Saint James UCC of Hamburg, NY

Exodus 20:1-17; 1 Corinthians 11:23-32

Preached by Rev. Robert Matlack
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Tomorrow is Memorial Day. In some ways it's become just another holiday. Communities like ours will be having parades, people will be having parties and celebrating, most people don't have to go to work or school, but all of that will be happening without people necessarily remembering what Memorial Day is all about or why we even have a holiday called Memorial Day - except that it's more or less become the official beginning of the summer season.

There are some people who try very hard to remind us what Memorial Day is all about. The Veterans who sell us the red poppies and march in the parades, the people who give speeches, those who recite the litany of the ones who died... In all of these ways and more people will try to remind us what it is that we are remembering and celebrating.

The very first Memorial Day was observed back in 1866, after the civil war had literally torn our nation apart, after hundreds of thousands of young men had lost their lives and our nation was deeply divided. Memorial Day was established to honor the dead of the Civil War, both North and South, and since then it has come to include remembering the lives lost in all wars.

Why do we remember? Why is it important to celebrate Memorial Day? It is a day to remember and to give thanks for those who have sacrificed their very lives for our freedom and security. Their example stands as a reminder to us that we should not take for granted this gift of freedom that we enjoy. As well, Memorial Day reminds us of the cost of war. We know that the temptation is there in every generation to glorify war, to make it seem like some great adventure, and to forget that real people die, that real people suffer and are left crippled. War is not to be taken lightly or entered into as some great glorious videogame, a game that we will keep playing over and over until we win.

We need to remember so that we can find inspiration in the example of those who have sacrificed in the past, and so that we can learn and not make the same mistakes in the future. Some wars, perhaps most wars can be avoided if we make the right choices ahead of time.

We need to learn to look ahead - not just as individuals, but as a nation and as a world, we need to learn to look ahead to offer people a gift of life and hope, so that we need never fight with them to the death. Ask those who have been there, for war is clearly not a glorious undertaking. It is a powerfully devastating experience for everyone involved. We always hope that war is undertaken for reasons that are compelling enough - seeking freedom and justice for all. We always pray that the casualties may be light, but we know that in war victor and vanquished alike suffer, and that is a cost that we always need to remember.

It is perhaps particularly important that we remember all of those things at this time in history. We are a nation at war, but it's a more ambiguous war. The objective is clear - we want to stop acts of terrorism, but what isn't as clear is who are the terrorists. They don't come from just one country, but from many. They aren't identifiable by appearance, but only by their actions. We don't know clearly what motivates them or how to stop them, only that we need to try, and so we struggle to find the right answers, the right ways to protect our nation and our people - and our world. We look for answers, but they are all ambiguous, and so we live with armed forces fighting overseas against an elusive foe, terrorist alerts and continuing threats of mass destruction - and we don't really know why...

When God gave the Israelite people the Ten Commandments, the commandments were prefaced with the statement, "I am the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt where you were slaves." In other words, remember what I have already done for you, so that you will know why I have the authority to offer these commandments, so that you will remember why you need to follow them.

The problem of course was that the Israelite people didn't always remember. When things were going well in their lives, it was easy for them to forget what God had done, to forget why they needed God, why they needed to remember. Does that sound familiar? It should, for how often we do the same thing. We forget about God until something happens that shakes up our lives and our world and reminds us of that which we ought always to remember.

The Old Testament is filled with examples of the Israelite's turning away from God when things were going well, and then of armies conquering the Israelites, of drought or famine or other threats, and of prophets who reminded the people that they needed to turn back to God, that they needed to remember that God and God alone was their source of life and hope, that they needed to remember and never to forget who they were - that they were a people who belonged to God.

Remembering is a way of keeping us in touch with reality. Just as we tend to forget and to fantasize that war is some great glorious adventure, the Israelite people would forget and start to fantasize that they were the ones who had created the riches of the world, that they were in charge of their own destinies, and that it was okay to worship any god they chose.

It is in remembering that we are reminded of the death, the dismemberment, the pain, the suffering, the sacrifice of war - that war is not to be taken lightly or entered into as a game. It is in remembering that the Israelite people were reminded of who they were, and were enabled to live fully and completely as children of God. It is in remembering that we are reminded that our first and most important task in life is to live faithfully. Even in the midst of the ambiguities - or perhaps especially in the midst of the ambiguities, our task is to be faithful.

In our text from first Corinthians, Paul talks about the last supper as a symbol that we are all instructed to remember and to partake in as a way of deepening that memory. You see, just as some people will treat Memorial Day as just another excuse to party, the Corinthians had fallen into a similar trap. When they would gather together as a community, they would each bring their own food and drink. Some would eat to excess, while others, because of their poverty would go hungry. Some would find the gathering as a good excuse to get drunk. Paul reminds them that in their actions they are guilty of profaning the sacrament, of dishonoring themselves and of sinning against the Lord. If the sacrifice of Christ is truly being remembered, then no one would act greedily or in ways which humiliate other members of the community.

Paul would remind us that there are appropriate and inappropriate ways to celebrate, and that the boundary between the two is where the meaning is changed by the form of the celebration. In other words, when our actions send a different message than that which we are supposed to be remembering, then something is wrong. If the Lord's Supper is seen as an excuse to get drunk, then the sacrifice of our Lord is not being celebrated or even taken seriously. If Memorial Day is only another day to party and go to the beach, then the sacrifice of those who died and are still dying in an effort to ensure that we have the freedom to celebrate is not being taken seriously.

The reason that Paul stresses this is that Christ's sacrifice is something that all Christians need to remember - not just with our heads, but inside our hearts and our very souls. For when we remember by eating the bread and drinking the cup, we should be changed in here (point to heart). We are changed not because the bread that we use is magical, but rather because we remember that God loves us so much that Christ was willing to die that we might know God's love, really know it, and be freed to love in return. We cannot hear that message of love and not be changed by it, if we really hear it. When we remember in that powerful way, when we experience in our remembering the love of God and the love of others who have sacrificed for us, we cannot help but live differently as a result of that experience.

Next week we'll be celebrating Pentecost and also celebrating communion with our confirmands. As we eat the bread and drink from the cup together, my fervent hope is that we will remember and allow our lives to be changed by that experience of God's love.

Tomorrow, as our nation celebrates Memorial Day, let us also remember. Let us remember the sacrifice, the love of those who have died. Let us remember the folly of those who treat war casually - as some great glorious adventure. Let us remember, and in remembering let us honor the commitment and the sacrifice of those who have fought and are fighting to ensure our freedom, and let us always keep seeking ways that all the peoples of this earth can live together in freedom, in love, in respect, and in peace, knowing that we are all people who belong to God.

Amen.