For you see, the foregoing
scripture refers to is this particular method of ancient execution.
It seems that under this
gruesome method of execution, …a dead body was tied securely to a condemned
prisoner. And under penalty of death, no man was permitted to remove it from
him. And thus, this condemned man was forced to eat, drink and sleep with that
awful burden on his back. And, (as you might easily imagine) as that terrible
weight on his back deteriorated, the prisoner grew progressively sicker, and,
ultimately, died.
“Who, indeed, shall deliver
me?”
Obviously, the Apostle Paul
is using a powerful illusion of an actual practice here.
Notice Paul’s metaphor. In
the same way that any man would be required to pay the ultimate penalty for the
slightest attempt to release the condemned criminal, this (and the following
verse of scripture) serve as a witness that you and I were condemned to die a
spiritual death, and suffer the eternal penalty, when Christ Jesus volunteered
to untie that dead body of sin from our back, and set us free. However, as a
result, He took that dead body of sin, as it were, and it was tied to his back.
He volunteered to die in our place.
I can tell you, I am struck
with the similarities between the two stories, one ancient, and one current;
which I have just told you.
I have often shared the story of Sergeant
Cliff and the unfortunate soldier in the body bag. This tale has had an impact
on countless people over the years. Of course, it’s not enough to merely tell
the story. It is imperative that you understand the spiritual interpretation I
have assigned to the story.
In my first story, our poor “corpse” was shut
off in that dark, airless bag. How long he lay there is still a mystery.
Somehow, this singular man existed in a coma-like state; without human contact.
But suddenly, he found himself resurrected;
not unlike Lazarus of old! And can there be any doubt that the good sergeant
represents the figurative Christ figure who unzips the dark enclosure which
confined the poor man, and cries out,
“Come out of the bag!”
I deal with the dregs of humanity, those who
suffer from addictions to alcohol and substances, clients who exhibit various
psychological maladies, as well as “normal folks” who struggle with
unforgiveness, hurtful memories, and failed relationships; those who are
figuratively closed up in a body bag, enveloped by darkness, deprived of human
affection, and deprived of oxygen.
I have often told these two stories, and I
have often shared the following admonition after I finished telling the
stories.
“Come out now! Don’t hesitate another moment.
You don’t belong there. There are those among us who will help you find your
way out of the bag! But you must cooperate. You must be willing. Only decay and
airlessness reside therein. Rise out of that awful place. Come out of the bag!”
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