Memorial Day (2)
Notes
Transcript
Memorials
Memorials
Tomorrow is Memorial Day.
Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (Eleventh Edition) Memorial
serving to preserve remembrance
Israel had plenty of physical memorials.
Jacob setup a pillar after encountering God as he ran from his brother.
Joshua had stones collected when Israel crossed the Jordan into the Promised Land.
The two-and-a-half tribes, when they went back to their land on the east side of the Jordan, raised an alter as a memorial between the two groups of the Children of Israel.
Even God put the rainbow in the sky to remind Him that He would never again flood the entire earth.
OK, God doesn’t forget, it is there to remind us.
God also set up several days of remembrance.
In fact all Israel was to keep three feasts a year:
The Feast of Unleavened Bread,
The Feast of Harvest,
And the Feast of Ingathering.
But the most important memorial in the Jewish calendar was Passover.
“Observe the month of Abib, and keep the Passover to the Lord your God, for in the month of Abib the Lord your God brought you out of Egypt by night.
The church has memorials as well...
Each year we celebrate Christmas and Holy week.
Some celebrate Pentecost.
And our country has memorials.
President’s Day,
Independence Day,
Thanksgiving,
And of course, Memorial Day.
Sadly, memorials only work as long as we remember and focus on what is to be remembered.
Just as Israel’s feasts became more about the celebration than remembering what God had done.
Christmas for many has become more about Santa Clause than the babe in the manger.
And one of only a few days some people will darken the door of their local congregation.
Thanksgiving has become more about turkey and football than remembering how God provided for the pilgrims.
President’s Day and Independence Day are just another day off of work, and not a time to remember the great men from our history or the freedoms and liberty we live under.
Since we do not take the time to remember why we have these memorials,
They are quickly becoming irrelevant for us.
And tomorrow is Memorial Day!
A day we set aside to remember those who have died in the service of this country.
Although many towns and cities began holding tributes to fallen soldiers after the Civil War, as General John Logan said, “The 30th of May, 1868, is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers, or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village and hamlet churchyard in the land,”. This became known as Decoration Day. But it wasn’t until 1971 that what had become known as Memorial Day became a federal holiday. A day to remember all of our fallen soldiers.
But as a nation, we began to forget those who fought for our liberties.
We focused more on the cookouts and celebrations than those who bought the rights we were exercising.
For me, as a child, Memorial Day was about the Indianapolis 500 and the annual cookout may family had.
And other than the prayer at the race, little if any thought was given to the reason for the holiday.
The Lord’s Supper
The Lord’s Supper
Jesus gave us a memorial as well.
One that currently enjoys mixed support.
Some ignore it,
Some ritualize it,
Some have turned it into an idol.
But it is something we should all remember.
Please turn with me to Luke Chapter 22, Verse 19.
And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”
He took the bread...
Since this was after the passover meal, this would have been unleavened bread.
Something plain, simple, and common.
This was not done in a synagogue or the temple,
But in someone’s home.
A simple room.
…gave thanks and broke it...
We often give thanks for the bread God has provided for us.
But this would be different, as we would soon see.
There are several stories in the gospels about Jesus giving thanks and breaking bread.
We “break bread” when we share a meal with someone.
Again, something plain and common.
… and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; …
He gave this bread, but it was so much more.
“This is my body...”
This bread represents the body of our Lord.
Some believe that when we take, we are literally partaking of His body,
That it “transubstantiates” into the body of Christ.
But like so much of what Jesus did on earth, I see this as a teaching moment,
A symbol, of the sacrifice that would be made.
And of the offering that He was making.
A tool to help with what comes next.
… do this in remembrance of Me.”
This was not meant to be a right or a ritual.
Jesus didn’t say to do this to honor him.
It was not meant to be repeated simply to keep a schedule.
Unlike Passover, we are not given a schedule when this should happen.
This is a memorial,
Something we are to do to remember Him.
Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you.
Likewise He also took the cup after supper...
There are two parts to this memorial,
the bread and the cup.
We’ll see why in a minute.
I’m reminded of a scene from one of the Indiana Jones movies.
They are looking for the Holy Grail,
The supposed cup that Jesus used as He initiated this memorial.
As they searched through an array of drink-ware, the bad-guy chooses an ornate goblet,
Made of gold and encrusted with jewels.
“This” he said “is the cup of a king”
And as the guardian of the grail noted, he had chosen... poorly.
Our hero searches, and chooses a simple cup.
Nothing special,
No gold or jewels.
Just an ordinary cup.
And he says “This is the cup of a carpenter”.
And the guardian says, he has chosen wisely.
This was not a special cup,
Just the ordinary cup of a carpenter.
… saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you.”
We divide the Bible into two parts,
The old testament and the new,
The old covenant and the new.
The old covenant had a debt which needed to be paid.
And it was, with the body of Christ,
An offering given for us.
To pay off the debt that all of the other sacrifices could not pay.
The new covenant was made with Christ’s blood.
Covenants in the Bible were often made with blood.
God made a covenant with Abram by passing between the sacrifices of five animals,
And when God changed Abram’s name to Abraham, the covenant was confirmed by circumcision.
So it shouldn’t be a surprise that the new covenant would be made with the blood of the sacrifice that paid the debt of the old.
This blood, which would be shed for the disciples, and all who would accept it.
The purchase of eternal life with God.
Remember
Remember
Communion, as we now call it, is not just a ritual, some right we perform when we’re supposed to.
It is meant to be a memorial,
To help us remember the debt that was paid, and the future that was purchased.
Let us not let it fall into mere habit,
Or into the obscure afterthought like so many other memorials have.
Let it not be the only reason we have for joining with our congregation.
Let its forms never become the focus.
Let it always be a reminder of Christ and what He has done for us.
In the same way, let us not allow Memorial Day to fall into the abyss of just another holiday.
Let us not forget the price that was paid for the freedoms and liberties we enjoy.
Let us not take for granted our ability to meet together and worship God as He has told us.
Let us remember those who have fought and died to preserve our liberties.
And honor their sacrifice by keeping our rights strong and defended.
By all means, enjoy tomorrow and all the fun you have planned.
Enjoy the cookouts, and time with friends.
All I ask is that you please spare some time to remember our fallen heros, and the families they have left behind.
That you take up form them the defense of our rights and liberties, and carry them forward.
And remember, what was sacrificed for you, both over the last 244 years, and 2,000 years ago in Jerusalem.
