SERMON
REMEMBERING
5/29/22
INTRO: Good morning! Some of you may be surprised to see me up here giving the sermon today. You’re probably not as surprised as me. When Julie contacted me a few weeks ago asking if I could do the sermon, I could see that she was desperate. She had already contacted a long list of people and all were unable to give a sermon. I was very reluctant. I have never given a sermon before. Then I thought: “I have been warming a pew for the past 10 years watching Pastor Andrea give homilies and Sermons. They have all been good. How hard can it be? Well, I’m about to find out.”
DEFINITION/HISTORY: Tomorrow is Memorial Day. Many think of Memorial Day as the beginning of summer vacation, barbecues in the back yard, family get-togethers. But of course it is much more than that. The root of the word “memorial” is “memory”. Another form is “Remember”. Memorial Day is a day we remember the soldiers who sacrificed their lives so that we would have our freedoms, including the freedom to worship here today. The custom began in 1866, when following the end of the Civil War, widows began placing flowers on the graves of those who died in battle. It was called “Decoration Day”. It became a national holiday in 1917, celebrated on May 30 each year. In 1971 Congress changed the day to the last Monday in May, in order to make it a 3-day weekend. It is a day to REMEMBER.
MOVIE: One of my favorite movies is “Forrest Gump”. How many have seen it? You may remember the scene where Forrest and Bubba have just landed in Vietnam and get introduced to Lieutenant Dan Taylor. Forrest says how lucky he feels to have a commander who has had an ancestor die in every major war, and who plans to continue that tradition. Well, Lieutenant Dan does not get his wish. Forrest saves his life, though Lieutenant Dan loses both legs. He is very bitter and feels he was cheated of his destiny to die in glory like his ancestors. Later in the movie Lieutenant Dan becomes Forrest’s first mate on the shrimp boat “Jenny”. A terrible storm hits them out on the ocean and Lieutenant Dan rages against God and challenges him to do battle. The storm eventually passes and the shrimp boat and crew are spared. Lieutenant Dan finally accepts his situation and as Forrest says, “made his peace with God”.
FAMILY HISTORY: How many of you, like Lieutenant Dan, have lost a family member or ancestor in one of America’s wars? My family war history is entirely the opposite of Lieutenant Dan’s. My brother, an amateur genealogist, has traced our family history back for hundreds of years and never once found a relative to have died in service to our country.
My GGGGG (yes that’s 5 greats) grandfather, Johann Adam Schmidt (later Anglicized to Smith), was an ensign in the Revolutionary War. His company had one recorded encounter with the British at the battle of White Marsh Pennsylvania. The colonials were quickly routed by the British, but Johann survived.
My GGGG (4 greats) Uncle William Wendell Smith fought for the Union in the Civil War. He was captured by the Confederates during the Battle of Franklin Tennessee in November 1864 (the only civil war battle fought entirely at night) and transferred to a POW camp in Georgia known as Camp Sumter, better known as Andersonville. I you haven’t heard of it I suggest you look it up. Andersonville was the most notorious POW camp in U.S. history. In its brief 14-month existence over 45,000 union soldiers were interred there. At its busiest over 30,000 soldiers were there at one time; in a 16-acre stockade with no shelter from the elements, no privies, no potable drinking water. Each soldier had approximately a 5x6 foot space to occupy. 1/3 of them died. Uncle William survived. At the end of the war in 1865 Uncle William was being transported home with other union soldiers aboard an overloaded paddlewheel boat named the Sultana, when a boiler exploded, killing over half of the 2200 men aboard, It was the deadliest maritime disaster in U.S. history. Ever heard of it? Probably not because Abraham Lincoln had been assassinated just a couple weeks prior, and that was making all the news. Uncle William survived this too (though he had the hair burned off his head).
During WW1 my Grandfather, Alonzo Smith, was stationed in Kansas awaiting orders to go “over there” with the other doughboys, to fight in Europe. He became ill and never went to Europe. He had contracted what became known as The Spanish Flu. The camp in Kansas is widely regarded as where the Spanish Flu started. The COVID pandemic, as awful as it is, has killed about 6 million people worldwide. The Spanish Flu of 1917-18 killed between 50 and 100 million people. Grandpa Smith survived.
In WW2 my Uncle James Wottle was serving in the Merchant Marines when he had his ship torpedoed off the coast of Hawaii. He and two others floated in a rubber raft in the vast Pacific Ocean for three days before they were miraculously spotted and rescued. Uncle Jim survived.
On December 1, 1969, my older brother Chuck was chosen #1 in the first draft lottery since 1942. He said it was the first time he had won anything. He trained as a combat MP to man a .50 caliber machine fun on top of an armored vehicle protecting supply convoys in Vietnam. After receiving orders to ship out his last stop was San Diego. There at the airport, an officer approached his company and issued change orders to a handful of the soldiers, including my brother. He ended up in Stuttgart Germany as an MP for the rest of his tour. Many of his friends never came back from Vietnam. My brother survived.
As for me, I was #76 in the same lottery. I too would have been drafted but I got a college deferment. When it expired they were no longer drafting. I guess you could say I too survived…College.
I mention all this “Luck” in my family because it makes me all the more grateful for the sacrifices made by others to preserve our freedoms. I remember and so should you.
PARALLELS/DIFFERENCES: There are parallels between the sacrifices our soldiers made and the sacrifices made by Christ. They both suffered, gave their lives for others, and inspired others to continue the good work.
Here though the parallels end. The soldiers sacrificed for their country. Christ sacrificed for all humanity. Soldiers fought against other humans. Christ fought against the power of evil. Victory for soldiers was taking a hilltop, a body of water, or even defeating another country. Victory for Christ was triumph over sin and death.
The weapons were also different. Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians: “For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.”
In Ephesians he gives an even better description of our Christian weapons when he describes the armor of God.
The Belt of Truth
The Breastplate of Righteousness
Our feet are fitted with the Gospel of Peace
We carry the Shield of Faith
We have the Helmet of Salvation
And the Sword of the Spirit.
That armor, combined with prayer, will indeed protect us from evil and we should remember this.
GIFT OF MEMORY: Memory is a gift from God. We can remember when we were children, skipping stones on a pond, or walking through a meadow. We can relive falling in love, getting married, raising a family, all over again. All this is possible with the blessing of memory.
PRACTICAL: Memories are also practical. If we couldn’t remember that a red light means “stop” we’d be in trouble. If I couldn’t remember my wife Carol’s birthday or our anniversary, there would be BIG trouble.
FORGETFUL: But sometimes we forget.
There’s the story of two friends, John and Bill who were talking.
John says, “Bill, you remember what a bad memory I used to have?”
“Yes, I do” says Bill.
“Well” says John, “It’s not bad anymore. I attended a seminar about how to remember things and now I have a wonderful memory.”
“That’s great” says Bill. “What was the name of the seminar?”
“Hmm” says John. “Wait a minute. My wife went with me. I’ll ask her”
He then turns toward his wife who is standing nearby, but suddenly turns back to Bill and says, “What’s the name of that flower with the long stem, red petals, thorns?”
“A rose?” says Bill
“That’s it” says John. Then, turning back to his wife says, “Hey Rose, what’s the name of that seminar we attended”
REMINDERS: People often need reminders to help us remember. It is the same in the Bible.
For example, after God destroyed the world with water, saving only Noah and his family, and two of each kind of animal, he promised Noah never to destroy the world by water again. He made a covenant with Noah, and as a reminder he said in Genesis 9:13, “I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth.”
So every time we see a rainbow, it reminds us of God’s promise. We remember.
THREE EVENTS TO REMEMBER: There are lots of other important events in the Bible that God wants us to remember. I will mention three of them.
1. FEAST OF THE PASSOVER
You know this one. The Israelites had been slaves in Egypt for 400 years when God told Moses to go to Pharoah and demand “Let my people go!”. Well, Pharoah didn’t listen so God brought plague after plague down upon the Egyptians. But Pharoah’s heart had hardened, and he still refused to let the Israelites go. So God has Moses tell the Egyptians that at midnight, God would go throughout Egypt, and every firstborn would die. But God instructed Moses to have all the Israelites slaughter a lamb without blemish, dip hyssop in the blood, and smear it on their doorways. This way the Angel of death would “PASS OVER” their homes and spare them.
The next day the Egyptians begged the Israelites to leave Egypt. For the first time in 400 years they were free. Now, over 3500 years later, Jewish people still celebrate Passover, with the Seder meal, and remember their history. We should remember this too, as the Passover meal later becomes an important event in Christian history.
2. DAY OF WORSHIP:
A second event to remember is today, Sunday, the day of worship.
It all started when God created the earth. It took him six days, and he saw that it was good, and he rested on the seventh day. God consecrated this day and called it the Sabbath, a day for rest. For the Jews, this day was Saturday.
Christ was crucified on a Friday, and resurrected on a Sunday, the first day of the week.
When the day of Pentecost came, the Holy Spirit came upon the Apostles, the Gospel was preached by them for the first time, and 3000 responded. This day was also a Sunday.
Early Christians began meeting regularly on Sunday to worship God. In the book of Revelation, John called this day, “The Lord’s Day”
So today belongs to God. We are here to worship God and to remember what Christ has done for us.
3. MEAL OF REMEMBRANCE:
A third event is the meal of remembrance. Just hours before he was to be crucified Christ met with his disciples to celebrate Passover, as God had commanded 1600 years before.
SOMETHING NEW: But during the Seder meal, something changed. Christ gave them something new, something greater, to remember.
Christ, “…took the bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, `This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.` “In the same way, after supper He took the cup, saying, `This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this…in remembrance of me.`”
No longer were the elements simply to be a reminder of release from Egyptian bondage, but to be eternal reminders of Jesus, his sacrifice and love; to remember him.
And finally we should remember our unity. Paul writes in 1 Cor 10:15-16, “Is not the cup of thanks-giving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? “Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf”
So as we remember Christ we should also remember our unity as Christians in this church. We have all traveled the same dusty road. We’ve all sinned, and we’re not worthy to be here. But we do not partake because we’re worthy. We partake because God invites us to come into his presence and be a part of His supper. Celebrate our differences, but emphasize what we have in common.
We have much to remember. Whatever you do, don’t forget how we got here. Don’t forget the price paid by our soldiers for our freedom and the price Christ paid for our salvation, so that we may continue to enjoy the blessings God has given us. Don’t ever forget. Amen?
