THE MESSAGE OF THE MEMORIAL
Joshua 4:5-7, 21-24
Memorial Day Weekend is here....
For many people, this day indicates the beginning of summer, only to be ended a couple months down the road with Labor Day Weekend.
It seems that nowadays Memorial Day is being reduced in it’s meaning and significance, with cookouts and reunions taking precedence over the real reason the day was created in the first place.
This is a time that we pause and appreciate those who have paid the highest of prices in the defense of the freedoms that you and I now enjoy.
It is so ironic, that the very flag that activist wackos trample on and burn, is the very same flag that loyal troops gave their lives for in so many battles.
Just this past week, we heard of a final vote on a monument that will be erected on the Washington Mall to honor those who fought in World War II - The vote was 400-15 however, it took longer to decide on the location than it did to fight the war
The turf war is over one of the most visible and hallowed pieces of territory in America: 7.4 acres of the Mall between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument.
They want to save the Mall," Mr. Dole said, referring to opponents of the memorial. "Well, we wanted to save the world. The Mall was part of the world. And we did our job."
"The memorial would louse up what is a lovely view of the Mall," said Representative Pete Stark, a California Democrat
You see, a lot of people want a monument, they just don’t want it to be in the way of a lovely view!
I say that one of the most lovely views we can have is the remembrance that there were some who were willing to die for the lovely views we have and enjoy in this great land of America.
We as Christians need to pause and remember as well what our Savior Jesus Christ did on a cross called Calvary!
While some may try to dress up the cross, and make it look good and appealing to the world, I’m here to tell you today, that it is still an Old Rugged Cross where criminals in that day died the most shameful of deaths.
I am getting pretty sick and tired of the Christian community trying to look and act like the world in an attempt to reach the world!
On that cross the battle of the ages commenced, and was won as our savior breathed his final breath and uttered the words, It is Finished!
This world still needs to see the cross! They still need to know that to serve Jesus Christ, it is going to require a life of self-sacrifice, and not self-service.
Those words just echo in my spirit today...."The view of the monument will louse up a lovely view of the mall"!
I am here today to say that when we really view the cross, it will mess up a lovely view of self, but if there is anything we need to do today, it is remember the cross, and the high price that was paid for us to live in freedom!
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The memorial we are talking about today is not tallking about an event that produced grief and sadness through the death of a loved one, but we see in our reading of the scripture here that this memorial is about the celebration of a mighty work of God!
Moses had passed on, and now after wandering in the desert for 40 years, they were getting ready to cross over into the land that God had promised to them.
Joshua was now their leader, and one of the remaining members of the original generation that had rebelled against God, and doubted Him.
Joshua and Caleb were of a different spirit as we know, and that’s why God was allowing them to go in and possess the land they wanted to possess 40 years prior.
The only trouble was, there was a river in the way that could not be passed over without a mighty miracle from God.
Wouldn’t you know it? God chose the spring of the year to have them go into the Promised Land! God in His great wisdom knew that they would get to the edge of Jordan, and realize that somebody had moved the edge.
This was spring time, and in this time of the year, the Jordan river was always higher up than at any other time. (Vs. 15) (for Jordan overfloweth all his banks all the time of the harvest)
Snow on the mountains of Lebanon are melting at this time of the year, and God chose this time to prove Himself in a great way.
God is one to do exceedingly above all that we ask or think. He wants us to cross rivers when they’re flooded, cross the sea of Galilee when He knows a storm is coming, pour barrels of water around a sacrifice, gather as many vessels as we can find, whittle an army down to 300 to fight against 135,000, then win it with lamps, vessels, and a whole lot of shouting...
It goes on and on, that God seems to delight in doing what is beyond our expectations!
Without getting too much into the story today, we realize that the priests were the first ones to put their feet into the water, and the waters rolled back into a heap, and the people passed over on dry ground.
We know that two monuments were constructed here, one was to be placed where they were going to spend the night, vs. 3 and (Gilgal) and the other, we read was actually placed in the river bed
where the priests had stood (vs. 9)
I don’t even read anywhere that they were instructed to put the one in the middle of the river...It almost seems like it was a spontaneous act of worship!
Let’s focus on the Message of the Memorial placed at Gilgal...
We read of it’s purpose in vs. 21-24 - And I basically want to boil it down to three areas...
I. THE TEACHING OF THE MEMORIAL
II. THE WITNESS OF THE MEMORIAL
III. THE INSPIRATION OF THE MEMORIAL
I. THE TEACHING OF THE MEMORIAL
We read in vs. 21, 22 of the fact that this memorial was to be a teaching tool for the generations to follow.
There is something about human nature even within children that will ask questions when the need arises.
Seeing 12 stones in a pile is not something a person sees everyday, and when they do see it, they know it would be extremely unlikely that those 12 stones would somehow just plop into place and stand there.
It would be about as unlikely as this world of intricate design, shape, and function just all of a sudden appearing out of nowhere, and then starting to grow animals and fish, and those animals and fish somehow begin to evolve into human beings.
These things just do not happen! There had to be a creative touch!
God said that your children are going to come up to you, and ask Mommy and Daddy...why are the stones piled all up like that?
Mom and Dad will be able to tell them the entire story of the miracle that God performed in that very spot years before. This was to be a landmark that would serve as a teaching tool of the miracle working power of God!
The next generation must be told about the miracles and providing power, and the times that God met you in certain situations.
Without a doubt, we don’t live in the past, but the events of the past can serve to inspire us and our children for the future.
British poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge once had a discussion with a man who firmly believed that children should not be given formal religious instruction, but should be free to choose their own religious faith when they reached maturity. Coleridge did not disagree, but later invited the man into his somewhat neglected garden. "Do you call this a garden?" the visitor exclaimed. "There are nothing but weeds here!" "Well, you see," Coleridge replied, "I did not wish to infringe upon the liberty of the garden in any way. I was just giving the garden a chance to express itself."
One of the reasons we have Sunday School, Youth Meetings, Children’s Ministries, is to tell our children about the Landmarks of God’s blessings, and the greatest Landmark is still the Old Rugged Cross on a Hill Faraway.
We don’t have to dress the gospel up in an outfit that would be pleasing to today’s generation. I don’t believe they felt like as time went on they had to paint the rocks to make the kids ask the questions.
I drive down the same roads you do, and often will see a cross or flowers placed by the side of a road, and immediately begin to wonder what tragic event happened in that place.
So often we are quick to remember tragic events in our lives, and really there is nothing wrong with doing that, and in fact probably helps in the healing process.
I believe today though that God wants us to remember the miracle moments, the place we gave our hearts to the Lord, the place where we were filled with the baptism in the Holy Spirit, the place we were baptized in water, the time God came through with a financial miracle just at the right time, the healing work that God performed when the doctors said there was no hope.
Take time to remember the Landmarks in your life, and pass them on to the next generation. Next Generation...don’t hesitate to ask about the Landmarks you wonder about!
Not only is there the teaching of the Memorial, but we go on to read of
II. THE WITNESS OF THE MEMORIAL
We read in vs. 24 another purpose of the Memorial being placed here, and that was that all the people of the earth would know the hand of the Lord, that it is mighty.
No matter who we are, we tend to forget that one of, if not the main functions we have here on this earth is to be witnesses to a lost and dying world.
We here in this church, and many churches throughout the world have a Memorial Service on at least a monthly basis, and sometimes more.
1 Cor. 11:25
In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me."
I haven’t heard a whole lot about it lately, but in the past there have been blatant attempts to get the word blood taken out of our hymn books, and to encourage preachers not to speak about the blood.
I want to say today that it is still the Blood of Jesus Christ that sets people free, and gives them forgiveness of the past, and a hope for the future.
The cross where Jesus spread His arms out and died is a Landmark that we must witness about to a lost and dying world.
Don’t try to dress it up, and make it more appealing to the world, so you can reach the world. You don’t have to compromise to reach this generation!
John 12:32
But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself."
We notice also that vs. 21 says that Joshua spoke to "ALL" the children of Israel - He didn’t just give the instructions to the priests to tell the story of the miracle, but the word came to everyone!
It is everyone’s duty and privilege to carry the message of the stones and the miracle of the salvation power of God to the World!
Your sphere of influence will hardly be one that anyone can reach as effectively as you can.
One of the ways gratitude was expressed often in the Old Testament was through outward signs.
You could tell that someone was thankful because of the memorial they built, or the sacrifice they offered, or the gift that they gave.
It didn’t take long for someone looking on to realize that the "act" of thankfulness was taking place which in itself was a witness to the greatness of God.
I believe when we come into the house of God, our gratitude should be expressed in an open way which in itself is a witness to a skeptical world.
Not only do we see the Teaching of the Memorial, and the Witness of the Memorial, but we also see
III. THE INSPIRATION OF THE MEMORIAL
We see that inspiration of the memorial in vs. 24 where it says, "That ye might fear the Lord your God, Forever"
So many people have gotten off track as they read the words about fearing God, and that somehow we need to walk around with faces covered, and nails bitten off about what God could do to us if we step out of line.
This fear that is being talked about here is a reverence of God, and is a positive for a person to experience, and hardly a negative.
Let me just read you some of the benefits in the word of God that come from a fear or reverence of God.
Prov. 9:10 says the Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom...
Prov. 10:27 says the Fear of the Lord adds length to our life...
Prov. 2:5 says the Fear of the Lord will help us gain knowledge of God
Prov. 14:26 says that in the Fear of the Lord is strong confidence
Prov. 16:6 says that when we Fear the Lord, we depart from evil...
Prov. 22:4 says that by humility and Fear of the Lord is riches, honor and a long life.
We could go on with the myriad of scriptures in the word that not only encourage us to fear or reverence God, but also follow up with tremendous promises if we do so.
Nowadays, we see a bumper stickers, hats, and a lot of other things with a statement NO FEAR - I like the one that came out from the Christian community with the same type of logo, that simply said, FEAR GOD!
When you think about the memorials we have even in America, there is a real sense of reverence as you walk onto those places, as you realize the price that was paid, and here laid out before you are the names of all those who paid the ultimate price.
It is not the same kind of reverence that one has for a Holy God, but it is a reverence in that there is a sense of awe and appreciation. I believe that when we come into the presence of God, there should be an appreciation of the High Price that was paid 2000 years ago on that battlefield called Calvary.
Our biggest difficulty in living in this day and age so often is keeping the sense of wonder and awe.
Not only does the memorial inspire us to fear God, I like the last words of this verse of scripture in 24 (Forever) -
