Losing All That Others Might Have

On December 4, 2006, Pfc. Ross A. McGinnis was manning the 50 caliber machine gun on the Humvee he and four buddies were traveling in. Looking up, McGinnis saw an Iraqi toss a grenade off the roof of one of the buildings they were passing. He had ample time to jump from the Humvee and save his life. But as the grenade bounced onto the vehicle and down inside, Ross McGinnis yelled, “Grenade!” into the microphone and dropped down the hole and placed his back against the grenade. The blast killed him instantly, but it saved the lives of the four others. At 19, Pfc. Ross A. McGinnis drew his last breath and gave himself that others might have. Where does that mindset come from?
In looking at war and all of its atrocities one wonders why men are so wicked as to wage it to begin with, but when we stop to give it real thought we understand that it’s not the ones who fight that wage the war, it’s the leaders. Most of us would just as soon live in peace. Most are satisfied with a family, home, food to eat, clothes to wear and an education for our children. But there are some who demand more and will sacrifice others to gain it. So our young men go to war. Day after day they sacrifice their lives that others might have, but why? What do they get out of it? I think of the Minutemen who stood face to face with the British and took bullets for freedom. Yet when they died they left all that freedom behind. They took nothing with them. It was all for others.
Long ago Moses faced God’s anger and spoke to persuade God not to exterminate the Israelites. The golden calf and the people’s reveling were not pleasing to the Lord, but He listened to Moses and relented. Moses went down to rebuke the people and then back to seek God’s mercies. When he stood before the Lord he said, "Oh, what a great sin these people have committed! They have made themselves gods of gold. But now, please forgive their sin—but if not, then blot me out of the book you have written." Look at the feelings expressed by Moses. He’s not just facing some enemy with a weapon; he’s standing before the God of the universe, the creator of all things. As he stands he pours out a depth of feeling that is remarkable, especially in light of the way the people have treated Moses. What he is telling God is that he loved Israel and would die for those people.
I honestly believe that we have these depths in us because God put them there. We love, because He first loved us. We would not know love without the God of creation placing within us the capacity. And that capacity goes beyond life. It is willing to, how did the Man of LaMancha say it, “willing to march into hell for a heavenly cause”? We see this type of thing all around us and read of it regularly. A man runs in front of a fast moving truck to push a child out of its path. The child is saved, but the man meets an untimely death; a mother who runs back into a violently burning house to save her child. Pfc. Ross A. McGinnis pressing his back on a live grenade sacrificing himself so his buddies might live. Jesus the Christ willingly leaving heaven to come to a world filled with despair and anger. And here He offers Himself as the ultimate sacrifice for a people who were willingly killing Him.
I want that spirit in me. I want to be able to give myself so that others might have. I don’t mind losing it all if somewhere in my losing blessings might fall on someone who desperately needs it.