We've all been hurt. We all have scars. And through a relationship with Jesus Christ,
we can all overcome and we can all be healed. Welcome to Healing Scars with Pastor Burton.
Hey everybody, welcome back to the sanctuary. And today, we're going to be talking about
memorials. Now, there are those who would lead you to think that they are not biblical. However,
not only are they mistaken, but memorials are very biblical. They serve to remind us of various
things and sacrifices that have been made for us, that God loves us and will provide for us. Not
only that, but that He will go before us even. The caveat is that we don't let them become more
important than God or what He wants for us. And we're going to be taking a look at that today.
Now, some of you may have heard this one before. If you have, bear with me. All right, there was an
elderly couple and in their accelerated age, they started to notice that they were getting
a lot more forgetful. So they decided to go see a doctor about it. Now, the doctor, after hearing
what they had going on, what their problem was, tells them that they should really start writing
things down so that they don't forget it. So they took this advice and they went home. The old lady
tells her husband, hey, I want a bowl of ice cream. And you might want to write it down. Husband says,
no, I can remember that you want a bowl of ice cream. So she goes on to tell him, well, I don't
just want a bowl of ice cream. I also want whipped cream on top. Write that down too. And again,
he says, no, no, I can remember you want a bowl of ice cream with whipped cream. Then the old lady
says, hey, I want ice cream. I want whipped cream and I want a cherry on top. Write that down. And
again, he says, no, I've got it. You want a bowl of ice cream with whipped cream and a cherry on
top. No problem. So he gets up and he goes to the kitchen. He spends a really long time in there,
over 30 minutes. Finally, he comes out, hands his wife a plate with bacon and eggs on it. The wife
stares at the plate for a moment, stares up at the husband, and then stares back down at the plate
and asks her husband, where's the toast? We all get forgetful sometimes. Hey, it's going to happen.
That's life. We've all forgotten things. Sometimes they're minor things, sometimes they're important
things, but it's going to come to pass. And we all have places where we stumble and we struggle.
For example, people who are really bad with names, like me, right? Some people, I'll remember their
names, no problem. I meet them once, I shake their hand, get their name, boom, we're good. Others,
it could be months later. I'm like, sorry, what's your name again? Or I'll go up to somebody who I
know knows it. I'm like, hey, remind me what their name is again. It happens. Sometimes it's just a
struggle. And it reminds me of a friend I was in the Marine Corps with. We served together many
years. And of course, in the military, we tend to refer to each other by nicknames and last names.
Typically, it's last names. Here we are well over two decades later, and people I served with and I
will still refer to each other by our last names, not our first. Even though we know each other's
first, that's the way it is. It's ingrained in there. So anyhow, I have this friend, I served with
her, called her by her name for what seemed like ever. She gets married, takes on her husband's
last name, as many women do in general, right? It took me more than a month to get her married
name down. I kept calling her by her maiden name. Sometimes she would just let it slide. Other times
she'd remind me, hey, hey, I have a new name now, remember? It's cool. Finally, you know, it clicked.
Boom, we're good. Now, you know, it's not just men that have these troubles either. Ladies, you know,
the ladies, they can tell you 100 different names for the color orange, but they can't remember how
you like your steak or to put gas in the car. You see, we all forget things, but God took this into
consideration. He knows that we're going to forget things and we're going to need reminders, so much
so that He's actually encouraged us to have things to help us remember. Not so that we live in the
past. The Bible tells us not to do that, but so that we can celebrate our history and learn from
past mistakes and drive on into the future. All right, kind of sounds like Doc McFly there. It's
like we've got to go back to the future. All right, we see these things throughout the Bible. There's
reminders littered through it. The Bible itself, of course, is a reminder, but there's songs, beasts,
offerings, rainbows, the Sabbath, the Last Supper, so many more, even stones, stones. Let me put it
this way, rocks. Yes, rocks. Proverbs chapter 11 verse 8. Proverbs chapter 11 verse 8. The Bible
says, however many years anyone may live, let them enjoy them all, but let them remember the days of
darkness, for there will be many. Everything to come is meaningless. Man, that sounds grim, doesn't it?
I don't remember it sounding that grim when I was putting this together. But anyway, this verse,
it's here, it's a reminder as well that remembering doesn't just focus on our past, but where we are
and where we're headed. Past, present, and future, just like God. Omnipresent, right? In the past,
he's here with us, and he's in the future. He knows it all. So let's go back a little bit now.
Join me in Exodus chapter 24. So Exodus chapter 24 verse 4. The Bible says, Moses wrote down
everything the Lord had said. He got up early the next morning and built an altar at the foot of
the mountain and set up 12 stone pillars representing the 12 tribes of Israel. Now,
representing, of course, is another word for reminder. Think about how history was passed
down back then. I mean, for the most part, it was verbal. The oral traditions is how they're referred
to, but it was verbal. People would speak or sing or be poetic. That was the most common way to pass
things down at the time. And yes, things were written down, but not everybody necessarily had
the resources to do that, let alone the ability to read. So visual cues helped to ensure things were
remembered, things such as the 12 pillars. All right, moving forward into Exodus 28,
there's two more items I want to point out. In the designing of early priestly garments,
there were the Ifad and the breast piece. Now, the Ifad had two stones, and each of them had six of
the tribes of Israel engraved on them, which, of course, you know, between the two brought it to
a total of 12. And then there's the breast piece. The breast piece had four rows of three different
stones. Each stone represented one of the 12 tribes, 12, just like the 12 pillars, and with
the same representation, symbols combined that represented an entire nation. So the 12 tribes
representing the entire nation as a whole, you know, or depending on where you live, counties,
states, prefectures, and so on and so forth. All right, now let's go into Joshua chapter 3.
Now, in Joshua chapter 3, God had Joshua leading his people into Canaan to finally live free.
The big obstacle, however, was that they needed to cross the Jordan to get there.
And we see in verses 1 through 4, so Joshua 3 verses 1 through 4, the Bible says,
early in the morning, Joshua and all the Israelites set out from Shittim and went to the Jordan,
where they camped before crossing over. After three days, the officers went throughout the camp,
giving orders to the people, when you see the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord your God,
and the Levitical priest carrying it, you are to move out from your positions and follow it.
Then you will know which way to go, since you've never been this way before. But keep a distance
of about 2,000 cubits. That's about 3,000 feet or 900 meters between you and the Ark, and do not go
near it. So we're seeing orders were being given out by Joshua's leaders to prepare everyone to get
across Jordan. The prep work was being done and laid out. Now, as you read on, you'll see that
they're also consecrating themselves and doing a few other things as well. All right, now,
as we flash forward here to Joshua chapter 3 verses 12 through 13, the Bible says, now then,
choose 12 men from the tribes of Israel, one from each tribe, and as soon as the priest who carried
the Ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, set foot in the Jordan, its waters flowing downstream
will be cut off and stand up in a heap. Again, notice the parallel, we're seeing 12 men, each
one representing one of the 12 tribes. And as they begin to cross the Jordan, something pretty
miraculous happens. We see the waters are standing up in a heap. It's just like it was with Moses in
the Red Sea, only now it's happening with Joshua and the Jordan. There's a pattern here, and if
you've ever noticed patterns, they're another way of creating repetition. Anyone heard the phrase
practice makes perfect? God is getting his people into a pattern of repetition to help them and to
help us remember the important things. So let's take a look at this in a little bit more detail.
So Joshua chapter 3 verses 14 through 17 now, all right, the Bible says, so when the people
broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priest carrying the Ark of the Covenant went ahead of them.
Now the Jordan is at flood stage, all during harvest, yet as soon as the priest who carried
the Ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water's edge, the water from upstream stopped
flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away at a town called Adam in the vicinity of
Zerothim, while the water flowing down to the Sea of Araba, that is the Dead Sea, was completely
cut off. So the people crossed over opposite Jericho. The priest who carried the Ark of the
Covenant of the Lord stopped in the middle of the Jordan and stood on dry ground, while all Israel
passed by until the whole nation had completed the crossing on dry ground. So God's part of the
waters. Again, the priest, they've stopped in the middle of the Jordan and they're standing by with
the Ark of the Covenant while everyone gets across. Basically they're crossing guards, right? Stop!
This is a pretty miraculous picture just to have in our minds, and I'm sure it pales in comparison
to actually being there and seeing those walls of water being held back, or even like the smell of
the ground that normally would have had tons of water flowing over it. All right, going on now to
Joshua 4. Joshua 4 verses 1 through 3, the Bible says, when the whole nation had finished crossing
the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, choose 12 men from among the people, one from each tribe,
and tell them to take up 12 stones from the middle of the Jordan, from right where the
priests are standing, and carry them over with you and put them down at the place where you stay
tonight. Again, see the pattern, 12 men, they're being told to pick up 12 stones. Look at it from
their point of view at that time though, look at it from where they're at. They're on a journey,
they know they're going to a destination, and in the middle of it when they're seeing this miracle
all around them, they're being told, hey, you know what, you need to stop. I want you to reach down
and each of you pick up a stone. I don't know about you, but I'd be like, really? Are you kidding?
We have all this going around and you want me to pick up a rock? Are you out of your mind?
In the moment, it would seem pretty silly, wouldn't it? Pretty inconsequential as to what's happening,
but think about it. Say we're hiking on a trail and I told you, hey, you know what,
stop right there, I want you to pick up that rock. You'd think I was being an idiot,
but God factors our own stupidity into his planning. I'll say that again, God factors in
our own stupidity in his planning. We're about to see just that. In Joshua 4 verses 4 through 8,
the Bible says, so Joshua called together the 12 men he had appointed from the Israelites,
one from each tribe, and said to them, go over before the ark of your lord, excuse me, go over
before the ark of the lord, your God, into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up
a stone on his shoulder according to the number of tribes of the Israelites to serve as a sign
among you. In the future, when your children ask you, what do these stones mean? Tell them
that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord.
When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a
memorial to the people of Israel forever. So the Israelites did as Joshua commanded them.
They took 12 stones from the middle of the Jordan according to the number of the tribes
of the Israelites as the Lord had told Joshua. And they carried them over within to the
camp where they put them down. It's a memorial, guys. Look at it. It's a memorial. It says it
right here, it clears the day. And look at the important pieces of it. One, it glorifies God.
And two, it reminds us of our past while tying us to our present and telling us about our future.
We know this because God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. God knew what he was doing.
He knew we need to be reminded. God doesn't want us to rush into things blindly and wildly like a
bunch of idiots. He wants us to stop and use our heads. He wants us to stop and think and remember
all the things that he's done for us up until now, that he's with us now. He was with us then. He's
with us now. And he's going to guide our steps as we go forward and that we will need him in our
future just like we did in our past and just like we do in our present. This memorial serves as a
reminder that God cares for his people and for the people of Israel. And he's going to guide us
for his people, that God is going to provide for his people, and that he will go on before them
to lead them into the victory of his promises. The stones and the monument serve as a reminder.
And we have all these kinds of reminders today, don't we? Traditions, special dates, special places,
foods, trinkets, anniversaries, scars that remind us of all the things that God has done in our lives.
The question is, do you take time to share with others what God has done for you,
how he has forgiven you and saved you, how he's answered prayers and met your needs
and done things even greater than what you could have imagined?
See, we should use our memories of his mercy, grace, love, and faithfulness in our lives
as monuments to him as well. They are gifts that we carry as our stones. Are you collecting stones?
Are you building memorials? Are you pointing the way to Jesus? If not, then it's time that you started.
Remember, Jesus gave his life for us, so we should live our lives for him.
I'm telling you, you give yourself to Jesus, he will change your life forever. Forever.
Forever. All right? Now earlier I mentioned there are some who don't look at memorials
as being biblical. By now, I'm sure you'd agree with me that they're wrong.
Many don't even recognize Memorial Day, you know, because it's not on their holy calendars.
However, we as Christians should come together every day as the Church, and keep in mind that
it's our daily mission to point the way to Jesus. And our memorials are just that. Not only to remind
us, but to lead others to him. They are a visual aid for those who need to see to believe.
Jeffrey Arthurs puts it like this. In the Bible, remembering is re-mem-bering.
Right? He separates it into two words, the R-E, re- and member-ing. So in the Bible,
remembering is re-mem-bering. Remembering, or re-attaching something that has been amputated,
is the whole person activity where the past comes alive in the present, and suggests action for the
future. We have so much to remember, and so much to be grateful for. But there's no way we can do
it all without God and his reminders. He's connecting us with our past to lead us from now
from now into our future. Now go get those stones, and build those memorials so that we can all
point the way to Jesus. Thank you for tuning in to Healing Scars with Pastor Burton. If you would
like to know more about our ministry, or how you can support us, you can find us on Facebook at
Be The Light Sanctuary, or you can go to our website at BeTheLightSanctuary.org.
Thanks again for tuning in, and we'll catch you next time. God bless.