Welcome to Healing Scars with Pastor Burton.
Here you'll find practical, relevant, biblical information.
The Bible will be broken down verse by verse so that you get the full context of the scripture
to better grow in your relationship with Jesus.
Hey everybody, welcome to the sanctuary.
It's great to have you with us.
Now this weekend we're looking at Memorial Day.
Memorial Day of course is actually Monday this year here in the US.
And it is a day that is set aside to remember those who have made the ultimate sacrifice
for our way of living and our way of practicing our faith.
Now to some, the way that they might recognize it, it is a day off for most people.
That's recognized, you know, a day for barbecuing, picnics, going to the lake, you know, and
several other things.
You know, other people, they could care less.
That's fine.
However, it is a day of remembrance.
And remembrance is very much a biblical concept.
You know, I had to look it up and the results I found varied.
But the word remember and referring to things, you know, to remember things in the Bible,
it's actually used well over a hundred times.
Everything that I found is looking at 170 to well over 300.
It just kind of depends on the translation.
But not only that, not only is it just, you know, that we've been told to remember certain
things, but God has actually given us a multitude of things to help us to remember a lot of
the things in the Bible, other things that we've been told, commandments and so on.
Right.
The easiest things to remember really are the tablets that the Ten Commandments were
written on.
Right.
That's kind of, that's kind of immortalized, you know, with Charlton Heston decades ago,
you know, that image of Moses coming down the mountain with the tablets in hand and
everything.
Right.
So that's kind of engraved in the minds for a lot of us.
And not only that, but you know, a lot of churches, you know, a lot of places that you
go to, they have the commandments up somewhere, you know, on a wall or a pennant, something.
Right.
But there's other examples and it goes all the way back, you know, through other parts
of Genesis even when we look at, for example, Genesis chapter 28, where Jacob placed a stone
to make a pillar in the place where God's house was going to be built.
And in Joshua four, where 12 stones were picked up from the bed of the Jordan River, you know,
on each of those stones, they were all different and they each represented a different tribe.
Looking at the word in second Peter chapter one, verses 12 through 15, the word says,
so, I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established
in the truth you now have.
I think it's right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of this body,
because I know that I will soon put it aside as our Lord Jesus Christ has made it clear
to me.
And I will make every effort to see that after my departure, you will always be able to remember
these things.
Now, even in the life, death, and resurrection of Christ, Christ reminds us of so many things.
Just the imagery of his life, death, and resurrection reminds us of so many things.
So, it's fitting that we remember the past, and we should, that we remember the sacrifices
made by the few for the many.
The brave men and women who answered the call of service by their nation.
Isaiah chapter six, verse eight, the word says, then I heard the voice of the Lord saying,
whom shall I send, and who will go for us?
And I said, here I am, send me.
It takes a certain breed to step forward to that calling.
It's not for everybody, okay?
It's not Disneyland.
And in John 15, verse 13, Jesus said, greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay
down his life for his friends.
And that is exactly what it is.
In the heat of battle, your reasons for serving, your reasons for being there, very quickly
take a back seat to the person that you're fighting with, because the safety and survival
of that person you're with becomes paramount, and their life suddenly means more than your
own.
That's just a fact.
You know, not just in the military, but even a first response.
We see that firefighters, police officers, EMS, in some cases even security, right?
On May 31st, 1982, at Arlington National Cemetery, Ronald Reagan said this, the United States
and the freedom for which it stands, the freedom for which they died, must endure and prosper.
Their lives remind us that freedom is not bought cheaply.
It has a cost.
It imposes a burden.
And just as they whom we commemorate were willing to sacrifice, so too must we, in a
less final, less heroic way, be willing to give of ourselves.
Donald Patton is credited with saying, it is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who
died.
Rather, we should thank God that such men lived.
And many others have been credited with stating, although the true origin is unknown, the price
of freedom is eternal vigilance.
So as we look to this day that has been set aside to remember our fallen warriors, our
fallen heroes, let's be careful not to let the past be erased.
That we reflect and are grateful for what these great people did as they answered the
call and followed the very example set by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who took
on the cross for each and every one of us.
So that each and every one of us, and for that matter, everyone in the world, can know
the Lord and know what the ultimate freedom truly is.
And as much as our feelings and memories really, they get stirred up in this whirlwind of emotions
that just powers through us, wave after wave, sad and happy.
We can take heart as we mourn and remember the loss of all these people, as we continue
to mourn for the loss of the world that we live in.
In Corinthians chapter one, verses three through four, the word says, blessed be the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts
us in all our tribulation.
That we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with which, excuse me, with
the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
For we know God is with us, he's holding us, he's guiding us as we deal with the very pains
that we have inside.
Well, when we trusted him and we truly lean on him, unfortunately, many of us try to do
it ourselves and you can't.
And when you try to do it yourself every day, every week, every month, every year, especially
come to anniversary time, becomes a trial and tribulation for you.
And it becomes painful and hard because it's a reminder that you need to lean on Jesus,
that we all need to lean on Jesus.
Let him be our comforter.
Revelation 21 verse four, the word says, and God shall wipe away every tear from their
eyes and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, no crying, neither shall there be
any more pain for the former things are passed away.
And this goes for all the loss and pain that we will encounter in our lives.
So by all means, take time to shed tears when they come, let them pour out to wash away
the pain that's inside of you as you lean into Jesus for your comfort.
For while many things may hurt for a while and occasional aftershocks may strike in your
life, the pain is temporary.
Psalm 30 verse five, the word says weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in
the morning.
Joy is on the horizon for the day that we are reunited with Jesus in heaven when we
are fully healed and living in the joy and comfort of our Lord.
Until then, don't let the sacrifice of Christ and don't let the sacrifice of our beloved
warriors be in vain.
Remember them and remember Christ for what they did and pass it along to the next generation
so that the memory lives on and each generation can continue to learn from these lives that
have done so much and paid such a heavy price for us.
Live a life worth their sacrifice.
Live a life worth the sacrifice of Jesus and let every sacrifice be a compass that points
the way to Jesus.
Remember you are blessed and you are loved.
Now go and be the church.
Thank you all for joining us here today at Healing Scars with Pastor Burton.
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We look forward to hearing from you all.
God bless.