Sermon for a fallen Marine

Lutheran, The, Aug 2004 by Moland-Kovash, Seth

They met just once-Lance Cpl. Phillip E. Frank and Seth Moland-Kovash, pastor of Our Saviour Lutheran-on the Sunday before Christmas, Dec. 21, 2003, at the Arlington Heights, Ill., church. Frank, 20, on leave from Camp Pendleton in California, was worshiping with his parents, Georgette and Roy Frank. He knew he was going to lraq. "In his desert camouflage uniform, he stood out from the crowd," Moland-Kovash recalls. "I assured him of our prayers/On April 24, the pastor presided at Frank's funeral. Here is an excerpt of that sermon.

God has made Phil a new creation. No longer is Phillip Frank known only as a lance corporal in the U.S. Marine Corps. He has a new title as well. Phillip Frank is now a prince in God's heavenly kingdom.

The ultimate gift of God for Phil is eternal life. The ultimate gift of God for Phil is a new set of clothes. Phil was so proud to wear the uniform of a U.S. Marine. He wore his desert camo to church; he cherished the dress blues. But now God has given him a new uniform. The clothes of glory, the clothes of a child of God in the kingdom of God ....

The promises and the gifts of God don't even end with this promise of eternal life in heaven with God. Our reading from Revelation reminds us of God's promise of a time of restoration, a time of hope, a time of new life and peace. Hear the words again: "God himself will be with them; he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more" (Revelation 21:3-4).

This is the promise of God for a time when nobody will be hurt anymore, when nobody will be victimized. In Phil, God gave a rare gift to the world: a combination of strength and courage, along with compassion and feeling. This combination allowed Phil to stand up to bullies twice his size in the school corridors and save other kids from being terrorized. It allowed Phil to go to war, to stand up with [other] Marines and be counted, to defend people he didn't even know halfway around the world. And we give thanks to God for that.

But at the same time, we hold on to the promise of God that one day there will be no more bullies and kids getting picked on. That one day there will be no more enemies and militias. We hold on to the promise that one day, there will be no more need for someone like Phil to stand up and to die. We hold on to the promise that one day the Marines can lay down their swords because death will be no more, mourning and crying and pain will be no more.

On that day we'll all be joining together at the banquet table. We'll all be restored and reunited. We'll all participate in the feast that Phil is sharing now.

Until that great and glorious day of peace and restoration, I give thanks to God for Phillip Edward Frank, Marine, son, brother, husband, friend and child of God.

Moland-Kovash is pastor of youth and family at Our Saviour Lutheran Church, Arlington Heights, Ill.