The Memorial
Memorial Day is an annual holiday set aside each year on the last Monday in May. It is a day dedicated to honoring all U.S. military personnel who have died while serving in the United States armed forces. All told, over 1.3 million Americans have paid the ultimate sacrifice for their nation. Memorials honoring our service members are all around us: Here in our community we have one outside the Court House. There is another one located on Main Street next door to our Fire Hall. Of course in Washington, D.C. there memorials to those who fought in World Wars I & II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. The purpose of these memorials is to remind us of those who gave their lives for the freedoms upon which our country is founded. Memorials help us not to forget, but to remember. God’s Word also has it’s share of memorials: God established a memorial to remind Him of the covenant which He established with mankind and every living creature, for all generations, never again to destroy all flesh with a flood (Genesis 9:8-17). He also set aside the 14th of Nisan the first month in the Jewish calendar as the day to celebrate the Feast of Passover, the time when God put to death the firstborn among all the Egyptians, but spared the firstborn among the Israelites (Exodus 12:13-14). The memorial in which we participate every Lord’s Day (Sunday), known to us as “the Lord’s Supper” or “communion.” This is “the memorial” around which our lesson is focused this morning. For us as Christians, there is no other memorial of greater importance, but there are two questions I would like for us to consider:
a. What is it that we are doing when we participate in the Lord’s Supper?
b. What attitude are we to bring to this special memorial?