Rev. David Holwick R Memorial Sunday
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
May 25, 2008
2 Samuel 1:19-25
THE MIGHTY HAVE FALLEN
I. THE CIVIL WAR’S LAST SHOT.
A. The casualties are still mounting.
Hundreds of thousands of soldiers died in the Civil War.
Some are still dying.
In February 2008, Sam White tried to disarm a 140-year-old
9-inch naval cannonball.
It was about the size of a bowling ball but weighed 75 pounds.
Wisely, he did it in his driveway.
Unwisely, he was working on a live shell.
The resulting explosion was powerful enough to send a chunk
of shrapnel through the front porch of a house a
quarter-mile from White’s home in a Richmond suburb.
It happened to another collector in 2006 as well.
Earlier this month, workers at the Civil War battlefield
of Petersburg, Virginia, found a 44-pound mortar shell.
They didn’t take chances and called the bomb squad. [1]
B. The Civil War gave the impetus for this holiday.
1) Orphans of Union soldiers decorated graves.
a) The official story is that the tradition began on
May 5, 1866, in Waterloo, New York, and spread
across the country.
b) Southerners claim they started the tradition, but it is
of course something that has been done for ages in
almost all countries.
c) It was formerly known as Decoration Day.
2) Why was the Fifth of May chosen?
a) Nothing important happened on that particular day.
No battles were fought.
No peace treaties were signed.
b) It is just when flowers bloom, flowers to put on graves.
c) A century later Memorial Day was moved to the end of
May, then turned into a floating holiday so that it
always produces a three-day weekend.
It wasn’t made an official holiday until 1967!
C. Memorial Day is not what it used to be.
1) Nowadays it is the traditional start of summer vacation.
a) Celeste and I are doing our part, taking off tomorrow.
b) For many, that is all it is.
2) It should be more.
At the National Cemetery on Long Island, one of the
nation’s largest, it has become necessary to advertise
for volunteers to put flags on the graves of vets.
This is because there are too few veterans who want to
do it.
However, many of those who volunteer have no idea why they
are there.
One young man, a 13-year-old Scout, was asked if he
understood why the members of his Boy Scout Troop were
there placing flags on the graves.
He quickly replied, “To get service hours.” #3018
D. Why honor the dead?
1) Because they have had a tremendous impact on us.
2) Because someday we will be dead, too.
II. HONORING THE WAR DEAD.
A. David honors the warriors Saul and Jonathan.
1) They died in a great defeat.
2) But they also died for a great cause - the liberation of
Israel from the oppression of the Philistines.
3) David eulogizes their character and military ability.
B. Churches also honor the war dead.
1) Many churches have plaques on the wall, of those who
served and those who died.
2) We honor them for making the ultimate sacrifice for our
nation’s values and freedom.
3) But I saw this in German churches, too.
C. There is a tension.
1) Some believe it is unseemly to honor participants in war,
while worshipping the Prince of Peace.
2) Jesus famously said, “Those who live by the sword will die
by the sword.”
a) And when his disciples defended him at his arrest by
attacking the guards, Jesus stopped them and healed
his enemy.
b) He even asked God to forgive those who crucified him.
3) Wars are of the way of the world, but we are still in this
world.
a) Paul reminds us that governments use the sword for a
divine reason - to keep order in society.
b) Therefore it is appropriate to honor the military dead.
III. SOLDIERS AREN’T THE ONLY ONES WHO HAVE MADE SACRIFICES FOR US.
A. We owe a debt to our ancestors.
1) On many of my cross-country vacations, I have stopped at
obscure cemeteries:
a) Weisenberg, Pennsylvania.
b) Marshall, Illinois.
c) Capron, Illinois.
2) It is unnerving to see a gravestone with your family name
on it.
B. Contemplate their lives.
1) Who were these people?
2) What did they believe?
3) What did they accomplish?
a) Like us, I am sure they wanted to be significant.
b) They wanted to leave something of value behind.
c) Whatever impact they had, is probably reflected
in our own lives.
C. Remember them, and have something to be remembered for yourself.
IV. HONORING THE DEATH OF CHRIST.
A. Jesus tells us to remember his death.
1) This is central part of communion.
2) The meaning is more important than the event itself.
a) Jesus died for a purpose, to save us from our sins
and bring us back to God.
B. Jesus died for us.
1) His death was a decision he made - he could have evaded it.
2) Instead, he was faithful and was sacrificed for us.
C. Can we do likewise?
Marcus Mathes’ parents divorced when he was little.
His mom had grown up in the church but drifted away in
later years.
But she enrolled her two sons in a Christian school and had
her father take them to church.
But one day they complained that they were the only kids in
the school who didn’t go to church as a family.
She took this to heart and began attending the Baptist church.
In that church Marcus was baptized and became a member while
still a youngster.
But like his mom, in later years Marcus drifted away.
And then 9-11 happened, and he enlisted in the Army as a truck
driver.
He got married, too, and his young wife Julia encouraged him
to get back into the Bible, which he did faithfully.
In October 2007 he volunteered to go to Iraq so others could
come back home and spend the holidays with their families.
One month ago, he was standing by his truck outside Baghdad
when a mortar shell exploded near him, killing him instantly.
Family members were told Marcus’ Bible was found next to his
body.
He was just 26 years old.
His mother said, “My son was only doing what we’re all put here
on earth to do -- to follow in God’s steps and to make the
sacrifice that He gave -- to do the same.”
#11664
1) The last full measure of devotion.
At the Gettysburg Address, Abraham Lincoln said:
“...from these honored dead, we take increased devotion to
that cause for which they here gave the last full measure
of devotion -- that we here highly resolve these dead
shall not have died in vain...”
In Philippians 3:10-11, the Apostle Paul said:
“I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection
and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings,
becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow,
to attain to the resurrection from the dead.”
#19191
V. GRAVES ARE NOT THE END OF THE STORY.
Paul Rees tells a story about a very wealthy man who made
his way to a little country chapel in the hills of
South England and asked to see the minister.
He announced that he had come to make arrangements for his
burial-place.
And so the two walked into the churchyard to a little
cemetery that ran alongside the chapel to pick out a
suitable lot.
After considering several possible locations, the gentleman
made his decision.
Once the business decision was settled, the two men paused
for just a moment and listened to the birds singing.
Then, turning to his rich companion, the devout old
minister said,
“Well, you have chosen a resting place for your body.
Have you found a resting place for your soul?”
There was no answer for a moment and then, looking straight
at the face of the pastor, the gentleman said,
“You are the first man who ever asked me that question.”
The question, so strikingly stated, made the man aware of
his own spiritual need to be ready for eternity.
The Apostle Paul was able to say, “I’m ready. I’m ready.”
Are you?
#32465
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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
[1] Adapted from “Civil War cannonball kills Virginia relic collector,”
May 2, 2008. http://lateline.muzi.net/news/ll/english/10068265.shtml
#3014 “A Time To Remember,” Dynamic Preaching, April 1992; originally
from the article “A Legion Turn Out to Place the Flag,” Long
Island, NY, May 18, 1989. Contributed by Dr. John Bardsley.
#11664 “Soldier Killed With Bible Nearby,” by Joni B. Hannigan, Baptist
Press, http://www.baptistpress.org, May 2, 2008.
#19191 “A Short History of Memorial Day,” by Christianbook.com email,
May 25, 2001.
#32465 “Resting Place for the Soul,” Fredericksburg Bible Illustrator
Supplements, Gerald Rodgers Collection.
These and 30,000 others are part of the Kerux database that can be
downloaded, absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
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