A PRAYERFUL TRIBUTE TO OUR TROOPS
A Sermon for Memorial Day Sunday / May 27, 2007
Intro: The custom of placing flowers on the graves of the war began on May 5, 1866, in Waterloo, NY, and Waterloo has been recognized by Congress as the official birthplace of Memorial Day. In 1868, Gen. John A. Logan, then president of the Grand Army of the Republic, declared that May 30 would be a day to decorate with “flowers the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion.”
After World War I the day was set aside to honor lives lost in all American wars, and the custom was extended to pay homage to deceased relatives and friends, both military and civilian. The most solemn ceremony conducted on Memorial Day is the placing of a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns located in Arlington national Cemetery.
• We have much to remember.
• It is significant that our country takes time to stop and remember.
• You may want to take flowers to a grave this weekend & pause there & to remember & say a prayer.
• You may want to express your gratitude for brave people who made the ultimate sacrifice so that we can enjoy the freedoms that are ours today.
Whatever you do, don’t forget how we got here. Don’t forget the price that brought us to where we can live in freedom & enjoy the blessings that God has given us in this country. This is Memorial Day weekend. Please don’t ever forget!
Video: Remembering is something very important. If we forget we will find ourselves fighting the same paths that have already been won by previous generations and wars.
In the silence of this moment,
grateful vigil I will keep.
For the memory of their names,
and the precious lives they gave.
Memorial Day is not one day to remember; its one day to remind us of what is important everyday.
• We have been given a very great and precious gift in the form of a nation.
• These United States of America is a gift.
• Not only do I want us to remember our fallen heroes; I want us to add to the fight they lost their lives in. Is there a greater validation then to pick up the vigil?
What can we do?
I don’t think any of us have tanks in garage and M16 and grenade launchers stashed in our closets.
We are at a loss thinking of how we can fight back against the terrorist threats that face our nation.
We may not be about to physically fight, but what we can do is fight against what is behind these attacks.
EVIL.
Evil is not some thing; he is a person.
Good is not some thing; His name is Jesus.
2 Chronicles 20:2-13 NIV “2 Some men came and told Jehoshaphat, "A vast army is coming against you from Edom, from the other side of the Sea. It is already in Hazazon Tamar" (that is, En Gedi). 3 Alarmed, Jehoshaphat resolved to inquire of the LORD, and he proclaimed a fast for all Judah. 4 The people of Judah came together to seek help from the LORD; indeed, they came from every town in Judah to seek him. 5 Then Jehoshaphat stood up in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem at the temple of the LORD in the front of the new courtyard 6 and said:
"O LORD, God of our fathers, are you not the God who is in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. Power and might are in your hand, and no one can withstand you. 7 O our God, did you not drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham your friend? 8 They have lived in it and have built in it a sanctuary for your Name, saying, 9 ’If calamity comes upon us, whether the sword of judgment, or plague or famine, we will stand in your presence before this temple that bears your Name and will cry out to you in our distress, and you will hear us and save us.’
10 "But now here are men from Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir, whose territory you would not allow Israel to invade when they came from Egypt; so they turned away from them and did not destroy them. 11 See how they are repaying us by coming to drive us out of the possession you gave us as an inheritance. 12 O our God, will you not judge them? For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you." 13 All the men of Judah, with their wives and children and little ones, stood there before the LORD.
What can we do?
I. You can call on the Lord
a. Jehoshaphat did
i. This was smart the only smart response to the attack.
ii. He did it with intensity. (He called the whole nation to prayer and fasting.
iii. What he did proved to be a wise choice.
Turning to God for help in troubled times is always a good choice.
iv. Turn to God and Pray.
v. It needs to be read with an appreciation for the fear that must have gripped everyone.
This is a crisis of major proportions. We’re talking about a nation possibly being conquered, everyone’s life being disrupted. Men killed. Women taken as slaves or worse. Children separated from their parents. And Judah is not ready for this invasion.
b. King David did
Psalm 86 “ 1Please listen, LORD, and answer my prayer! I am poor and helpless. 2Protect me and save me because you are my God. I am your faithful servant, and I trust you. 3Be kind to me! I pray to you all day. 4Make my heart glad! I serve you, and my prayer is sincere. 5You willingly forgive, and your love is always there for those who pray to you. 6Please listen, LORD! Answer my prayer for help. 7When I am in trouble, I pray, knowing you will listen. 8No other gods are like you; only you work miracles. 9You created each nation, and they will all bow down to worship and honor you. 10You perform great wonders because you alone are God. 11Teach me to follow you, and I will obey your truth. Always keep me faithful. 12With all my heart I thank you. I praise you, LORD God. 13Your love for me is so great that you protected me from death and the grave. 14Proud and violent enemies, who don’t care about you, have ganged up to attack and kill me. 15But you, the Lord God, are kind and merciful. You don’t easily get angry, and your love can always be trusted. 16I serve you, LORD, and I am the child of one of your servants. Look on me with kindness. Make me strong and save me. 17Show that you approve of me! Then my hateful enemies will feel like fools, because you have helped and comforted me.
c. This has been the way for generations in our nation.
When the cornerstone for the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Washington D.C. was laid in 1915, a time capsule was placed within it containing several interesting items from our nation’s history. Among the things our ancestors thought important for us to remember were a copy of the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, a U.S. Flag (1915), and Pierre L’Enfant’s map design of the city of Washington, D.C. But the first thing our ancestors placed in that time capsule was the Bible. That’s interesting since the nation had been operating under the Constitution for 125 years by that point, and yet none of our leaders--Democrat or Republican--thought the inclusion of the Bible would present a constitutional problem. In that Bible, of course, we read Jesus’ words: "Greater love hath no man than this that a man lay down his life for his friends." (John 15:13)
We have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace, and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us! It behooves us, then, to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sins, and to pray for clemency and forgiveness.
~ President Abraham Lincoln, in National Proclamation of Prayer and Repentance, 1863
II. You can Empathize and Give Support
a. Put yourself in their shoes.
i. Can you put yourselves into this situation? Imagine what it was like to stand among those Israelites and wonder what was going to happen. Can you see the faces of those kids? There the men led their families in prayer over the nation, and their vary lives.
ii. Picture Americans hearing that a military force much larger than ours has penetrated our outer defenses and will soon be hitting all parts of the country with rockets, bombs, nuclear warheads launched from submarines, plus attacking armies. That’s scary.
“All the men of Judah, with their wives and children and little ones, stood there before the Lord.”
Here’s a husband with his arm around his wife. Standing with them is a 14 year old son and his 11 year old sister. A 7 year old lad looks up at his folks and the new baby his mom is holding. “What’s going to happen to us?” he asks in a frightened voice.
As this scene played itself out in my mind, I sensed that I felt a tiny bit of what families go through when loved ones go off to war. Fathers – Sons – even mothers and daughters now. How difficult this has to be for everyone involved, wondering what the future holds.
Will we ever be together again like this?
Will some of us be killed?
Will serious injuries be sustained?
What if our country loses the war?
What will tomorrow and the next day bring?
b. Politics aside, people first.
Politics, events and popular culture can change and even alter the very fabric of our nation. But God does not change. When we appeal to Him in prayer, He hears us and answers our prayers in accordance with His perfect will. He hears and answers the prayers of his people for our country.
III. You can Pray
a. Daily
Several years ago, I was working on replacing an old, falling over retaining wall on the side of my house. Some of the stones I replaced were too big for me to move. Many of them were cemented together into blobs of rock and concrete. So I set out to bust them up with a sledge hammer. I beat those rocks with the sledge hammer a hundred times, each time I hit the rock it would make a sound, each time the same sound. But eventually after dozens of strikes, the sound changed in pitch. The next blow split the rock in two. Prayer often seems to work that way. We can think that nothing is happening, but every blow contributes to the final blow.
b. Take it a step farther – adopt a troop program.
Let me tell you now about what’s called the Adopt-a-Troop program.
• Members of the military who want to be prayed for, or family members who ask for prayer on their behalf, can go to this website and email what their specific requests are.
• These are not posted in a general way for everyone to see.
• Instead, individuals, like us, can adopt a troop or troops.
• That means specific needs are then shared, but only with the people who have been assigned those given individuals making the request.
• The chances are the majority of those who have adopted a troop or several members of the military, have never actually met the person or persons for whom they’re praying.
• They, of course, do know the name, general information as to where they are serving, and naturally whatever specific requests have been sent in.
• You are able to post your prayers, like
As I prepare to say farewell to my son’s best friend, Eli Ezrow who is returning to Iraq for his 3rd tour of duty, I send my prayers with him to all of you who are fighting so hard for my freedom. Thank you can never be enough for your sacrifice in our country’s time of need. I send my guardian angels to surround you and keep you safe. Through God’s love and protection we will triumph over the evil before us. In God all things are possible. My prayers are with you.
—Rita, OH
Does this sound like something in which you would like to participate?
Conclusion:
Wars will continue until Christ comes and brings His universal Peace on Earth. Until that day, evil people will arise to oppress and kill others. And until that day, good people will give their lives to stop them.
Although these men and women didn’t die to give us eternal life as your Son Jesus did, they did indeed die so that we can live free.
