Memorial Day 2006: Remembering How We Got Here
Scripture: Mark 10:45; Acts 6:8-10; Philippians 4:19; Psalms 34:17
John 16:13
Introduction:
Three years after the Civil War ended on May 5, 1868, the head of the Grand Army of the Republic (organization of Union soldiers) established Decoration Day as a time for the nation to decorate the graves of the war dead with flowers. Maj. Gen. John Logan declared that Decoration Day should be observed on May 30th. It is believed that date was chosen because flowers would be in bloom all over the country. The first large observance was held that year at Arlington National Cemetery, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. After the end of World War I, the day was expanded to honor those who have died in all American wars. In 1971, Memorial Day was declared a national holiday by an act of Congress, though it is still often called Decoration Day. It was then placed on the last Monday in May, as were some other federal holidays.
Memorial Day has been expanded by many as a time to remember their loved ones whom have died. Many people go to cemeteries to place flowers on graves and/or spend quiet time reflecting on their loved ones. They may remember lessons they learned from the individual or the good times that they may have shared with that person. Memorial Day, although focused on celebrating the ultimate sacrifice of our war heroes, has become a day for many to remember the deaths of their own personal heroes, family members and close friends. This morning I want to take some time and remember some of my heroes and maybe through my reflections, you will remember some of yours. You see, as a Christian, we have had many individuals sacrifice their lives so that we might be able to freely worship the way we choose. For example:
I. Those Who Sacrificed All
Jesus Christ. Last month we celebrated Easter, the day we set aside to remember Christ death and resurrection. You know the story. He suffered a lot and having been beaten to the point of death, He was taken to Golgotha to be nailed to a cross and die a horrible death of suffocation. But Jesus did this willfully for He knew what the goal was and what this would mean to others. He said in Mark 10:45 "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many." He died for His love of us.
Stephen. Stephen might not be one that you would normally think about, but His death was recorded in the book of Acts for a reason. Stephen was one for the seven men who were chosen to assist the Apostles with the care of the Church body so that the Apostles could continue their focus on ministering the word. In his role, it could be said that he was one of the first deacons. Acts 6:8-10 records "And Stephen, full of grace and power, was performing great wonders and signs among the people. But some men from what was called the Synagogue of the Freedmen, including both Cyrenians and Alexandrians, and some from Cilica and Asia, rose up and argued with Stephen. And yet they were unable to cope with the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking." Stephen was a man walking in the power of the Holy Spirit. He was so full of faith that those who opposed Him could not win an argument with Him as He spoke under the power of the Holy Spirit. He was stoned to death for his beliefs and his confession. As they were stoning him, he asked Jesus not to hold it to their account. Stephen was the first martyr of the Christian faith.
The Apostles. Several of Christ twelve disciples did not die of natural causes. They died under the hands of those who were very opposed to the spread of Christianity. Although their deaths are not recorded in Scripture, history records that Peter was crucified upside down for he did not feel worthy to be crucified in the same position as Christ. Andrew was reported as being crucified on an X-shaped cross. Phillip was crucified on a tall cross in the country now known as Turkey. Bartholomew was flayed alive in what is now known as India. Matthew is reported as dying a martyr. Thomas was killed with a spear and was buried in India. James, son of Alphaeus, was thrown off the temple by the Jews and beaten to death with a club. These all died for their faith and belief in Jesus Christ.
But these are not the ones I want to remind you of this morning. This morning I want to take just a few moments to remind you of some individuals who died in faith not experiencing fully what we take for granted today. I want to tell you about some old people and the songs they sung. Many of you know that I grew up in a small country Church. When I was a child I thought it took forever to get to Church because it was out in the country. The Church had two primary rooms, a sanctuary and the fellowship hall. There were two walk through from the sanctuary to the fellowship hall. One served as the Pastor’s study and the other served as the choir room and pre-school Sunday school class. All of our Sunday school teachers were the older people who for the most part did not have a High School education or the experience and opportunities that we have today. But what they did have was an unwavering faith and confession that came through in their songs. For example, one person that I remember fondly was my uncle.
II. My Older "Folks"
My uncle was one of deacons of the Church who could pray. He would pray so hard that he would start crying and his nose would start running, yet he prayed on. He was praying from his spirit, not for any praise or performance as we sometimes have seen with some people. As a child we would be at home copying how he prayed. Sometimes he would get so happy that he would start what we call "shouting". It is hard to put into words exactly what this is, but it is when a person gets so full of the Spirit that they begin to praise God, cry, run around, etc. He would shout and then run for the door, run outside and roll in the dirt. I do not understand why he did this, but it’s a memory that I have of someone who was not ashamed to look foolish in their worship. Today, we have become much too educated to shout like that. We are much to educated to be embarrassed by praying and crying or watching someone else doing that. For those that still "shout" in Church, sometimes it does not hold the genuineness that it had for those older people. At one Church I was in one young lady got to shouting and clowning and fell and hit her head. Before she realized it, she cried out in pain and reach for her head, but quickly realized that she was "supposed" to under the spirit so she just laid there shaking. I never witnessed one of the older people faking their faith and worship. I could tell you a lot of stories about these older people that helped established my foundation of faith, but I want to share one thing that they did that we do not see a lot of today. They sung their faith and confession. You see, many of the older folks I grew up with did not learn to read that well so they did not know a lot of Scripture. But, what they did have were the words in songs that became their confessions. Let me share a few of these songs with you.
"The Lord Will Make A Way Somehow" This song was often sung at our Church. The first verse said "Like a ship that’s tossed and driven, battered by an angry sea, when the storms of life are raging, and their fury falls on me, I wonder what I have done, that makes this race so hard to run, then I say to my soul, take courage, the Lord will make a way somehow.” The song would speak to the trials and tribulations that they had or were experiencing and you could feel the emotions when they sung this song. They were singing their lives, their experiences, not just what they had heard or been taught. Today we know the Word and can quote the Scripture from Philippians 4:19 which say "And my God shall supply all your needs accordingly to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus." Although we have the Scriptural knowledge, is it head knowledge or heart knowledge. You see, if it is in your heart, it will not leave or fail you. If it is in your head, then it can be forgotten, especially when you really need it. These older folks had theirs in their hearts.
"Trouble In My Way" This is another song they would sing. It opens with these words "Trouble in my way, I have to cry sometime, I lay awake at night, but that’s all right, I know Jesus, He will fix it, after awhile." These people had lived through the depression, the racism and all of the poverty that poor people were accustomed to. Yet when they sung this song, their faith was lifted because they knew that whatever they faced, Jesus was there to take care of them. We can quote Psalm 34:17 that says, "The righteous cry and the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles." What they did not know from Scripture, they knew in their heart through the experiences they had shared with the Lord. Today, we make more money than these people ever dreamed of having and we sing the same song, except we make a small change. Sometimes we sing this song with these words in our hearts "Trouble in my way, I have to lie some times, I lay awake at night, and it ain’t all right, I find a way to fix it, after awhile." We sing the same songs they sung, handed down through the generations, but we are lacking the faith that they had when they sung them.
"Take My Hand, Precious Lord" This is a beautiful song that I never fully knew its history until a few years ago. When the older people would sing it, sometimes tears would be flowing as they lived the moments of their lives when Jesus had taken their hands. The song opens with "Precious Lord, take my hand, lead me on, let me stand, I am tired, I am weak, I am worn, Thru the storm, thru the night, lead me on to the light, take my hand, precious Lord, lead me on." This song was written by Thomas Dorsey back in 1938. He was traveling to Chicago doing the Lord’s work, leaving his pregnant wife at home. He received word that she was sick and may not live so he left the meeting early to get back home. When he arrived home, his wife and his unborn baby was dead. He was so despondent he could barely function. He sat down at his piano and these are the words that came from his heart. In his most desperate time, he cried out to God and this song came out of his grief, one that has ministered to many others for almost 70 years. Although the older folks did not understand John 16:13 which says "But when He, the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth….." the way we understand it, they did know that Someone was there guiding and leading them through their most difficult situations. This they held in their hearts, not just in their minds.
"Amazing Grace" The last song I want to share with you. This song has been around for 175 years. The first stanza says "Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me! I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see." For many years I watch these older folks sing this song in a reflective way. It was not sung too fast, but more in a way of reflecting on their experiences where God had shown them grace. Maybe they were thinking about their sins and how God forgave them. Maybe they were reflecting on their lives before they were saved and how good God had been to them. I do not know, I just remember singing that song and always wondering what a "wretch" was. Now I know. In our times, we do not often reflect on God’s goodness and His grace. We live in a time where we think we deserve everything that we have and everything we are going to get. Whatever God gives me, it is because I deserve it. It is all about me and mine. But when I take time to remember the older folks that I grew up with, I did not necessarily see that attitude within them. Now they were not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but they had a level of faith that was based on their experiences with God that nothing could shake. At my home Church, one of the deacons would sing another form of Amazing Grace. It would open with these words, "I was young, but I recall, singing songs was my mother’s joy, as the shadows would gather around at the close of day, and as I sat there on her knee, in those days that used to be as she sang of God’s amazing grace. My mother was so good and kind, she often told me She said child you won’t find, no not another who will share your grief and woes, so I took her at her word and right there I sought my bested Lord, and right now my mother’s God is mine." Then he would go into the course of Amazing Grace, How Sweet the Sound. I loved to hear him sing Amazing Grace with this opening, it was as if this was his testimony.
This Memorial Day weekend, who are you remembering? After you have thought about the all of the soldiers who bravely gave their lives for our freedom and for the freedom of others, who else are you remembering? If you did not grow up in Church, do you have an older person that you were around and had the opportunity to interact with? Who has made an impact on your life that is now resting peacefully in the presence of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ?
I want to close with this. For many people, they can learn the words to songs a lot faster than they can learn Scripture. Words that are put to music are easier to learn because you use more of your senses to learn it. When you think about the music we sing and what our children listens to, what are they hearing? I remember being in our youth choir and some of the songs we sung had a faster tempo. Some of the older people did not necessarily appreciate the fast songs with all of the clapping and swaying. I used to think it was because they were old and just could not get with it, but as I have grown older, I think I may understand better now. I could be wrong, but I think when they sung songs, they were singing their faith and their experiences. They were reminding themselves through songs what we do when we actually read and learn God’s word. It was not that our songs were bad, but the songs did not necessarily carry a meaning for them. The words sung did not necessarily carry the impact of their experiences. I remember once hearing a young child sing "I’m Coming up the Rough Side of the Mountain" and thinking how inappropriate for in my mind this could not understand what she was singing about. Oh, she sung it well, but she had no clue about the rough side of the mountain.
I remember the songs that the older folks dung, songs that came from their experiences, not just what was the favorite of the day. I love those songs and I love those people. All of them with the exception of maybe six are with Lord. Although I cannot talk with them or hear their voices, I can sing their songs. When we sing these songs today, they mean more to me now than they did when I was a child. They have helped me through some very tough days. So I ask each of you, what songs are we singing here at Church or allowing our kids to listen to that will be their reflection of us when they are the adults and remembering us on Memorial Day? Will they have the same types of memories that we have?
I wish you a very blessed Memorial Day and may God bless and keep you.
