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A Good End that Redeems Suffering

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Today marks the 77th anniversary of D-Day, the largest amphibious assault in history. The invasion of U.S., British, and Canadian Allied forces, led by the U.S. Army, aimed to break open the World War II Western Front by land and airborne operations. The cost? Over 4,000 Allied soldiers dead, plus 6,000 casualties. German losses were heavy, with up to 9,000 casualties.

We rightly stand in awe of the incredible bravery and personal sacrifice demonstrated on the Normandy beaches in Operation Overlord. But we must be careful with our inspired emotions, lest modern sensitivities turn them into terminal grief over the staggeringly bloody battlefield. Postmodernism would like nothing more than to lead our souls to make such an assessment. Judging from my own experiences in living in Germany, World War II has taught most Germans the lesson that war is a moral tragedy, that all sides are morally complicit, and that war is to be avoided at all costs. War just isn’t worth it. This judgment argues against the just war tradition, which seeks to limit the frequency and destruction of wars through principled assessments which aim at justice in going to war, and justice in prosecuting war.

Flawed postmodern reasoning on war flows from focusing on the human losses apart from any moral purpose or good end. The Scriptures document how God uses war, in His way and in His time, to punish evil and to redeem the good. Indeed, World War II Allies fought together in Europe in order to break the tyrannical, murderous reign of the Third Reich. From the American perspective, it was a war fought for freedom, for others, for life. There are certain things worse that suffering and dying . . . for example, knowing that others are suffering and dying, and that you—who could do something about it—are doing nothing.

Christians are baptized into the sacrificial life of Christ. It is a life of suffering and dying—the dying of our own flesh to serve others, and the struggle against the corrupted world and Satan. Christ says, “Take up your cross and follow Me.” His atonement for our sins on the cross redeems us and calls us into spiritual battle. To stand openly with Christ is to ensure that His adversaries will set their sights on us.

But if ours is a baptism into Christ’s suffering, it brings with it the promise of Christ’s freedom and life unending, revealed and sealed in His resurrection from the dead. He is the Head of the Body, whose members will follow.

This present confidence, this future hope, this gifted love is our good end, our fulfillment in Christ. Especially in suffering, we remember His promise, “Look up, your redemption is drawing nigh.” We should not think much of our suffering for Christ (it is an honor!). It is even possible to think too much of Christ’s suffering for us, if it is merely a vision of terminal grief over His staggeringly bloody battle . . . a terminal conviction of the law. D-Day reminds us, albeit from the perspective of a different kingdom, that we must keep the moral purpose and good end in view.

This is the beatific vision which Columba (521-597 AD) presents in his great hymn, “Christ Is the World’s Redeemer” (Lutheran Service Book, No. 539, CPH):

1 Christ is the world's Redeemer,

The lover of the pure,

The font of heav’nly wisdom,

Our trust and hope secure,

The armor of His soldiers,

The Lord of earth and sky,

Our health while we are living,

Our life when we shall die.

2 Christ has our host surrounded

With clouds of martyrs bright,

Who wave their palms in triumph

And fire us for the fight.

Then Christ the cross ascended

To save a world undone

And, suff’ring for the sinful,

Our full redemption won.

3 Down through the realm of darkness

He strode in victory,

And at the hour appointed

He rose triumphantly.

And now, to heaven ascended,

He sits upon the throne

Whence He had ne’er departed,

His Father's and His own.

4 Glory to God the Father,

The unbegotten One,

All honor be to Jesus,

His sole-begotten Son,

and to the Holy Spirit—

The perfect Trinity.

Let all the worlds give answer:

Amen! So let it be.