Remembering
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Memorial Day: A Day To Remember
Memorial Day: A Day To Remember
A Day when we Remember our Fallen Soldiers.
Those who have made the greatest sacrifice to protect our freedoms and way of life.
If you didn’t know, Memorial Day was originally called Decoration Day and originated from the Civil War.
It was called decoration day in memory of all the families who were placing flowers on the graves of their fallen loved ones from that war.
And even more, it became an annual act of remembrance, clearing away the dirt and grime from those hallowed markers and then placing fresh flowers on those graves.
Until 1971 it was known as Decoration Day at which time it was changed to Memorial Day as an act of remembering not just Civil War casualties, but all those who have fallen in all the wars that Americans have fought since.
By 1971 there were no more Civil War veterans, but there were millions of military deaths and vets from later wars.
We are fast approaching the day when all the vets from another great war will come to an end.
This year we remember the 80th anniversary of D-Day from WWII; the storming of the shores of Normandy.
Experts are saying that the number of WWII vets still alive today are about 80,000, but by 2036 they will most likely all be gone.
I will be sharing more on this tomorrow at the Dudley Cemetery in Stickney as I have been asked to speak at their service. I believe 9am.
But for today’s purpose, is there anyone here who lost a loved one in any war that America fought?
PRAY
Memorial Day: A Day to Remember
Memorial Day: A Day to Remember
Now Memorial Day is a great day to remember, but there is one who has made a greater sacrifice for us that we remember all the more.
There is a soldier who fought a spiritual battle and won. But He had to die to do it.
This is a day to Remember Jesus.
“Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.
For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, “Death is swallowed up in victory. “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
But of course we know that Jesus didn’t just stay dead in the grave. He rose again.
And because He lives, we can face tomorrow.
Because He lives, all fear is gone.
Because we know, He holds the future.
And life is worth the living, just because He lives.
This video combines these two thoughts as we remember those who fought for our freedoms over this holiday weekend.
Video: Memorial Day Memories
It is also a powerful reminder of the importance of sharing the Gospel so that all may know Jesus as Lord and Savior.
Because as we know, only those who put their faith in Jesus Christ have the confidence of that hope.
Memorial Day: A Day To Remember
Memorial Day: A Day To Remember
This weekend we remember our fallen soldiers
Today I remind us to remember The Fallen Soldier, Jesus Christ.
Now with the remainder of our time I want us to ponder what biblically it means To Remember:
The Hebrew verb “to remember” (zakar) occurs 222 times in the Old Testament and one-third of those instances speak of God remembering.
The two things I want to consider today is that:
When God 'remembers,' what does he remember, and what are the results?
What does it mean for us when God calls us to 'remember'?
Read: Exodus 2.23-25
When God 'remembers,' what does he remember, and what are the results?
When God 'remembers,' what does he remember, and what are the results?
In our language and culture, “remembering” has become largely a mental thing, simply recalling past events in the mind.
A better term for what remembering has become in this vein is reminiscing or feeling nostalgic.
Secondly, it has also been relegated to a mere recalling of facts.
I remember that the sum of the square of the sides of a right triangle equals the hypotenuse squared.
There are exceptions, when actions or service become a part of “remembering” (e.g. laying of a wreath for the “unknown soldier,” historical reenactments, etc.).
And that is more akin to what we will be doing tomorrow.
But, God’s “remembering” in the Bible goes even further.
To remember brings to mind something or someone from the past and then to respond with an action.
In other words, “remembering” always prompts one to action.
For example after Joseph interprets the cupbearer and baker’s dreams he says to the cupbearer,
Only remember me, when it is well with you, and please do me the kindness to mention me to Pharaoh, and so get me out of this house.
Except:
Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but forgot him.
When God remembers, though, He doesn’t forget and he remembers for a purpose.
Here’s a brief glimpse of times God is said to remember:
Gen 8.1 - God remembered Noah and sent a wind...
Genesis 9:12-17; - Rainbow - I will remember my covenant not to destroy the earth with water.
Genesis 30:1-2, 22-24; - God remembered Rachel and opened her womb.
Luke 1:67-79; - Zechariah’s Prophecy. God remembered His covenant by sending the forerunner to the Messiah.
Hebrews 8:12; - I will remember their sins no more.
Revelation 16:19; 18:15 - Babylon was remembered before God.
Here’s some times mankind has asked God to remember:
Exodus 32:12-14; - Moses pleads with God for Him to remember His covenant and not destroy His people.
Psalm 25:1-7; - pleading with God to remember His compassion and lovingkindness and to NOT remember the sins of his youth.
Psalm 74:18-23; - pleading with God to remember that the enemy has reviled and spurned Your name.
Luke 23:39-43; - thief on the cross. Remember me when you come to your kingdom.
Exodus 2.23-25
Let’s look specifically at the text and glean some nuggets for this morning.
The sons of Israel sighed because of their bondage.
we sigh too when under duress
And they cried out for help to God.
We, too, are commanded to cry out in our struggle.
God wants us to cry out.
God heard their groaning.
And God remembered His covenant.
with whom?
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
He remembered His promise to them.
And took notice (yada) of them.
And the result is action. In this case sending Moses to deliver them.
A Few Observations From This:
God intentionally locates Himself at a certain moment in time.
We Cry, then, God hears, God remembers. God looks (considers), God knows (is concerned) - a term of relational and experiential knowledge.
God is with His time-bound people as an “incarnational God.”
He is a personal God and not an impersonal force.
When God responds, He responds with action.
The essence of God remembering lies in His acting toward someone because of a previous commitment.
Many of the times God remembers, it’s His covenant to Abraham.
And now He was going to fulfill that by bringing them out of slavery.
Not only did people plead with God to remember His covenant with Abraham, but after the Exodus, there were so many times that Israel asked God to remember how He was faithful to them through the Exodus, Red Sea and Wilderness.
And now we see how the fulfillment of both the Abrahamic Covenant and the foreshadowing of the Exodus is…Jesus.
And what did Jesus ask us to do?
Celebration at the Lord’s Table is a time of remembrance.
Tie back in Memorial Day, a day of remembrance.
For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.
What does it mean for us when God calls us to 'remember'?
What does it mean for us when God calls us to 'remember'?
By extension, this idea means something important for us.
When God asks us to 'remember,' he is doing more than asking us to mentally recall something, but is also calling us to live lives according to what we remember.
Read Psalm 77; - remembering the deeds of the Lord and His wonders of old.
Specifically thinking about how He brought Israel out of Egypt.
This helps soothe his anxious mind over whether God will hear and answer again.
Luke 22:19; - Do this in remembrance of Me.
John 14:26; - The Holy Spirit brings to remembrance all Jesus taught…so that we might do what He taught.
“If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. “For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you.
“If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.
“From now on I am telling you before it comes to pass, so that when it does occur, you may believe that I am He.
When it comes to pass…then they are to remember…and do something about it.
In this case believe and then do as Christ did for us.
Love as He loved us, serve as He served us.
Application:
Application:
This Memorial Day, let’s remember. But let us remember the greatest soldier of them all, Jesus.
Let us remember that Jesus has overcome the world.
“These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”
Let us remember that through Christ we have victory.
Jesus is the victor.
He won the victory, but we gain the spoils from that victory.
He won the victory and we rest in that victory.
Let us remember that through Jesus we are overcomers.
‘He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life which is in the Paradise of God.’
‘He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt by the second death.’
‘He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, to him I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and a new name written on the stone which no one knows but he who receives it.’
‘He who overcomes, and he who keeps My deeds until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations; and he shall rule them with a rod of iron, as the vessels of the potter are broken to pieces, as I also have received authority from My Father; and I will give him the morning star.
‘He who overcomes will thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.
‘He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will not go out from it anymore; and I will write on him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My new name.
‘He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.
Let’s Remember that:
When Satan tempts. Jesus overcame so we can claim the victory.
When Satan deceives. Jesus overcame so we can claim the victory.
When Satan causes doubt. Jesus overcame so we can claim the victory.
When Satan lays on the guilt.
Jesus overcame so we can claim the victory.
Jesus’ greatest victory is overcoming sin and death and hell so that we might have life.
We remember God’s HESED
Loving kindness
Mercy
Compassion
Faithfulness
Forgiveness
Psalm 103
Closing:
We need to do more than just reminisce.
We need to remember and act upon that remembrance.
There is a whole world out there that needs to know why we celebrate our Memorial Day.
In some ways we celebrate Memorial Day every week - Sunday, and have a special Memorial Service on the first Sunday.
They need to know that Jesus died battling death, hell, sin and the devil, and through His death He won.
He won by rising again. He is risen...
Closing Song: Egypt, Goodness of God.
