2 Timothy 2:
You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, 2 and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. 3 Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4 No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him.
Three seemingly disparate events are associated together on this date:
1. On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month the armistice was signed ending World War I and this date became Veteran’s Day. We remember all military, soldiers and sailors, who have defended our nation in war. We thank them for their service and the best way to do that is, as is rightly encouraged in the media: THANK A VETERAN TODAY! 2. On this date, Martin of Tours, Pastor and Bishop was buried in the city of Tours, France:
Martin was born about the year 316 in the town of Sabaria in the Roman province of Pannonia, present day Hungary, of a pagan family, his father a Roman legionary. He spent his boyhood in Pavia in Lombardy where he came under Christian influence, and at the age of ten he decided on his own to become a catechumen (a catechumen is a person preparing for Holy Baptism. When he was 
fifteen, being the son of a soldier, he was drafted to serve in the army. He was apparently a good soldier and popular with his comrades. One winter night when he was stationed in Amiens, Martin saw a poor old beggar at the city gate shivering in the cold, and, having nothing else to give him, he drew his sword, cut his own cavalryman’s cloak in two, and gave half to the man to wrap himself in. The next night Martin dreamed of Christ in heaven wearing his half-cloak and saying, “Martin, still a catechumen, has covered me with his cloak.” The young soldier, however, found it increasingly difficult to combine his own ideal of a Christian life with the duties of the military. Eventually he decided to be baptized and asked to leave the army, since he was no longer willing to kill. Like his modern counterparts, this fourth century “conscientious objector” had difficulty proving he was not a coward, but finally he was released, now about twenty years old. (from Festivals and Commemorations by Philip Pfatteicher) But sensing a call to a church vocation, Martin left the military and became a monk, affirming that he was “Christ’s soldier.” Eventually, Martin was named bishop of Tours in western Gaul (France). He is remembered for his simple lifestyle and his determination to share the Gospel throughout rural Gaul (present day France) (Treasury of Daily Prayer, CPH)
3. On November 10th, 1483 a miner and his wife gave birth to a son. Baptisms were done quickly due to infant mortality. The n
ext day Hans and Margarette brought their son for Baptism, St. Martin’s Day. So they named him Martin, as was the custom, after the saint’s day he was baptized. The son baptized today was Martin Luther.
What do these 3 commemorations have in common? They are all about being a soldier. We give thanks for those veterans who served in our armed forces. I have heard many a veteran say that I did my duty and I came home. Listening to vets, and yes, watching war movies, war is hard, to say the least. Many veterans do not want to say what happened over there. They bore arms to defend our freedoms inscribed in the Constitution, the words of the charter of our political freedom.
Martin of Tours left one army and joining the militia Christi, the army of Christ for the salvation of souls. Christ enlisted him. As bishop he did battle against the heresies of his day and served his people the green and eternal pasture of the Word of God. He fought against the powers and principalities: sin, death and the power of the devil. The man named after him, Martin Luther, likewise did the same. Martin and Martin bore the weapons of the Spirit to defend the charter of our eternal salvation, one Lord, one faith, one birth. Martin and Martin did their duty, lived their callings.
As the Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy that he was enlisted by the Lord! Soldiers have a clear discipline and as Christians, disciples have a discipline to not get entangled in civilian pursuits, that is in the world, but for the world to fight the good fight of faith, so that souls are saved. Paul focuses Timothy and us on the Lord. When a superior officer comes into the room, all the soldiers come to attention as we do when we stand to hear the Gospel in the Divine Service. And all soldiers suffer, as did Paul, Timothy, Peter and all the army of Christ, and as our armed forces do in combat, and even in peace. We fight for freedom’s sake Christ has set us free and in Christ to not submit again to a yoke of slavery, see Galatians 5:1. This day is united in thanksgiving for our freedom, political and spiritual. The armies of darkness are on the move again in our nation and amongst the nations.We are freed from the tyranny of political and spiritual despots and so freed to serve our neighbor, our nation and church, as free citizens of both that tyranny is defeated, finally by the Lord’s weapons: the weapons of the Spirit, cf. Ephesians 6: 10-20.
ALMIGHTY God, our heavenly Father, in whose hands are the living and the dead; We give thee thanks for all those thy servants who have laid down their lives in the service of our country. Grant to them thy mercy and the light of thy presence, that the good work which thou hast begun in them may be perfected; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord. Amen.
Lord God of hosts, Your servant Martin the soldier embodied the spirit of sacrifice. He became a bishop in Your Church to defend the catholic faith. Give us grace to follow in his steps so that when our Lord returns we may be clothed with the baptismal garment of righteousness and peace; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns With You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Concordia and Koinonia 