Memorial Day

                                               Memorial Day

 

 

 

Today is Memorial Day " a day to remember.  It is, like many holidays, one day specifically set aside from the other 364 days each year, for a particular purpose.  Like many holidays, Memorial Day has a message that is significant for every day of the year, but we highlight the one to enfold the many.

 

Memorial Day is the day we remember those heroic men and women who sacrificed their lives so that others could be free.  They are soldiers who willingly put their lives in harm’s way, who fought for national and personal freedom " freedom from oppression and the deadly grip of tyranny in its many forms.  Through their service, they put others wellbeing ahead of their own.  They laid down their lives so that others might be blessed.  They poured out their own blood to protect those who were weaker and unable to fight along next to them.

 

These soldiers were highly trained, highly disciplined.  They learned to take orders and be obedient to their superior officers, even when their obedience caused them much suffering.  Unselfishly, each martyr was propelled into action by a philosophy that caused them to submit themselves even to death in order to accomplish the mission of a greater good.  The mission was always freedom.

 

Without weapons, the mission could not be accomplished.  Much of the training of our soldiers involved the development of skills in the use of weaponry.  Hours, days and months away from home spent learning to use rifles, grenades, mortars, flame throwers, machine guns, fighter planes, tanks and bombs.  Further, memorizing battle plans and tactics to use on foreign soil was a way of life leading up to confronting the enemy.  Such was the life of the heroes of our armed forces.

 

Today, and every day, let us now remember the greatest hero of all time " the Soldier of soldiers.  His name is Yeshua of Nazareth.  He was a young Jewish man who was trained for battle by his own Father who was also his Commanding Officer.  Yeshua learned obedience through the many things that he suffered and always did exactly what he was told to do by his CO.  Like a good soldier, he spent many hours, days, months and years away from his home in preparation for the final battle of his freedom mission.

 

Captain Yeshua mastered the use of the most powerful weapons known to man " sacrificial, unconditional love and mercy; Torah; humility and prayer.  He was the most skilled soldier who has ever fought.  The battle plan and tactics had been etched into his mind by his Commanding Officer, even before his enlistment.  He left his home and came to this foreign soil to wage war against an enemy that had enslaved his beloved creation.  He came here to bring man freedom from the burden of guilt, freedom from the fear of death, freedom from the tyranny of sin and pride - freedom to love, freedom to create, freedom to live a meaningful life and freedom to worship a loving God.

 

In his battles, the enemies were the evil forces of Satan and the pride of man’s heart.  Yeshua’s mission was to overcome the devil and set men free.  His love would empower him to lay down his life for them.  Most people accused him of being a lunatic, a liar or a blasphemer and designated him as their enemy rather than their liberator.  (Some, however, recognized him for who he was and joined his army, looking to him as their Chaplain.)

 

When Captain Yeshua’s training was completed, he set his face like a flint toward Jerusalem where he would make the ultimate sacrifice of giving up his life.  He would offer his body as a sacrifice; shed his blood so that his enemies could be set free from bondage.  He would willingly die for the greater good.

 

The human enemy, those he went to battle for, plotted his execution for what they had deemed was his capital offense.  They set the trap for him by accusing the Captain of being a traitor, a collaborator with their perceived enemy. Yeshua knew what they were doing, yet he took the bait and allowed them to continue with their nefarious plan.  A bogus court-marshal was held, and a death sentence was declared for the innocent Soldier.  He was flogged, publicly stripped naked and nailed to a wooden cross by his enemies.  In his agony, Yeshua continued to make use of all of his weaponry to the maximum, and his CO was very pleased with the young soldier’s obedience.

 

Captain Yeshua completed the mission of his enlistment by dying, bearing the punishment for the sins of those who killing him and for the sins of all mankind.  He endured his punishment without wavering from his envisioned goal - that all mankind would accept his mercy and join with his army forever. 

 

In a stunning climax to his mission, he demonstrated the unlimited power of his weapons and the power of his Father/General when he miraculously rose from the dead, three days after what appeared to be his final battle.  The Fallen Soldier had become the Risen Savior - The Dead Warrior had become the Living, Eternal Peace-giver. 

 

He now trumpets the call to everyone, everywhere " ‘Come unto me’ " ‘remember Me on this Memorial Day and let every day be to you a memorial day.’  ‘We are victorious!’

 

 

 

 

 

Gus Wheeler