We are called by God to remember. In fact, there are over 100 passages in the Bible that deal with the act of remembering. Verses like –
DEUTERONOMY 4:9 -
‘Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen, or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them..’
In 2 PETER 1:13, we should keep our memories fresh as long as we live.
In PSALM 143:5 it talks about remembering the gratitude for God’s goodness.
We are called by God to remember. We have many things in our past, both personally and nationally, that we should remember. Can you think of some of the memories you have of your past?
I remember when I was a young boy growing up in southern Ohio. We would play many games, but the one I think I enjoyed the most was ‘War.’ My family didn’t have much money back then and I didn’t have a real toy rifle, but my dad cut down an old broom stick and that seemed to do just fine. I even took one of my sister’s belts and nailed it to the broom stick so I could have a strap to sling around my shoulders like real soldiers did. Of course, I lost my rifle privileges for a few days because of it, but when I got it back I saw where my dad had put a better strap on it for me.
Some of us would pretend to shoot our imaginary enemies, and some of us would pretend to be shot by them. Some would turn out to be the heroes of the day and some wouldn’t, but I remember how we always had fun being in the army. I also remember that just about the time when we were engaged in a really intense battle, our moms would call us in for dinner and we would have to call a cease fire for a while.
Those were the days, weren’t they? Sometimes, we wonder why they good old days were so much better than today, but in ECCLESIASTES 7:10, we are told it isn’t wise to ask questions like that. But as far as remembering them, I remember them well because they were so easy going and joyful.
Tomorrow is Memorial Day, and across this great nation, many will go to gravesites and honor those who have passed on before us. Some of those will have given their lives for the freedoms and liberties we enjoy today. Others will have given their lives while trying to be the best parents or children they could be. All of them gave their lives in the line of their duties, and all of them are heroes in one way or another. And we shall honor all of them for all they did.
We have many reasons to be thankful, don’t we? And we should remember many people for making our lives possible today. I would like to take just a few moments out and talk about some of them.
First, we must remember …
1. THOSE WHO GAVE THEIR ALL FOR US
We need to remember those patriots who founded this nation over two hundred years ago. Consider the men who signed the Declaration of Independence. Those men were not wild-eyed trouble makers. They were men of wealth, influence, and prestige of their day. They were lawyers and judges, plantation owners and educators. One of them was even a pastor.
They had the good life, but they valued liberty more. Everyone paid a price for our liberty. Some died while being tortured by the British while some died from wounds received while fighting. These men were wealthy for their day, but they ended up paupers or worse. These men gave all they had for our benefits. That is how our nation started and those were the men who started it.
We have much to remember and be thankful for.
Every generation of Americans has heroes who defended freedom and laid down their lives for their friends. My great-grandfather was in the Civil War, my grandfather was in WW1, my dad was in WW2, my brother was in Korea, I was in Vietnam, and my son was in Iraq. Each generation has been called upon to defend freedom and to protect our shores. Today, our young men and women have been called to fight the war on terror, and they are doing it in Iraq.
Unfortunately, war is a part of life on planet earth. And we could never worship the Lord unless we had the freedom to do so. And without fighting for that freedom yesterday, we would not have that freedom today.
1 CHRONICLES 5:18:
‘The Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh had 44,760 men ready for military service – able-bodied men who could handle shield and sword, who could use a bow, and who were trained for battle.’
This army fought, and won, battles because they had help. In verse 20, it says they cried out to God and they trusted God, and God handed them the victory. Will America learn from the patriots and warriors of old?
To every person here today who has either served in the military, or been part of a family who served in the military, I salute you.
Some have questioned the tenacity of our younger generation, as to whether they have the right stuff to carry on the legacy of great Americans. Right after the war in Iraq started, one of the reporters was interviewing a group of soldiers who were in their late teens and early twenties.
He asked all the normal questions, but as he closed the interview he said he would like to give one of them a chance to use his phone to call home. They quickly whispered back and forth and one of the young man told the reporter that their sergeant should be given the chance to call home because his wife was having a baby and he hadn’t talked to her in quite a while.
As the young man ran off to get the sergeant, the camera turned back to the reporter who was wiping tears from his eyes. I would say this younger generation has everything the other generations had, and maybe even more so.
Tomorrow, we will pay tribute to the warriors who gave their lives in defense of, and in support of, our nation. Why did they do this? They did it for us, so that we might have a better and freer life..
And while we remember the warriors of yesterday, let’s remember that …
2. WE ARE CALLED TO REMEMBER
The observance of Memorial Day has all but disappeared in America. Most communities have not held parades in decades; many cemeteries that our vets are laid to rest in have not been properly taken care of; and many people only look at this day as a way to have a cookout at the lake, or to have a three day weekend. While there is nothing wrong with either one of these, everything is wrong when we do not give any thought or honor to those we need to remember.
To help remind Americans that they need to remember, Congress passed what is called the “National Moment of Remembrance.” It calls for all Americans to have a silent moment of remembrance at 3:00 pm (their local time) each Memorial Day. I think it is a well-intentioned but sadly ill-equipped piece of legislature. In my opinion, what is called for is for all Americans to start seeing it for what it is; a day of honor for those who gave their all for this great nation.
As I said earlier, we are called to remember. God was getting ready to lead the Israelites out of bondage in Israel. He had them prepare a special dinner. This dinner was called the Passover, because it was eaten at the time God passed over all the homes that had blood on the door frame. This blood came from the lamb that was sacrificed for their dinner.
In GENESIS 12:14, it tells them to never forget it.
‘This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come, you shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord – a lasting ordinance.’
Remembering is essential to our walks with the Lord. And it is very important to our Lord that we remember. Throughout history, mankind has always gotten into trouble when he started forgetting. The more he forgot, the more trouble he experienced.
Everything the Christian does is what was modeled by the Lord. We are to follow His lead in everything, including remembering.
In ISAIAH 49:16, the Lord tells us how much he values remembering us.
‘See, I have engraved you on the palms of My hands.’
God will never forget you, and you should never forget God.
We must remember that it was the soldier, not the reporter, who has given us freedom of the press. It was the soldier, not the poet, gave us the freedom of speech. It was the soldier, not the politician, who has guaranteed our freedom to vote. And it was the soldier, not the lawyer, who gave us the liberty to disagree and debate things of importance. And it was the soldier, not the courts, who protected this precious right to worship that God has bestowed upon us.
So who should we remember on this day? We should remember our soldiers. I knew a young man who joined the Marines and went to Vietnam instead of accepting a football scholarship to Ohio State University. Within a few months of getting there, he lost both of his legs when he stepped on a mine. How would you feel if that happened to you? Would you feel that you were wronged or that it was unfair? The local paper asked him, upon his return, how he felt about it. He simply said he had a duty, and he did it. That young man died a year later when a car didn’t stop at a red light. The veteran who had given so much was rolling his wheelchair across the intersection. The car was being driven by a man who had avoided the draft. The young man in the wheelchair needs to be remembered.
Most importantly, let us also …
3. REMEMBER JESUS IN THE PUBLIC SQUARE
Back when we were kids fighting our games of hide-n-seek and war, we didn’t realize then that we would grow up someday to fight in real wars. I sometimes wonder how many kids who played heroes as children, actually grew up to be real heroes in combat? Today, I hate the thought of war, yet I know it is also a part of what we must do if we want to keep this country free. And we cannot forget that.
Look how quickly we forgot about Pearl Harbor and 9-1-1. We have forgotten the tragedy and the immensity of the situations. We have forgotten how shocked and vulnerable we felt. Yes, we are a forgetful people.
Three elderly brothers lived together. It was 9:00 pm and one of them got up from the couch to go to his bedroom. He got halfway down the hall and yelled out, “Why did I come down this way?” One of his brothers yelled back, “You are on your way to bed, you forgetful old so-and-so.”
Then, another brother got up to go get some coffee in the kitchen. When he got in the kitchen, he yelled out to ask why he came in there. The brother in the living room told him that he went in to get some coffee, and then told him to stop being so forgetful. With that, he rapped on the table with his knuckles and laughed. Then he told his brother, “Can you get the door? I just heard somebody knocking.”
If you forget a lot, don’t worry, because research has shown that most people do, so you are in good company. It’s said that there are really only three kinds of memory - good, bad, and convenient.
Americans need to get that clarity of focus back, and we need to start remembering the important things in our lives. We need to remember our veterans and we need to remember what part Jesus plays in each of our lives. It is through Him that we receive our spiritual freedoms and are set free from our slavery to sin.
Sin will take you further than you ever wanted to go; it will keep you there longer than you ever wanted to stay; and it will cost you more than you were ever wanting to pay. We always see more sin immediately after we start seeing less of Jesus. If you look around you today, you will see lewdness on TV, vulgarity on the radio, and an all out breakdown in the moral code of our nation. We are sinners by nature and in that nature we reject Jesus.
PSALM 58:3 says that we are wicked from birth and begin speaking lies as soon as we are born.
In ROMANS 3:10, we are reminded,
‘… there are none righteous, not even one.’
So, if we are to remember Jesus in the public square, how do we start? I believe it starts on an individual basis. Each person must remember. And one of the things we must remember is what is written in
ROMANS 6:23.
‘For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.’
Each person must come to terms with the fact that they are a sinner, and then they must face the fact that the consequences of their sin is death in hell. Now, many people don’t like hearing that. Last week I quoted to you that Sophia Loren said she had to go to Heaven or “it wouldn’t be nice” because she was a good person. These people do not like to hear that they are going to hell because they have not received Jesus as Lord.
I pray for these people, and would never want to hurt them, but in all honesty, it doesn’t matter what they like hearing, and it doesn’t matter what they think. The only thing that matters is the truth of God, and that is found nowhere else on this planet but the Bible. And we must fit the truth because His truth will never customize itself to fit each one of us.
So, we must remember Jesus in our society if our society is to be protected as it has been in the past. That protection is still available today, too, along with an overflow of blessings. It is there for the taking, actually.
ROMANS 3:22-24 tells us how to get it.
‘This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.’
Our nation had better stop removing Jesus from its fabric and realize that we were meant to be conquerors, but victory only comes through a belief in Jesus.
ROMANS 6:14 informs us,
‘For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.’
Our nation is in deep trouble. In fact, I truly believe that we are on the verge of losing everything we have, and maybe even succumbing to the leadership of another country, unless we start now to refocus on our Lord. There is a simple, yet explosive set of instructions given in the Old Testament that tells us just how to do this.
2 CHRONICLES 7:14 says,
‘If My people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face – and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from Heaven, and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.’
Let’s analyze this passage. God says if His people who are called by His name. He isn’t calling everybody, He is calling Christians. In other words, if just the Christians will do something, He will do something. But what do they have to do?
We are a proud people. We pride ourselves on being able to do everything and be self-sufficient. But since we are also a sinful people by nature, we get confused and start thinking it is all about us and our comfort and what we want. Then, we start rebelling against God. In truth, the reason we rebel and want Him out of our nation is because the truth hurts and makes us feel very uncomfortable.
So, the first thing we need to do is to humble our hearts and get rid of our sinful pride. It is then and only then that we will be able to pray to God and have Him hear our prayers. We must actually pursue God and try to seek Him in our lives. We cannot do that unless we are first humbled by His glory.
The more we humble our hearts and begin to look for God, the more we will turn from our wicked ways. Now, understand this: You might be the nicest person in town and you might be loved by everybody who ever met you, but if you are not with God through Jesus, you are sinful, and if you are sinful, you are wicked. But, God promises us that if we become humble and start to seek God in our lives, and if we are turning from our wicked ways, He will hear our prayer and He says he will do several things in return for our doing that.
He says He will finally hear us! That in itself would be enough, but God goes on to give us even more. He says He will forgive us of our sins, and then He promises to heal our land. What does that mean? It means that if we are forgiven of our sins, we will be spending eternity with Him in Heaven. When God heals our land, it means that we again will have prosperity, blessings, and most of all we will have Jesus in our public squares again.
So, as we celebrate Memorial Day tomorrow, let us remember those who gave all they had for our benefits, and let us understand that God wants us to remember what happened in our past.
The reason for that, I believe, is two-fold. One, to see how He has helped us so we will want to continue in His ways, and two, to see how we were hurt during the times we stepped away from His glory. That will help us learn better the next time around.
And as we do that, let us remember just how very urgent it is to put Jesus back in the public square of our society – where He belongs.
INVITATION
