Remember

By Rev. Heidi L. Barham |  May 26, 2024

Please note: Pastor Heidi will be on sabbatical for the months of June, July, and August.  During that time, sermon notes and recordings will not be posted.  You are always welcome to join us in person.  You may also listen to the services on the conference call line (339) 207-7394 each Sunday at 11:00 a.m.  

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Read Hebrews 13:1 – 8 (NIV)
 
It seems that the month of May has presented many opportunities for us to pause for times of remembrance.  Two Sundays ago, it was Mother’s Day… when we took time to REMEMBER and celebrate mothers and the people in our lives who have stood in the gap as mother figures… last week it was Pentecost… the day when we paused to REMEMBER the birth of the church and celebrate the gift of the Holy Spirit… and today, we have the opportunity to give thanks as we REMEMBER the men and women who died while serving in the U.S. military.
 
Memorial Day, originally known as Decoration Day, was started in the years following the Civil War… It is now observed on the last Monday in May and became an official federal holiday in 1971.
 
Many people honor the day by visiting cemeteries or memorials, holding family gatherings, and participating in parades… all with an intention to REMEMBER.
 
Unofficially, it marks the beginning of the summer season… and the point when it is traditionally said to be okay to wear white.
 
Now, as we pause this day to honor the men and women who have given their lives in service to our country… I wanted to share a story about a World War II flying ace named, Captain Eddie Rickenbacker… you may have heard me share this story several years ago, but it is one that I think bears repeating on a day like today… because it is a story about remembrance… albeit with a slightly different twist:

It is said that every Friday night until his death in 1973, Captain Eddie could be found walking along a pier on the southeast coast of Florida.  He would carry a large bucket of shrimp and the seagulls would flock to him.  And Captain Eddie would feed the gulls.
 
But the actual story began back in October of 1942, when Captain Eddie was on a mission in a B-17 on his way to deliver a message to General Douglas MacArthur.  He and the crew became lost beyond the reach of their radio.  They ran low on fuel and ended up ditching their plane in the ocean somewhere in the South Pacific.  The men spent 3- ½ weeks adrift in rafts, encountering dangers from the scorching sun and a lack of fresh water along with hazardous weather conditions, not to mention sharks and perhaps the most dangerous threat of all, starvation.
 
After eight days in the ocean, their rations had run out.  Rickenbacker told the story of dozing off with his cap pulled down over his face to shield him from the sun glare.  And as he lay there, something landed on his head.  It was a seagull.  And it saved their lives.
 
Captain Eddie caught the seagull, and the men were able to eat the meat from the gull and use the intestines as bait to catch fish.  And that, along with some occasional rainwater, was enough to keep them alive until they were rescued.
 
Captain Eddie always remembered that lone seagull who essentially sacrificed his life and saved the lives of those service men.  And as a way to say thank you to that gull for feeding him and the rest of the crew and keeping them all alive, Captain Eddie fed shrimp to the seagulls on that Florida pier every Friday evening.  (Adapted from: “The Old Man and the Gulls” from Paul Harvey’s The Rest of the Story by Paul Aurandt, 1977)

And so, as we prepare to observe Memorial Day tomorrow… just as Captain Eddie did something to REMEMBER and honor the memory of the gull that gave its life… we, too, can find tangible ways to REMEMBER and honor the memories of those brave men and women who sacrificed their lives as they served our country.  Their sacrifice ought to be an encouragement to us to pause and REMEMBER that each day of life is a gift that needs to be treasured.
 
Now, as we turn our attention to our text for the morning from the book of Hebrews, we find several things that we are called to REMEMBER… things that are of significant importance as we reflect on the lives of those who have selflessly sacrificed their lives to make the world a better place for us all.
 
First, the text encourages us to keep loving one another as brothers and sisters.  Of course, that is often easier said than done… nonetheless, it is what the Lord requires of us. 
 
And that call to love one another supersedes any disagreements we may have with one another.
 
Because at the end of the day… we do not have to have the same opinion on a subject in order to love one another. 
 
We do not have to come from the same background in order to love one another.
 
We do not even have to share the same cultural, economic, religious, or political values in order to love one another.
 
But according to what Jesus said in John 13 we do have an obligation to fulfill His command to love one another… without exception. 
 
Jesus said, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
 
So, REMEMBER… we must love one another (period).
 
Then the writer of Hebrews goes on to say, “Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it” (13:2).
 
So, not only do we have to love another… we are supposed to show kindness and hospitality to one another… and that includes strangers. 
 
Sadly, however, we are living in a day and time when we feel forced to be on guard when it comes to strangers.  We even teach our children to be on the lookout for “Stranger Danger” …a thought that we carry with us into our adult day-to-day encounters.
 
And yet, the scriptures are quite clear when they tell us that we are to show hospitality to strangers…
 
So, let me just say this about that.  We can be kind and compassionate without being reckless and putting ourselves in harm’s way.  We can extend hospitality to strangers we meet while still exercising good judgment and keeping ourselves safe.
 
So, when that stranger walks through the doors of the church… we are to welcome them with the love of Christ… first and foremost.  Because that is what Jesus would do.
 
 In fact, when Jesus talked to the disciples about the day when the Son of Man would come in His glory, He said that He will separate the sheep and the goats and say to His sheep:

Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in (Matthew 25:34 – 35).

As Jesus explained when the people asked when they had done all that… the King said to them, “whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me” (Matthew 25:40). 
 
In other words, whenever you did what you did for that stranger, you actually did it for the Lord.
 
So, REMEMBER… we are to be kind to strangers, because we never know who we are truly encountering… we just need to REMEMBER to be safe as we are doing it.
 
Now, the text from Hebrews goes on to offer encouragement to REMEMBER those who have been imprisoned and those who have been victims of abuse… as if it were us who was suffering. 
 
Wait a minute, Pastor Heidi, does the text really lump prisoners in with victims?  Yes, it does.
 
Keep in mind, that many of those who were imprisoned in biblical times were not necessarily “criminals” as we think of them.  Many were imprisoned because of their religious beliefs or even for their inability to pay exorbitant debts or taxes…  which might make it a little easier for us to empathize with them.
 
But the fact of the matter is… the text does not differentiate and say that we should REMEMBER only those who were imprisoned for “soft or lesser” crimes… or those who were imprisoned unjustly.  Which then takes us back to the question of why we should REMEMBER both the criminal and the victims?
 
Because they all need our love. 
 
Remember, in Jesus’ teaching on the sheep and the goats, He said, “I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me” (Matthew 25:36).
 
It can be hard to wrap our minds around the fact that Jesus expects us to show love and compassion to the people who are in prison as well as those who are victims and also those who may be sick and in need of care.
 
It is a call for us to REMEMBER an important point… we are all sinners in need of a Savior… and in need of love.  Just think about what the Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 3:23, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” 
 
Our sins may not have been of a criminal nature that resulted in physical imprisonment… but regardless of how big or small we think that our sins may be… we must REMEMBER that “the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).
 
But for the grace of God… that could be us suffering in that prison or even worse if we had to pay the penalty that our sins deserve.
 
That is why… even as we REMEMBER to love one another and show kindness and hospitality to strangers… we must REMEMBER those who are in prison as if we were right there with them… and REMEMBER those who are suffering, as if we were suffering right alongside of them.
 
Now, as we keep moving through our New Testament lesson… we find encouragement to honor marriage and to steer clear of those behaviors that dishonor it… like adultery and sexual immorality.
 
REMEMBER… marriage is meant to be a reflection of our relationship to Christ.  He is the bridegroom and we… the church… the body of believers… are the bride of Christ.  And so, it is imperative for us to maintain the purity and sanctity of marriage in the same way we desire to maintain our relationship to Christ.
 
Now, immediately following the words of encouragement regarding marriage, we find these words, “Keep your life free from the love of money, and be content with what you have; for he has said, ‘“I will never fail you nor forsake you.”’
 
It was the Apostle Paul who wrote, “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil” (1 Timothy 6:10).  So perhaps it should not be too surprising that many studies and surveys list money problems as one of the leading causes for divorce… right up there with infidelity. 
 
Perhaps that is why the writer of Hebrews said that we should be content with what we have… and despite reports to the contrary, finding contentment with what we have is possible once we understand that God has said He will never leave us nor forsake us…. Because we can trust in the promise that God will be with us, and that God will provide all that we need.
 
And that brings us to verse 6 of our text which says, “So we say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.  What can mere mortals do to me?’”
 
In other words, we do not have to fear anything because the Lord has promised to be with us and as the Psalmist wrote in Psalm 46:1, “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.”
 
Now, if we are being honest… we are living in a day and time when there is a lot that we could be afraid of… but we do not have to live in fear when we are living by faith… because we can trust that God will be our ever-present help.
 
Which takes us to the last verses of our text, “Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”
 
I like the way the last part of those verses read in the Message Paraphrase, “There should be a consistency that runs through us all. For Jesus doesn’t change—yesterday, today, tomorrow, he’s always totally himself.”
 
REMEMBER… we can always count on Jesus.  His love for us is never going to change.  It is just as Paul wrote to the church in Rome:

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:38 – 39).

Now, on this Memorial Day weekend, we traditionally pause to REMEMBER the sacrifices made by the brave men and women who have served and who continue to serve in the Army, Air Force, Navy, Marines and Coast Guard as well as those in the Reserves and National Guard. 
 
And we also REMEMBER the men and women who have dedicated their lives to service in public safety careers with the fire, police, and EMS.  Men and women who put their lives on the line each day to protect and serve all of us.
 
Men and women whose sacrifices have made it possible for us to celebrate the precious gift of today.
 
But REMEMBER this… as admirable as the sacrifices are that each of those men and women have made and that others continue to make each day… NOTHING can compare to the sacrifice that Christ made for each and every one of us…
 
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).
 
And that is the ultimate sacrifice that is truly worth remembering, celebrating, and giving God thanks for… not just on Memorial Day… but each and every day!
 
And with that thought in mind, I want to invite us to stand now and join in singing our Hymn of Discipleship: Now Thank We All Our God #715.
 
 

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