Larry E. Lenow
FUMC
5-25-08
Memorial Day Sunday
“History, Geography, & Mathematics”
Text: Matthew 6:24-34
This is the Sunday of Memorial Day Weekend. It is a three-day weekend. It is the start of summer. It is the time for grilling and picnics. But on this Memorial Day weekend, with so many in uniform called and deployed, with so many today in harm’s way in war zones, with both so many families mourning loved ones struck down recently and other families remembering those lost in conflicts longer ago, this memorial Day must be much more.
What more, you ask? Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added unto you, says our Gospel lesson today. Or as our version puts it, but strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. (Matt. 6:33) To get at what that might say to us this morning, I would like to suggest we consider the disciplines of history, geography and mathematics.
This Memorial Day we have much to learn from history. As most of you are aware, we followers of Jesus Christ have had a difficult and evolving war, violence and the military. The short version is this: Christians started out as absolute pacifists. We follow of the Prince of peace, after all and he said that if someone strikes you on the cheek, turn your other cheek so that they can hit that one as well. The Early Christians were pacifists; in fact they refused to serve in the army at all. That’s one of the reasons the Christians were persecuted. They were called traitors, for among other reasons their refusal to serve in the army.
Of course, it wasn’t a difficult call for them. The only army around was the Roman army, a force of foreign occupation. It served Caesar, Caesar who was worshipped as Lord and God. No, it wasn’t a tough call at all. The early Christians were pacifists until the fourth century. It was the Constantine, you see. In 312 he had a vision before the battle of the Milvian Bridge. He saw the cross in the sun and heard a voice saying “in this sign conquer” In this sign, in hoc signo, IHS. He did and Constantine became emperor. He legalized Christianity, supported Christianity and finally was baptized and became a Christian. You’d be surprised what the emperor becoming Christian did for evangelism. By 380 Christianity was the state religion. And we Christians learned something new. Turning the other cheek works well for the person striving to live a life of faith, for running an empire, not so much. As it turns out in this world there are all kinds of dangers, threats and conflicts. To run an empire you need an army. Which created a whole different set of problems. It was Augustine who articulated the Just War doctrine: There has to be reasons for war, there has to be justification, there has to be a greater good, there has to be rules for conduct, there has to be proportionality, there has to be an end to it. For centuries these doctrines guided statecraft in Christendom, at least it did on paper, I’m not sure that anyone actually tried it. And eventually we learned that even those rules have limitations. So what do you do, in the twentieth century if you are theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer and you have a chance to support a group conspiring to assassinate Adolph Hitler? It’s absolutely against the rules? What do you do, doctrines and rules versus the potential for a greater good? If our history teaches us anything it is this: It is not easy to be in this world but not of this world. It is not easy to be committed to following the path of Jesus Christ while managing our way through this broken, sinful, dangerous and violent world. The weight of that mantle is heavy on us. We live in constant creative tension. But aren’t there any simple answers, clear standards, rules? Strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
This morning, we should let our own geography speak to us as well. In 1862 the union army marched right up Hanover St. you know this. Our sanctuary was built in 1882 on the footprint of the first sanctuary, devastated in the Battle of Fredericksburg. Bill Mann tells me that very many of the bricks in our sanctuary were actually salvaged from that original sanctuary. There is in the far corner of the narthex one pew believed to be from the original sanctuary, just one. The pews from all the churches of Fredericksburg were stripped down and broken apart to make coffins for the casualties. Here in Fredericksburg we can walk around, see and touch history and war. But even as we do that, you might want to look at the people around you. Many of us hail from South of the Mason-Dixon Line and many of you are from up north. We’ve gotten over it, mostly. Yesterday there was a Revolutionary War reenactment at Kenmore. Typically we think of the Brits as cousins more than allies. I am unashamedly in awe of those of you who served in the Second World War. You served, putting your lives on the line and taking up arms against Germany, Italy and Japan. I am in awe, but I’ve never Germany, Italy and Japan as anything other than close allies. Our first ambassador to Vietnam was a former POW. Our geography right here and our very lives stand as powerful reminders that times change, everything changes, the enemy we demonize today may soon become a close friend. The only thing that doesn’t change is God. The only thing we can be absolutely sure of is that we are all children of God. Strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well.
We can learn from both history and geography but on this Memorial Day the more important discipline is mathematics. Each evening the media report death tolls and numbers wounded in this current war but the important number is one. That is to say no one sacrifice, no soldier, sailor, marine or guardsman fallen or wounded should ever be reduced to a number or a statistic. Each one is a person, a child of God, a precious life cut short. This is an election year there will be lots of talk and debate about the course and future of this war, as well there should be. We will and we do disagree with each other. That’s the price we pay for being a free people governing ourselves. But my brothers and sisters, I hope and pray that we have finally learned the importance of each one. That we have finally learned the honor earned by those who serve, the gratitude owed to those who sacrificed their lives, and owed to the loved ones, to the family and friends who mourn, to the lives changed and families separated, that honor and love transcends all politics, policies or nationalism. That gratitude helps define us as a people and a people of faith.
So what can we say? Our history teaches us that while it may be difficult to live as a person of faith in this world of ours, we can never shirk that grave responsibility. We carry it with us always. Our faith must inform and challenge our every opinion, action and attitude. Our geography warns us not to caught up in or make ultimate those things that are not ultimate. Remember what’s ultimately important because everything changes except God. Mathematics reminds that each and every sacrifice, each one, is of infinite worth, must not be taken for granted or forgotten or we risk even who we are.
How shall we live? What shall we do? What will be our guide? Strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well.