Rev. Rogers: Remembering Memorial Day
As people all over America put on the sunscreen, light the barbeque, get the potato salad, and get ready for summer, it is a cultural recognition that the unofficial summer kick-off weekend is here. It is important, however, that as Americans indulge in the season, that we also take time to remember why Memorial Day exists and take seriously its important message.
During and immediately after the American Civil War many communities would designate a day out of the year when the graves of fallen soldiers would be decorated with flowers. It was a solemn time of remembering the sacrifices made by soldiers of war and praying for an end to its brutality with a hope for peace. The observance was a recognition of war’s ferocious cost in human lives. By 1868 the tradition of holding a designated “Decoration Day” was formalized by Army General John Logan when he declared May 30 the official day for the recognition. The tradition continued for more than a century with growing popularity until 1971 when the last Monday in May was declared a federal holiday in honor of “Memorial Day.”
As the tradition evolved, so did the scope of its observance and the cultural significance of the event. Once devoted strictly to remembering fallen soldiers of the Civil War, it gradually evolved to remember virtually anyone who had died. Likewise, the cultural observance of the day has changed from a time of somber remembrance and calls for peace to a weekend-long seasonal party synonymous with the start of summer.
The vile sin of war has, unfortunately permeated our modern world much as it did over 160 years ago when the United States resorted to war in order to keep human beings enslaved as property. Sadly, in our modern culture war is also something that is often glorified, held in a degree of nostalgic honor, and even celebrated. Yet, the Bible calls for something different.
Isaiah 2:4 proclaims that God “shall judge between the nations, and shall arbitrate for many peoples; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.” The same calls for genuine peace and an end to the vile sin of war is also echoed in Joel 3:10 and Micah 4:3. To honor war is to defy God’s will for humanity.
As Christians observe Memorial Day it is appropriate that we honor the sacrifices made by so many people in times of war and show due respect to the brave people who are called to take up arms because of human sin in sacrificial service to country. Yet, Christians do not truly honor their sacrifice if we fail to pray for, and actively pursue, an end to the cataclysmic sin that has made such sacrifices necessary. That sin is war.
Jesus clearly understood that war was a reality of the human condition. Yet he would personally never allow himself to become an instrument of war, nor would he permit his disciples to use the weapons of war in his defense. As Christians, we can learn from Christ’s profound example. It is well and good to honor our war dead and render due respect to the women and men serving in the military. But when we glamorize, glorify, and idolize war as anything other than a horrific expression of human sin, we run a dangerous course of destruction that only perpetuates devastation, not peace. Likewise, if it is nothing but a three-day excuse to indulge in eating, drinking, and partying without regard to the sacrifices, our sins are arrogant indifference and self-centered indulgence. Memorial Day needs to be a faithful and powerful day of prayerful remembrance, a joyful appreciation of the freedoms we legitimately enjoy, and a time of prayerfully seeking genuine peace so humanity will not “learn war any more.”
This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: Rev. Rogers: Remembering Memorial Day
