All Gave Some; Some Gave All


For many of us Memorial Day weekend means we get a day off. The true meaning of the day is to remember those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice for our country. Men and Women have given their lives so that we would have the right to gather and worship freely.

On a wall at the VA War Memorial a flag hangs that was made in a Japanese POW camp during WWII. A good friend of my grandfather, Denny Landrum, is one of the prisoners who gathered scraps of fabric over time and secretly stitched the flag together inside the walls of their prison. I visited the memorial a few years ago and took the picture you see above. Not everyone made it out of the prison camp. That's something we must never forget.

Memorial Day also serves as a fitting time to remember the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus left everything, and more than just giving His life, He also became our sin so that we might freely worship. In worship the communion table helps us to remember this. Communion is not some church tradition created by religious people from long ago. It was instituted by Jesus when He gathered for the His last supper with His disciples. He told His followers to continue to take the bread and the cup as a way of remembering His broken body and shed blood.

“After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, ‘Take this and divide it among you. For I tell you I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.’ And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.’ In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you’.” Luke 22:17-20

Jesus knew that remembering would be important for us. When you take the bread and the cup in worship be sure to remember the price Jesus paid.

“Praise the LORD, my soul, and forget not all his benefits.” Psalm 103:2

On this weekend we give thanks. We give thanks for many who have served and given their lives for our political freedom, and we give thanks to the "One" who gave His life that we could be spiritual free. 

Both are worth remembering.

Following the Son,

James A Williams

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