Letter of Christ

(The following was published in bulletin at St Charles Bible Church – November 5th, 2017, St Charles MN)

On January 10, 2010, US NEWS released a news story claiming that coded references to New Testament Bible passages about Jesus Christ were inscribed on high-powered rifle sights provided to the U.S. military by a Michigan company. The sights were used by U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and in the training of Iraqi and Afghan soldiers. “One of the citations on the gun sights, 2COR4:6, is an apparent reference to Second Corinthians 4:6 of the New Testament, which reads: “For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”

     Trijicon confirmed to ABCNews.com that it adds the biblical codes to the sights sold to the U.S. military. Tom Munson, director of sales and marketing for Trijicon, which is based in Wixom, Michigan, said the inscriptions “have always been there” and said there was nothing wrong or illegal with adding them. Munson said the issue was being raised by a group that is “not Christian.” The company has said the practice began under its founder, Glyn Bindon, a devout Christian from South Africa who was killed in a 2003 plane crash.”

      I enjoyed reading about this story, when I thought about what the Gospel writer, John, says about his intended purpose in writing his Gospel. In chapter 20, he concludes the miracles of Jesus (which he calls “signs”), by telling us that “Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name.” In a sense, John is sending a secret message with every miracle he records. Charles Spurgeon wrote: “Every time John dipped his pen into the ink he breathed the prayer, “Lord, bring men to believe in Jesus by that which I have written.” That means there were details he included that the other Gospel writers did not, and there were details that others included, but he did not. The bottom line? The only thing that mattered was that his readers understand who Jesus is.

       In a sense, our life is a Gospel story. The Apostle Paul says, “…do we need, like some people, letters of recommendation to you or from you? You yourselves are our letter, inscribed on our hearts, known and read by everyone. It is clear that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.…” (2 Cor. 3:2,3). The question, of course, that sobers my own reflection is the biography that I am writing—intending, of course, to bring others to a better understanding of Who Jesus is, and why He is significant to everyone. I am not sure that putting Bible verses on weapons of destruction communicates our message of Jesus, the Messiah, very well. But, using another analogy when we are injured, do we “bleed” Jesus? Can He easily be seen through the values that we hold dear and the convictions that prompt us to leave His legacy?

Pastor Jim B

    ’47 / ’56  St Charles MN

Doris Jean H

’44 / ’55 Manheim PA