Memorial Day
The official history of Memorial Day dates back to 5 May 1866 in Waterloo, New York. Back then, it was called Decoration Day and was meant to honor the local veterans of the Civil War. Local shops all closed and the flag was flown at half-mast to honor those who died fighting in a war that threatened the very existence of our country.
Other local observances of Decoration Day continued and on 5 May 1868, Major General John A. Logan, Commanding Officer of the Grand Army of the Republic issued General Order Number 11, proclaiming that:
The 30th day of May, 1868, is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village, and hamlet church-yard in the land.
This became the first observance of Memorial Day at Arlington National Cemetery and began the tradition of decorating the graves of our war dead on a national day of remembrance.
After World War I, inspired by the poem “In Flanders Fields” by Colonel John McRae, Ms. Moina Michael started a tradition of wearing a red poppy on Memorial Day to honor the war dead. She sold poppies to her friends and used the money to help local servicemen in need. This tradition quickly spread, not only in the U.S., but throughout Europe. In 1922, the U.S. Veterans of Foreign Wars organization took up the cause and began the Buddy Poppy program, selling artificial poppies to provide aid to veterans and their dependents.
Honor the Fallen (2 Samuel 1:17-27)
While the history of the U.S. holiday now called Memorial Day places its roots with the Civil War, the practice of honoring our war dead as a nation is a much older tradition, dating back well before Christ was born.
Building monuments to our dead, ranging from piling stones on graves to erecting monolithic structures is common throughout current and ancient history. Around 430 B.C., Pericles, ruler of Athens and general of her army, gave a speech honoring the Athenian war dead of the Peloponnesian War. In his funeral oration, he instructs Athens to maintain a monument to the dead not in stone, but in their very hearts.
For the whole earth is the tomb of famous men; not only are they commemorated by columns and inscriptions in their own country, but in foreign lands there dwells also an unwritten memorial of them, graven not on stone but in the hearts of men. (Thucydides, The Peloponnesian War)
Pericles had it right; it is not enough to build monuments of cold stone and steel to honor the fallen who fought for our rights, our freedom, our very livelihood. We must maintain a living monument in our hearts. But even he wasn’t the first king with this idea.
Around 1010 B.C., King David directs Israel to lament the deaths of King Saul and his crown prince Jonathan. Both were killed in a vicious battle with the Philistines at Mount Gilboa. David’s lament for their death honored Saul and Jonathan not merely as the rulers of Israel, but as valiant heroes.
Saul and Jonathan –
in life, they were loved and gracious,
and in death they were not parted.
they were swifter than eagles,
they were stronger than lions.
As the first king of Israel, Saul took his charge to protect her and her people very seriously, and he instilled this protective spirit in his son Jonathan. Saul and Jonathan led their armies from the front line, putting their very lives in danger. They were not the kind of royalty to sit so far from the front that it would take days to even hear word whose side had won. When they died in battle, it was truly a loss to Israel.
While the men of Israel lost their military commander, David challenges all people (men, women, and children) of Israel to think about the sacrifices Saul and Jonathan made for each one of them. He makes their death personal by reminding them that everything they owned, every right and privilege they enjoyed was being protected by Saul and Jonathon.
O daughters of Israel,
weep for Saul,
who clothed you in scarlet finery,
who adorned your garments with ornaments of gold.
By teaching this lament to all men of Israel, David ensures that Saul and Jonathan will be memorialized in the very hearts of Israel for generations to come, even 3,000 years later.
War is not about glory or fame. It is about sacrifice. It is sometimes necessary to protect our nation, but it should always be remembered that there is a very high price for freedom. In an address to the graduating class of the Michigan Military Academy, General William Tecumseh Sherman, famous for his March through Georgia during the Civil War, said:
I’ve been where you are now and I know just how you feel. It’s entirely natural that there should beat in the breast of every one of you a hope and desire that some day you can use the skill you have acquired here. Suppress it! You don’t know the horrible aspects of war. I’ve been through two wars and I know. I’ve seen cities and homes in ashes. I’ve seen thousands of men lying on the ground, their dead faces looking up at the skies. I tell you, war is hell!
We cannot cheapen the sacrifices made by the brave men and women who gave their lives in our defense by trying to glorify war. We must acknowledge their sacrifices and lament our loss.
David could have honored Saul and Jonathan by glamorizing the military exploits of his beloved king Saul and his dear friend Jonathan whom he called brother; their victories were many. However, David wisely decides to focus not on the glamour of war, but on the loss of two great leaders. David knew that war is not glorious, but a necessary, and often devastating, cost of leading a nation. David’s memorial to Saul and Jonathan was not to make war out to be a glorious task, but to remind each child of Israel what he or she was lost in their deaths; he reminded them that freedom is never free.
Perform Brave Deeds (1 Samuel 31:11-13)
So how can we honor our war dead? How can we pay homage to those who have bravely gone before us? How can we continue to be a living memorial to those who fought and died for our freedom to live, love, and worship as we do? We can do so by performing brave deeds, thereby honoring their memory and ensuring that their deaths were not in vain.
During the siege of Jabesh Gilead, the Israelites were surrounded by the Philistines with no hope in sight. They asked for terms of surrender and were told that the terms would be to pluck out one eye of every man in the city. These clearly were unacceptable, and the city was faced with certain destruction. In a move of desperation, the city sent messengers throughout Israel seeking aid. Saul heard this message and rallied the armies of Israel into a national army and defeated the Philistines.
When Saul and Jonathan died at the Battle of Mount Gilboa, the Philistines desecrated their bodies by cutting off Saul’s head and hanging the naked bodies of Saul and his sons on the wall of the temple at Beth Shan. The Philistines were trying to proclaim their power over Israel by demeaning their beloved and brave king.
But the people of Jabesh Gilead never forgot what Saul had done to save their city, and to honor their dead warrior-king,
all their valiant men journeyed through the night to Beth Shan. They took down the bodies of Saul and his sons from the wall of Beth Shan and went to Jabesh, where they burned them. Then they took their bones and burned them under a tamarisk tree at Jabesh, and they fasted for seven days.
This was indeed an act of bravery. The people of Jabesh Gilead openly defied the Philistines and removed their gruesome war trophy. They were certainly in danger of attack by the Philistine army. They did this despite the danger because they knew of the sacrifices made by Saul and his sons for Israel, and were not going to let their memory be immortalized in this horrible way. They were intent to honor their sacrifice properly, and were willing to pay the highest price to do so.
We can also perform deeds of bravery. We can offer to make the ultimate sacrifice our country by joining the military, placing our very lives on the line to protect the interests of all of us at home.
However, there are ways to act bravely in our daily lives beyond military service. We can reach out and help those in need. It takes a very brave person to go beyond his or her comfort zone and reach out to the poor and serve them. According to the American Red Cross, our nation’s blood supply, used by the military, hospitals, and during times of national crisis is dangerously low, but many people harbor an extreme fear of needles; for them it can be an act of bravery and sacrifice to give blood. We can act bravely by saving the lives of those in danger. We can take a CPR or first aid class to prepare ourselves for the possibility of coming across someone whose life may depend on our actions.
Today, we honor the fallen in a number of ways: we erect tombstones, deliver eulogies, decorate graves with flowers and flags, conduct funeral services, and display pictures of those we have lost. We can spend this Memorial Day reflecting on those who have given their lives in defense of our nation by participating in services, such as the Memorial Day Service at the Villa Coronado (Monday, 28 May 2007 at 11:00 AM), or by observing the National Moment of Remembrance, established on 2 May 2000 as a moment of silence at 3:00 PM local time to reflect on the sacrifices thousands of soldiers, sailors, marines, and airmen made for our well being.
But there are also ways to honor the dead by focusing on the living. We can rejoice and thank those who currently serve in the forces that defend our country and our way of life – one way could be to send a Thank You Card to our troops. We can care for the widows and orphans of those left behind. We can minister to the families of soldiers currently in harm’s way.
Today, I challenge you to seek to understand your God-granted mission and fulfill it for His glory. Make the brave act of submitting your will to God’s.
Victory over Death
By performing deeds of bravery, we are a living testament to the sacrifices made by others on our behalf. By taking a very brave step and sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with those who have not yet received it, we honor the ultimate sacrifice Christ made for our sins by dying on a cross. He paid the price for all of us. By living accordance with God’s will, and sharing Christ’s message of love and forgiveness to the entire world, we honor Christ’s agonizing death and ultimate victory over death for each and every one of us!
Amen.