Remembering Memorial Day

A U.S. Marine casket team carries the flag covered casket of U.S. Marine Cpl. Sean A. Osterman during a burial service at Arlington Cemetery on January 4, 2011 in Arlington, Virginia. The 21-year-old Osterman, from Princeton, Minnesota, was wounded December 14, 2010 in Afghanistan and died two days later in Landstuhl Medical Center at Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany, according to reports.                       (January 3, 2011 - Source: Mark Wilson/Getty Images North America) 

Tomorrow we will observe Memorial Day, the day which we have set aside to remember the ultimate act of sacrifice made by our men and women in the service of these United States. Originally, this day was known as Decoration Day and was formally established by General Orders No. 11, issued by General John A. Logan, Commander-in-Chief, Grand Army of the Republic, on May 5, 1868.  According to General Orders No. 11,

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. In this observance no form of ceremony is prescribed, but posts and comrades will in their own way arrange such fitting services and testimonials of respect as circumstances may permit.

We are organized, comrades, as our regulations tell us, for the purpose among other things, "of preserving and strengthening those kind and fraternal feelings which have bound together the soldiers, sailors, and marines who united to suppress the late rebellion." What can aid more to assure this result than cherishing tenderly the memory of our heroic dead, who made their breasts a barricade between our country and its foes? Their soldier lives were the reveille of freedom to a race in chains, and their deaths the tattoo of rebellious tyranny in arms. We should guard their graves with sacred vigilance. All that the consecrated wealth and taste of the nation can add to their adornment and security is but a fitting tribute to the memory of her slain defenders. Let no wanton foot tread rudely on such hallowed grounds. Let pleasant paths invite the coming and going of reverent visitors and fond mourners. Let no vandalism of avarice or neglect, no ravages of time testify to the present or to the coming generations that we have forgotten as a people the cost of a free and undivided republic.

If other eyes grow dull, other hands slack, and other hearts cold in the solemn trust, ours shall keep it well as long as the light and warmth of life remain to us.

Let us, then, at the time appointed gather around their sacred remains and garland the passionless mounds above them with the choicest flowers of spring-time; let us raise above them the dear old flag they saved from his honor; let us in this solemn presence renew our pledges to aid and assist those whom they have left among us a sacred charge upon a nation's gratitude, the soldier's and sailor's widow and orphan.

National and local observations of Memorial Day have changed a great deal since 1868. Since then these United States have been involved in several great wars and many not so great conflicts. Politicians still gather the last Monday of May, thumping their chests, and hoping to deliver a speech that is as memorable as the one Pericles delivered following the first battles of the Peloponnesian War. In his Funeral Oration, Pericles made the classic statement of the value of a democracy. I regret that very few of the speeches we hear this Memorial Day will concern itself with the high principles of a democracy as practiced in a federal republic such as these United States. Nor will many speak convincingly of the ultimate sacrifice made by our service men and women. Unfortunately, very few of the politicians who will speak tomorrow have ever served in the military. Of the 535 members of the current Congress, only 121 have served in uniform. For most of our Congressional politicians, knowledge of battlefield experiences was acquired second- or third-hand, not personally.

Many speeches will recount individual acts of heroism and selfless sacrifice. This is most appropriate, and we need to be reminded of these accounts. One of the most remarkable facts about the men and women who serve in uniform today is that they are all volunteers and have been since 1973. None are drafted, none are enlisted against their will, not are enlisted to escape jail. Each and every Soldier, Marine, Sailor, Airman, and Coast Guardsman has volunteered to place themselves in harm's way for the sake of their country, their family, and their comrades-in-arms.  The selfless sacrifice of our men and women in uniform did not begin with their actions on the battlefield. The battlefield was their last act of selfless sacrifice. Their sacrifice began when they willingly, without any mental hesitation or purpose of evasion, took the following enlistment oath:

I, (NAME), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.

On Monday, we remember these fine men and women, the best of our nation's youth, for their selflessness and sacrifice. They supported and defended the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic. Their actions and sacrifices attest to their bearing true faith and allegiance to the same. They faithfully obeyed the orders of the President of the United States and the orders appointed over them to a degree that those of us who have served have never been asked to give that last final measure of obedience to orders. They selflessly gave themselves so that their brother in arms might live and be victorious. And God helped them.

But, should we remember only our war dead on this Memorial Day? What of the hundreds of men and women who return home physically and mentally scarred by their injuries? What of the servicemen and women who have lost limbs, sometimes both legs or arms, as a result of an IED? What of the young seventeen or eighteen year old Soldier or Marine who suffers nightmares or Post-traumatic Stress Syndrome because of the horrors that they have been exposed to?

I often have opportunity to visit the Naval Medical Center San Diego, more commonly known as Naval Hospital Balboa, and I always see young Marines in wheelchairs because they have lost their legs to an IED. One day, a young Marine walked across the plaza at lunch on his brand new prostheses which replaced his amputated legs. The plaza is made of concrete and while even ground, there were no parallel bars to support him. Everyone who was in the plaza stopped eating their lunch to watch him, and as he completed the 100 feet he needed to, they set aside their lunch for a moment and stood to applaud him. And then he took one more step. God bless the United States Marine Corps and the doctors, nurses, and physical therapists of Naval Medical Center San Diego and those in other military treatment facilities who treat our wounded warriors.

While we remember our war dead and wounded, there is another group that we should remember on this Memorial Day. There are thousands of mothers, fathers, wives, husbands, sweethearts, and children who have suffered the ravages of war every bit as much as the men and women who serve our country. They watched as their sons and daughters assumed their obligation to serve the nation voluntarily. These families gave us their love in the lives of their children. They fully expected that their children would return home and in one piece. But, they also knew the grave risks that their children assumed. And now, many of them grieve. So, in remembering, we should grieve with those who grieve. And we should thank them for their sacrifice. Do you think they consider Memorial Day as the beginning of summer? Or as a day of barbecues?

We must also remember our POWs/MIAs. There are 83,435 unaccounted Soldiers, Marines, Airmen, and Sailors on the Defense Department's rolls, and 1,666 from Vietnam alone. But, there is one POW being held in Afghanistan. The President knows who is holding him. The President knows where he is being held. Former presidents, vice-presidents, and even civil rights leaders can travel to Kosovo and North Korea to free our men and women. The President can track down and kill Al-Qaeda terrorists, including Osama bin Laden. Why then can't the President obtain the safe release and return of Bowe Bergdahl? He should be ashamed, because he shames us and he shames the Bergdahl family. To know your son is alive and unable to be reunited with his family, in the face of all the other covert operations this nation conducts to bring terrorists to their death or justice, is perhaps the cruelest cut of all.

We will always remember Memorial Day as a day to remember our war dead, our war wounded, or our war missing or captured. But, must it always be this way? Are we resigned to the fact that wars will never cease? That there is no hope for humanity? Even if victory is declared in Iraq and Afghanistan, there still looms on the horizons potential conflicts with a nuclear armed Iran and North Korea, an expansive Communist China, a resurgent Russia, and a tottering European Union which could threaten the existence of a NATO alliance. Is peace, true peace and not the absence of war, beyond our reach?

If the we seek to achieve this true and lasting peace by diplomacy, treaty, economic leverage, or military power we will be continuously engaged in wars. War is always the result of sin; it is a condition of man's heart. Failure to understand what God says in his word about war (James 4:1-10) condemns us to engage in war on a continual basis. The only way to a true and lasting peace is if we, as individuals and as a nation, humble ourselves before the Lord and let him exalt us.

The people of God acclaim Jesus Christ as Lord of lords and Kings of kings. We love to recall at Christmas time the words of the prophet Isaiah in chapter 9:1-7:

But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.

The people who walked in darkness
    have seen a great light;
those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness,
    on them has light shone.
You have multiplied the nation;
    you have increased its joy;
they rejoice before you
    as with joy at the harvest,
    as they are glad when they divide the spoil.
For the yoke of his burden,
     and the staff for his shoulder,
    the rod of his oppressor,
    you have broken as on the day of Midian.
For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult
    and every garment rolled in blood
    will be burned as fuel for the fire.
For to us a child is born,
    to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
    and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
     Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and of peace
     there will be no end,
on the throne of David and over his kingdom,
    to establish it and to uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
    from this time forth and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.

Jesus is the Prince of Peace we acclaim on December 25th. The government shall be upon his shoulders and there will be no end to the increase of his government and peace, according to the plain reading of Scriptures. We delight in Handel's Messiah, and get our spiritual fix that all can and will be better because Jesus Christ has been declared to be the Son of God with power by his death and resurrection. And then, on December 26th, we promptly relegate him to be a king subservient to our interpretation of  creation and reality. 

Man has always performed an exegetical contortion, similar to bending over backwards until the back of your head touches your heels, by explaining that this passage is merely spiritual and not one to be realized in time and space. Oh, really? 

There is another bit of foolishness running around the church, particularly in Reformed circles, that there are two kingdoms: the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, in which Jesus exercises direct rule over his people in his church according to the Word of God, and the Kingdom of Common Grace, in which Jesus exercises his rule simply through common grace. Therefore, the church, and by intension the people of God, cannot bring the Word of God to bear in the public forums because it is the realm of common grace. Such an argument is similar to taking ill on a vacation far from home, and the attending physician refuses to provide you the treatment which could heal you because you come from the wrong zip code. The one thing, the Word of God, that could heal society's chronic and terminal illness is withheld. This appears, at least to me, to be theological malpractice.

Are we then taking the Lord's name in vain when we petition him in the prayer he taught us when we ask, "Your kingdom come, your will be done in earth as it is in heaven"? Are we then being double-minded when we pray the Lord's prayer?

What nonsense, and Jesus will have nothing to do with it. The words Jesus spoke through his prophet Isaiah and to his disciples are altogether trustworthy and will be realized in time and space, prior to his second coming. Will it take place in my lifetime? No. Will it take place? Yes, but because of no other reason than the Lord himself has said so. It is about time the church and its leaders get their eyes of themselves and their circumstances and return once again to the promises that Jesus has spoken about himself.

The only path to peace lies through the Cross. As individuals we must repent of our sin and turn in faith to the Lord. As a nation, our leaders must repent of their sins and turn in faith to the Lord. As a nation, we must repent of our national sins and turn in faith to the Lord. We must humble ourselves before the Lord. Humbling ourselves in not one of the first national traits one thinks of when on thinks of our nation. After all, we have been the world's superpower for so long, we oversaw the collapse of communism, and we believe that the United States is the last best hope for the world, as so eloquently stated by Secretary of State Colin Powell. We believe a rhetoric which is an illusion, and God sits in the heavens and laughs in derision.

The promise of Scripture is that if we repent and humble ourselves before the Lord, both individually and as a nation, he will exalt us. Then, and only then, will Memorial Day be truly worth remembering.