May 30, 2021 Memorial Day
1 I love the Lord, because he has heard
my voice and my supplications.
2 Because he inclined his ear to me,
therefore I will call on him as long as I live.
12 What shall I return to the Lord
for all his bounty to me?
13 I will lift up the cup of salvation
and call on the name of the Lord,
14 I will pay my vows to the Lord
in the presence of all his people.
15 Precious in the sight of the Lord
is the death of his faithful ones.
16 O Lord, I am your servant;
I am your servant, the child of your serving girl.
You have loosed my bonds.
17 I will offer to you a thanksgiving sacrifice
and call on the name of the Lord.
18 I will pay my vows to the Lord
in the presence of all his people,
19 in the courts of the house of the Lord,
in your midst, O Jerusalem.
Praise the Lord!
In the 1942 movie, Yankee Doodle Dandy, James Cagney played George Cohen. Brought to the White House to receive a Congressional Gold Medal from President Roosevelt, Broadway legend George Cohan reflects on his life. Flashbacks trace Cohan’s rise, from a childhood performing in his family’s vaudeville act to his early days as a struggling Tin Pan Alley songwriter to his overwhelming success as an actor, writer, and director known for patriotic songs like “Yankee Doodle Dandy,” “You’re a Grand Old Flag” and “Over There.”
While this movie was still in production, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor killing 2,400 American soldiers. On December 8, the cast listened as President Roosevelt announced on the radio that the United States was at war with Japan and Germany. At that point director Michael Curtiz came on the sound stage with Jimmy Cagney. They all listened in silence for the national anthem to finish. As the women dabbed tears from their eyes, and the men were deeply moved, Curtiz said in his best Hungarian accent:
“Now, boys and girls, we have work to do. We have bad news, but we have a wonderful story to tell the world. So let’s put away sad things and begin”(sermons.com, King Duncan). We have work to do too. This Memorial Day we get to remember all the sacrifices made by men and women in uniform, especially those who gave their lives for our freedom, our democracy, and our Constitution.
For many years, Memorial Day meant taking my Cub Scout Den to Calverton National Cemetery. We arrived early on Saturday morning to place flags on each grave of the braves soldiers buried there. It is a tradition that goes back to Decoration Day, the precursor to Memorial Day. The boys and I gathered for a prayer and heard a presentation before taking bundles of 25 American flags and pushing each one into the hard ground. We might pause at a headstone and read the dates or names wondering about their life. It was our way to actively remember, honor and thank these patriots who fought for our country.
Today we are to show honor, thanks and love to the people who have given their lives for the good of this country. Because we are in a different time, a COVID time, I am moved to expand the ways we think about this sacrifice.
The first way is give Honor Where Honor is Due. In Romans we hear, “Render to all what is due them: tax to whom tax is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor” (13:7).
The first national Memorial Day was held in Arlington National Cemetery on May 30, 1868, where both Union and Confederate soldiers are buried. Over 600,000 died in our Civil War. Twenty years ago, a Yale history professor unearthed an account that predates this where recently freed African American soldiers honored the dead. In Charleston, South Carolina Union prisoners of war were held at a racetrack. More than 250 died there and were buried in a mass a grave. After the war ended, more than 1,000 people recently freed from enslavement, accompanied by regiments of the U.S. Colored Troops and a handful of white Charlestonians, proceeded to the camp to consecrate a new, proper burial site for the Union dead. The group sang hymns, gave readings and distributed flowers around the cemetery, which they dedicated to the “Martyrs of the Race Course.” “It’s the fact that this occurred in Charleston at a cemetery site for the Union dead in a city where the Civil war had begun,” says Professor Blight, “and that it was organized and done by African American former slaves is what gives it such poignancy.” Honoring the ultimate sacrifice transcends race and learning this history helps us unite as Americans so we can all honor those who have served our country.
Secondly, may we be thankful to God for their sacrifice. In addition to honoring those who gave their lives for this country, may we also be thankful for the martyrs who gave their lives for their faith. This was a new idea for me. Remembering and honoring the martyrs of the faith for their sacrifice. 1 Thessalonians “We give thanks to God always for all of you, making mention of you in our prayers; constantly bearing in mind your work of faith and labor of love.” (1:2-3)
The new idea is considering this a time to remember not only those who died for our country, but also those who died for our faith. Martyrs are Christians who placed God over politics. Men and women whose death bore witness to their faith in Jesus Christ. Stephen was the first martyr stoned to death for his faith (Acts 7:58). Justin Martyr a pagan who became a Christian, was killed for converting Greeks to Christianity. St. Agnes was beheaded. Even our own St. Andrew was a martyr. More recently Deitrick Bonhoeffer was executed for his Christian resistance to Hitler in Nazi Germany. The Psalmist declared, “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His godly ones.” Martyrs are certainly godly one. Precious in God’s sight and to be honored by us, as the forebearers of our faith and witnesses to our Lord.
Thus we remember. We remember those who died that we may live in freedom.
We remember those who died that we may live in faith.
We remember Christ who died that we may live forever.
On Memorial Day we honor and thank those who sacrificed their lives so that we might have freedom and I am suggesting we honor and thank those who died for their faith so that we know our Savior Jesus Christ. I pray this does not detract from our remembrance of our soldiers but expands our understanding of what it means to give your life in service to others.
Finally, let us embrace that there is no greater love than to give one’s life for a cause. Jesus said, “This is my commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:12-13) Jesus is our friend and laid down his life for us. But we have witnessed this greater love too many times this past year. Doctors, nurses, frontline workers have willingly been of service caring for our communities, caring for those plagued with COVID to only fall ill and die from the very same disease. From March to December of 2020 2,900 healthcare workers have died in the US. (https://khn.org/news) In the last two months over 420 doctors have died in India. Each one showing the greatest love. During the Iraq and Afghanistan War as of February 2021 755 military service personnel have died, just from California alone. (statista.com) More than any other state in the union. 755 families in California who are mourning the death of a loved one, because they died defending our nation.
On this Memorial Day we have work to do. Maybe you will decorate a grave of a loved one, place a flag or flowers on a military grave. Maybe you will call a person who lost a loved one in service to our country, be it military, or COVID. Let us each honor, thank and love those who have given so much so that we may live in freedom. So that we may live in faith and so that we may LIVE after a year of COVID. Amen.
