“Memory is the way of holding on to the things you love, the things you are, the things you never want to lose” wrote author Kevin Arnold.
On this memorial day week-end, many will visit cemeteries to place flowers on the graves of departed loved ones. It’s a way to remember them. Pay your respects. Reflect on their lives. Your relationships. And hold on to a precious memory.
I’m reminded at this time of year that every Sunday is memorial day for Christians.
Today, Christians are reminded of God’s love, the sacrifice of His Son, and our covenant relationship with Him through the “blood of His cross” (Col. 1:20). The cross symbolizes the glory of God. The wisdom of God. And our reconciliation with God.
The memorial that Jesus instituted to bring those thoughts to our minds and create those feelings in our hearts is experienced in fellowship with Him during the Communion service we call The Lord’s Supper. When He gave the bread that represented His body, and the fruit of the vine that symbolized His blood, He said, “this do in remembrance of me” (1 Cor 11:24-25)
Every Sunday I come to this memorial. And participate in its significance. But I don’t need to travel to a grave site or a special location to observe it. I’ve been to this memorial from Maine to California to Hawaii. From South Dakota to Texas to the Virgin Islands. And From Mexico to Canada to Kazakhstan. And even in the birthplace of its institution–Jerusalem.
Today, many churches will begin to resume assemblies after a long period of separation because of restrictions resulting from COVID-19. It will be a very special day for each of you to be together again. To mutually participate in this memorial with your brothers and sisters in person.
However, if you’re communing at home with just your family, the memorial is no less important. No restriction. No virus. And no insolation can steal our memory. Nor prevent us from holding on to Him whom we love. No pandemic can keep us from contemplating the cross. Rejoicing in the power of the resurrection. And anticipating the Lord’s glorious return.
May this memorial Sunday, inspire within us a greater zeal, a more fervent love, and a deeper longing toward the object of our affection.
–Ken Weliever, The Preacherman
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Wonderful thoughts in light of Memorial Day, not only for the loss of our loved ones here on this earth but of Christ. Each first day of the week should be a memorial in our minds of the sacrifice He made on our behalf.
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