Memorial Day

So Much to Remember

Genesis 8:15-20

 

Genesis 8:15-20 15 Then God said to Noah, 16 "Come out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and their wives. 17 Bring out every kind of living creature that is with you—the birds, the animals, and all the creatures that move along the ground—so they can multiply on the earth and be fruitful and increase in number upon it." 18 So Noah came out, together with his sons and his wife and his sons' wives. 19 All the animals and all the creatures that move along the ground and all the birds—everything that moves on the earth—came out of the ark, one kind after another. 20 Then Noah built an altar to the LORD and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings on it.

 

His name was John Logan. His name is a not considered a great name in history. However, he was the national commander of the Grand Army of the Union in the 1860s. It was Logan who declared May 30, 1868 a “Memorial Day.” People gathered at Arlington National Cemetery to put flowers on the graves of both the Union and Confederate soldiers. It was not an original idea. Communities who had lost men in the Civil War had been decorating the grave of their lost soldiers for several years. New York became the first sate to make Memorial Day a holiday in 1873. By 1890 all northern states observed Memorial Day. However, southern states had separate Memorial Days until the close of the First World War. Since 1971 Memorial Day was been observed on the last Monday of May, ensuring a three day holiday weekend. How do you remember those who have died in service to our country?

 

Telling you the history of Memorial Day is my way for reminding you that Memorial Day is more then a weekend that signals the beginning of summer. It is a weekend to remember. Yes, we remember all those individuals that died in service to our country. Do you know of anyone whose life was cut short to help keep America free? It is also a weekend to remember lost loved ones, both family and friends. This morning I was in a cemetery. It was filled with people decorating graves. Can I state the obvious? It is important to remember. The ability to remember is one of those things that separates us from mere animals. At the very heart of this weekend’s scripture lesson is the importance of remembering.

 

The main character in this weekend’s scripture lesson is Noah. Do you remember the story of Noah? In his days, the world had grown so wicked that God decided to start over. God decides two things. First, He decides to destroy the world by water. There is going to be a great flood. Second, God decides to save mankind. God selects one man, one righteous man, Noah, to repopulate the world. That means we are not just sons and daughter of Adam and Eve. We are also sons and daughters of Noah. He builds a great ark and collects every kind of animal. On the day the rain began to fall he entered the ark, along with his family and the animals. It rains for forty days and forty nights. (Remember, the number forty is reserved to a sacred time period.) When the rain finally stops, the water begins to dry up. The scriptures tell us at some point enough water dried up that dry ground appeared again. The first verse of our scripture text tells us that God decided it was time for Noah to exit the ark. He does along with his family and the animals. Verse twenty tells us the first thing Noah did was build an altar to the Lord. I think that is truly amazing. If I would have been Noah, I would have kissed the dry ground. Or maybe I would have sat on the ground, thankful that the rocking had finally stopped. Or maybe I would have run to a quiet spot because I had grown tired of being in a crowd. (You can only be the wife and kids so long!) It doesn’t really matter what I would have done.

 

The scripture tells us the first thing Noah did was built an altar. Why? He built the altar for the same reason we go to the cemetery on Memorial Day weekend. When you stand next to the headstone of your loved ones what emotions are evoked in you? I bet they are the same three things that happen to me when I stand next to the grave of my loved ones. They are the same things Noah did when he built the altar. So if you are ready to look at those three things today say, “Amen!”

 

The Past

When Noah stood by his altar he remembered the past. What do you think Noah remembered about his past? Just think about it for a moment. Noah walked out of the Ark with his family. There was his wife and their three sons, along with their wives. That is it. Everyone else is gone. Noah must have thought about everyone who were part of his past but they were not with him in his present. They were not going to be part of his future. Everyone, except his family, was dead! His life would never be the same again. Have you ever stopped to consider how the world has changed?

 

On the Marblehead Peninsula in northwest Ohio is Johnson Island. It is not one of those places that tourist information doesn’t promote. Generally, speaking it is undeveloped. It is a remote place and it is much like it was in the 1860s. Today it is a great place for camping. In the 1860s it was a great place to put a prisoner of war camp during the Civil War. It is near Lakeside so I have been there many times. I have read the historical marker countless times. There is an interesting story to that place. According to the information, many believed the Civil War would end in a matter of days. They were wrong. The war lasted for years. A problem soon developed for the Union. What was the Union army to do with Confederate prisoners of war? They wanted to relocate them to an isolated spot. That place was Johnson Island. Life in the camp was hard. The plywood building were hot tin the summer and frigid in the winter. Many died and their graves remain there today.

The graveyard is not big. It is very small. I have read many of those name through the years. Many of those men were from the deep south. It is sad to think they never returned home. The thing that captures my imagination about Johnson Island is the location. If you take that short walk to the shores of Lake Erie you can see the all the rides of Cedar Point. If you turn one way you see the graves. If you turn around you can see the rides of the amusement park. The contrast is shocking! That location reminds me that our world has changed over the past 150 years.

 

How much has a world changed in the last 150 years? When the Civil War was fought America was a agricultural nation. My family was no exception. However, my family hasn’t owned a farm in four generations. When the Civil War was being fought illiteracy was high. Try to be a success today without a high school diploma. When the Civil War was being fought, horses were the main mode of transportation. Did anyone ride a horse to church today? During the Civil War communication was dominated by the hand written letter. Did everyone here remember to turn their cell phone off? Has anyone here received a text in the last five minutes? Do I have to go on? The world have reinvented itself in the past 150 years. Would anyone here like to have surgery using 1860s procedures and medicines?

 

One of the things we do on Memorial Day is remember the past! Noah built that altar and remembered the past. The past was just that, the past. That day was a new day! As you stand by the headstones of your loved ones remember the past. Let us be honest. There are some things about the past we admire. However, there are some things about today that you really like. Like it or not. This is a new day! And all of God’s people said, “Amen!”

 

The Important

When Noah stood by his altar he remembered what was really important. Look at verse 20 with me. It says Noah built an altar to the Lord. It doesn’t say that he built am altar to his wife. It doesn’t say he built an altar to his sons or their wives. It says he built an altar to the Lord. He built an altar to what was really important to him, God! What is really important to you?

 

My favorite family picture sits on my dresser. The picture is an old photograph. It is faded but I can still make out the images. I pick it up everyday and look at it. My Aunt Phyllis tells me it is a photograph of an Adams family reunion. The year must be about the year 1900. The picture is not unique. You may have own of your own family. Everyone is sitting in front of a farm house. All the men have beards; all the women are wearing long dresses. The oldest are sitting on chairs in the middle. The youngest are sitting on the ground. There is a young boy sitting in front of the oldest man. That young boy is my grandfather, Roger Adams. He was the only one in that picture I ever met. Everyone in that picture is gone today. However, I look at that old faded photograph everyday because they are family. The blood that was flowing in their veins is still flowing through my veins. Those strangers are family.

 

I like to think the core values of the generations that are represent are my core values. Not a single person in that old photograph is extremely handsome or rich. Not a single Adams ever invented something that changed the world or wrote a book that made a single individual think. However, being an Adams means certain things. First, it means you are a good person. In other words, your word means something. Second, it means you are honest Third, it means you are loyal. Loyal to your spouse, children, friends and country. Forth, it means you are a Christian. Adams have always been strong churchmen and believers. We understand Jesus is our only hope of salvation. We always have and we always will. That is what is important to us. What is really important to you?

 

One of the things we do on Memorial Day is remember what is really important. Noah built that altar to the Lord. He didn’t built to his wife. He didn’t built it to his sons. He didn’t built it to his family. Those things were important to him but what was really important to him was God. So he built an altar to the Lord. What is really important to you? And all of God’s people said, “Amen”

 

The Future

When Noah stood by his altar he looked to the future. What do you think Noah thought about his future? To answer that question you have to combine his past and what was really important to him. His past included a world that had been destroyed because it was so sinful. What was important to him was God. When he looked to the future he must have thought he could do better. Through him and his family the world was starting over. God had given the world another chance and Noah knew they could do better. Would anyone here like another chance at life?

 

In October of 1942 Captain Eddie Rickenbacker was on a mission in a B-17 to deliver an important message to General Douglas MacArthur in New Guinea. However, something went horribly wrong. Somewhere over the South Pacific the Flying Fortress became lost beyond the reach of radio. Fuel ran dangerously low, so the men ditched their plane in the ocean. For nearly a month Captain Eddie and his companions would fight the water, and the weather, and the scorching sun. They spent many sleepless nights recoiling as giant sharks rammed their rafts. The largest raft was nine by five. The biggest shark...ten feet long. But of all their enemies at sea, one proved most formidable: starvation. Eight days out, their rations were long gone or destroyed by the salt water. It would take a miracle to sustain them. And a miracle occurred.

 

In Captain Eddie's own words, "Cherry," that was the B- 17 pilot, Captain William Cherry, "read the service that afternoon, and we finished with a prayer for deliverance and a hymn of praise. There was some talk, but it tapered off in the oppressive heat. With my hat pulled down over my eyes to keep out some of the glare, I dozed off." It was at that moment Rickenbacker felt something land on his head. It was a sea gull. When he opened his eyes the entire crew was looking at that sea gull. “The gull meant food...if I could catch it." And the rest, as they say, is history. Captain Eddie caught the gull. Its flesh was eaten. Its intestines were used for bait to catch fish. The survivors were sustained and their hopes renewed because a lone sea gull, uncharacteristically hundreds of miles from land, offered itself as a sacrifice. Captain Eddie Rickenbacker never forgot that sea gull.

 

They say that every Friday night until his death in 1973 Eddie Rickenbacker appeared on an old broken pier on the eastern seacoast of Florida. In his hands was a bucket of shrimp. He would walk to the end of that old pier with the sea gull circling his head. Once he reached the end of that pier he would throw that bucket of shrimp into the air. The sea gulls feasted because Rickenbacker remember that singled sea gull that sacrificed itself without a struggle decades earlier. It was his way of say, “Thank-you.” It was his way of remembering.

 

This is Memorial Day weekend. We have much to remember. As you stand by the headstones of your loved one you remember the past. Like it or not, the world has changed. You remember what is really important. What is really important to you? You remember the future begins now. What changes for the better are you going to make? And all of God’s people said, “Amen!” Everyone have a great Memorial Day!