Be. There.
On the Power of Presence in the Foxholes of Life
In foxholes or pulpits, the call is the same: be there. Presence is the proving ground of grace, the quiet miracle of God made known through one another.
Today is not an expository sermon per se. It is an address, a farewell, to the Armed Forces after a lifetime of service, both active and reserve. I am sharing it with you. I am not feeling well. And there is no assistant minister to help me anymore! And that is fine. Assembling Your Sunday Chapel has become difficult but joyful. And not a ministry I am ready to give up! But on days like today, I must yield to the Lord. Yet, today, by His grace and providence, I share this message. And I do pray that you, too, will be there.
I was preparing to retire from the Army. My final assignment was as Command Chaplain at U.S. Military Intelligence Command, the world's largest reserve military intelligence group. Chaplains gathered at Fort Belvoir and several other installations around the globe. However, I was in my study at home, unable to be with them due to an increasingly disabling disease. That disease cost me my civilian ministry and made it so no other church or ministry wanted to work with me. Those who did were not willing (or, I believed, the situation was too needy) to accommodate the challenges I faced.
Nevertheless, the Army called me to active duty with full knowledge of my medical situation (they were involved since they provided much of my medical care). I served in a higher education role (thank you, Chaplain, Colonel, Pete Sniffin; and Chaplain, BG, Doug Lee). After that tour and the Army sending me to UNC-Chapel Hill for an MPA, I was promoted to Colonel and appointed to this General Staff position in a unit very close to my heart: intelligence. That was my start back in 1976, as a young Navy top-secret linguist. I spent most of my life in the uniform of the American Armed Forces. And now it was coming to an end. I was so thankful that the U.S. Army provided accommodations so I could serve. I am grateful to our ministry teams scattered across the globe who served so gallantly and selflessly during a tough period, supporting our mission. Our gathering began with my retirement message, and this is it. I will never forget the moral and spiritual strength of that team. And I thank God for every one of them, even now. I continue to pray for them, as I do for the churches I planted and served, and for the faculty and students I taught. And my dearest friends and family. This is the message I gave and now share today: "Be There.”
Give attention to the reading of the inerrant and the infallible Word of the living God found in Matthew 18:1-20, and from the Epistles, Philippians 2:1-7:
From The Gospel According to Matthew
18 “Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.
19 “Again[a] I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven.20 For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.”
From the Epistles of St. Paul to the Philippians
So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,[a] 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
In foxholes or pulpits, weakness and presence become the proving ground of grace. But presence is not a commodity. Presence is a gift.
To be fully present with another is to value them not for what they produce, what they can give you, or what others might think about them. That is “Be there because…” Such a statement is transactional, like buying insurance or groceries. Human beings deserve a relationship beyond transaction.
To be there with another person is to relate to them because they are treasured images of God, and, as God’s gift to you, you get to be there with them. God is not seen by us now but through His Word and His Creation, which includes—nay, begins with—one another. Yet, to be there is to foreshadow an even greater time to come, when “to be there” is to see the One who is not the reflection but the Real.
We practice being there with Christ by being there with each other. To be there is a rare moment of presence that blesses both giver and recipient—even as it glorifies God.
The Apostle Paul described the ministry of “being there” by comparing our relationships with one another to God’s relationship with us through His Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ. As Christ left His royal robes in heaven, His prerogatives of divinity (NOT His divinity, for He is the Alpha and the Omega, He and the Father are one with the Holy Spirit in the unity of the godhead, One God forever and ever), so we follow Christ by being there for others. And this has special meaning and application in our context.
The Soldier’s Soul
General George C. Marshall once said, long before receiving the Nobel Peace Prize, “The soldier’s heart, the soldier’s spirit, the soldier’s soul, are everything.” Those words, though spoken of warriors, resonate through the centuries into pastoral theology—and indeed, into the life of every believer. Our ministries focus on the human soul: the ministry of presence, simply being there. For a soldier, there can be no victory without comradeship. For a pastor, there can be no shepherding without proximity. Isolation, whether in the field or the pulpit, signals defeat. The soldier alone in his foxhole, the believer cut off from fellowship, the pastor withdrawn from his flock—all face the same danger: the desolation of aloneness. Humanity was not made for such solitude (Gen. 2:18).
His Presence as Our Privilege
The ministry of presence—truly being there—is at the core of all ministry. There is an unseen yet real nearness of the Lord in every call, every foxhole, and every soul. Still, that closeness to God is shared by those called to represent Him to the world. This is our mission. There are foxholes in every parish—places where misunderstandings turn into trenches and where the wounded silently nurse grievances. A wrong word, an overlooked slight, or an unconfessed sin—these become barbed wires within the Body of Christ. An Army Reserve Chaplain once told me, tired from church conflicts in his civilian work, “At least in Iraq I could see the bullets coming.” His words struck my heart. There is no wound quite like the wound of friendly fire. I had written a book about that wound in Hit by Friendly Fire: What to do When You are Hurt by Another Believer (Wipf and Stock):1
“There is no wound quite like the wound of friendly fire. Yet even there—especially there—Christ is present, redeeming what is broken.”
—Michael A. Milton
Jesus addressed such wounds in Matthew 18:15–20. We often remember its comforting ending—” For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them” (Matt. 18:20)—but its true power lies in the context: healing the estranged. Christ assures us that where believers face their hurts, He is present. Saying “Jesus is here” is not just a poetic phrase; it is a privilege, a prophetic affirmation that declares “darkness be gone.” Whenever the Church gathers—even with its imperfections, pettiness, and divisions—Christ is in her midst. He is present through the Word and Sacrament, in prayer and confession, in fellowship and forgiveness. I have heard some say they avoid “the Church” because of her members. I understand how the pain of betrayal can create such a feeling. “I remember someone saying to me, 'When you came here, the Holy Spirit left.” Or, “You are just not one of us. Maybe you should go.” And others know deeper cuts than I have experienced. None more than our Lord. Sinners saved by grace and undergoing sanctification are prone to hurting others. But to borrow Peter’s logic, “Where else can we go?” To leave the Church because of her flaws is to abandon the place where Jesus has chosen to dwell (1 Cor. 1:2). He is here—among redeemed sinners who need Him most.
His Presence as Our Pattern
The Lord’s words in Matthew 18 present not a strict legal code but a model of grace. Offenses should not be hidden but brought to light, where healing can start. Reconciliation begins with courage—the courage to speak truth in love (Eph. 4:15), to listen humbly, and, if necessary, to involve witnesses who help the wounded find peace. When Jesus speaks of “binding and loosing” (Matt. 18:18), He refers to the rabbinic duty to interpret God’s Word accurately. What His followers bind or loosen on earth must align with what heaven has already decreed. Heaven’s mercy must be reflected here on earth. Even in discipline, grace guides our actions. When Jesus says the unrepentant are to be treated “as a Gentile and a tax collector” (Matt. 18:17), we remember how He treated such individuals—with unwavering compassion and redeeming love. His approach to conflict is never about condemnation but about restoration.
His Presence as Our Peace
Then comes the promise: “If two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven” (Matt. 18:19). This is not a blank check from heaven but a pledge of divine harmony. When hearts align with His will, prayer becomes participation in His redeeming work. John wrote, “If we ask anything according to his will, he hears us” (1 John 5:14). The presence of Christ transforms conflict into communion, discord into doxology. His peace is not circumstantial—it is personal. Immanuel. God with us (Matt. 1:23). To live aware of His presence is to walk, as Joshua did, with courage amid daunting tasks (Josh. 1:7–9). Even in the valley of shadow, no evil prevails, for He is with us (Ps. 23:4).
Be There
Years ago, Dr. James Dobson told Huntington College graduates about the sudden death of basketball legend “Pistol” Pete Maravich during an informal game. Two years later, Dr. Dobson himself experienced a heart attack on that same court. Reflecting on both moments, he titled his message to the students, “Be There.” His words focused not on physical survival but on spiritual readiness—to live in such a way that when Christ returns, we are found in Him. I once sat beside a dying man named Bob. Cancer had struck quickly, without warning. In his final hours, he asked to see each of his children alone, then his wife, and finally the whole family together. Struggling for breath, he smiled and whispered, “I’ve told each of you privately; now I tell you together: on the day when Jesus returns—be there.” He died the next day, but his words remain. They were not merely a father’s farewell—they were the Gospel distilled to its core. To be there is to be in Christ—to receive His righteousness by faith, to rest in His completed work, and to walk daily in His presence until faith becomes sight.
I have stood at many bedsides, in many foxholes of the soul. I have never seen peace like the peace of those who die trusting that promise:
“For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”
The presence of Jesus is our privilege, our pattern, and our peace. It is the power that transforms fear into faith and loneliness into love.
And to all who wonder how to face life’s last battle, the word of the dying saint still speaks across the years:
Be there for one another, for others, and on the day Christ returns. Trusting in the resurrected and reigning Christ, baptize, disciple, and teach the world to obey everything Jesus has commanded, starting with “Repent and believe.” You are a minister to the Armed Forces. Don't neglect the gift God has given you or the open door He has provided. Walk with courage and faith, because He goes before you.
This is not my farewell. This is my hope to “See you soon.” This is God’s welcome word—and our hope in Him to be united as never before, gathered from the four corners of the earth, safe in the arms of Jesus when He comes again.
This is the God who called you, the Savior we worship, the Spirit who empowers us. You are at the forefront of the spiritual battles raging in the world and in the souls of men. Be not afraid. Just be there. Be there. Be. There.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Sources & Further Reading
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (Crossway, 2016).
George C. Marshall, Speech at Trinity College, June 15, 1941.
James Dobson, “Be There,” Huntington College Commencement Address, 1997.
Built Upon the Rock: Studies in the Gospel of Matthew, ed. John Nolland and Daniel Gurtner (Eerdmans, 2008).
Thank you Mike for these wise and timely words. Thank you for being there for me and my family over these many years with your gift of friendship, music, poetry and counsel.
May Gods good hand rest on you, Mae, John Michael and all who you love this day and in the days ahead.
I have avoided asking details, both because I did not want to pry and because I know enough about OPSEC and COMSEC to know some questions do not need to be asked by those without a need to know. But I am greatly appreciative that you provided this information. Blessings on your retirement, COL Milton.
"Nevertheless, the Army called me to active duty with full knowledge of my medical situation (they were involved since they provided much of my medical care). I served in a higher education role (thank you, Chaplain, Colonel, Pete Sniffin; and Chaplain, BG, Doug Lee). After that tour, and the Army sending me to UNC Chapel Hill for an MPA, I was promoted to Colonel and appointed to this General Staff position in a unit very close to my heart: intelligence. That was my start back in 1976. And now it was coming to an end. I was so thankful that the U.S. Army provided accommodations so I could serve. I am grateful to our ministry teams scattered across the globe who served so gallantly and selflessly during a tough period, supporting our mission. Our gathering began with my retirement message, and this is it."