Sermon - May 30, 2010
Remember Me
Joshua 4:1-8, Luke 22:14-19
Tomorrow we observe Memorial Day; a
national day set aside to honor our fallen men and women who bravely
served to preserve this nation, our way of life, our heritage, a future
for generations to come. When I was a child I often confused Memorial
Day for the Fourth of July. I heard my grandparents refer to Decoration
Day, and somehow I thought it was Declaration Day; the day of our nation
declared Independence from England. The only way I could keep the two
straight was by the association of flowers in May and fireworks in July.
The official version of the
origin of Memorial Day attributes its beginnings in Waterloo, New York,
where the custom of placing flowers on the graves of soldiers began on
May 5th, 1866. However, an alternate version holds that in
April 1863 in Columbus, Mississippi, an elderly woman decorated the
graves of her two sons who served during the Civil War as Confederate
soldiers. When she finished she also decorated two mounds at the corner
of the cemetery. An observer asked, “What are you doing? Those are the
graves of two Union Soldiers.” Her reply, “I know. I also know that
somewhere in the North, a mother or a young wife mourns for them as we
do for ours.” Perhaps both accounts are true as one came from the South
and the other from the North in the turbulence of post Civil War
America.
Memorials are most often
associated with those who died whose lives have special merit or meaning
to us: such as the Lincoln memorial in Washington, However, memorials
are not always built of stone or marble: Scholarships are funded by
memorials, as are hospitals, charitable organizations. Our church
receives gifts in remembrance of loved ones.
Not all memorials are given in memory of a loved one who has passed.
Sometimes they are a thank offering to God.
The parents of a young soldier killed in action gave a
memorial to their church in remembrance of their son. During the
presentation service, the mother of another soldier who was overseas
whispered to her husband, “Let us give the same amount for our son.
“What’s the matter with you?” he asked. “Our son hasn’t died in battle.”
“That’s just it,” the mother replied, “let’s give because he has been
spared.”
The very first thing God commands the Israelites to do as they cross
the Jordon into the promised land is to construct a memorial. It is not
in memory of those who died, but rather a reminded to those who lived to
see the promise fulfilled. After forty years wandering in the
wilderness, this second generation of Israelites had to be instructed as
to the necessity of obedience to God. In chapter 3 of Joshua we read
that under the leadership of Joshua they camped on the west side of the
Jordon for three days to be instructed, and prepared, briefed –if you
will- about how to live in the land of promise. There would be many
things they would have to face: routing of enemy armies, taking siege of
fortified cities, and above all, the total elimination of worship of all
foreign gods. Joshua instructs them to consecrate themselves, for God
was about to do a wondrous thing. Something so amazing that they will
know without any doubt that the living God is in their midst.
Normally the Jordon is a gentle stream. But it was early spring, as
the first harvest was in progress. The winter rains plus the melting
snows from Mt. Hermon had swollen the stream to a wide and raging
river. How would they cross over? Have you ever faced an obstacle, a
barrier in life that defies crossing like the flooded Jordon over
spilling its banks? How do we find the courage to ford such a difficult
passage?
The Lord commanded Joshua
to send the Ark of the Covenant before the people. This was the sacred
chest overlaid with gold which contained a jar of manna, Aaron’s rod
that had budded, and the holy tablets upon which God had written the Ten
Commandments. For the Israelites that sacred cask was almost synonymous
with the very presence of their God. The Lord said that when the feet
of the priests touched stood in swollen Jordon, the water would recede
and they would walk on dry ground. When the priests carrying the Ark
obeyed, indeed the waters from the North were piled up in a heap and the
entire nation crossed over on the dry bed of the Jordon.
When they had safely crossed, the Lord commanded Joshua to appoint
twelve men, one from each tribe of Israel to go back again to the river
and carry a large stone from the dry bed upon their shoulders to be set
up in the place they would camp that night. We can assume three things
about these men: they must have been deeply spiritual to readily accept
this appointment. They must have been strong to be able to carry it
out. And they must have been bold to enter the Jordon again after having
crossed over. Who could tell when the waters would surge and return?
Strong men of bold faith accepted the mission.
Notice that the priests stood in the center of the river bed until
all that God had commanded was accomplished. When these stones had been
retrieved, the priests who had been standing in the middle of the dry
bed with the Ark advanced to the west and up bank. As soon as their
feet touched the bank, the waters flowed back and the river resumed its
flood stage.
The stones were set up where
the Israelites camped as a memorial: There were no names written on the
stones. These were not a monument to Joshua, or the twelve men who
moved them, nor the entire nation of Israelites who crossed over. The
Lord commanded the people that when their children ask “What do these
stones mean?” they are to tell them the mighty deeds of the Living God
and how when the river was flooded, God caused the waters to stand in a
heap, the Ark going before them, and they crossed over into the Promised
Land. The bottom line: those twelve stones stood as God’s appeal
“Remember Me.”
How do we cross over waters too
deep, floods too high? For the Israelites the Ark signified the very
presence of God. For us, the embodiment of God’s presence is Jesus
Christ. And just as the Ark with its compliment of priests passed
before the Israelites to show them the way, so Christ goes before us to
direct us in life. Not a stone,
but a wooden cross is a monument to our Lord. Jesus instructs us as we
receive communion, are in communion with Him, the living Presence of our
Lord and God, “Take and eat, this is My body. Take this cup all of you,
it is the cup of the new covenant.. Do this in remembrance of Me. This
is our living memorial -not to someone who bravely fought and died, but
to One who courageously died, and was raised to life so that we could
courageously live.
We discover as we walk with Christ that everything in life becomes a
means by which we may remember Him. In a previous Confirmation Class I
would lead the students on a little stroll around town to open their
eyes to things that remind us of the Word of God: Even something as
common as grass preaches a sermon from Isaiah, the flower fadeth
and the grass withers, but the Word of our Lord shall stand forever.”
Is.40:8. All around us there are signs to remind us to Remember Me
every day. When you discover the world is filled with God’s glory in
this way, you cannot deny His presence. Or His love…Or His power.
Within twelve hours after Jesus spoke these words, instituting the
Sacrament we call Holy Communion, He hung upon the cross, His physical
life draining from His beaten broken body.
The criminal, the thief crucified beside Him, addressed
Jesus with the faith of a dying man, “Jesus remember me when you come
into Your kingdom.” Our Lord Jesus Christ in the midst of His severest
suffering spoke a memorial to the condemned thief.
“Today you will be with Me in Paradise.
I don't
know the author of these words, but they have the heart of a Christian
American:
“In New York harbor
stands a lady,
With a torch raised to the sky.
And all who see her, know she stands for
Liberty for you and I.
I’m so proud to be called an American
To be named with the brave and the free.
I will honor our flag and our trust in God,
And the Statue of Liberty.”
“On lonely Golgotha, stood a cross,
With our Lord raised to the sky.
And all who kneel there live forever,
As all the saved can testify.
I’m so glad to be called a Christian,
To be named with the ransomed and whole.
As the statue liberates the citizen,
So the cross liberates the soul.”
Tomorrow we will be remembering those
who have bravely died. But let us also remember those who bravely
live: those who face life threatening disease, those who are
persecuted, those who stand on the front lines of war, of peace, those
who have lost memory, those who are trapped in memory. All who suffer,
all who are lost, echo the command of Jesus, Remember Me.
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