SAPPER 3
J.M.J. + O.B.T. + M.G.R.*
A Bachelor of Science degree
with concentration
in Civil Engineering...
what for?
S A P P E R
(amazing how it took me
so long to discover this)
military engineer
from the French word sappe
(“spadework,” or “trench”)
connected with military engineering
(c. 17th century)
attackers dug covered trenches
to approach the walls of a besieged fort.
_______________________
My first troop assignment
(CTLT summer of 1978)?
1/26th Infantry Regiment
"BLUE SPADERS"
Göppingen, FRG
My first brew over there?
Ich hätte einen
halben liter vollbier, bitte.
Göppingen's own,
Spaten Brau,
came later when I traveled
to Munich on R&R
(I kid thee not)
_______________________
The Great Escape,
my favorite movie
provides these additional
clues about my real commission—
digging deep in anonymity.
"In fact, we're going
to put the goons to sleep."
"Meanwhile we dig..."
"It's perfect.
Right through the middle
of the foundation."
_______________________
A Bachelor of Science degree
with concentration
in Civil Engineering...
what for?
S A P P E R
(amazing how it took me
so long to discover this)
military engineer
from the French word sappe
(“spadework,” or “trench”)
connected with military engineering
(c. 17th century)
attackers dug covered trenches
to approach the walls of a besieged fort.
_______________________
My first troop assignment
(CTLT summer of 1978)?
1/26th Infantry Regiment
"BLUE SPADERS"
Göppingen, FRG
My first brew over there?
Ich hätte einen
halben liter vollbier, bitte.
Göppingen's own,
Spaten Brau,
came later when I traveled
to Munich on R&R
(I kid thee not)
The Great Escape,
my favorite movie
provides these additional
clues about my real commission—
digging deep in anonymity.
"In fact, we're going
to put the goons to sleep."
"Meanwhile we dig..."
"It's perfect.
Right through the middle
of the foundation."
_______________________
And from the web
a wonderful exposition
on the subject:
a wonderful exposition
on the subject:
by Pastor Simon
Luke 3:1–6
In the days of Isaiah, the roads were terribly bad. They were
still bad in the time of Jesus, except where the Romans had built their famous
highways.
British roads have always been as winding as Korean roads,
following ancient trails made by walking. Only with the advent of fast cars
have things changed in the last 50 years.
There is an exception to this. We have a famous road called
‘The Fosse Way’ that is long and straight. The Fosse Way is part of a network
of highways in England built over a period of almost 400 years. The building
started around the time Jesus was crucified and was done by the Roman Army. The
purpose was to quickly move troops around the country. Britain was at that time
a Roman colony.
Engineers from the Roman Army built the roads from scratch
and they built them straight. They levelled hills and filled in valleys, and
they didn’t go around obstacles. These army engineers are called sappers, and
the Romans didn’t invent them.
Sappers were important all the way back in the time of
Isaiah. When a king wanted to go on a trip in his chariot, the sappers would go
first to prepare the way. They would level the ground, fill in the low places
and bring down the high places. The sappers would remove the obstacles to the
king’s smooth journey.
In Baruch 5:7 it is written: “God has commanded that every
high mountain and the everlasting hills shall be made low; he has commanded
that the valleys shall be filled and the ground levelled, so that the people of
Israel may come safely home in the glory of God.”
Baruch wrote for the exiles longing to return to Israel. He
told them that God would send his sappers to prepare a way for them.
This is the same thing that Isaiah said: “The valleys will be
filled, and the mountains and hills made level. The curves will be
straightened, and the rough places made smooth.”
God would send his sappers, Isaiah said, to prepare the way
for the messiah.
The chief sapper was John. John the Baptist was the commander
of the sappers...preparing the way for Jesus. When Jesus was born, John was just a baby. He was perhaps six
months old. Other people had to fill the valleys and level the hills for
Jesus birth.
Perhaps first it was the exiles who returned from Babylon who
prepared the way. God made the way for them and they made the way for Jesus. If
they hadn’t returned 500 years earlier, there would have been nobody to give
birth to the messiah. There would have been no temple.
After their release from Babylon, many of the Jews threw away
their idols and by the time of Christ idolatry was unknown among them. Thus the
Jews alone, living among the great nations of pomp and splendour that
worshipped idols, clung to the worship of one God. They were, therefore, better
prepared than all others to receive the son of God.
When the Hebrews were released from Babylonian captivity,
most of them scattered to all points of the world. They took their Scriptures
with them and established places of worship. In Acts 2:9–11 we can find a list
of 15 nations where the Jews lived at the time of Christ.
As they went they established places of worship called
synagogues. These Jewish places of worship developed after the Babylonian
captivity and could be established where ten adult male Jews would unite
together. It was in the synagogues of the world that Paul and other
missionaries argued the cause of Christ and preached the gospel to millions.
The synagogue provided a natural meeting place for a discussion of the
Scriptures.
All over the world, God was preparing the way for Jesus to be
born. God was also preparing the way for the world to come to Jesus.
God prepared foreigners to tell the world of the birth of the
messiah. Wise men from the East got the news first, not the religious leaders
of the Hebrews. The Good News of the messiah is for all people of all religions
and nations. The shepherds on the hills got the news before the king in his
palace. The Good News of the messiah is for the poor, the downtrodden and the
powerless as well as the rich and powerful.
As we think about the first coming this Christmas we must
also think about the second coming.
God is preparing the world to receive his son. He is using
sappers to do this. God is calling on all his people to be like John, and to
level the ground, and smooth the way.
No one knows the name of the sapper. No one remembers them.
But without a sapper there is no smooth way forward.
A sapper repairs a stretch of road. It gets damaged by rain.
He repairs it again, in the cold and the rain. When the king comes along in his
chariot, the sapper is not there. He gets no honour.
We are called to be sappers. We are called to make the way
smooth for people to come to Jesus. We are called to tear down the mountains in
their way. We are called to be unknown.
We are called to go first and fill in the valleys to give
others a level path. The message John brought was that to do this people need
to ‘repent of their sins and turn to God to be forgiven’. Jesus said the way to
move mountains was to have faith. Not much faith, just as big as a mustard
seed. If you have that little faith, you can be a sapper for God.
Isaiah 42:16 says: “I will lead blind Israel down a new path,
guiding them along an unfamiliar way. I will brighten the darkness before them
and smooth out the road ahead of them.”
God will lead those he has forgiven. The ones he has forgiven
are the ones who have repented.
In the next verse Isaiah warns that those who don’t repent,
those who trust in idols, will ‘be utterly put to shame’.We must be always ready to receive the Lord when he comes.
The day of the Lord comes like a thief in the night. He comes unexpectedly and
suddenly. We cannot fix the time. We cannot decide when and how he should come.
We must prepare a straight path for the Lord, removing all
obstacles which stand in the Lord’s way preventing him from coming. All the
crooked ways in our life, in the life of our society need to be straightened
out. Where there is war and terror, for example, we are to bring peace. Every
mountain and hill should be brought low and every valley be lifted up.
Look forward with great expectation to the coming of the
Lord, trusting that he will do a new thing in our life and in the life of the
world.
Let's prepare ourselves morally and spiritually to receive
him when he comes.
John came preaching a baptism of repentance. And just like
the ancient ‘sappers’ removed obstacles in the pathway of the king, we are
called to get rid of all obstacles in our lives which hinder us from welcoming
the Lord Jesus into our hearts.
John’s message was ‘The king is coming. Mend your lives, not
your roads’. Thus, the duty is laid on everyone of us to make our lives fit for
a King. We are sappers to each other – let’s build a level path that we can
walk home together.
Behold your God, he is coming. Have just a little faith.
Amen
(SLIGHT EDITS TO THE ORIGINAL TEXT TO CONDENSE THE MESSAGE)
_______________________
AND A LITTLE LIGHT
SAPPER HUMOR
(Notice the M2 Bradley Fighting Vehicle?)
Sincerely yours in Jesus through Mary,
Mike Rizzio
Imitate Mary
Become like Jesus
Live for the Triune God
Seek the Light of Our Lord Jesus Christ
See you on the High Ground!
* - J.M.J. + O.B.T. + M.G.R. stands for:
Jesus, Mary and Joseph;
O Beata Trinitas;
St. Michael, St. Gabriel and St. Raphael
AND A LITTLE LIGHT
SAPPER HUMOR
Sincerely yours in Jesus through Mary,
Mike Rizzio
Imitate Mary
Become like Jesus
Live for the Triune God
Seek the Light of Our Lord Jesus Christ
See you on the High Ground!
* - J.M.J. + O.B.T. + M.G.R. stands for:
Jesus, Mary and Joseph;
O Beata Trinitas;
St. Michael, St. Gabriel and St. Raphael
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