Freedom Isn’t Free
October 12, 2000. To some people, this may be a loved ones birthday. To others, maybe the day they bought their first new car. October 12, 2000. Undoubtedly, mothers were busy making Halloween costumes or perhaps even a few were beginning to buy Christmas gifts preparing for a holiday still over two months away.
October 12, 2000. For many of us, it is not a date that rings in our ears or keeps us up at night, but for the 17 American families, October 12 is a day that they will never forget. It was on that date that they were receiving the news that their sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, grandchildren, or maybe even their husbands or wives were killed. It was on that date, October 12, 2000 that terrorist loaded up a small boat with explosives and headed toward the U.S.S. Cole. Seventeen seamen died that day, not in combat, but no less, in service to their country.
To many of us, Memorial Day means walks in the park, family vacations, or the end of a school year. For many, Memorial Day has quite a different meaning.
Memorial Day was officially proclaimed on 5 May 1868 by General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, and was first observed on 30 May 1868, when flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery. It is now celebrated in almost every State on the last Monday in May, passed by Congress in 1968.
I have listed some astounding facts inside of your bulletin. These numbers detail the total number of soldiers who have served in various wars and the total number of casualties incurred. I have added these figures and here is what I have found. Of the almost 37,000,000 soldiers involved in previous wars, the total number of dead is just over 643,000. This figure represents 1.75% if the total number who have served in combat. Out of every 1000 soldiers in combat, 175 were killed in action.
Look around you. There are probably about 80 people here today. If we were all soldiers and were going into battle, one of you would not come home. However, that figure my friends have not always been that good. It has been only in recent times, and by recent I mean the last 50 years, that the figure has dropped. Many of us are too young to remember the devastation of WWII or WW I. In WW I and WW II, the mortality rate was close to 2.5 %. In other words, instead of one of us not coming home, it would be two.
I would like to read for you the second verse of a poem entitled “Freedom Isn’t Free”, Author: Unkown
I heard the sound of taps one night,
When everything was still.
I listened to the bugler play
And felt a sudden chill.
I wondered just how many times
That taps had meant "Amen"
When a flag had draped a coffin
of a brother or a friend.
I thought of all the children,
Of the mothers and the wives,
Of fathers, sons and husbands
With interrupted lives.
I thought about a graveyard at the
bottom of the sea
Of unmarked graves in Arlington.....
No -- Freedom isn’t free!!
Today, we salute those who have died to secure and preserve our freedom. We honor their courage, we honor their duty, we honor their sacrifice.
Yes, we honor those who have given their lives for their country, but today, this Memorial Day, there is another group of men that I would like to honor.
There are many, though I do not know the figures, who have lost their lives, not in service to their country, but in service to their King.
From the 1st century church, to present times, people have died for their faith. We all know, of course, the story of Stephen who died at the hands of the Romans for expressing his faith. We know of the other early Christians who were burned at the stake, or placed in the Coliseum to meet their death with the Lions.
I would like to tell you of some others of which you may or may not know.
It as in 1955 that four men were serving as missionaries to the Indians in Ecuador. There was one tribe that the locals considered savages, so they called them “Auca”, which means savage in their language. For many generations the Aucas had been completely isolated from the outside world, and killed any stranger on sight. They were feared even by their head-hunting neighbors, the Jivaro tribe.
The 4 men, Nate Saint, Ed McCully, Jim Elliot, and Peter Fleming, found a settlement of the Aucas just 15 minutes from their camp. They devised a plan to reach them. They began by flying over the village and dropping presents from the plane. On the first trip, they lowered a kettle into the village, which appeared to be deserted. On the second trip, when the Aucas saw the plane, they came out to greet them and accept the presents.
By the fourth flight, they began speaking messages in the Aucan language. After 3 months, they decided that it was time for ground contact. After much debate they had decided to take guns since they heard that the Aucas did not attack those with guns. They had also decided that as a last resort they would fire shots into the air, but would not fire upon the Aucas. With a plan in place, they found an appropriate campsite and flew over to invite the Aucas to visit them.
A young girl and her mother visited them on Friday. The visit was very friendly and the visitors stayed for several hours.
On Saturday around 3:00 in the afternoon, the missionaries were speared to death by the Aucas. The Aucas had feared a trap. The Aucas later realized their mistake when they learned of the guns. They realized that the missionaries could have fired on them, but had chosen not to do so.
The mission to the Aucas continued and many of them came to Christ.
It was one of these missionaries, Jim Elliot, who said, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose”.
Justin Martyr, a follower who was later sainted by the Catholic Church, was born in the 2nd century. He spent his teenage and early adult life studying different philosophical systems. At age 30, he converted to Christianity calling it the true doctrine.
When Justin came before Rusticus, the prefect of Rome, he was questioned about his faith.
Rusticus had ordered Justin Martyr and the other followers to offer sacrifices to the gods. Justin declined saying "No one who is right-thinking stoops from true worship to false worship”. In the same way the other martyrs also said, "Do what you will. We are Christians; we do not offer sacrifice to idols."
An account of the other followers is not given, but we know that Justin Martyr was beheaded at the hand of Rusticus.
And who among us can forget Cassie Bernall or Rachel Scott? It was over two years ago that they were gunned down for their faith at Columbine High School in Littleton, CO. This account is from Rachel’s pastor, but the accounts that I have read for Cassie are much the same.
We heard from eyewitness accounts of other surviving students that when Rachel was confronted by one of the gunmen, she gave a bold testimony of her faith. The killer asked her, "Do you believe in God?” She boldly answered, "Yes I do!” She was instantly gunned down. This has made a major impact on the other students who knew of Rachel’s Christian testimony. I am certain that in this moment, the angels of God surrounded her and instantly ushered her into Christ’s eternal kingdom. The spirit of the martyrs still lives!
What if she had said “No”? What if Cassie Bernall had said “No” when they asked her if she believed in God? Yes, she may have saved her life, but her own mother said that she could not think of a more honorable way to die than to profess your faith in God.
There are countless other stories that could be told, for more than just these few laid down their lives for their King.
Today, on this Memorial Day, we honor those who have laid down their lives for their King. We honor their devotion, we honor their courage, we honor their lives.
Today, we honor those who gave their lives for Their King. Today we honor those who gave their life for our freedom. But today, we honor the King who paid the ultimate price for our freedom.
You see, about 6,000 years ago, the human race became enslaved. From the beginning of the world, a system of Law was put in place. We violated that law, and when we did, we became enslaved until we could pay the price, and we know that the price for sin is death, not a physical death, but spiritual death.
Being as slaves to sin, we must pay the price. For thousands of years, the price for our freedom was paid with the blood of lambs and bulls. This freedom was illusive because it did not secure freedom at all, but merely secured a temporary forgiveness of the debt until the final price could be paid.
But God had a plan. He is our father. He knew our hearts. The God of the Universe wished to pay the final price for us, so he came down himself, in a human body to pay the ultimate price for a debt that he never owed.
Today, we honor the One who paid the ultimate price so that others could have the freedom that he always had.
I am going to ask those serving this morning to come forward. Most of you know that usually, we observe the Lord’s supper earlier in the service. Today, I have arranged to observe it at this point in the service. You see, today, Memorial Day, we honor those who gave their lives so that we could live in a free country. As Christians, it is at this point in our service that we observe the ultimate memorial service, the one that the Lord, Himself, instituted. It was on that last night right before his betrayal that he gave us the memorial service we call the Lord’s Supper. It is a time that we can reflect on his sacrifice and honor the sacrifice that he made.
It is a memorial service like no other. For we memorialize the sacrifice, but not the person who gave his life. It is a time of rejoicing because although the price was paid and law enslaves us no more, death no longer has a strangle hold on Him. We know that 3 days after he made that ultimate sacrifice so that we could enjoy our freedom, God raised him from the dead.
Immediately following the communion time, as a response to the incredible sacrifice that Christ gave for us, I ask that you join me in pledging affirming my pledge to Him by reciting the Pledge to the Christian Flag as printed on the inside of your bulletin.
