INTRO: David Banner (Incredible Hulk), talking with a terminal cancer victim, told this story: “A man was running for his life from a tiger and he fell down a cliff but luckily got a branch as the tiger was pawing at him. He was about to let go (fall would survive, but live). He looked down to see a hungry tiger looking up as the branch was pulling out he noticed a plant and on this plant was a bright red strawberry. So he reached out and ate it, and oh, how good it tasted. That’s what we need to do
- reach out and taste the strawberries of life or stop and smell the roses. We will all die someday so we need to make the most of life.
TITLE: Remember the dead, honor the living, and avoid the pitfalls!
TEXT: I Cor. 11:23-26
I. Remember the dead.
A. Background on Memorial Day - Also called Decoration Day. It’s honoring U.S. citizens who have died in a war. Originally commemoration soldiers killed in the American Civil War, which later extended to all U.S. war dead.
National observance is marked officially by the placing of a wreath on the Tomb Of The Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.
Word memorial means to aid man’s memory.
B. Biblical examples of memorials.
1. Passover - Moses sent by God to free Hebrews, plagues sent, Pharaoh refuses. God sends death angel to kill first-born. Hebrews instructed lamb blood above door post so death angel pass by.
2. Lord’s Supper - Communion - I Cor. 11:23-26 (READ)
Memorial what Jesus Christ did for us on the cross. Bread represents body which was broken for us. Juice represents his blood which washes away our sins (New Covenant).
C. Why are memorials important?
1. Heritage, roots - important to know where you came from, what your family was like (traditions).
ex Alex Haley “Roots”
Interesting: Adopted children desiring to know who their parents were, their heritage.
2. Memorials important - Learn from the past: Scholars tell us history repeats itself (meaning people keep repeating the same mistakes because they don’t learn from the past).
ex Old Testament (hard to read because it’s redundant) people get under bondage, cry out to God, God raises up a prophet, priest, king, judge. Nation draws closer to God, people become lax or leader dies off. People fall into sin and bondage, people cry out, God raises up someone.
3. Memorials important - Learn from the past: Reading or by listening to those older (experience).
Challenge us - books on martyrs or follow in parent’s footsteps.
a. Traditions - birthdays, anniversaries, special events.
* Memorials also help us remember people or things that changed our lives (very meaningful -markers so to speak, that we can fall back on in times of trouble).
D. When memorials are wrong.
1. When the dead become more important than the living or the things that stand as memorials are more important as the living.
ex Elvis Presley, every year - obsession.
ex…Relative treated the dead better than the living.
TS: It’s more important to honor the living than the dead.
II. Honor the living (some ways).
A. Respect people -
1. Elderly - Lev. 19:32 - “Rise in the presence of the aged, show respect for the elderly and revere your God.”
2. Parents - Deut. 27:16 - “Cursed is the man who dishonors his father and mother.”
3. People - I Peter 2:17 - “Show proper respect to everyone: love the brotherhood of believers, fear God and honor the King.”
Jude v. 9 - Respect people because they are a creation of God. It’s easy to respect people you hold in high value.
B. Restore the wounded - Gal. 6:1 - “Brothers, if someone is caught in sin, you who are spiritual, should restore him gently, but watch yourself, or you also may be tempted.”
-Restore GK (medical term mending a broken bone).
1. Spiritual ones only - because more damage can be done!
ex Nurse in training drawing blood (student nurse).
2. Gently - a true consideration for the welfare of person (slowly, cautious).
*Concern to truly help restore (no desire to get pats on the back).
3. Paul warns us to be on our guard so we don’t fall into temptation.
ex Gary doing drugs with clients.
* We’re in a war (soldiers of Christ) and we have casualties! Casualties need help. They need people who aren’t afraid to get their hands dirty. Sadly, what often happens these casualties get dragged in front of a firing squad.
C. Not to judge or condemn - Matt. 7:1 - “Do not judge, or you will be judged.”
-Jesus Christ is talking about an attitude “someone judging others in order to make themselves feel better (judgment in negative sense).
1. We are to judge the truth - I Cor. 5:12 - “What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside.”
-Same GK word.
a. Judge the truth - how else can we distinguish between right and wrong.
-This helps hold each other accountable (positive restoration, reconciliation).
Love the sinner, but hate the sin.
There are many more ways to honor the living. I have just shared a few! My third point:
III. Avoid the traps.
A. Bitterness - Heb. 12:15 - “See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and define many.”
1. A bitter root - is a root that bears bitter fruit!
-Bitterness defiles us and makes us unfit to stand before God.
ex Flea lays eggs, eggs hatch, larva climbs on pine needles and waits for it’s victim. I was surprised to find out it was a giant spider. Larva attaches itself to the spider, slowly makes its way to the spider’s knee joint where it will dig its way in and feed on the spider from the inside out.
a. Bitterness - finds its way into our hearts and it eats from the inside out, destroying our Christian walk and our relationship with others.
ex Leonard Holt, middle age, hard-working lab technician, 19 years with the company, boy scout leader, good father, member of local fire department, active church goer, (model citizen). One day snapped into an hour of bloodshed, two pistols, plant shooting everyone. Shot more than 30 shots, killing people he knew for more than 15 years.
Police arrived to see Leonard in the doorway saying, “Come and get me you___. I’m not taking any more of your_____.”
Investigation showed some victims promoted over him, many quit car pooling with Leonard because of his reckless driving.
* Bitterness consumed a good-standing citizen and turned him into a cold-blooded killer.
b. Bitterness once rooted spreads like wildfire.
ex Like Asian Milfoil plant polluting our lakes in Minnesota.
B. What can we do?
1. Forgive as a lifestyle - Matt. 18:21-22 - “Peter came to Jesus and asked, Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?” Jesus answered, “I tell you not seven times, but 77 times.”
Point: As many times as it takes, you are supposed to forgive. (You’re protecting yourself from bitterness).
a. Eph. 4 - talks about do not let the sun go down while you’re still angry.
-The devil (foothold).
b. Matt. 5 - Jesus - If you’re offering a gift at the altar and your brother has something against you, leave the gift. Go and make it right with him and then return and give the offering to the Lord.
-Our heart is the greatest thing we need to protect, relationship with the Lord!
2. Avoid gossip - You can change someone’s outlook on another in a negative sense.
ex Say you never meet a person or you barely meet them and while talking with others you hear them talking about this person in a bad way. (What normally happens is your view is changed of that person).
a. How to handle gossipers - telling about someone (problem) let’s sit down and talk and work this problem out.
If they are unwilling, you need to tell them not to gossip (sympathy).
* This is one of the greatest ways the devil hurts Christians in the church!
IN CONCLUSION: It’s important to remember the dead, but it’s more important to remember the living. Be careful of the traps.
All on a journey, a Christian journey. We need to take time to stop and smell the roses and enjoy what God has given us.
1. Don’t waft until someone dies to reflect on how good they were.
2. Don’t wait until your children grow up to tell them how much they mean to you.
* The relative I told you earlier about how she put the dead above the living was my grandmother. She felt bad how she treated people so she felt obligated to visit the grave sites of dead loved ones because of the guilt she had for treating them the way she did when they were alive.
Don’t live in a cage of guilt. Treat the living better than you would the dead. Bitterness is a trap that will cause you not to honor the living but the dead.
