*ILL>The story is told of three elderly sisters who, in their last years, lived together in a shared home. One day sister #1 stopped midway on a staircase and asked one of her sisters, "Was I going up or coming down?" Sister #2 shook her head and told her, "You were going upstairs to go to bed." Then sister #2 walked into the kitchen. She stopped and looked around for awhile, then asked sister #3, "What was it I came in here for?" Sister #3 shook her head and said, "You came in here to make yourself a sandwich. Honestly, I don’t know what would happen to you two if I wasn’t here to take care of you. I hope I never become as forgetful as the two of you." Then, to give emphasis to her statement, she knocked on the wood of the kitchen table. Then, hearing the knocking sound, she immediately went to the front door and opened it up to see who was knocking.
Well, we might laugh at the sisters, but we too sometimes forget to remember. Today should not be one of those days.
There are important things we are deliberately choosing to remember today.
I invite you to open your Bible to John, chapter one.
*POEM>While you turn there, let me read to you the poem penned by Moina Michael some years ago:
We cherish today the poppy red...that grows on fields where valor led; it seems to signal to the skies...that the blood of heroes never dies.
Today we pause to remember and give tribute to the sacrifice of those who laid their lives down on battlefields on our behalf.
John 15:13 tells us, "No greater love has any man than to lay down his life for his friends."
And that’s exactly what those we give tribute to today did...they laid their lives down for their nation of friends. It was a costly sacrifice indeed.
Specifically today...
WE GIVE TRIBUTE TO THE CHOICES THEY MADE AND THE TASKS THEY PERFORMED:
1) THEY WORE THE UNIFORM.
They could have refused to serve, but they didn’t.
Up until 1971 every young man after he turned 18 years old was aware there was a chance he might receive a letter in the mail, an official "Greetings!" letter from Uncle Sam, informing him that he had been selected to serve in the U.S. military. There were many who refused to serve. Some ran away to Canada, some burned their draft cards in protest, and others simply tried to hide out and hope they wouldn’t be found.
But those we give tribute to today chose to stand up and put on the uniform and serve their country.
Whether they were drafted or enlisted, they chose to follow through and put on the uniform.
And for that choice we give them tribute today.
<>They wore the uniform to represent their country and be identified as an American.
-- They set aside their more "fashionable" civilian clothes, with lots of variety, and they willingly chose to limit their wardrobe to only that which was issued to them, a wardrobe with very few colors, and a very limited number of acceptable styles and combinations.
<>They wore the uniform to be unashamedly identified as being a member of one of the branches of our Armed Services, one of the "good guys," and a member of a "Band of Brothers" committed to serving for the welfare of America.**
<>They wore the uniform to leave no doubt whose side they were on.
*ILL>I’ve spoken before of a young man during the Civil War years in America. He had two brothers, one who fought in the Union Army and the other who fought as a Confederate. One day the young man went to a nearby town in Kentucky when he thought both of his brothers’ companies might be coming close by. He chose not to declare an affiliation with either of the armies, so he wore the gray pants of the Confederates and a blue coat of the Union army. He was found the next morning, dead, under an old tree. He had been shot by both Armies.
2) THEY MOVED INTO HARM’S WAY.
When the battle began, they could have run away, deserted, they could have chosen to think only of themselves, but they didn’t.
*ILL>Years ago a ship wrecked off the New England coast. A young member of the Coast Guard rescue crew said to his captain, "We can’t go out. We’ll never get back." But the grizzled old captain, a life-long military man, replied to the young man: "No, we don’t have to come back, but we DO have to go out."
Knowing the risk, those we give tribute to today didn’t cower from the task, they engaged in the battle.
And in doing so, they paid the ultimate price: they gave their own lives.
3) THEY REMAINED FAITHFUL TO THE FINISH.
They were close enough to be "in range" of the enemies’ weapons, maybe even close enough to look the enemy in the face, but they kept on fighting.
Many even charged the enemy, some attracted the enemy’s attention in order to divert fire away from their comerades.
The point is, even in the face of death, they served faithfully on our behalf.
4) THEY DIED SO OTHERS COULD BE FREE.
Their sacrifice enables you and I as Americans to be free to enjoy our lives to the fullest.
*QUOTE>Father Denis Edward O’Briend, USMC, said it well: "It is the soldier, not the reporter, who has given us freedom of the press. It is the soldier, not the poet, who has given us the freedom of speech. It is the soldier, not the campus organizer, who has given us the freedom to demonstrate. It is the soldier who salutes the flag, who serves beneath the flag, and whose coffin is draped by the flag, who allows the protester to burn the flag."
<>Their sacrifice enables us to be free to worship without interference.
<>They might have been lured into service by the idea that they could "be all that you can be, in the Army," but they died so that we could become all that we can be...in our lives, our jobs, our families, our relationships.
Today, I urge you to join me in spending a moment to thank God for those who went ahead of us, and who paid the ultimate price of their very lives in order that we might enjoy our freedom.
Certainly, gratitude is appropriate today.
*ILL>Every Friday night until his death in 1973, an elderly man would walk slowly and slightly stooped down an old broken pier on the eastern seacoast of Florida. Each Friday he would carry a bucket of shrimp. The sea gulls would flock to the old man and he would feed them from his bucket. Why? Well, that’s what Paul Harvey would call "the rest of the story." The man’s name was Eddie Rickenbacker. Some of you are old enough to recognize that name. Eddie Rickenbacker is a famous hero of World War II. But his life was forever changed in October of 1942 when he was on a mission in his B-17 to deliver an important message to General Douglas MacArthur in New Guinea. However, somewhere over the South Pacific, the "Flying Fortress" became lost beyond the reach of radio. Fuel ran dangerously low, and the crew eventually had to ditch the plane in the ocean. For more than a month Rickenbacker and his fellow crew members fought the water, the weather, and the scorching sun. They also spent many sleepless nights as giant sharks rammed their two rafts. The largest raft they had was only 9 feet by 5 feet and some of the sharks were more than 10 feet long. But of all their enemies, one proved most formidable: starvation. Eight days out, their rations long gone or destroyed by the salt water, they prayed for a miracle to sustain them. They gathered their rafts together for a worship service. In Rickenbacker’s own words: "Cherry (the B-17 pilot, Captian William Cherry) read the service that afternoon, and we finished with a prayer for deliverance and a hymn of praise. There was some talk afterwards, but it tapered off in the oppressive heat, and with my hat pulled down over my eyes to keep out the glare, I dozed off. Something landed on my head. I knew it was a sea gull, even though I couldn’t see. Everyone else knew it too. No one said a word, but peering out from under my hat brim without moving my head, I could see the expression on their faces. They were staring at that gull. The gull meant food, IF I could catch it." Well, the rest, as they say, is history. Rickenbacker did catch the gull. The flesh was eaten, and its intestines were used for bait to catch fish. They survied for more than a month before being rescued, and their hopes were kept fresh because of a lone sea gull. The sea gull was uncharacteristically hundreds of miles away from land. And yet there it was, offering itself up as a sacrifice. Well, now you know why Eddie Rickenbacker, as an older man, white-haired now and moving much more slowly, made his every-Friday walk down the pier to feed the sea gulls. He did it in remembrance of the lone sea gull who, one day long ago, gave itself up without a struggle...like manna in the wilderness...like Jesus on the cross.
In a moment we’re going to engage in a service of remembrance that Jesus requested us to engage in, the Lord’s Supper. But before we do so...
It’s important that today we also pause to...
REMEMBER THE SACRIFICES JESUS MADE ON OUR BEHALF:
1) HE TOO WORE THE UNIFORM.
*John 1:14 -- "And the Word became flesh, and dwelt
among us..."
*Philippians 2:7 -- "(Jesus) emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men"
<>He set aside His robes of glory, set aside His royal garments, and traded them for swaddling clothes.
<>He willingly chose to come to earth to represent us, to be one OF us. He became flesh, He was "fashioned" or "suited up" in humanity. -- In fact, His favorite title for Himself was "Son of Man."
He was the only-begotten Son of God, but chose to call Himself "Son of Man." Why? Because He wanted us to know He was on our side.
The irony is that Commander in Chief of the universe walked this planet as a buck Private, meek and lowly.
2) HE TOO MOVED INTO HARM’S WAY.
*Matthew 16:21 -- "From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day."
Unlike those who enlisted or agreed to be drafted in the United States military, who realized there was a CHANCE they might not come back alive after their time of service (and we salute them for that choice), Jesus KNEW He was coming to the earth to die.
It was a decision the Bible tells us was already determined before the foundation of the earth.
Jesus, the Lamb of God, knew when He left heaven that He was coming to the earth with the primary purpose of dying in our place. And yet He did it anyway.
In Gethsemane, Jesus’ prayer (truly the "Lord’s Prayer") only moments before being arrested by the Temple guard was for you and me. He also indicated He knew what was coming when He said, in John 12:27:
"Now My soul has become troubled; and what shall I say, "Father, save me from this hour?" But for this purpose I came to this hour."
In other words Jesus knew that dying and then rising from the dead was His mission of freedom for us, so He moved into position for His crucifixion to happen.
<>He knew what the consequences would be in confronting, "showing up," the Pharisees and governmental leaders, but He did it anyway.
*John 5:18 -- "For this reason therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God."
Understand, Jesus wasn’t really breaking the Sabbath law as it was written in the Old Testament; He was merely refusing to acknowledge the Pharisees’ additional laws they had come up with on their own, not from the Divine inspiration of the Holy Spirit, but out of their own pompous conceit.
--Jesus debated them in public, and called them the blind leaders of the blind.
--He ran money changers (agents of the Pharisees in the temple) out of the temple.
--He went to the house of Caiphas, the high priest, as a captive without a struggle.
He refused to do what Herod wanted Him to do...defying the authority of the earthly king.
--And He willingly allowed Pontius Pilate’s order to be carried out, which paved the way for His crucifixion.
<>Knowing the risk, He didn’t cower from the task, didn’t shirk His duty or abandon His mission.
*Philippians 2:8 -- "Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross."
Looking the enemy of death straight in the eye, He stayed on course, and laid His life down for us.
3) HE REMAINED FAITHFUL TO THE FINISH.
*John 19:30 -- "Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, "It is finished!" And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit."
<>He could have come down off the cross anytime He wanted to...He just didn’t want to because He was doing it for us.
*John 10:17-18 -- "...I lay down My life so that I may take it again. No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again."
<>He could have "pulled rank" and voided Pontius Pilate’s order...but He remained true ot HIS "C.O." (Commanding Officer), His Father.
*Luke 23:46 -- "and Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, "Father, into Your hands I commit My Spirit." Having said this, He breathed His last."
4) HE DIED SO WE CAN BE FREE.
*John 3:17 -- "For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him."
*Romans 8:2 -- "For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death."
<>He died so we can be free from the penalty and bondage of sin...free to receive the gift of eternal life.
*Romans 6:23 -- "For the wages of sin is death, but the fre gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."
He died once for all...so that we might live throughout all the ages...living with Him in heaven.
<>He died so we can be free to enjoy life down here to the fullest.
*John 10:10 -- "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they might have life, and have it abundantly."
Had He not died in our place, we would live lives without any hope. We would have no choice but to live lives under the tyranny of sin, the dictatorship of our flesh.
<>He died so we can be free to worship without interference.
*1 Timothy 2:5 -- "For there is one God, and one Mediator also between God and man, the man Christ Jesus."
You see, genuine worship actually BEGINS with Him and focuses on Him...not on religion, not on ritual, but on relationship with God, made possible by the sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus.
BRINGING IT HOME...
Today, and later this week, people all cross America will express their gratitude...
-- They will place flags on gravesites.
-- Parades will be held.
-- The President or his representative will lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns in Arlington cemetery.
-- "Taps" will be played.
-- The firing of guns in salute will be heard
And rightfully so.
I encourage you to join me in participating in one or more of these activities this week, expressing gratitude for the price others have paid for our freedoms.
But today we want to celebrate the sacrifice Jesus made on our behalf in the manner in which He requested we remember His sacrifice...through the Lord’s Supper.
Let’s pray as we begin this service "in remembrance" of Him.
