Memorial Day

  On April 19, 1775 eight men fell at Lexington as the first mortgage payment on the high cost of freedom. Freedom is not free. The two great documents of the United States of America begin with the two words: When and We. “When in the course of human events…,” begins the Declaration of Independence. The second begins with the words “We the People.”  One is a time to stand and the other a time to stand together. Abraham Lincoln warned that “a house divided against itself cannot stand.” That is a “We” problem. Today America has a serious “We” problem because it has a God problem.  The Bill of Rights codifies the freedoms upon which a mighty nation arose and made America unique. These freedoms are, the freedom to believe, freedom to say or publish what you believe, and the freedom of assembly, based on what you believe. Yet these great freedoms, which we call "rights," are seen as a gift from the opened hand of Almighty God. Woe to the nation that forgets God, and any David who attempts to face Goliath without the Rock of Ages. Woe to the Godless "we" of any house, nation or assembly.

  The spirit of Haman, Hitler and Atilla the Hun are like dogs barking beneath the walls of this City on a Hill, and they hate freedom. Memorial Day is a sacred reminder that freedom is not free and is fragile. This Memorial Day let us also not forget that the most important freedom (even before liberty), is the Right to Life. This Memorial Day we remember those who died in battle so we might enjoy freedom. In WWII 291,557 Americans fell in battle, 33,739 gave their all for us in Korea, 47,434 in the Vietnam War, and 148 more battle deaths in Desert Storm.

  Our own history of faith has a similar parallel experience to our national history. “When” in the course of human events, “we” came to the place that “we” realized that a Godless “we” is worthless, it changed our life. We came to the site of the greatest battlefield, and the greatest battle for freedom in the universe, Calvary. There Jesus Christ shed his blood to set us free. Each Sunday is a Memorial Day that reminds us of the greatest “When,” and the fact that we, by Grace, became part of the family of God and part of the greatest “We,”  Immanuel  -id