MELVIN NEWLAND, MINISTER
RIDGE CHAPEL, KANSAS, OK
(Powerpoints used with this message are available at no charge. Just email me at mnewland@sstelco.com and request PP #345.)
TEXT: Exodus 12:12-14; 1 Corinthians 11:24-27; Joshua 4:6-7
(A You-Tube video of someone playing "Taps" was shown just before the sermon.)
ILL. I'm sure most of you recognized the bugle call being played while we were watching that video. It was "Taps." And if you have the TV News on for any length of time tomorrow I am sure you will hear it again & again.
The origin of “Taps" dates back to the Civil War. In 1862, Union Army General Daniel Butterfield & his brigade were camped at Harrison’s Landing in Virginia, following the Seven Days' Battle near Richmond.
At that time the standard method of signaling "lights out" to encamped troops at the end of the day was by a bugle call followed by three loud taps on a drum.
Gen. Butterfield was dissatisfied with that, & thinking that the last sound the men heard at night should be more soothing & melodious, he rewrote the bugle call & eliminated the sound of the drum.
After he had his brigade bugler play it for the men, buglers from other units became interested, & it quickly spread throughout the Union Army. And it even caught on with the Confederates.
Then in July, while they were still camped at Harrison's Landing, a corporal in Capt. John Tidball's Battery A, 2nd Artillery, died of his wounds.
Capt. Tidball wanted to bury him with full military honors, including the traditional firing of 3 rifle volleys over the gravesite. But he was refused permission because it was feared that the Confederates might mistake the rifle volleys as the beginning of an attack by the Union army.
Tidball later wrote, "So the thought suggested itself to me to sound 'Taps' instead, which we did." The idea was taken up by others, until in a short time it was adopted by the entire army. And "Taps" is now looked upon as the most appropriate & touching part of a military funeral.
A. Yes, tomorrow is Memorial Day. But what comes to mind when you think of Memorial Day - beginning of summer vacation, barbecues in the back yard, family get-togethers?
In many churches Memorial Day is ignored because it is not one of the holy days on the church calendar. But I believe that it is good for us to consider what Memorial Day really represents, for its very name calls us to remember.
This special day started near the end of the Civil War. And within a few years the practice of placing flowers on military graves had spread throughout both the north & south & was being called by almost everyone, “Decoration Day.”
Then, after WW1 it became a national holiday dedicated to remembering those who made the ultimate sacrifice for the freedoms that we enjoy. And it also became a day to remember loved ones who have gone on before.
B. But people are forgetful, & we often need help to jog our memories. And in the Bible we find that God has given us some reminders, too.
1. After God destroyed the earth in a flood, He told Noah, “I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be cut off by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.” (Genesis 9:11)
Then God said, “I have set my rainbow in the clouds, & it will be the sign of the covenant between me & the earth.” (Genesis 9:13) So every time we see a rainbow, it serves as a reminder of God’s promise.
2. Another memorial was erected when Joshua led the people of Israel across the Jordan River into the Promised Land.
The Jordan River stopped flowing just as the priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant stepped off the riverbank into the water. Then the priests stood in the middle of the riverbed until everyone had crossed safely.
But while they were crossing, Joshua told 12 men, one from each of the 12 tribes, to go into the riverbed & select 12 large stones. They brought those stones up onto the riverbank & made a monument out of them.
Joshua then said (Joshua 4:6-7), “In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ 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.”
PROP. There are special days & times in the Bible specifically designed to help us remember. Let me call your attention to 3 of them this morning.
You probably know these stories, but listen again & see how God uses them to help us remember.
I. THE FESTIVAL OF PASSOVER
A. The first one is the Festival of Passover. The people of Israel had been sojourners & then slaves in Egypt for over 400 years. Then God told Moses, "I want you to go back to Egypt & say to Pharaoh, ‘Let my people go!’”
Moses did what God commanded, but Pharaoh refused to listen. So, to reinforce His demand, God sent plague after plague upon Egypt. And every time, when the plague was at its worst, Pharaoh would say, “Stop the plague & I’ll let the people go.” But after every plague Pharaoh would renege on his promise & continue their slavery.
Finally, Moses said, “This is what the Lord says, ‘About midnight I will go throughout Egypt. Every firstborn son in Egypt will die… There will be loud wailing throughout Egypt – worse than there has ever been or ever will be again.’” (Exodus 11:4-6)
B. Then God instructed the Israelites, “Each family is to choose a year-old lamb, one without spot or blemish, the best in every flock.”
You know, one thing many have forgotten is that we’re supposed to offer our best to God. But sadly, we tend to keep the best for ourselves, & give God the leftovers. Yet the Biblical principle has always been that God deserves our best. And if we love Him, then we will give Him our best.
God told them, “Kill that lamb, & drain its blood into a basin. Then roast the lamb. But before you eat, “Take a bunch of hyssop, dip it into the blood in the basin & put some of the blood on the top & on both sides of the doorframe.” (Exodus 12:22)
“On that same night I will pass through Egypt & strike down every firstborn – both men & animals – & I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord.
“The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are; & when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.” (Exodus 12:12-13)
So someone in every Jewish home took hyssop, dipped it in the blood, & put it on the doorframe. And that night, just as God said, He brought judgment upon Egypt, & there was weeping & wailing throughout the land. But wherever God saw the blood of the lamb, those homes were spared.
Exodus 12:33 tells us that the next morning, “The Egyptians urged the people to hurry & leave the country. 'For otherwise,' they said, 'We will all die!'” After 400 years they were free!
God said, “This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord ...” (Exodus 12:14)
Over 3,500 years have gone by, & every year faithful Jews still celebrate, still remember the Passover. And it’s important that we don’t forget, either.
II. A DAY OF WORSHIP
A. Now a second memorial I want to mention is our day of worship.
It all started when God created the heavens & earth. The Bible says that God worked 6 days in creation, & on the 7th day He rested. Then God blessed the Sabbath day, (the 7th day) & called it holy.
In the Ten Commandments God told the Jews that they were to remember the Sabbath day (the 7th day) to keep it holy - a day of rest & worship.
B. If, under God's Old Jewish Covenant, the 7th day of the week was to be kept holy, why do Christians, living under the new covenant, worship on the first day of the week?
Well, let me mention a few things that make the first day of the week very special for Christians.
First of all, Sunday, the first day, is special to Christians because when Jesus arose from the dead, His resurrection & his first 6 resurrection appearances were all on the first day of the week.
Then 50 days later, after Jesus had ascended back into heaven, on the Day of Pentecost, the first day of the week, the Holy Spirit came upon the Apostles just as Jesus had promised. Peter preached the first Gospel sermon, 3,000 responded & were baptized & the Church was started.
Soon the early Christians were meeting regularly upon the first day of the week to worship God & encourage one another. And in the Book of Revelation the Apostle John spoke of this day as “The Lord’s Day.” And so it is to those of us who gather to worship Him.
I pray that we will always recognize that whenever we come together we have come to meet a holy & righteous God - to remember what He has done for us, & to rededicate ourselves to Him.
III. A MEAL OF REMEMBRANCE
Finally, there is a meal of remembrance. It was the night before His crucifixion that Jesus met with His disciples in the upper room to celebrate the Passover together.
It was to be an evening of remembering, as God had long ago commanded. But as they ate, Jesus gave them something new, something greater, to remember. For Jesus “…took bread, & when He had given thanks, He broke it & said, ‘This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.’
“In the same way, after supper He took the cup, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this … in remembrance of me.’” (1 Corinthians 11:24-25).
Do you know why Jesus said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood…”? It was because Jesus was the fulfillment of a prophecy God had given centuries before through the Prophet Jeremiah.
“’The time is coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I will make a new covenant… I will put my law in their minds & write it on their hearts. I will be their God, & they will be my people… For I will forgive their wickedness & will remember their sins no more.’” (Jeremiah 31:31-34)
No longer were some ingredients of the Passover meal simply to be a reminder of their release from Egyptian slavery. Now the bread & the cup were to be eternal reminders of Jesus, of His sacrifice & His love. That’s why Jesus said, “Do this in remembrance of me.”
And when Paul wrote about that, he added, “Whenever you eat this bread & drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.” (1 Corinthians 11:26)
So when you & I partake, we’re proclaiming, “I believe that Jesus lived & died & rose again, & He is my Savior & Lord. I may not be able to speak eloquently. But I can proclaim my faith through these emblems. So I partake in remembrance of Him.”
When Paul writes about the Lord’s Supper he said, “Is not the cup of thanks-giving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ?
“Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf” (1 Corinthians 10:15-16).
We have all traveled the same dusty road. We’ve sinned, & we’re not worthy. But we do not partake because we’re worthy. We partake because God is holy, & He invites us to come into His presence & be a part of His memorial as we share it with each other.
SUM. We have much to remember. Whatever you do, don’t forget how we got here. Don’t forgot the price that has been, & is being paid, so that we can live in freedom & enjoy the blessings that God has given us. Please don’t ever forget!
ILL. The story is told that a young & successful executive named Josh was driving in a Chicago neighborhood. He was going a bit fast in his sleek, black, 12-cylinder Jaguar XKE, which was only 2 months old.
He was watching carefully for kids darting out from between parked cars & slowed down when he thought he saw something. As his car passed that spot, no child darted out, but a brick flew out & - WHUMP! – it hit the Jag’s shiny passenger-side door.
He slammed on his brakes & his gears ground into reverse, taking the Jaguar back to the spot where the brick had been thrown.
Josh jumped out of the car, grabbed the kid & pushed him up against a parked car. He shouted, “Who are you? And what the heck are you doing?” Building up a head of steam, he went on. “That’s my new Jag, & the brick you threw is going to cost you a lot of money. Why did you throw it?”
“Please, mister, please…I’m sorry! I didn’t know what else to do! I threw the brick because no one would stop.” Tears were dripping down the boy’s chin as he pointed around the parked car.
“It’s my brother, mister,” he said. “He rolled off the curb & fell out of his wheelchair & I can’t lift him up.” Sobbing, the boy pled, “Would you please help me get him back into his wheelchair? He’s hurt & he’s too heavy for me.’
Moved beyond words, the young executive tried desperately to swallow the rapidly swelling lump in his throat. Straining, he lifted the young man back into the wheelchair & took out his handkerchief & wiped the scrapes & cuts, checking to see that everything else was okay. He then walked with them to make sure that the younger brother was able to get them back home all right.
Then it was a long walk back to his sleek, black, shining 12-cylinder Jaguar XKE – a long & slow walk. Josh never did fix that side door. He kept the dent to remind himself not to go through life so fast that someone has to throw a brick at him to get his attention again.
INVITATION: If you’re here without Jesus Christ as your Savior, don’t wait for someone to throw a brick to get your attention. We invite you to come & accept Him as your Lord & Savior. Will you come as we stand & as we sing?
