In Memoriam – How Do We Live?
When we think of Memorial Day we often immediately think about a day off from work or school, grilling and cookouts, yard, and lawn games. It’s just another day off so we can have fun. We quickly forget why we are actually given a day off and why we can celebrate.
Did you know that Memorial Day wasn’t always known as Memorial Day? Until 1971, the last Monday in May was known as Decoration Day. The purpose of Decoration Day was for American communities to tend to the remains and graves of fallen soldiers from the Civil War, generally by placing flowers and flags. The numbers of dead from that internal conflict in the United States was deemed unprecedented. All the dead in every other war and conflict the US fought up to the Civil War combined could not even come close to the numbers of dead produced by the Civil War.
Decoration Day was not an official holiday right away. The idea was initiated by the Grand Army of the Republic (an association of Union Civil War Veterans) to set aside the last Monday of May to decorate and tend to hundreds of thousands of new graves in the new graveyards formed after the war. By 1890 each of the former Union States adopted Decoration Day. The more recent Memorial Days, in my memory, I didn’t usually think about those lost in the Civil War. I usually thought of those lost in the World Wars or more recently the War on Terror.
John W. Sayers was the chaplain for Camp Geary at Gettysburg in 1883 and he delivered the sermon on Decoration Day in 1883. He started with the verse in Galatians 6:17 “For I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.” This was Paul speaking of what truly identifying with Christ and His death, burial, and resurrection looks like and how it should ultimately lead to a transformed lifestyle. I think for Paul this was what marked his total heart change and likely also the marks on his physical body as he was flogged and beaten many times.
Sayers continues in his opening remarks by saying the following, referring to Galatians 6:17:
This is the language of a wholly consecrated man – one who had devoted his life to the service of his Master and who glorified in the evidences that he had suffered for his Master’s sake. Forms and ceremonies, outward professions, and meaningless rites were no part of the apostle’s religion. His Master had established a religious creed broad enough for all, capable of universal application. It was simple; it was effective. It commended itself to enlightened men and was fully adapted to human needs.
When I think of Memorial Day, I don’t always go to the solemn remembrances of why we have this day, and ultimately one of the most important freedoms we have in the United States is to have the ability to freely exercise our worship. We can also ruin the power of the cross of Christ by merely only looking to salvation as a means for an end for us to have freedom but not put ourselves in a place that is solely submitted to the cause of Christ. The soldiers that fought the many wars for this nation fought for the cause of the freedoms laid out in the Constitution and many gave up their lives for that. What do we do now with the freedom from our sin that Christ so powerfully gave us through His death and burial and resurrection? Do we fully identify with that and then live out a life that is truly in memoriam of Him? If not, what does stepping out in faith by submitting to Him in order to actually live a life that truly memorializes and celebrates Christ? (Matthew 16:24-26)
When I think of Sayers’ words above and the many times Paul speaks of himself as a bondservant bearing the marks of his Savior, I ask am I really set apart? With how I live today am I in a place of being wholly consecrated? Do I bear the marks of the Savior in my heart by allowing Him the power to lead me perfectly? The motions of a Sunday morning service won’t mean a thing to the Lord if our hearts every other day are not surrendered to Him. Sayers’ alludes to that when he says, “forms and ceremonies, outward professions, and meaningless rites were no part of the apostle’s religion.”
So do we just not meet with the body of Christ then? To borrow a phrase from Paul “By no means!” This is saying that each member of the body of Christ should position their heart to say, “Lord, what must I deny in my flesh in order to step into more Christlikeness?” (Romans 2:28-29) This heart position is the only place He can work and lead and animate all the members toward His goals and true biblical unity. This position of surrender will allow the body to fully function in the way Christ intends for it to function. Why? Christ’s sacrifice on the cross wasn’t to get us to heaven one day when we are dead, but to transform us each day to be more and more like Him in order that He would get the pure and spotless bride that He deserves. (Ephesians 5:26-27)
Sayers later on in his sermon notes that “the path of duty once clearly opened before him, Paul was never to turn back. No matter what barrier were raised against him by his personal enemies or the foes of his cause, he was to be steadfast and immovable. He had given himself to Christ without reserve and his powers were consecrated to the cross of the Redeemer.”
Have we reserved something inside of us that actually needs to be put to death? What barrier do we maintain that actually needs tearing down? As we remember Decoration Day or Memorial Day, also take time to take inventory in your life and ask the Holy Spirit, is my life truly one that is living out of a place that is in memoriam of Christ as His Spirit is now in me?
Here is Sayers’ full sermon if you would like to read through it: https://wallbuilders.com/resource/sermon-memorial-day-2/