D-Day
Originally scheduled for June 6, 2010
She floats forlornly at a pier in Philadelphia, the last of
her kind. She is the USS
Olympia, the flagship of Admiral Dewey’s fleet at the battle of
Manila Bay in 1898. Now
just a tourist attraction, there is little money available to remedy
the defects of a ship over a hundred years old.
The Spanish-American war is now just so much history.
There are no ceremonies to honor those who sacrificed their
lives in that war.
Today is D-Day, the anniversary of the landing in Normandy.
The troops who went ashore that day are now old men; most of
them are dead. Just for
that reason, memorials to their sacrifice are becoming fewer and
fewer. While these men
live, we will remember what grandpa went through.
In time, as they die, D-Day will become just so much history.
Once they are gone, we forget their sacrifice.
The ceremonies cease.
But for two thousand years Christians have kept the memorial
ceremony for the sacrifice Christ made at the Cross.
That alone should tell you the truth:
Jesus lives! He
is the one who has conquered death and the grave.
The memory of that sacrifice does not fade, for Christ is
eternal. So it is that
we remember by joining in Communion.
What do we remember?
·
First, we remember
the sacrifice Christ made – his very life – for us.
· We also remember our
own sins, so that we might repent and receive God’s forgiveness.
·
Then we remember the
result of that sacrifice:
we have eternal life.
So, until he comes again, we remember.
As you partake, remember that he lives – and therefore you
will live too.
