Our Sunday service this Memorial Day weekend will be, as always, about worshipping God, enjoying the fellowship of believers and growing as disciples of Jesus Christ. As part of these endeavors, we will pray especially for our military servicemen and women, give thanks to God for the blessings he has provided through their sacrifices, and honor those who have died promoting freedom, defending human rights and fighting tyranny.
We will celebrate Memorial Day with our dual citizenship clearly in mind. We are first and foremost citizens of God’s Kingdom (along with people of every tribe, tongue and nation) and secondarily citizens of America. This dual citizenship does not hinder us on Memorial Day, but sets us free from worshipping America to serve it in gratitude. While being American does not make us better Christians, being Christian certainly makes us better Americans. In this way, Christians make the best patriots because we are able to love our country rightly, as an expression of our love for God and people. In Christ we are free to be grateful without being proud, to give honor without being idolatrous, and to appreciate our country without relying on it for our ultimate sense of identity or peace.
Most importantly, this Sunday we will remember that the nobility, courage, humility, service, endurance and sacrifice rightly recognized on Memorial Day are best embodied in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. When we look with humble appreciation at the graves of our loved ones and all who have died in service to America, we do so under the shadow of the ultimate sacrifice, Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 playing in our minds:
1Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.
3For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures…
As for the rest of this weekend, it is my hope that Dulin’s Grove will flood local Memorial Day celebrations as salt and light Kingdom citizens, joining our fellow Americans in the good task of remembering our heritage, honoring peace and commemorating those who died serving in our military.