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The Dying Captain’s Final Words

Sermon by Rev. Doug Pratt — March 2, 2008
 

A Great Sacrifice
One of the most dramatic and moving films about human conflict ever made is Steven Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan. Millions of viewers have watched the closing credits of that movie through a film of tears, powerfully touched by its message. Thousands of veterans of the Second World War and other conflicts have found that the vivid scenes of combat and military life helped unlock years of hidden memories within them.

The film tells the story of U.S. Infantry Captain John Miller (played by Tom Hanks). After surviving the hellish first-wave assault on Omaha Beach on D-Day, Miller and his squad are given a bizarre assignment. They are ordered on a wild goose chase through Nazi-occupied Normandy to find a U.S. paratrooper named Private James Ryan. The Pentagon has ordered this unprecedented move because Ryan’s three older brothers, all fighting in the war, have recently been killed in various actions around the globe. For P.R. purposes, the top brass have decided to rescue Private Ryan from the heat of battle, bring him home, discharge him and return him to his family in Iowa. The lot falls to Captain Miller to try to find this “needle in a stack of needles” and bring him back alive.

Finally the private is located. But before Captain Miller can get him back to Omaha Beach for evacuation, they find themselves in the middle of a vicious firefight with counterattacking Germans. In the battle for a strategic bridge, Captain Miller is mortally wounded. When reinforcements arrive to drive the Germans back, Private Ryan bends over to his rescuer. And Captain Miller, with his last breath, grabs Private Ryan by the shirt and pleads with him, “Earn this. Earn it.” Those are words that James Ryan can never forget.

At the end of the film, former Private Ryan returns some 50 years later to the U.S. military cemetery in Normandy, with his wife and children and grandchildren by his side. He searches among the rows of thousands of white crosses, until he finds Captain Miller’s grave. Ryan breaks down in tears before the cross that stands above the man who gave his life to save Ryan’s. He turns to his wife. “Tell me I’ve been a good man,” he implores her. It’s clear that this man, James Ryan, once a young private and now an aging grandfather, has lived the past 50 years cherishing the memory of his deliverer, John Miller, and hoping to live in a way that is worthy of that great sacrifice. Captain Miller gave his life to save Private Ryan, and Ryan knows that he owes everything he has and everything he is to that sacrificial act.

The Greatest Sacrifice
Whenever a group of Christians gather together for worship, what we are really doing is remembering and commemorating a sacrifice that was even greater and more moving than the one made by Captain Miller to rescue Private Ryan. In a high-stakes cosmic battle for our souls, our great Rescuer gave His life for every one of us. His death isn’t just signified by a cross standing in a cemetery, like Captain Miller’s. No, it actually happened on a cross. And these are the words written by a man named Paul, reflecting on the significance of that death.

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by His blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through Him!

Romans 5:6-9 (NIV)

There are two important characteristics we need to understand about a Great Sacrifice, such as that of Captain Miller for Private Ryan, or that of Jesus our Savior for the entire human race. A sacrifice like this (1) cannot be earned and (2) cannot be reimbursed.

A Great Sacrifice Cannot Be Earned
When we earn something, we work for it and then are given a paycheck upon completion of that service. Earning is what we do prior to compensation. A transaction that occurs before any work is done, or apart from any merit on our parts, is a gift. A gift is granted without being earned. This distinction is very important to grasp. Technically there is no way we can ever “earn” the sacrifice of another person dying in our place—let alone that of God Himself, our Creator and Lord.

Paul makes it clear that this is especially true in relation to the sacrifice of Christ. None of us could ever claim that we’re entirely good, perfect people. The undeniable fact of human existence is that every one of us is an imperfect, flawed sinner. We’ve all disobeyed God and in our selfishness have wandered away from Him. There is absolutely no way that any of us could ever stand in Heaven’s courtroom and try to press a claim against God, as if He owed you or me anything.

In the climactic scene of the Spielberg film, Captain Miller did say to Private Ryan, “Earn this.” But we can certainly forgive that dying officer for making a semantic mistake. In actual fact Private Ryan could not possible “earn” his deliverance. It was a gift, pure and simple. And whatever else James Ryan does for the rest of his life, he is not “earning” what he received from Captain Miller—because the gift had already been given in full. Earning is what we do before a wage is paid to us. But the Captain has paid everything in advance.

A Great Sacrifice Cannot Be Reimbursed
It is simply impossible to compensate someone for the Ultimate Sacrifice. Private Ryan cannot repay Captain Miller by giving the Captain his life back. It’s impossible—the clock cannot be turned backwards. And in a far greater sense, you and I can never repay or reimburse Jesus for what He suffered on the cross to save us. All the good deeds we could ever do for the rest of our lives couldn’t come close to settling the account. In fact, not a single person has ever gotten to the place where they could claim to be “all square” with God, having given to Him just as much as He has given to them. There is not a chance—His gifts are far greater than we could ever reimburse or repay.

What We Can Do With a Great Sacrifice
So what are we to do with such a costly, precious gift? How can we cope with such a great sacrifice offered for us? I believe there are three natural and appropriate responses.

1. We can receive the Great Gift. We accept it humbly, in gratitude and thankfulness. It was hard for Private Ryan, when Captain Miller first informed him that he was going home, to accept his deliverance. He thought he should stay with his airborne division in the field—that is what he had been trained and equipped to do. Going home so soon seemed wrong to him—so humbling, such a blow to his macho pride. In the same way, many men and women have initially rejected the gracious gift Jesus offers to them. Psychologically it can be difficult to accept a gift, especially if doing so means that we need to admit we’re not perfect, that we need help and forgiveness, as is required in accepting the gift of Jesus. But this first step of consciously, willfully and intentionally receiving the gift of God’s grace is so essential.

Some people have the misguided idea that if Christ died on the cross for the sins of all mankind, then that forgiveness is automatically applied to everyone, whether they want it or not. The gift is yours, so the twisted thinking goes, even if you don’t receive it. That mistake can be eternally deadly for those who make it.

A few years ago a major class action lawsuit was won against a large corporation by a plaintiff’s attorney. The verdict, ordering the company to reimburse all the people who had bought a defective product, theoretically applied to everyone. But each person was required by the judge’s ruling to individually apply to the company for their refund before it was granted. Even though the hard part—the grueling court battle—had been won for them by the attorney, every person who was party to the class action still had to do their part. They had to ask and receive. They had to put in writing their desire that the benefits of the victory be applied to them. They had to request their refund check, and only when they did so would it be issued to them. Was the judge in the case unjust or cruel in laying down this simple requirement? I don’t think so.

The exact same principle is found in the spiritual realm. Jesus has won the class action battle on behalf of all of us. The payoff—forgiveness of our sins and eternal life—is waiting for us; it’s ours simply for the asking. But until we individually ask the Great Judge to credit the result of this great victory won on the cross to our account, it’s not yet ours.

2. We can remember the Giver—honoring His name and His memory. I suspect that not a day passed for 50 years of James Ryan’s life that he did not think about Captain Miller’s sacrifice for him. And if anyone should dare to say anything negative about John Miller in his presence, don’t you think Ryan would rise up in righteous indignation and protest: “Don’t talk about that man like that. He gave his life for me!” We Christians, who have been saved by the sacrifice of Jesus, sometimes find ourselves in situations where people are using the name of our Redeemer as a curse word. And we have every right to speak out in protest: “Please don’t talk about my Lord like that. He gave His life for me!” I know it’s easier to swallow our tongues and just go along to avoid confrontation. But, frankly, if we really love our Lord, we ought to be willing to take a little risk by speaking up to defend His name and His honor—especially after everything He risked for us!

3. We can respond—by living every day in such a way that our Redeemer would be proud of us. I’m sure that’s what Captain Miller really meant to say to Private Ryan with his dying words: “Make me proud of you, James. Live your life the way I would, if I could live through you for the next 50 years.”

And this is what Jesus asks of you and me. He knows we can never earn or deserve His love and grace and sacrifice. He doesn’t ask us to try. What He does invite us to do is to become the kind of people of whom He can be proud. He wants us to follow His way, to love and serve others, just as He did during His earthly days. That’s the way we demonstrate to Him that we really are grateful and appreciative of what He’s done for us.

Examining Our Lives at the Foot of a Cross
Thinking often about the sacrifice of Christ can impact the way we look at all of life. At the end of this service we will be singing the great hymn of our faith When I Survey the Wondrous Cross. For nearly three centuries now these words have inspired Christians:

When I survey the wondrous cross,
On which the Prince of glory died
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.
 
Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a present far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.

As James Ryan stood at the foot of a white cross in a Normandy cemetery, and examined his life in the light of the great sacrifice of his deliverer, so we stand this morning at the foot of the Cross of Jesus. The appropriate response of a grateful soul to a sacrifice such as this is to offer these words:

Lord Jesus, I believe You died for me.
I know I could never earn or repay Your gift.
I now receive that gift.
I want to live for You and serve You.
I give You my soul, my life, my all.

If you’re ready now to say this to Him—for the first time ever, or again as a rededication of your life—please join me as we pray…