Today’s author is Prince of Peace member, Scott Tunseth.
Today is Memorial Day, a solemn occasion dedicated to honoring the women and men gave their lives while serving in the military in both war and peacetime. Amidst our family gatherings and first cookouts of the season, this stark reality of this day of observance can get lost. Memorial Day traces its history back to 1868 when General John Logan of the Grand Army of the Republic designated May 5 as a day to decorate the graves of soldiers who fell in the Civil War. This observance was called Decoration Day. I was surprised to discover that it was 1971 when Congress declared Memorial Day a federal holiday to be observed on the last Monday in May.
I was surprised because I had grown up going to Memorial Day observances for years before it was declared a national holiday. I remember as child being fascinated by and a bit scared of the VFW firing squad shooting their salute to the fallen and then running to the firing area to look for spent shells. As a teenager I recall marching with our high school band in solemn procession through the streets and on the long gravel road to the cemetery, with only the drums beating a cadence. And as a senor in high school being the one to “disappear” behind some trees to play taps on my trumpet immediately following the rifle salute.
Recently, I had to pick up family members at the Hubert Humphrey Airport Terminal. Since I was early, I took a few minutes to drive around Fort Snelling Cemetery, where anyone who served in the military can be laid to rest. The rows and rows of simple white crosses are a powerful sight and a tangible reminder of what many sacrificed for this country and for the sake of freedom, including my freedom.
Yesterday’s text from Galatians 2, Paul writes: “yet we know that a person is justified not by works of the law but through the faith of Jesus Christ.” That Greek phrase translated in the Updated Edition of NRSV as “the faith of Christ” can also be translated “faith in Christ.” I think today, as we observe Memorial Day, that the translators of the Updated NRSV have it right. We are justified, brought into right relationship with God, because of Jesus’ faithful obedience to God’s will by dying on the cross. We are saved by the faith of Jesus.
In this way I think of Memorial Day as being like Good Friday, when we solemnly observe the death of Jesus on a simple wooden cross to set us free. It seems appropriate then that the symbols that mark the graves of fallen soldiers are simple white crosses, which remind us of those who paid the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom. I am drawn back to Paul’s words in Galatians 2:20, “And the life I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
Oh God, we give thanks this day especially for your abundant grace that gathers us to you through the love and sacrifice of your dear Son who faithfully bore the harsh burden of the cross. We remember also all who have sacrificed their lives for the sake of freedom and justice. Amen