Memorial Day

Several years ago, my pastor at the time gave a definition of a memorial that went something like this: “a monument or statute designed to honor a person or event that should never be forgotten.” Over the space of nearly 250 years, our nation has had men and women who have served at great personal sacrifice. Some of those have given their very lives in order to procure and preserve the freedoms we enjoy. The sacrifice of those brave soldiers should never be forgotten. We should not take lightly what they have done or what they have provided for us. We cannot forget them in an intellectual way, nor can we forget them in a practical way – by living in stark contrast to the ideals for which they fought.

How should remembering our fallen heroes impact the way we live? In short, we should be good citizens of the country they helped to craft for us, and we should appropriately use and enjoy the freedoms they helped to secure. We should vote. We should stand up for what is right. We should tastefully exercise our rights of speech, assembly, religion, bearing arms, and so forth, while being mindful of the rights of others to do the same. We should be active in our communities, schools, and churches, not hoping for someone else to do all of the work. Speaking of work, we should support ourselves rather than expecting the government (i.e. other taxpayers) to give us everything. We should keep our properties and surroundings clean and respectable. We should honor our soldiers and those leaders who seek to uphold our nation's standards. We should support our police and other public servants by living in a way that does not cause them extra work or conflict.

As Christians, we have another important memorial to keep in mind. We have a Savior, who over 2000 years ago also made a great personal sacrifice. We cannot comprehend the extent of that sacrifice, as He left the perfection of heaven to live on a sin-filled earth. He ultimately made the supreme sacrifice, as He gave His very life in order to give us freedom from sin and to provide us with the blessing of salvation. This sacrifice should never be forgotten either. We can’t take lightly what Christ suffered or what He has provided for us. We cannot forget in an intellectual way, nor can we forget in a practical way – by living in apathy or even direct violation of what Christ died to provide.

How should remembering Christ's sacrifice impact the way we live? We need to be good citizens of heaven while sojourning on this earth. We can't take sin lightly. We can't excuse our failures. We can't immerse ourselves in the godless activities and entertainment of the world. We must be holy in our thoughts and actions. We must love others that God loves. We must seek to minister to others as ambassadors of God's love. We must be faithful to God, faithful in church, and faithful to our families. We must shine as lights in a dark world. The list could go on, but in essence, we honor Christ's sacrifice by living in a manner becoming of His children and by seeking to join Him in advancing His mission in the world.

Psalm 78 describes the danger of forgetting, as illustrated by the children of Israel. Time after time they forgot the works of God, including unbelievable works they had seen with their own eyes. Their forgetfulness led to disastrous consequences, as related throughout the psalm. They turned back in the day of trouble. They didn’t keep God’s covenant. They refused to walk in His law. They sinned yet more against Him. They provoked Him. They tempted Him. They spoke against Him. They believed not in God. They trusted not in His salvation. They sinned still, and they believed not. They flattered Him with empty words and lied to Him. Their heart was not right with Him. They were not faithful in His covenant. They often provoked Him and grieved Him. They turned back and tempted Him. They limited Him. They tempted and provoked Him. All of these responses were because they had forgotten what He had done.

God established the Passover celebration as a perpetual memorial for Israel. He knew how important it was for them to remember what He had done, and He purposefully and deliberately established an annual holiday. Just in case they never remembered at any other time, at least then they would remember what God had done. Though they might stray from Him through the course of the year, at least they would be reminded once every year and would be drawn back to Him.

Similarly, God has established a memorial for Christians today to help them remember what He has done. He instituted the Lord’s Supper so that we will never go too long without remembering Christ’s sacrifice and what it means to us. It is dangerous to forget. Forgetting leads to carelessness, disobedience, and rebellion. God knows how forgetful we are, and He deliberately and purposefully ordained a memorial for us. When God reminds us of Christ’s sacrifice through the Lord’s Supper, He is in part preventing us from ending up with lives of disaster and judgment. As we are reminded of Christ's sacrifice, we are encouraged to live in a way that honors that sacrifice. Remembering does influence behavior.

"So that you would walk in a manner worthy of the God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory." I Thessalonians 2:12 (NASB)