Today begins on a somber note and rightfully so. This is our nation’s Memorial Day, a call to remember those who have sacrificed their lives for us in defense of our country and its freedom. Take a moment and mentally soak in the scene.
There isn’t a big sign at the entrance to the cemetery stating Memorial Day protocol. No flyers are handed out, spelling out the expectations of the crowd. It just happens.
• Families show up and for the most part, the kids are exceptionally well behaved. They aren’t running around like it’s Day In The Park or some other festive event.
• While the organizations make their speeches and wreath presentations, there is a quietness among the audience, even during the gap of silence while the wreath is being placed.
• Patriotism is on full display. Caps are removed at the reciting of the Pledge and the playing of the National Anthem. Hands are over hearts. Those who can are standing. Again, there is quiet among the audience. This doesn’t happen at athletic events, but it happens here.
• As the band plays patriotic songs, the crowd listens with rapt attention.
• Heads are bowed as prayers are said.
• The guest of honor delivers a speech, typically detailing the importance of Memorial Day and remembering some of the sacrifices through the years.
• There isn’t a look of boredom on the faces gathered for the service. People aren’t fidgeting or impatiently looking at their watches. The only movement might be to swat a bug!
• When the event concludes, people will begin leaving, greeting friends on the way out of the cemetery. The conversations are still subdued in reverence and respect for the deceased and the occasion.
Leaving a Memorial Day ceremony renews our faith and hope in our nation and community. As long as there are patriotic people willing to remember and retell the events, there just might be hope for this nation of ours!
A month ago, I preached about a memorial service we hold every other month at church. It’s called the Lord’s Table or Communion. Jesus instituted this table in the Gospels. Luke’s account is given in Luke 22:14-20. “And when the hour was come, he sat down, and the twelve apostles with him. (15) And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer: (16) For I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God. (17) And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this, and divide it among yourselves: (18) For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come. (19) And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me. (20) Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.”
Jesus wants us to remember.
Remember His sacrifice. It was necessary to enable us to live in spiritual freedom and without it, we are still bound in trespasses and sins.
Remember the promise of His return. Jesus had been telling the disciples that He was going to die and rise again but they weren’t comprehending what He was saying. Jesus took it a step further as He instituted this table. In Matthew 26:29, Jesus said, “But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.” He was letting them know that there was going to be more beyond Calvary and the empty tomb.
There’s another thing the Lord’s table causes us to remember.
Remember to partake of it in a worthy manner. 1 Corinthians 11 spells this out very clearly with a foreboding warning. To take of the Lord’s Table unworthily is to invite His judgment. To take of the Lord’s Table, we are saying that we are saved and living in fellowship with the Lord in the new life that was provided for us. If we take of the Lord’s Table with unconfessed sin in our lives, we are hypocrites and denying the Savior who wants to change us through and through.
As we go to the cemetery today, REMEMBER. And allow this to spur us to remember the greatest of all sacrifices, realized in our hearts at salvation and commemorated and symbolized at the Communion table.
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