The Supper Of The Lamb

Tomorrow marks the national observance of Memorial Day. All across America, in great cities and small towns, people will be marching in parades, gathering at parks or congregating at cemeteries.

There will be speeches given and prayers said, in honor of those who have given their lives during times of war, so that we might enjoy the liberties we possess today.

Memorial Day or Decoration Day, as it was first called, emerged from the shadows of the Civil War back in 1865.

It was only a few days after General Robert E Lee surrendered that a group of women from Vicksburg, Mississippi decorated the graves of the fallen soldiers.

Three years later, May 30 was the permanent day set aside for the placing of flowers on soldier’s graves throughout America.

It wasn’t until 1971 that the federal government began the practice of observing it on the last Monday of the May.

Memorial Day is all about REMEMBERING.

And Locked away in each of us, is a treasure house full of memories.

Through our memories, we can be children again skipping stones across the lake or walking through the tall grass of a meadow.

We can remember what is was like to fall in love for the very first time. For others we can recall the day we got married. We can do all of that and more through the memories that are fixed in your minds.

Some of our memories are filled with happiness and joy and you wouldn’t exchange a single one of them for all the money in the world.

But, some of our memories are not as pleasant, some are painfull, some are filled with tears and some still hurt.

But without Memories we would stumble through a world of confusion. We would forget to stop at a red light and forget to go when they turn green.

Important people, places and events would eventually fade away and we would have nothing left to remind us of what life was all about.

Memories are what keep us from being forgotten and people are very much afraid of being forgoten? A recent poll was conducted to determine what peoples greates fears were and do you know what was listed as the top two fears?

#1= The fear of being alone when death comes a knocking.

#2= Was the fear of being forgotten.

We as humans do not want to be forgotten. And so we have Buildings named after ourselves, We erect Museums in honor of people. We have Scrapbooks of special times spent with loved ones.

We write in Diaries so as to not forget, we have home movies of the kids growing up, Photo Albums filled with pictures and even Tombstones and Monuments.

All dedicated to the memories we have of places, people or events.

WHY?

Because we do not want to be forgotten.

Maybe the reason for that is because of something that God Himself has instilled in each of us.

We can see all through the Bible that God himself calls on people to remember the past, to not forget what has gone on before, in His dealings with them.

After the flood he put a rainbow in the sky as a reminder of his promise to never again destroy the world with water.

Later on, he commands that people should set aside one day out of the week as a reminder, as a memorial, of his deliverance of them out of bondage.

And when the hebrews were about to cross over into the promised land to take possession of it, he instructs Joshua to have twleve men, take up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan river, in order to create a pillar, a memorial of what God had done for them.

The very offerings of animals as sacrifices at the Tabernacle and also later on at the Temple were to be constant reminders of the penalty for sin.

All through the Bible there are many examples of special days, places and events that were instituted by God as memorials of his encounters with Humanity and he has recorded them for us so that we would not forget.

"Remember well what the Lord your God did..." Dt 7:18

"Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God

redeemed you from there..." Dt 24:18

"Remember the wonders he has done..." Ps 105:5

"Remember this, fix it in your mind and take it to heart..." Is 46:8

"Remember that in the past you were without Christ . . .” Eph 2:12

Yes, we can all do with a little help in remembering because of all the things we do tend to forget, sometimes God, is at the very top of that list, especially when things are going good.

So today, being Memorial Day week-end, we will participate in a very special event, that the Lord himself instutited so that we would not forget him.