Sermon: Never Forget

#1646A
Ryan McClure
Given 09-Apr-22; 28 minutes

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According to history.com, the American Civil War, which ended in 1865, claimed more lives than any conflict in the United States history and required the establishment of the country's first national cemeteries. It is estimated that somewhere between 618,000 to 620,000 Americans died during that conflict. And there are actually some scholars that think that that number is far more north than that.

By the late 1860s, Americans in various cities and towns were holding springtime tributes to the soldiers who had died by decorating their graves with flowers and reciting prayers. These annual tributes (which incidentally were observed on May 30th) and activities for those who have given their lives led to the day being called Decoration Day. In fact (still citing history.com.), on May 5, General John A. Logan, leader of an organization for northern Civil War veterans, called for a nationwide day of remembrance later that month. Quoting Logan, he says, "The 30th of May 1868 is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village, and hamlet churchyard in the land."

Decoration Day was observed for several decades, almost 100 years, you might say, until 1968 when Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, which established Memorial Day as the last Monday in May and went into effect in 1971. By this time, Decoration Day had been unofficially dubbed Memorial Day and instead of only honoring those who died in the fight in the Civil War, the holiday evolved to commemorate American personnel who died in all wars, including World Wars I and II, the Vietnam War, the Korean War, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Memorial Day was originally instituted not just to honor those who had fought and fallen for their country, but to remind those that were alive and those who would be born to grow up in this country, the tremendous cost of war and freedom.

There are various other days that Americans celebrate to mark significant historical events or people that have had profound impacts on the country. Days like the Fourth of July, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, and Presidents Day, days like those. Now these days all mean something to us as residents in the United States of America. They serve as a reminder to specific events or people, or both. The September 11 attacks on the U.S., more commonly referred to as 9/11, serves as a yearly memorial of the deadliest terrorist attack in human history and the single deadliest incident for firefighters and law enforcement officers in the history of the U.S. We continue to have a moment of silence every September 11th and a rather large memorial was built at ground zero to honor those who were lost.

Memorial, as defined by the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, the fifth edition, is defined as, "Something, such as a monument or holiday, intended to celebrate or honor the memory of a person or an event." The second definition is "that which preserves the memory of something. Anything designed or adapted to serve as a reminder of a person, an event, or a fact or facts of any kind belonging to past time as a record, monument, an inscription, a custom, periodical, observance, etcetera."

Now one observation we might make about the U.S. holiday called Memorial Day is that for some in our country it has become more of a three day weekend that really marks the kickoff of summer and it is celebrated by barbecuing, drinking beer, going to pools and beaches. And note that I said some, because the government and military and cities and towns across the U.S. still have various services and parades on Memorial Day and they very much still decorate the graves of those who have fallen in service of this country, so I do not want to paint with too broad of a brush. But hopefully you can see the point that not everyone remembers that day and the tremendous cost associated with it.

One thing that I think that is common amongst all of us is that for memorials that have happened while we are alive my guess is that we can remember them and even remember where we were or what we were doing when X, Y, or Z occurred. We have a rather large World War II memorial and only a few remain of those who served in that war. And I am sure though that many can recall when it started, maybe where they were when it started, and how it changed their lives.

What about Vietnam? We also have a Vietnam War memorial that is dedicated to those who fought and died during that war. My father can recount that war, when it started and when it finished, because he served in that war, in the Navy. People living during those times knew what it was like to see loved ones recruited into the armed forces and then shipped off to some distant land. And many, unfortunately, came to understand what it meant to lose a loved one.

For my age group, probably one of the most monumental things that I recall living through was 9/11 in 2001. I was four days away from being baptized when the attack occurred. I was here in Fort Mill, South Carolina and I was at work. And while I was not personally involved in the attacks there in New York, I understood as it was happening, the gravity of what was happening, and then felt the repercussions as did all Americans in the following days, weeks, and months. This was certainly a first for me. I have never heard or even thought it possible that America could be attacked in this way. I had never seen planes fly into skyscrapers or witnessed the tragic things that happened in the coming minutes, hours, and days.

The slogan that we heard in the following days, one that would ultimately be etched on memorials and painted on murals to remind the nation of what happened that day, was "We will never forget." And I saw others that simply said, never forget. And so each year Americans mark September 11 through many different memorial services and some even visit the museum and the monuments that were erected there at ground zero in an effort to not only remember those who were lost but remind themselves of what happened that day.

We all have an event, a day, a moment where someone or something impacted our lives individually, that changed our course, or even saved our life. A perfect example of this is the day that we were baptized (if you are baptized). For Christians who are faithful to God and our Lord and Savior, we too keep a yearly memorial, but it is not in memory of any physical battle that happened between countries or some type of terrorist attack. No, for us, every year we keep the Passover as a reminder of what Jesus Christ did on behalf of us and really the rest of mankind.

Let us see this in Exodus 12 for our first scripture. This is where the Lord speaks to Moses and Aaron giving them the calendar to which He wants them to adhere to. And also where He provides the instructions for the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

Exodus 12:1-7 Now the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, "This month shall be your beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you. Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying: 'On the tenth of this month every man shall take for himself a lamb, according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household. And if the household is too small for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next to his house take it according to the number of the persons; according to each man's need you shall make your count for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats. Now you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight. And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it."

Here the Lord is providing specific instructions on how the Passover should be observed. They were to select a male sheep or goat that is without blemish, and it had to be one year old. That animal was set aside and kept from the 10th day of the month to the 14th day of the month when it was killed at twilight. And then from there they were to put the blood on the doorposts and lintel.

Exodus 12:11-14 "And thus you shall eat it; with a belt on your waist, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. So you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord's Passover. For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the Lord. Now the blood shall be a sign for you and on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. So this day shall be to you a memorial; and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord throughout your generations. You shall keep it as a feast by an everlasting ordinance."

The Lord here provides specific instructions on how to keep the Passover. He tells the Israelites exactly what is going to occur that night and what He will do to those who do not obey by putting the blood on their doorposts. He then states that this will be a memorial throughout their generations, it even says it is an everlasting ordinance.

Now, the Lord also gave them some visual and sensory reminders, did He not? That sheep or goat, as we have heard before, was one year old (as I just said), and it very well may have been the family pet. They may have been very close to it. So they had to kill an animal, drain the blood, then sprinkle the blood on the doorposts and above the lintel, and then they had to carve the animal up and prepare it for food. That might not have been easy for some, especially the young. But that night, as the Death Angel passed over while they were dressed and ready to go, they heard scream after scream, wailing after wailing. Chapter 12, verse 30 states that there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where there was not one dead. How often do you think the Israelites reflected on what they heard, felt, and experienced that night?

Let us go to the New Testament as we continue to chase this out. Please turn with me to John 13. We are going to hear several of these scriptures over the next couple of weeks, I am sure, but that is good. We are breaking into the footwashing ceremony and Jesus is about to wash the disciples' feet.

John 13:5-7 After that, He [Jesus] poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded. Then He came to Simon Peter. And Peter said to Him, "Lord, are You washing my feet?" Jesus answered and said to him. "What I am doing you do not understand now, but you will after this."

John 13:12-17 So when He had washed their feet, taken His garments, and sat down again, He said to them, "Do you know what I have done to you? You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and your Teacher have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you. Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them."

Now in the footwashing ceremony, Jesus once again teaches. He teaches His disciples this time what they should do and how they should do it because He literally did it to them. He showed them how to do it. He says, "I've given you an example," and He tells them that they should wash each other's feet. And in verse 17, He quite plainly states that you will be blessed if you do this.

So, as part of the memorial of Passover, we do what Jesus told the disciples to do. Every year that we do it, it serves as a reminder of that particular service over 2,000 years ago.

Let us go to I Corinthians 11 for our next scripture. We could have gone to the gospels, but I want to just make a quick, obvious point here.

I Corinthians 11:23-26 [this is Paul speaking] For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you [he is teaching them]: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed, took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, "Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me." In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, "This is the cup of the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me." For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes.

Similar to how the Lord instructed Moses and Moses instructed the Israelites on how to keep Passover, and how He instructed the disciples, here we see that Paul was passing along what he had received from the Lord to the Corinthians. It is basically teaching, it is obvious.

So Jesus commanded His disciples, and by extension, all of those that God would call and who would follow Him, to keep this ceremony, this memorial on a yearly basis to remember what He did for all of us. We are reminded annually that Jesus Christ died for us that we might be called into the covenant relationship with God and that our sins could be forgiven and removed.

Now, Paul reiterated Jesus' words, "Do this in remembrance of Me." It is almost like He was saying, "Don't forget Me and what I've done and what I'm going to do. Don't let what I'm about to go through ever slip from your mind." And in fact, similar to the footwashing, Jesus used the bread and the wine as symbols, that each year when we take and eat the unleavened bread and we drink the wine we remember what He did on our behalf.

I do not know, but my guess is that specific Passover was not forgotten quickly by the disciples. Similar to what we saw with the Israelites, here the disciples had an intimate meal with Jesus where He actually washed their feet and He explained what the unleavened bread and the wine represented, and then they saw Him arrested, tried, and crucified. That is not something that you would forget easily. In verse 26 there, Paul elaborates that as often as we take the Passover, we proclaim the Lord's death until He comes or returns.

That word "proclaim" is Strong's #2605. That means to declare; to preach; to speak of; and to teach. So we teach by example what ought to be done during this memorial and of course we preach about it as well. It is a teaching mechanism similar to how God taught the Israelites and the disciples. It is a way that we remember.

Hopefully my point is coming into focus here. God wants us to do this every year so that we remember and never forget the tremendous price that was paid that we might take part in this relationship with God and Christ.

One more example. If you will, please turn with me to Genesis 3. We are breaking into the story here just after Adam and Eve ate of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.

Genesis 3:7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.

Then God meets them in the Garden and He pronounces the curses upon them and the snake.

Genesis 3:21 Also for Adam and his wife the Lord made tunics of skin, and clothed them.

You are probably reading these verses and wondering what the context is for remembering what our Savior did for us and I will of course tell you. Now this scripture tells us that the Lord made tunics of skin for Adam and Eve and then clothed them. However, just a couple of scriptures earlier, we read that they were already wearing fig leaves. So why did the Lord do this?

The word "tunic" here is Strong's #3801 and it means garments. So the Lord made garments of skin. Well, "skin" is translated as Strong's #5785 and it means skin or hide. So basically the skin of a man or the hide of an animal. Now, there are some, including my study Bible in the reference section, that say that this is the first mention of the killing of an animal for human use recorded in the Bible. There are still others that say that that is ridiculous. That the Lord probably made some type of linen or fabric garment for them. The scripture clearly does not say that the Lord killed an animal, tanned the hide, and then gave the tunics to Adam and Eve.

However, I believe, based on what is said in verse 21 the Lord did. And you can make up your own mind, but there are some things to consider for the sake of this message. Earlier in chapter 2, God essentially told Adam and Eve that the wages of sin is death. He told them that they should not eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil for in that day they would surely die. But we also know from the sacrificial system that the Lord instituted, it required blood or basically the death of an animal to cover sins. In Leviticus 17:11 (and it is probably just one place that we could go to to see this), it says the "life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for your soul."

In this case, Adam and Eve had sinned and God showed them that He was telling the truth. The wages of sin is death and something sinless had to die and its blood would be required to cover their sins.

Think about what this would have meant to Adam and Eve. Again, I am not saying anything dogmatic here, but this is pretty interesting. Up until this point, Adam and Eve were probably vegetarians, eating the fruit, the vegetables, and the herbs of the Garden. That is why there were two trees. Adam had named all of the animals so he was probably likely close to some of them at least. And maybe he had a few pets in the bunch. I do not know. Up until now all Adam and Eve knew was creation and living. They knew life. They did not know death until now. Is it possible that animals died there in the Garden? Sure. Scripture does not tell us, but it is a bit hard for me to believe that since God was creating and even commanding Adam and Eve to be fruitful and multiply that anything was dying at this point.

So you are Adam and Eve, you are wearing fig leaves and you are trying to cover yourself, experiencing great emotion and regret. You are being punished by God and then you witnessed, for the first time in your life, the death of an animal. Now God could have made the animal fall asleep. He is God, He could have done it however He wanted to. But what an object lesson to show Adam and Eve that the wages of sin is death! Imagine God slaying the animal in front of them. What if the animal, again, was one that they were particularly fond of? What if this was the first time that Adam and Eve had ever seen blood? Adam and Eve, if they did not know it before, were introduced to death and blood in this moment.

This is hard for us to wrap our minds around because once we were born, we became aware of death as the generations aged, accidents occurred, and well of course, there is always tv that pretty much numbs us from everything. But Adam and Eve only knew creation, they only knew life, there was no one else around for them to experience death. And so once sin entered the world, death followed.

Further, imagine having to put on the skin of the animal that had to die because of what you did. Now you are wearing the skin of that animal that had to give its life for you and who knows how long they wore those clothes? If there was ever an object lesson in remembering, I think this whole interaction was something that Adam and Eve did not forget anytime soon. God had told them that the wages of sin is death and God most likely showed them death. We know that once that first sin happened there was a need for a Savior. There was always going to be a need for a Savior. Christ would fulfill the role of that very animal sacrificed for Adam and Eve's sin.

The Bible does not tell us what day this occurred. Was it Passover? Perhaps. I have no idea. It does not say in the Bible. Regardless, this would be the memorial of the first death in the new creation. What a profound effect on Adam and Eve and our Creator, Jesus Christ, as He lovingly taught them and showed them what this devastating lesson cost, knowing that He would pay the full price in the future as our Passover Lamb.

I Peter 1:17-21 And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one's work, conduct yourself throughout the time of your stay here in fear, knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

Just to reiterate, not all of this is stated directly in the Bible. We looked at two scriptures. I think we can infer a lot based on the patterns that God has revealed to us. But the basic point that I am making in this part of the message is that Adam and Eve were sure to never forget that one time in the Garden when they sinned and their relationship with their Creator changed forever and another living creature died in front of them. That is something you would not forget.

So let us begin to wrap this up. Please turn with me to Deuteronomy 16 and we will start to pull it all together and see why remembering and this memorial is so important. One of the things that the Israelites suffered from, and quite frankly, all of us humans suffer from, is memory loss. We tend to forget rather quickly. The word remember is used 14 times in Deuteronomy. And in fact, Deuteronomy is often referred to as the Book of Remembrance. Deuteronomy is second only to the book of Psalms when it comes to the use of the word remember. That is pretty interesting, if you ask me.

Deuteronomy 16:1-3 "Observe the month of Abib, and keep the Passover to the Lord your God, for in the month of Abib the Lord your God brought you out of Egypt by night. Therefore you shall sacrifice the Passover to the Lord your God, from the flock and the herd, in the place where the Lord chooses to put His name. You shall eat no leavened bread with it; seven days you shall eat unleavened bread with it, that is, the bread of affliction (for you came out of the land of Egypt in haste), that you may remember the day in which you came out of the land of Egypt all the days of your life."

Now, in addition to this scripture, which reminds the Israelites about the day that God led them out of Egypt, He reminds them at least twice that they were slaves in the land of Egypt. He reminds them to remember what He did to Pharaoh. He admonishes them to remember that He tested them for 40 years in the wilderness, and that He is the one that gives power to obtain wealth, and that they should remember how they provoked God through rebellion. And He tells them to remember what He did to Miriam and what Amalek did to them as they left Egypt. And finally He says in chapter 32, verse 7 (this is the Song of Moses) "Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations. Ask your father, and he will show you; your elders, and they will tell you."

Throughout Deuteronomy and really throughout the generations of Israel, God commanded them to teach these things to their children that they might know and understand and do according to all that the Lord had commanded. The significance of Jesus Christ's life, death, and resurrection is unparalleled. No one has or could accomplish what He did for each and every one of us. The magnitude of His sinless life and sacrificial death is so great that God wanted us to never forget what He did for us.

To this end, He has memorialized this sacrifice for all time. A tremendous price was paid for each and every one of us. Passover is a memorial of what Jesus Christ did for all mankind.

Unlike Adam and Eve, the Israelites. and the disciples, we do not have those firsthand experiences that probably stuck with them for the rest of their lives. We do, however, have the annual Passover service in which we participate in. As our Savior commanded us to do, we wash each other's feet, we partake in the unleavened bread and the wine, which represents His broken body and His blood. And these things serve to remind us of His sinless sacrifice for each and every one of us.

Finally, we are commanded to examine ourselves. Each year we are commanded to evaluate our lives, to test ourselves to know if we are in the faith, and each year we should be remembering that we too were once slaves in spiritual Egypt, that we too are walking in our spiritual wilderness, being tested by God so that He might know our hearts, and that we too have sinned as those who have gone before us. That we too should remember that sin leads to death.

God is calling us to be part of His spiritual Family, which can only happen because of the tremendous sacrifice of our Savior, Jesus Christ. God wants us to remember that—and never forget.

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