Freedom has a Price
On November 19, 1863 President Abraham
Lincoln made his way to a battlefield in Pennsylvania. He feared that he
might be the last president of the United States. The country teetered
on the brink of self-destruction. The ceremony that afternoon would
dedicate the site of the cemetery for the over forty thousand soldiers
who died at Gettysburg in the three-day battle the previous July.
Lincoln’s remarks provided the seedbed for what would become Memorial
Day.
He began his speech by saying, “Four
score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a
new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that
all men are created equal.” Less than two minutes later, he concluded his speech by saying, “The
world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can
never forget what they did here (referring to the sacrifice of the
soldiers).
Memorial Day grew out of the human need to
remember where we have been. It has been said that only then can we
figure out where we are going. The cherished memories of a nation, a
town, a church, people, or a family provide the values and dream that
one generation passes on to the next. Forgetting means dropping the
torch.
These memorials are not for those who have died, but rather for us, the living, less we forget those that gave their lives for and what they died for.
Most of those who gave their lives were willing to make the ultimate
sacrifice because they wanted to ensure that their children and their
children’s children would have the freedoms that they were willing to
die for. They were willing to make the ultimate sacrifice so that we
would be free to uphold the freedoms a value that they themselves hoped
for.
I would like to read a portion of a letter,
written by a soldier to his wife during World War II so that you can see what
was going on in the mind of some of those who gave their lives for the
freedoms that we now have.
He writes;
New Guinea
July 21, 1943
July 21, 1943
My dearest sweet Cleo,
When you read this letter I will either be missing in action, killed or
captured, and the last possibility is very remote because if I have any
fight left in me, I will give my life to defend not only my country but
the principles on which it was founded.
I want you and our child to be able
to live in freedom, as you want, wherever you want, and to do what you
want. I want the opportunity for our child to be able to grow up and be
kind, gentle and Christian, not barbarian like those we are fighting.
I want our child to be able to go to
school and to college to learn whatever profession he or she wants to
learn. If a boy, I want him to grow up and be a better man than his Dad.
I want him to marry if he chooses, a wife as kind and sweet as his
mother. If a girl, I know she will be as fine a wife to some man as you
have been to me.
You will wonder why I have written
this. I wonder myself, but last night I lay thinking, what if I should
be killed? Would Cleo know what my mind was thinking as to our future? I
have no premonition of being killed and am trusting in the Lord to
watch over me and keep me safe, but when He calls, I will be ready.
It is a nice feeling, darling, to
know that whatever happens to me, I will meet you again someday, but in a
home that will be far nicer than any we could ever have had here on
earth. So don’t grieve, just think that I have gone away for a little
while and I’ll see you again…..
…One other thing comes to mind. You
are young and beautiful and no doubt will meet several nice fellows that
will want to marry you. The way I look at it, we said we were married
until death do us part. Well, when you get this, we will have
temporarily parted, but that won’t prevent you from marrying again. In
Heaven there is no marriage and no death, so we’ll all be together
anyway. Therefore, if you meet a nice young man who is willing to take
you and provide a home for you and our child and probably some of his
own, then you have my blessing and God be with you. All I ask that you
make sure he is a Christian, because if he is, he will be kind and
gentle and loving to you.
I have tried to be a Christian. I
have sinned, but praise God, I know that He will forgive me my sins
because I believe in Christ Jesus as my own personal Savoir and He
watches over me always, until He is ready to take me home to Glory.
Farewell, my darling, until we meet again,
George
Tens of thousands, probably hundreds of thousands have willing made the ultimate sacrifice as this soldier did through the ages.
We should not forget about the sacrifices
that were made for you and me, and why those men and women were willing
to make such as sacrifice; and that was to give us a chance have a good
life and be free from oppression.
What I particularity like about this
letter is the fact that this soldier was not a man without a future
hope. Because of his faith in Christ he clearly recognized that we have a
far better home awaiting us in Heaven because of the sacrifice Jesus
made on that cross,
Each week we come here to honor and worship
God, and remember the great sacrifice Jesus made for us. Jesus
instituted what we now call the ‘Lords Supper’ as a memorial. I believe
Christians were not only told by Jesus to partake of the emblems on the
first day of the week to remember His personal sacrifice and what it
cost for our freedom from sin, in 1 Corinthians 11:26 Paul also wrote, “For
every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are representing
and signifying and proclaiming the fact of the Lord’s death until He
comes again.” (Amplified Bible)
Partaking of the Lord’s Supper memorial
each week is not only for us to remember what He did for us, but also
based on this verse partaking of these emblems in communion is a
proclamation to the world that we believe that Jesus died for sin and
that He is coming back! Even though He died on that cross for us and
was buried we know that He rose again giving us hope for a new life
after we die.
Like the letter from soldier, Jesus also
left us with a letter to let us know how much He loves us, and how He
was willing to pay the ultimate price for our freedom from sin so that
we experience life to the full, not only in the here and now, but also
the eternal kingdom of God.
Someday He will return. That’s what the
verse in 1 Cor. 11 and well as other verses in scripture say. But until
that time He now reigns on high in the Kingdom of heaven, as the King of
kings, and the Lord of lords. HE IS WORTHY of worship and praise as
seen Revelation, chapter 5. I would like to read to you what the Apostle
John wrote concerning what he saw in Heaven concerning the awesome
glory Jesus now receives.
READ
“Then I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a scroll with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals. 2 And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, “Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?” 3 But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it. 4 I wept and wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside. 5 Then
one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe
of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the
scroll and its seven seals.”
6 Then
I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing at the center
of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders.
The Lamb had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits[a] of God sent out into all the earth. 7 He went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne. 8 And
when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four
elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were
holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God’s
people. 9 And they sang a new song, saying:
“You are worthy to take the
scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with
your blood you purchased for God persons from every tribe and
language and people and nation.10 You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.”
11 Then
I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon
thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the
throne and the living creatures and the elders. 12 In a loud voice they were saying:
“Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!”
13 Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying:
“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!”
14 The four living creatures said, “Amen,” and the elders fell down and worshiped.”
The Lord’s Supper which we are about to
celebrate is a memorial, it is meant to Honor Jesus, to proclaim our
loyalty and faith, and it is meant to give us hope because He is coming
back what is to come, to bring us to a home in glory.
So my encouragement this day is simply
this: Remember those who have died for us, and remember why they died.
And honor them by living and enjoying the life and principles they died
for. And put your hope in what is to come.