Duty, Honor, Country

Sunday Morning May 28, 2006

Exodus 13:3-10

The Hebrew people entered Egypt looking for respite from drought and famine.  Joseph had come to that land years before as the result of his brother’s manipulation.  When it was discovered that the brother abused had become a power in Egypt they were fearful for their lives.  But Joseph showed an understanding of God’s ways when he declared that whereas they had meant their actions for harm, God had turned their evil into blessing.  At the time of their return to the land of Abraham, Israel had to be delivered by a strong and mighty hand – the hand of God!

Each successive generation was commanded to keep the Passover as a memorial of God’s great working through His people.  From that time to this, the Passover celebration has been repeated year after year with but few changes.  It is intended to remind us that we are only pilgrims passing through.  God has, in every generation, used the remnant of His people to implement and perpetuate His plan of redemption.  In the Church, we remember those that came before us.  We commemorate and remember those that suffered and sacrificed to open a path so that we might enjoy a relationship with God.  Let us say thank you to and for the missionaries, pastors, lay preachers, the Christian mothers, and fathers that gave us the freedoms we now enjoy!

It is impossible to love America without understanding something of her history.  Like the saints whose efforts made the Gospel to be preached all over the world, America’s veterans have fought and often died to secure our freedoms and our rights as citizens of this great nation.  The very first men and women to visit these shores were forced to fight in order to claim their new home.  Some have been critical of the means employed and of the peoples displaced by those early settlers; in truth, there could be no land of liberty, no system of laws and freedoms, and no America had they not done what civilization required.

We are presently engaged in a war against terrorism.  Whether we agree with the way the war is being waged or not, we must be thankful for and generous toward those that willingly risk all for our safety!  Let us honor America’s heroes – both alive and dead.

Duty, Honor, and Country,

 By General Douglas Macarthur