Good Morning Friends,
This is Memorial Day. And the Weekend has been a celebration for families and especially the remembrance of the fallen heroes who left behind widows and widowers, and sons and daughters, and brothers and sisters and friends. Its power helps us to focus on what we are to remember and what we are to forget. Egyptians, Greeks and Romans used flowers and flower petals as part of their funeral rites and rituals. Many continue that practice today. We get a sense of it on Easter but its expression on Memorial Day that can easily separate us from our experience in the Holy Spirit. Still, it is a time to slow down and reflect to remember what it means to be in a local church…to remember to make a conscious decision to do the right thing and in the remembering, remember Jesus. It sets the stage for us to ask the question, What Does Memorial Day Mean For The Christian?
Scripture: Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Matthew 28:16-20 (NRSV)
Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old. I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. The wild animals will honor me, the jackals and the ostriches; for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people, the people whom I formed for myself so that they might declare my praise.
Isaiah 43:18-21 (NRSV)
(God says) I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.
Jeremiah 31:34 (NIV)
Message: I am not sure it is fair to even ask but it is staring us in the face, the intertwining of Memorial Day holiday and the risk of our nation being lifted up perhaps more than the Kingdom of God. I am not sure whether separating them perpetuates a kind a violence in that it prevents the healing of the nations or suppresses it or is in fact a healing. I simply do not know. But this I do know. With the Holy Spirit in it …with Jesus in the equation it can work. So, this weekend as we remembered in the Passover, the Last Supper, the freedom and deliverance of the Hebrew slaves from Egypt we now in our remembrance of Jesus in the Wine and Bread of the Passion remember against the backdrop of fallen soldiers a new deliverance. My point is that it seems appropriate that Memorial Day has been placed in our national calendar to bookend with our liturgical one but also a bit dangerous as well. I do not think it was contrived at all because the history of the holiday developed so naturally. Military service and Christian values do have some common ground. But I do wonder what it means for the people in the pews. Delving here can be dark. So, I do not want to stir up emotions of unresolved pain unless they can be connected to some sort of healing. For the last week we have been exploring the work of the Holy Spirit and interestingly it is intertwined with the martyrs as well. Jesus left us with words to remember martyrs. The early martyrs in the Christian faith experienced the Spirit of peace, love and joy. We see it in the life of Stephen, and we recognize that it is the Holy Spirit that gives us this experience in the face of persecution and pain. Friends, remember that God is out there even when we cannot see Him at work. Remember that we are not to force spiritual things to fit our thinking but rather have our thinking molded by spiritual things. This holiday weekend we might just be able to help others to remember through the senses we have been given what life…what love is really about. Friends, remember that God is out there even when we cannot see Him at work.
And So, while the actual set-apart day we call Memorial Day is not found in the Bible, the concept of remembrance and memorialization is ordained by God. Throughout the Bible, there are various instances where people commemorate significant events or honor God’s works. The most notable of these are the Passover and the institution of the Lord’s Supper, communion, by Jesus. While Memorial Day in the U.S. specifically honors military personnel who sacrificed their lives for freedom, the Bible encourages us to reflect on the sacrifices made by others. It teaches us to show gratitude and honor to those who have gone before us. So, for the Christian, Memorial Day is also intertwined with honoring our parents who paved the way for us and our marriages and the value of relationships who sacrifice for our good as well as those who died in service in the military which is the focus of the celebration.
Pray that we remember to look to God when we are overwhelmed with gratitude. Pray that however we celebrate the day that we not forget to honor Jesus by also remembering him on this day. Pray we remember the fullness of His vistas, the complexity of who we are and whose we are. Pray we never forget how to communicate with our creator or sustainer and redeemer. Pray we have the audacity to say we will not forget that God made the flowers bloom. Pray that we experience God as the author of life, realizing that He makes no mistakes…. Pray we declare to the next generation God’s deeds in our lives and His desire that in faith they too will remember Him and His power. Pray we remember Jesus is in us…with us…for us.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 