Memorial Day – 2014
May 26, 2014
Hebrews 13:1-3
“Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters. Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it. Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are ill-treated as if you yourselves were suffering.”
Today is a day of remembrance. Memorial Day began as an occasion to honor and celebrate Union Soldiers who died serving their country during the Civil War. Memorial Day was inspired by the way people honored their dead in the southern States and after the end of World War I, Memorial Day was extended to include all American men and women who died serving their country in any military action or war.
On Memorial Day people often read a poem honoring fallen veterans or look up their family history and honor those in their family who have served our country. Many people go to the cemeteries and put American flags on veteran’s graves, that’s why it was known as Decoration Day for a while. I know our Sheriff is visiting two cemeteries in Weed today to honor the fallen veterans and people are doing that or something similar all over the country.
It is traditional to have a picnic/barbecue on Memorial Day and we are going to do that right after church. I brought extra hamburgers and hot dogs if you forgot. Memorial Day is kind of the unofficial – official first day of summer. The kids are chomping at the bit to get out of school and this weekend is traditionally the first campout of the year.
I am kind of partial to patriotic days. I come from a long line of patriots dating all the way back to the American Revolution. I have the discharge papers of my great, great grandfather, Daniel Adams. He served in the 8th Independent Battery, Wisconsin Light Artillery. He mustered out, August 10, 1865 at age of 28.
My grandfather, John Grossman, fought in the trenches of France in World War I. My Dad fought in the Pacific in World War II. My brother and I served in the Vietnam era. Both of us were exposed to agent orange – he in Vietnam in the Navy and me in the army on the DMZ in Korea. My son served in the army as an airborne combat team member and probably was the most decorated of any of us. The many cousins, uncles and nephews who served are too numbers to list. Some are serving as we speak and every war or conflict had at least one or two of our family members in it.
Consequently, it is important to me to honor our veterans. I honor every veteran. Service in the military changes your life. You give the best years of your life to your country. Some give the ultimate sacrifice but all sacrifice whether they are stationed during time of peace or a time of war. Never forget those who made that sacrifice for you and your freedom. But today is a day to remember those who died while serving their country. Probably most people won’t stop to remember. They are too busy; or maybe they are like this guy I kind of relate to now. Maybe you have heard about a guy named John who had a serious memory problem. One day John ran into a friend he had not seen in a long time. He greeted him and said, “Bill, do you remember what a bad memory I had?” Bill answered, “Yes, I certainly do.” “Well, it’s not bad any more. I went to a seminar that taught us how to remember things. It was great, and now I have a wonderful memory.”
Bill answered, “That’s great! What was the name of the seminar?” “Well,” John said, “wait a minute, my wife went with me. I’ll ask her.” He turned and saw his wife nearby.
Then he turned back to Bill and said, “What’s the name of that flower with a long stem and thorns and a red bloom?” “Do you mean a rose?” Bill answered. “Yeah, thanks,” John said. “Hey, Rose, what’s the name of that seminar we attended?”
Some people just forget. We get to busy or we distracted or we just have a problem remembering. But we need to choose to remember our fallen heroes.
We do that by flying flags – some do it at half-mast. A good way to honor our fallen heroes is to just celebrate life by living well. Remember the movie saving Private Ryan? There is a poignant moment in the movie where Ryan, an old man now, weeps and whispers that he hopes he’s lived up to the Captain’s wish and lived a life worthy of all that the men who came to save him did for him. He then tearfully asks his wife to tell him that he's led a good life and that he's a good man.
I think the best way we can honor the men who gave their all for our freedom is to live lives worthy of their sacrifice. Let me share a couple of thoughts on how you can do that.
First, live the life that an American ought to live – as a follower of Christ. We need to know, if we don’t already, that we are a ‘Christian’ nation. If you know that – you need to remember it. We are not merely a religious nation as I once thought, or a godless nation that many are trying to say we are. We are unequivocally and unapologetically a CHRISTIAN nation. Let me remind you how we know that. Let’s look at what our forefathers said and did that verifies that we are a Christian nation.
1. We sing, “My County Tis of Thee”
2. Puritans first act at Plymouth Rock was to kneel, praise and dedicate new colony to God.
3. William Penn in writing government policies for Pennsylvania made sure “all treasurers, judges, and all elected officials professed faith in Jesus Christ.
4. Our Founding Fathers consistently spoke of the need for utilizing the Bible and Judeo-Christian values in defining and preserving this nation:
5. Twelve of the original 13 colonies incorporated the entire Ten Commandments into their civil and criminal codes.
6. President John Adams stated, "The law given from Sinai was a civil and municipal code as well as a moral and religious code. These are laws essential to the existence of men in society and most of which have been enacted by every Nation which ever professed any code of laws. Vain indeed would be the search among the writings of secular history to find so broad, so complete and so solid a basis of morality as the Ten Commandments lay down."
7. The American Bible Society was started by an act of Congress and John Adams, our second president, served as its first leader.)
8. The Supreme Court building has carved on its front Moses and the Ten Commandments.
9. House of Representatives - across the speakers’ seat is a sculpture of Moses.
10. President George Washington said, "It is impossible to govern the world without God and the Bible. Of all dispositions and habits that lead to political prosperity, our religion and morality are indispensable supporters."
11. In 1782, the U.S. Congress voted in favor of a resolution recommending and approving the Bible for use in the schools.
12. Henry Laurens, fourth president of the Continental Congress, stated, "I had the honor of being one who framed the Constitution. In order effectually to accomplish these great constitutional ends, it is especially the duty of those who bear rule to promote and encourage respect for God and virtue."
13. Patrick Henry, first governor of Virginia and a member of the Continental Congress, stated, "It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religions, but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ."
14. Constitution ends “in the year of our Lord.”
15. Nation’s motto: “In God we trust”
16. Pledge “One nation under God”
17. On February 29, 1892, the Supreme Court declared (in Holy Trinity v. United States) that the historical record of America overwhelmingly demonstrated that the United States “… is a Christian nation.”
18. John Hancock, 1st Signer of the Declaration of Independence said,
"Resistance to tyranny becomes the Christian and social duty of each individual. … Continue steadfast and, with a proper sense of your dependence on God, nobly defend those rights which heaven gave, and no man ought to take from us."
--History of the United States of America, Vol. II, p. 229.
Our forefathers fought for freedom so we could live as Christians. America has been so blessed because it has been a Christian nation. The Bible says,
“As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live life worthy of the calling you have received.” Ephesians 4:1
We have a duty to God and to those who won our freedom to live a life worthy of the sacrifice made for us.
Secondly, be aware of the price of freedom. Thomas Jefferson said,
"The price of liberty is eternal vigilance." Thomas Jefferson
When we get too many generation from those who fought for and won our freedom, we forget and we have a tendency to take it for granted. We think every country lives this way. We think everyone has the freedom to do what they want and go where they want to go. We have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness – but that is a rare thing in our world. Unfortunately, our freedoms are slowly but surely being taken from us. People don’t know the difference between freedom and liberty. They don’t know what a right is or what a privilege is or the difference. People don’t know our history and the men and women who founded it. We are not vigilant by any means – and there are forces at work; people at work; who want to take our freedoms and rights from us. I’m not sure if my grandchildren’s children will grow up in a world like we live in.
Folks, we need to educate ourselves because you will not get the truth in school at any level today. There is a revision of history going on and most people believe it. They trust their leaders and teachers. Also, it is too upsetting for many to learn the truth. And those who do educate themselves are often considered nuts or right winged wackos by many. The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.
Lastly, we need to remember we have an obligation to teach our children of what it cost to win our freedoms.
Do you remember the struggle it was for God’s people to take possession of the Promised Land? Moses had brought them out of Egypt and because of sin they wandered for forty years in the wilderness before entering in to the land God gave them. Joshua, chapter four tells about the crossing.
“When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the LORD said to Joshua, 2 ‘Choose twelve men from among the people, one from each tribe, 3 and tell them to take up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, from right where the priests are standing, and carry them over with you and put them down at the place where you stay tonight.’
4 So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, 5 and said to them, ‘Go over before the ark of the LORD your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, 6 to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, “What do these stones mean?” 7 tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever.’
8 So the Israelites did as Joshua commanded them. They took twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, as the LORD had told Joshua; and they carried them over with them to their camp, where they put them down. 9 Joshua set up the twelve stones that had been[a] in the middle of the Jordan at the spot where the priests who carried the ark of the covenant had stood. And they are there to this day.”
Joshua 4:1-9
In the years and decades and centuries to come, when one of the children asked about that pile of stones, the fathers could tell them about how God had been with them and brought them to this land that flowed with milk and honey.
We have forgotten our history. We have forgotten the miracles God did in the battle for our country. How many have ever read about George Washington’s vision or even heard of it. It is worth investigating. It isn’t being taught anymore and our children need to learn about it. Google it up for yourself.
Memorial Day is about remembering. We need to remember our roots. We need to remember our heritage. If we don’t; if we are aren’t vigilant, our children may not be able to enjoy what we for so long have taken for granted.
1. Remember that we are a Christian nation.
2. Remember the price of freedom.
3. Remember to teach our history to our children.
Happy Memorial Day!
