Remind
A sermon
delivered by Rev. Peter T. Atkinson
May 25, 2014
at Gordonsville
Presbyterian Church, Gordonsville, Virginia
Deuteronomy 8:
1-5
Ephesians 6:
10-20
Let
us pray, for a welcome mind and a loving heart
Help us to see despite our eyes
Help us to think outside of our minds
Help us to be more than our lives
For
your eyes show the way
Your
mind knows the truth
Your
being is the life.
Amen.
10 Finally,
be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power. 11 Put on
the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of
the devil. 12 For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and
flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic
powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the
heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, so
that you may be able to withstand on that evil day, and having done everything,
to stand firm. 14 Stand therefore, and fasten the belt of truth
around your waist, and put on the breastplate of righteousness. 15 As
shoes for your feet put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel
of peace. 16 With all of these, take the shield of faith, with
which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17
Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the
word of God.
18 Pray in
the Spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication. To that end keep
alert and always persevere in supplication for all the saints. 19 Pray
also for me, so that when I speak, a message may be given to me to make known
with boldness the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an
ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it boldly, as I must speak. [1]
Memorial
Day is a special day within the life of the church. Many have argued and
debated recently as to whether secular national holidays should be celebrated
within the church. It is very much caught up in the separation of church and
state arguments. Like what is it all about to have an American flag hanging up
here, is it appropriate to sing America the Beautiful and the others? There are
really good arguments for the separation of religion and the state. . . I am
certainly a big fan of the separation. I, for one, am a student of church
history who believes that one of the biggest most unfortunate events in the
church is it becoming established as the church of the Roman Empire. The
biggest challenge to that kind of secular and worldly success is that the
secular and the spiritual become linked, tied, and often misconstrued as the
same thing. Historical events become irreparably linked to the faithfulness, or
lack thereof of the people. Failure and success of the nation become connected
to God's favor and disfavor, and things that are actually mysterious and
unknown come front and center in absolute certainty and in that absolute
certainty is power, and truth becomes lost. The truth that transcends life, the
truth that is God, the truth that is so important to remember becomes clouded
in the apparent, the seen, and the invisible God who is, is replaced by the
very visible idols of power. Such is the danger of established religion. . . so
often Christians fight against the separation of church and state, wanting
prayer to be in the schools, in the public square, etc. . . . and there is
something to those arguments, but the state run drunk with religion actually
ends up destroying what it adopts, robbing the actual power of what it
subsidizes. . . God needs no subsidy. . . but none of that is what Memorial Day
is about. . . memorial day is about remembering, and remembering sacrifice, and
what could be more Christian than that. Our faith is built on sacrifice, for
sacrifice is the very root of love, and is shown as such by our Lord Jesus
Christ himself.
I did a
little research about the origin of Memorial Day, and it was originally called
decoration day. . . and was done in connection to civil war grave yards both
North and South. The idea is that the community would go to the graves of fallen
soldiers and decorate those graves with flowers. There was usually originally a
church service connected to the observance, and if that wasn't churchy enough,
there was also a potluck dinner. Nothing says church like pot luck. I was
reminded last week when giving my thoughts on what it means to be Presbyterian
that I left out the most important part, the food. You really have got to have
at least one green bean and onion casserole to know that you have had a
religious experience for the week. So within the history of the holiday there
is real religious and Christian observance. When you think about it, it makes
more sense in its Christian context than maybe it even does as a National
public holiday, turning a religious and spiritual day of remembrance into a
kick off to the summer, a three-day weekend excuse for barbecues and heading to
the pool. See what I mean about when the state adopts something, it seems to
destroy it, at least it tends to shift and to cheapen the strength and meaning
of it. So if we don't do the remembering here where would we, tell me that,
where else does it happen this week, other than the marathons on AMC and Turner
Classic Movies of great war films, where else does it happen? So if we can put
off the cook outs, the parties and the pools, and the one sentence facebook
remembrances, and really remember, reminding ourselves, for the remembering is
important, it is what it's really all about.
We
remember people, men and women, who have given all, given their lives to
preserve our lives, where we are, where we worship, where we go about our daily
routine, the place, the space, the room, the land, and the ideals, they are due
to those sacrifices. It's hard to say more than that, it's one of those truths
that just is, and so it is to put words to it, especially by someone who can
barely imagine what war is really like, what combat is like, because I've never
been close to it at all, and I know that some of you have. I've heard some of
the stories, and I cherish hearing them. Jim I love to hear about your
experiences, and Ned, and Walter the stories you tell are real, and I'll never
forget hearing some also from Stuart Richardson. You all have direct connection
to remembering those who fell in and around your life. And I can only imagine
what that would be like. . . and so I seek to remember, to find something
tangible to hold on to because I know remembering is important. It gives
perspective, it helps in that way, it brings some humility, knowing that as
independent as I like to think I am, my way of life, my safety, and my
security, my rights as a human being and citizen of this nation are completely
dependent on the sacrifices of others. That's humbling. . .
Christians
lately in addition to being uncomfortable with Nationalism, often are also
squeamish when it comes to talking about war. We hear Jesus saying things like,
Blessed are the Peacemakers, and our natural distaste of violence is increased.
Most churches have refrained from singing songs like Onward Christian Soldiers,
and the like, because of the militaristic imagery used. . . even though in that
hymn, it's more the metaphor of war, being used to describe the battle against
evil in the world. It's funny I was talking about how the state adopting
something can work to weaken it, the opposite is also true. . .nothing has made
"Onward Christian Soldiers" so popular a hymn as it being made taboo
by church leaders. The mystique is piqued in the rebellion of it. But then when
it comes down to it, when you finally sing it,
you realize it isn't all that great of a hymn.
It is
strange that we would be so squeamish about the metaphor when this morning's
passage from Ephesians uses the very same one, that we are going to war against
evil, and that we are to arm ourselves with God, putting on the armor of God,
to be able to go and fight against evil. Paul tells the people of Ephesus that
in order to stand against the present darkness, they should put on the whole armor
of God, that they should put on the belt of truth, the breastplate of
righteousness, shoes ready to proclaim the gospel of peace, the shield of
faith, the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is the Word
of God. That the key to this armor is praying in the spirit, in prayer, in
supplication, keeping alert and persevering. And there it is hidden in the very
middle of the image, is that within that armor is the gospel of peace. That
peace is a part of the battle, a part of the war, that sometimes, and actually
quite often peace is something that is won, through conflict, not through
avoidance. It is a hard truth, and one we don't usually like, but truth,
righteousness, salvation, faith, and the word of God all point in that
direction, and maybe it is that we should remember. The peace that was won on
the battlefields from those who gave of themselves, in war, but not for war,
for peace. . . wrapped in the armor of God, putting all that armor on, living
that life is not living for the conflict, but living through the conflict,
through the sacrifice, through the hardship, and sometimes dying, but through
that death giving life to all. . . to be reminded of that, is to be reminded of
the gospel, to be reminded of how much Christ loved us, giving his life for us,
the gift of that sacrifice is very similar to the gift of the soldier who makes
a sacrifice, it is the gift of life, of possibility, of faith, of hope, of
truth, of love, and for all who have given, we give thanks, and we remember.
[1]The
Holy Bible : New Revised Standard Version. 1989 (Eph 6:10-20). Nashville:
Thomas Nelson Publishers.
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