Two Events, One Purpose: Remember

“What do these stones mean?… He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the LORD is powerful and so that you might always fear the LORD your God. Joshua 4:21,24 NIV

Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far the LORD has helped us.” I Samuel 7:12 NIV

When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. Acts 2:1-2 NIV

“That Nation which respects and honors its dead, shall ever be respected and honored itself.” (Lt. Col. Edmund B. Whitman, 1868). Pentecost Sunday and Memorial Day are two very different yet equally important events that share the same weekend this year. One marks the beginning of life and power, while the other commemorates those who gave their lives in the struggle for freedom. One is celebrated globally in every nation, while the other is confined to a single nation.

The United States set aside Memorial Day to honor the men and women who died in military conflicts. Though this day is uniquely observed in the U.S., many other countries also set aside a day to remember their men and women who died serving their nation.

The concept of Memorial Day emerged shortly after the Civil War, when it was known as Decoration Day and graves were adorned with flowers and other decorations. B.K. Waltke writes, “Remembering the past plays a vital role in the identity of any nation. Sociologists claim that a society aspiring to endure must become a community of memory and hope.”

James Garfield, Ohio congressman and a future United States president, spoke at Arlington National Cemetery to commemorate the first ‘Decoration Day’ and said, “I am oppressed with a sense of the impropriety of uttering words on this occasion. If silence is ever golden, it must be here beside the graves of fifteen thousand men, whose lives were more significant than speech, and whose death was a poem, the music of which can never be sung….We do not know one promise these men made, one pledge they gave, one word they spoke; but we do know they summed up and perfected, by one supreme act, the highest virtues of men and citizens. For love of country, they accepted death, and thus resolved all doubts, and made immortal their patriotism and their virtue.” (May 30, 1868)

Historians estimate that more than 1,300,000 men and women have died in the wars and conflicts the United States has been involved in since the American Revolutionary War. Each number represents a man or woman whose story ended much too soon, never getting to finish their life journey. A statistic on paper, but for families, a loved one, now only a picture on the wall, a memory kept alive through stories. Memorial Day allows us to reflect on the cost of freedom that others get to enjoy because of their sacrifice.

“Rest, comrades, rest and sleep!

The thoughts of men shall be as sentinels to keep

Your rest from danger free.

Your silent tents of green

We deck with fragrant flowers

Yours has the suffering been, The memory shall be ours. (stanza 5&6, Decoration Day, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow)

Whether it is a pile of stones, a monument, or a specific day, history is filled with reminders that tell the next generation about a sacrifice that took place. World War II Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel wrote, “Without memory, there is no culture. Without memory, there would be no civilization, no society, no future.”

Memorial Day and Pentecost Sunday are two very different occasions, yet both serve as reminders of events that changed history. Memorial simply means serving to preserve remembrance. Memorial Day gives us pause to reflect on the lives of those who gave their lives for freedom. On Pentecost Sunday, we rejoice and celebrate the birth of the church, which has become the embodiment of Christ (1 Cor 12:12-27), as we “Go and make disciples of all nations.” From this small group of about 120 disciples, a worldwide body of over 2.6 million Christians has grown.

Pentecost changed everything for Peter, this first small group of followers, and for us, generations later. There was no turning back for them, and no turning back for us. Dr. Ray Pritchard writes of Pentecost, “That is when thousands come into the faith. And it goes from this little sect of believers who followed a Jewish rabbi from Nazareth who died and rose again, and suddenly the church breaks forth into the culture. Suddenly, it is that unstoppable force that no one can really deny any longer. Pentecost has taken on a new significance for us. It, at one point, is just a historical memory. Now it is the living reality of the moment that the spirit of God seemingly burst forth.”

We remember and are grateful as a nation for the 1.3 million who have been killed fighting for freedom. Yet Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary estimates that more than 70 million Christians have been martyred over the past two millennia. Pentecost and Memorial Day are completely different, yet both events were born of costly commitments and sacrifice. “Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.” I Corinthians 12:27

Blessings on this weekend of remembrance.

God is great!

A weekly devotional post offering encouragement, hope, and purpose in Jesus