She then conceived of an idea to wear red poppies on Memorial Day in honor of those who died serving the nation during war. She was the first to wear one, and sold poppies to her friends and co-workers with the money going to benefit servicemen in need.

To help remind Americans of the true meaning of Memorial Day, in December of 2000 the "National Moment of Remembrance" resolution was passed which asks that at 3 p.m. local time, all Americans would "voluntarily and informally observe in their own way a ‘moment of remembrance and respect,’ pausing from whatever they are doing for a moment of silence or listening to 'Taps.’"

Certainly it is a good thing for us to remember and honor those who died in the service of our country. Recently I came across this poem:

It is startling to realize just how many of our fellow Americans have died or been wounded in war. Specially note the numbers in two columns on this chart, Combat Deaths and Total Deaths:

                          Wounded and Killed in United States Wars

 
Conflict 		Enrolled	Combat	Other	  Total	   Wounded	Total	   
					Deaths	Deaths	  Deaths		Casualties	   
Revolutionary War	  200,000	4,435	   * 	    4,435    6,188	10,623	   
War of 1812		  286,000	2,260	   * 	    2,260     4,505	 6,765	   
Mexican War 		   78,700       1,733	 11,550	   13,283     4,152	17,435	   
Civil War: Union	2,803,300     110,070	249,458	  359,528   275,175    634,703	   
    Confederate		1,064,200      74,524	124,000	  198,524   137,000    335,524	   
    Combined		3,867,500     184,594	373,458	  558,052   412,175    970,227	   
Spanish-American War	  306,800         385	  2,061	    2,446     1,662	 4,108	   
World War I		4,743,800      53,513	 63,195	  116,708   204,002    320,710	   
World War II	       16,353,700     292,131	115,185	  407,316   670,846  1,078,162	   
Korean War		5,764,100      33,651	   * 	   33,651   103,284    136,935	   
Vietnam War		8,744,000      47,369	 10,799	   58,168   153,303    211,471	   
Gulf War		2,750,000         148	    145	      293       467        760	   
Iraq War		  250,000         164	     82	      246       343	   835   
         Totals        47,212,100     804,977	949,923	1,754,900 1,973,102  3,727,888	 

Last 100 Years – Combat Deaths

World War I                  53,513  

World War II                292,131

Korean War                   33,651

Vietnam War                  47,369

Gulf War                        148

Iraq War                        111

         Total          426,923

Last 100 Years – Total Deaths

World War I                116,708

World War II               407,316

Korean War                  33,651

Vietnam War                 58,168 

Gulf War                       293

Iraq War                       246

         Total        616,388

In keeping with the resolution passed by Congress, it would be a good thing for us to pause for a few minutes tomorrow and remember, with thankfulness, the sacrifice made by our servicemen who fought and lost their lives providing us with the heritage we now enjoy.

The principle we want to note is this: to remember is to honor, to honor is to remember – the Bible seems to use these two words almost interchangeably.

The question is, who is it that should be remembered and honored?

We all understand we are to honor our parents and the elderly:

"Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.” (Exodus 20:12)

"Rise in the presence of the aged, show respect for the elderly and revere your God. I am the LORD.” (Leviticus 19:32)

“All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do.” (Galatians 2:10)

“Give proper recognition to those widows who are really in need.” (I Timothy 5:3)

“Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.” (Hebrews 13:3)

“Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.” (Romans 13:7)

“Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. “ (Hebrews 13:7)

“The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching.” (I Timothy 5:17)

“Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.” (I Peter 3:7)

“Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. “ (Romans 12:10)

“Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king. “ (I Peter 2:17)

Both in ancient times as well as today, there are, like Absalom, self-proclaimed heroes who erect monuments to themselves.

“During his lifetime Absalom had taken a pillar and erected it in the King's Valley as a monument to himself, for he thought, ‘I have no son to carry on the memory of my name.’ He named the pillar after himself, and it is called Absalom's Monument to this day.” (II Samuel 18:18)

We recall the monument erected by the King of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar. Matthew Henry makes the comment, “. . . perhaps he set it up as an image of himself, and designed to be himself worshipped in it. Proud princes affected to have divine honors paid them. . . . He was told that in the image he had seen in his dream he was represented by the head of gold, which was to be succeeded by kingdoms of baser metal; but here he sets up to be himself the whole image, for he makes it all of gold.” (Matthew Henry on Daniel 3:1)

And more currently, we remember the huge monument of Sadam Hussein which he set up for himself in all the major cities of Iraq.

1) The first of these was a simple stone set up by Jacob after his night-time vision when he was running from the wrath of his brother Esau. (Genesis 28:18) He called the place “Bethel,” which means "house of God" as a reminder that it was there that he met with God and received the promise, "I will not leave you." This causes me to ask if there is such a stone in your life? Where is the place where you met with God in a personal encounter, and where you received God’s reassuring promise? Is there a marker there to help you remember?

2) Then there are two times “memorial stones” were used during the early days when the Children of Israel were just coming into the “Promised Land.” God had instructed Joshua to have twelve men, one man from each of the twelve tribes, pick up large stones from the middle of the river bed, carry them on their shoulders, and pile them in a heap on the bank of the Jordan. "In the future when your descendants ask their fathers, `What do these stones mean?' tell them, `Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.'” (Joshua 4:20-22)

So these “memorial stones” were long-term reminders of God’s miraculous deliverance from the wilderness wanderings and entrance into the blessings God had long ago promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. For us, the Jordan represents baptism, for it was in that same river that Jesus Himself provided the example that we are to follow. Baptism represents our own transition from the old life of wandering, to the new life with God’s full blessing.

A Pastor once told a young man to put a sign on a stake and pound it into the ground in his back yard. The sign would simply have on it the date of his baptism so that whenever doubts or temptations would come, he could go the back yard, point at the sign, and remind Satan that as of that date, he belonged to Christ.

Let’s pay particular attention to what the people were told on that day, "Be silent, O Israel, and listen! You have now become the people of the LORD your God. Obey the LORD your God and follow his commands and decrees that I give you today." (Deuteronomy 27:9,10) This set of “memorial stones” remained for the purpose of reminding the people that they belonged to God, and that they had made a vow to obey His decrees.

When we review these three monuments, they represent remembrances of three very important aspects of our relationship with God: His Presence – knowing that He is there during the difficult and stressful times, and promises to never leave us; His Power – noticing and recalling His wonderful works, particularly in saving us; and His Law – remembering that the demands made upon us have not changed.

On this Memorial Day weekend we have been reminded to honor those who gave their lives in the service of our country. We have noted that there are many who deserve our honor: parents, elderly, leaders, etc., and also how men seek honor, even by erecting monuments in their own image. We have also noted that memorial monuments are found in the Bible, providing visual reminders of God’s Presence, Power and Laws. However, in closing, we want to talk about the importance of honoring God. The truth is, those who seek their own honor will ultimately be disappointed, but they who seek to honor God will themselves receive honor.

Many years ago while serving as Pastor in a Massachusetts church, I came home from a Billy Graham “School of Evangelism” late Friday night. Saturday morning, my wife told me that there were some errands we needed to tend to, so we headed into town. Walking up the main street, she suddenly walked into a small shop which turned out to be the office of a travel agent – I followed her to the counter where the agent handed over a folder and at the same time announced, “Here are your tickets.” It was then that I realized that someone had blessed our family with 5 roundtrip airline tickets to the country of my wife’s birth, Sweden. The gift was anonymous, but there was a bit of hand-writing on the sleeve of this pack of tickets; it was a scripture reference to I Samuel 2:30 which I soon learned said, “them that honor me I will honor.”

Don’t forget what we said earlier, to remember is to honor, so to remember God is to honor Him.

This was the exhortation given by Nehemiah when he encouraged the people to work on in spite of the opposition, “Be not ye afraid of them: remember the Lord, which is great and terrible and fight for your brethren, your sons, and your daughters, your wives, and your houses.” (Nehemiah 4:14)

“But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today.” (Deuteronomy 8:18)

“Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God.” (Psalm 20:7)

“I will remember the deeds of the LORD; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago.” (Psalm 77:11)

“Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, ‘I find no pleasure in them’—“ (Ecclesiastes 12:1)