Memorial Day - Pt. 3

 

When all the nation had finished passing over the Jordan, the LORD said to Joshua, “Take twelve men from the people, from each tribe a man, and command them, saying, ‘Take twelve stones from here out of the midst of the Jordan, from the very place where the priests’ feet stood firmly, and bring them over with you and lay them down in the place where you lodge tonight.’” Then Joshua called the twelve men from the people of Israel, whom he had appointed, a man from each tribe. And Joshua said to them, “Pass on before the ark of the LORD your God into the midst of the Jordan, and take up each of you a stone upon his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the people of Israel, that this may be a sign among you. When your children ask in time to come, ‘What do those stones mean to you?’ then you shall tell them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD. When it passed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. So these stones shall be to the people of Israel a memorial forever.” (Joshua 4:1-7 ESV).

 

Today, thousands of American flags dot Arlington National Cemetery marking each grave of those buried there. Although Memorial Day is an American holiday, nations across the world have their own traditions for remembering the sacrifices of their soldiers. There’s something uniquely powerful about communal remembrance, gathering together as a family or nation to reflect on significant people and events of the past. It’s no surprise that memorial celebrations, military and otherwise, are common to many cultures throughout history, including the people of the Bible. Our reading today is one such example of a memorial celebration. God commands the Israelite leader Joshua to set up a memorial to mark the event of the Ark of the Covenant crossing the Jordan River, to remind future generations of what had happened there.

 

In this case, God wanted the Israelites to remember their deliverance. The stone memorial served as a physical reminder of a shaping event in their history. Sometimes the memorial took the form not of a physical monument, but a shared activity, as in the case of the Israelite’s commemoration of their escape from Egypt. Christians observe their own memorial celebrations, most notably in the “breaking of bread” that recalls Christ’s sacrifice.

 

Reminders, bitter or sweet, are important to our culture and our history. They remind us where we’ve come from, and whose work got us to where we are. The philosopher George Santayana said, “Those who do not remember their past are condemned to repeat their mistakes,” and we see this pattern throughout the Bible. Time and time again, when the Israelites “forgot” the Lord, they stumbled and were punished (cf. Psalm 106:10-14). It’s important that we remember who we are and where we’ve come from. Americans make a point of remembering on Memorial Day. As our nation becomes more and more polarized, I wonder if it’s due to our lack of remembering the sacrifice made on our behalf? Don’t let all these brave men and women’s death be in vain! Don’t let Jesus’ death be in vain either!