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Memorial Day
May 25, 2013

On Monday in the United States, Memorial Day will be observed, a day set aside to remember those who have died in military service. Memorials have been observed since the beginning of time and throughout the Bible, many memorials are given to us. A week ago, Pentecost was observed, and one of the first memorials given to us in the Bible was one of the Holy Days. When the Children of Israel departed Egypt they were told that Passover was given to them in part as a memorial.

Exodus 12:11-14
And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the LORD'S Passover. For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD. And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt. And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the LORD throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance forever.

The Children of Israel had been oppressed in Egypt and God had worked miracles through Moses and Aaron to convince Pharaoh to allow the exodus. Death and destruction had come to Egypt so that Israel could be free; it was joyous, it was solemn, and an event to be remembered. Years later, Jesus would be the Passover sacrifice for Christians and his death is remembered to this day. Throughout his earthly ministry, Jesus was introduced to ordinary people who had an extra-ordinary impact on him. One of these people was a woman, who to many would easily be forgotten with the events that would quickly unfold.

Mark 14:1-9
After two days was the feast of the passover, and of unleavened bread: and the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might take him by craft, and put him to death. But they said, Not on the feast day, lest there be an uproar of the people. And being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious; and she brake the box, and poured it on his head. And there were some that had indignation within themselves, and said, Why was this waste of the ointment made? For it might have been sold for more than three hundred pence, and have been given to the poor. And they murmured against her. And Jesus said, Let her alone; why trouble ye her? she hath wrought a good work on me. For ye have the poor with you always, and whensoever ye will ye may do them good: but me ye have not always. She hath done what she could: she is come aforehand to anoint my body to the burying. Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her.

Jesus knew that his time of trouble would soon be upon him, and could have easily overlooked the kindness of the woman and taught an important lesson by showing that we should value those in our lives as they are alive with us. The kindness shown by the woman is memorialized for all to read in the Bible as is the lesson that Jesus taught. We know that Passover was given in part as a memorial for the events leading up to the exodus, and that Jesus memorialized an act of kindness immediately before his time of great trouble. God also memorializes prayers that come before him, and in a vision angels were sent to Cornelius, a Roman centurion, to share this news with him and it was through this that God opened salvation to gentiles.

Acts 10:1-4
There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of the band called the Italian band, A devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God alway. He saw in a vision evidently about the ninth hour of the day an angel of God coming in to him, and saying unto him, Cornelius. And when he looked on him, he was afraid, and said, What is it, Lord? And he said unto him, Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God.

So as Memorial Day approaches in the United States, we must remember those who in time of serious trouble sacrificed all so that we can enjoy freedom today. It may be a document called the Constitution that enumerates the freedoms we enjoy in the United States; it is the military that preserves our ability to have these freedoms. And as there are holidays to remember those who have died in military service, there are religious Holy Days that remember significant events, like the exodus from Egypt. There was a woman whose acts of kindness was so touching she is memorialized to this day. Then there was Cornelius, a gentile, whose prayers became a memorial before God that opened salvation to Gentiles. As we remember the good than has come before us, we are more likely to consider doing doing in the future and as we have these types of thoughts we celebrate what is good, embrace what is good, and do what is good.

All verses are from the King James Version.
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