Grace

It occurred to me to wonder a bit about the relationship of several U.S. holidays, namely Armed Forces Day (last Saturday, May 20), Memorial Day (tomorrow, May 29), and Veterans Day (Saturday, November 11). I confess that the original impetus for my wondering was that I noticed last weekend that Major League baseball teams had all their players wearing olive drab caps, clearly more than a week before Memorial Day. For baseball, this is an opportunity to sell more hats, but what do the official holidays really mean?

You already know this, right? Armed Forces Day is to honor those currently serving, and Veterans Day is to honor those who have served. Memorial Day is to honor the memory of those who died in military service.

So this is not a time to have the veterans in the congregation stand up – that’s in November – or to have our current service men and women stand up – that was last week.

This is a time to honor the memory of those who died in military service, and to reflect on the fact that their deaths occurred for our benefit.

Those deaths were to protect brothers and sisters in arms, or protect our country, or to protect those who were oppressed, and you don’t have to believe that all wars are wise or just or necessary to realize that those deaths accrued to your benefit and mine . . . and that we don’t deserve that benefit.

Given our context here today, it is hard not to think about Paul’s words in Romans 5:6-8

• For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die — but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 5 uses a series of words to describe the beneficiaries of Jesus’ death – weak, ungodly, sinners, enemies. That’s us, but Christ died for us.

Perhaps those we honor on Memorial Day did not ask themselves whether we deserved their sacrifice, but Paul says God did consider that question and he was nevertheless willing to send Jesus to die for the weak, ungodly, sinful, rebellious people in this room and beyond those doors.

That’s grace.

Let’s pray.

Holy Father, we come before you in awareness of who we are – we are weak, ungodly, sinful, and rebellious. And yet . . . I pray that you would help us know who we are more clearly.

I ask that we would become more deeply aware that in Christ we are strong, we are godly, we are clean, we are yours. Teach us this truth.

We come before you in the name of Jesus – who died for us and made it possible for enter into your presence:

And so we pray for those who are ill and infirm in their bodies – we ask that you would bring healing to their bodies and comfort to their hearts and peace to their souls.

For those in spiritual turmoil, we pray that you would call them back to your side, that they (we) might live in peace and purpose the lives you have called us to.

And we are so aware of the deaths of the service men and women that we will commemorate on Memorial Day – comfort their families, remind us of their sacrifices, and make us willing to serve others in whatever way we may be called.

And we have seen the deaths of our brothers and sisters in Christ – Tim Keller, Willis Potratz, and others known to us – teach us to live in sacrificial obedience as they did, that we, as they, might receive the commendation “Well done, my good and faithful servant.”

And we are aware of the sacrifice of our great Savior – remind us every day that he did not die because of our worth but because of his deep grace. Teach us to live in that grace.

And now, we “rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation,” and we pray these prayers in the name of Jesus, which is above every name.

Amen.