We just finished celebrating Memorial Day, which is intended to honor the men and women who died serving our country in the U.S. military. This is a good time to remember an American hero. I mean a REAL hero, not one of our modern-day spoiled brats that our culture often treats like heroes.
Many of the so-called “heroes” of our day are nothing more multi-millionaire actors, politicians, or sports figures. Some of them even whine that they deserve to make more money, even while they are slaves to drugs and/or public displays of an ill temper. The political world is no better. Just think about the choices we are left with for president. In general our pop culture is filled with “heroes” who use foul language regularly, think nothing of breaking the law, and arrogantly parade themselves as if they were some kind of gods themselves.
Enough of that. Instead, I want to talk about a real American hero named Alvin C. York. In his day he was the most popular figure in America. He was awarded 50 decorations, including the Medal of Honor. Alvin York single-handedly attacked a German machine gun nest in World War I. He killed 28 German soldiers, took out 32 machine guns, and captured 132 other soldiers with only a rifle and a handgun—and they didn’t even know they were only fighting one man. Later he told his division commander, General Duncan: “A higher power than man guided and watched over me and told me what to do.”
Alvin York’s heroism is even more amazing when you learn about his background. He was born into abject poverty in Tennessee in 1887. He was the third of eleven children. Although his mother was a wonderful Christian, he started his adult life rejecting her faith. He was known for his hard-drinking and his tendency to get into fights. One night during a brawl after some heavy drinking, a close friend of York’s was killed. That served as a wakeup call for Alvin York. He began to think about what it would be like to stand before God with all his sins when his life was over. In December of 1914 York attended revival meetings near his home town conducted by H. H. Russell. The sermons he heard convinced York that faith in Christ was the only thing that could turn his life around. He surrendered himself to Christ, and his life was forever, radically changed. He became a gentle, yet principled, man.
After WWI broke out, York was drafted into the Army. He was reluctant to fight, but he gradually became convinced that it was the right thing to do. He was eventually sent to the front lines where life in the trenches was dangerous and rough. As was his custom, York read the Bible in his off-duty hours and kept a diary. One day he wrote in it, “The only thing to do was to pray and trust God.”
When the war was over, York remained in Europe through the winter of 1918-1919. He spent much of that time traveling around France, sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ and holding prayer meetings with small groups of men. In the April, 1919, shortly before York returned to America, The Saturday Evening Post ran a story about his heroic actions. That story brought York worldwide prominence.
He instantly became a hero in the eyes of the American people. When he returned to the U. S. in May, New York City honored him with a ticker-tape parade. Later he wrote, “And then I knew, too, they were going to give me a big reception when I arrived in New York…And that had me more scared than those machine guns in the Argonne.”
York’s unexpected fame gave him many opportunities to profit financially. The offers would have brought him between $250,000 and $500,000. York turned them all down. “This uniform,” he explained, “ain’t for sale.”
Oh, for more men like Alvin C. York! The more our culture gets away from a reverence for God and His Word, the more it tends to lift up the worthless as heroes. As radio host Dennis Prager often says, “The significant are rarely famous, and the famous are rarely significant.”
Would you be willing to join me in doing what we can to reverse that trend? It must begin with a humble dependence on our God and a determination to stand up for what is right. That becomes possible when we learn to live for the One who created us, instead of just for ourselves. Jesus challenged our selfishness when He said, “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it” (Matthew 16:25).
May God bless American with godly men and women! As Alexis de Tocqueville (French historian who lived from 1805-1859) observed: “Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits aflame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because America is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America ceases to be great.”
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