Sermon Tone Analysis
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Memorial Day
“Never Forget”
This weekend we observe Memorial Day.
We don’t celebrate it, we observe it.
People died for our freedom.
We don’t celebrate their death, we observe that day and remember their sacrifice for us.
A sacrifice is not something to celebrate as much as it is something to appreciate.
We are thankful that Jesus died for us.
We do not celebrate his physical death.
That was horrible.
We are thankful for what his death did for us.
We remember his death till he comes.
In order to remember important dates and events, we need to have something that helps us to remember.
I pity the man who forgets the date of his wedding anniversary!
With our smartphones, computers and calendar events, we can be reminded of important things if we take the time to enter them in.
We must never forget the goodness of our God.
There are certain events that we should remember.
It doesn’t hurt us to tie these events to some physical, visible object to help us remember.
Many of you write notes to yourself.
You make shopping lists, to-do lists, and other lists.
The wedding band is a reminder of your wedding day and the vows you took.
Birthdays and anniversaries help you remember two of the most important events in your life.
The visual reminder helps you not to forget.
This Memorial Day people put flags on cemeteries.
My sister, Elaine, has made it a priority to find and identify the graves of veterans in the West Topsham and surrounding area.
She mobilizes people and school students to put out flags.
We should never forget.
We should never forget the goodness of our God towards us.
Joshua 4 is the story of a good and gracious God.
The Israelites had been slaves in Egypt.
God parted the Red Sea and they traveled out of Egypt into the Sinai desert.
They wandered around for 40 years.
Now they come to the Jordon River.
This is the last obstacle in their passing over.
They came in the spring when the snow melting off the mountains caused the Jordon River’s banks to overflow.
God instructed Joshua that when the priests carrying the ark of the covenant got their feet wet that the Jordon River would open up and the people would be able to pass on dry ground, just as they did at the Red Sea.
We pick up the story at this point.
This event was worth remembering.
God did an amazing thing.
He parted the waters of the Jordon River.
He did it in part to bring confidence to Israel that he would help them in the battles ahead.
Chapter 3 brings that out.
He did it to build confidence in Joshua’s leadership, as much as they had in Moses.
What he did, God did not want Israel to forget.
Twelve men, one from each of the twelve tribes, picked up a rock from the Jordon as they were crossing over and brought it to them into what would become the nation of Israel.
These twelve rocks would be placed in Gilgal as a visible reminder of God’s work and power in their lives.
Joshua takes twelve stones and sets them up in the middle of the river.
When the water comes back it covers the rocks.
But Joshua knows that the rocks are there.
So the rocks on the land pointed to the rocks in the water which reminded Israel that this is where the ark of the covenant was put while all Israel passed through the Jordon River.
The ark of the covenant signified the presence of God in Israel.
This box went before them and was a visible reminder of God.
It contained the ten commandments and Aaron’s rod that budded.
The purposes for these rocks are given in the text.
These rocks were for the next generation.
Studies have shown that people who are highly committed to the Lord, their children are less committed and their grandchildren even less so.
This is not true in every family, but in many it is.
Even though God asked Israel to pass on the teaching of the law and the precepts of the Lord to the next generation, they often didn’t do it.
The books of the Kings repeatedly say that a son came to the throne who didn’t do what was right in the eyes of God.
Our society tells us that we should train our children to be independent thinkers, that we should let them make up their own minds about what they will believe.
The reason they say this is because they do not believe in Jesus, they do not believe that God can be known, they do not believe the Bible is the Word of God and true.
Why should we listen to the world?
The greatest gift we can give our children is to love God and love them and teach them Biblical truth.
Don’t worry!
They will believe what they want to believe.
But if you don’t give them a foundation, you are not giving them enough information for them to make an informed decision to trust Jesus.
I am amazed at how many children of church-going people are so ignorant of what the Bible teaches.
God wanted Israel to have visual signs, these stones, for two reasons.
First, he wanted something to make children ask questions.
Second, he wanted the adults to have a good answer.
Why are the stones there?
Because God did a great work!
God wanted the children to know it was God that did it.
These rocks were a witness.
Not only would the children ask, but the “peoples of the earth…” Who did God have in mind?
God wanted the countries around to know there was something different about Israel.
It wasn’t what they wore or what they ate.
It was more than that.
He wanted them to see his power.
Yet, they were not there.
That pile of rocks would speak to them.
Here’s the question.
How did thousands of people cross the Jordon River in the spring time when the waters flooded the banks?
Good question.
See that pile of rocks?
We got those from the middle of the river.
God parted the waters and we walked through on dry ground.
“No way.” “Yes, way…”.
You can see the smoothness where the river has worn away the rough edges.
God did this for us.
Symbols, memorials, make other people ask questions.
“What’s that book on your desk?” “It’s a Bible…” “What is that picture on your wall?” “It’s a picture of my baptism.”
“Who is that person in the frame on the wall?
That doesn’t look like a family member.”
“That’s a picture of the person who introduced me to Jesus.”
Memorials are not only good for passing information on to our children, but they also are openings for sharing the gospel.
These rocks impacted their spiritual lives.
24 so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the Lord is mighty, that you may fear the Lord your God forever.”
Those who saw the parting of the water knew that God deserved great respect.
This God was not some weak harp playing old man who didn’t like it when they did bad and patted them on the back when they did well.
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