May 20, 2009 + “Lest We Forget: People Count Most of All” (1 Corinthians 1:20-25) + Hayward Fong

Ron was a fifteen year old, tenth grader. It was game day and he was the only sophomore suiting up with the varsity team. With great excitement, he asked his mother to go to the game. She had never been to a football game before and she promised to be there with several of her friends. After the game, she waited outside the locker room to drive her son home.

“What did you think about the game, Mom? Did you see the three touchdown passes our team made and our tough defense, and the fumble recovery that we recovered on the kickoff return? Did you, huh?”

His Mom replied, “Ron, you were magnificent. You have such presence and I was proud of the pride you took in the way you looked. You pulled up your knee socks eleven times during the game, and I could tell you were perspiring in all those bulky pads because you got eight drinks and splashed water on your face twice. I really like how you went out of your way to pat No. 19, No. 5 and No. 90 on the back every time they came off the field.”

“Mom, how do you know all that? And how can you say I was magnificent? I didn’t even play in the game.”

His mother smiled and hugged him, “Ron, I don’t know anything about football. I didn’t come here to watch the game. I came here to watch you.”

The moral of the story is, “People count most of all!” Football is fine and it is fantastic for some people. But people are supreme.. People are more important than the game. Here’s another way to look at it.

One time the beautiful and popular actress Sophia Loren sobbed to her Italian movie director, Vittorio De Sica, over the theft of some of her jewelry. And he said to her: Listen to me, Sophia, I am much older than you and, if there is one great truth I have learned about life, it is this, “Never cry over anything that can’t cry over you!”

What a lesson! What a great lesson for life! People are more important than things! People are more important than cars and computers. People are more important than houses and furniture. People are more important than all material things!

Next Monday, the last Monday in May has been set aside by Congress as Memorial Day. Traditionally, it would be observed the following Saturday, on May 30th rather than the last Monday in May. This holiday commemorates U.S. men and women who died in military service for their country. I think the Monday observance has turned what should be a day of spiritual observance into the make-up of another three-day weekend. Many organizations feel that changing the May 30th observance has undermined the very meaning of the day. I hope its observance this year will be more in keeping as a day of memorializing the sacrifices that have been our nation’s hallmark and make it a more spiritual observance, most especially as we hear of our men and women dying daily in Iraq and Afghanistan, a total of almost 5,000 since the war began.

Memorial Day, or Decoration Day as it was originally called, was an outgrowth of the Civil War. Waterloo, New York was the birthplace of Memorial Day. On May 5, 1866, the people in that community placed flowers on the graves of northern soldiers who had died in the war between the states. Two years later, Major General John Logan declared May 30th as a day for honoring soldiers who had died fighting for the north. After World War I, it was expanded to include the memory of all who had died fighting for our country in all of its wars – the Civil War, the Spanish-American War, and World War I. It has now been expanded to include World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War and ipso-facto, the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Those who still observe the occasion take the time to remember family and loved ones who have passed on to their eternal home by visiting cemeteries and memorials. A National Moment of Remembrance takes place at 3 p.m. on Memorial Day. Another tradition is to fly the U.S. Flag at half-staff from dawn until noon local time.

I have read that on an average 750 persons will visit the U.S. Arizona in Hawaii and on Memorial Day weekend, about 4,600 will visit the memorial. And on an average some 3,000 persons will visit the Vietnam War Memorial and on Memorial Day weekend 7,600 will visit it.

God bless those who remember our deceased veterans. God bless those who remember any of their deceased loved ones. People count. People are what life is all about. People have contributed greatly to our lives and we need to remember them!

The American military through several wars and several centuries have preserved liberty for our citizens and others abroad. Many times a great price has been attached to their service.

In 2005, two pictures which were awarded first and second place at the Picture of the Year International were printed in the Rocky Mountain News.

The first place photo was of 2nd Lt. James Cathey’s body being unloaded off the plane at Reno Airport. Accompanying the picture was the following by Todd Heisler: When 2nd Lt. James Cathey’s body arrived at the Reno Airport, Marines climbed into the cargo hold of the plane and draped the flag over his casket as passengers watched the family gather on the tarmac.

During the arrival of another Marine’s casket last year at Denver International Airport, Major Steve Beck described the scene as one of the most powerful in the process: “See the people in the windows? They’ll sit right there in the plane, watching those Marines. You gotta (sic) wonder what’s going through their minds, knowing that they’re on the plane that brought him home. They’re going to remember being on that plane for the rest of their lives. They’re going to remember bringing that Marine home. And they should.”

The second picture was of Lt. Cathey’s widow sleeping on the floor in front of her husband’s casket. Todd Heisler wrote the following: The night before the burial of her husband’s body, Katherine Cathey refused to leave the casket, asking to sleep next to his body for the last time. The Marines made a bed for her, tucking in the sheets below the flag.

Before she fell asleep, she opened her laptop computer and played songs that reminded her of ‘Cat,’ and one of the Marines asked if she wanted them to continue standing watch as she slept. “I think it would be kind of nice if you kept doing it,” she said. “I think that’s what he would have wanted.”

Each year some 5,000 wreaths decorate the graves at Arlington National Cemetery. They are donated by the Worchester Wreath Co. of Harrington, Maine. The owner, Merrill Worchester, not only provides the wreaths, but covers the trucking expense as well. He has been doing this since 1992. Most years, groups of Maine school children combine an educational trip to our nation’s capital. with this event to help out. Making this even more remarkable is the fact that Harrington is one of the poorest parts of Maine. Doing “good” is not necessarily well publicize.
It is well to remember those who have given their lives in the military service of our nation; it is equally important to remember others who have been most important in our lives.

First, we need to glorify our memory of Jesus the Christ!

Not everyone accepts the freedom offered in Christ, just as many do not properly use the freedom of this nation, which others died to provide for them. Paul said:

“Since God in his wisdom saw to it that the world would never know him through human wisdom, he has used our foolish preaching to save those who believe. It is foolish to the Jews, who ask for signs from heaven. And it is foolish to the Greeks, who seek human wisdom.

“So when we preach that Christ was crucified, the Jews are offended and the Gentiles say it’s all nonsense. But to those called by God to salvation, both Jews and Gentiles, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God” (1 Cor. 1:21-24 NLT).

And, we need to clarify the memory of our family and friends.

Many of us have parents who are deceased. Have you reflected and given thanks for the positive impact they had on your life? At the same time, have you faced up to the negative influence they may have had on you? Those who have had negative issues, need to face them honestly in order to be emotionally strong and free of them. In forgiving, you may still remember those issues, but they will merely be historical facts without their ability to disable you any longer. Free from that bondage you can live in a more positive relationship with your loved one and friends, and help prevent you from passing on those same errors to your children.

For some the process may involve deceased spouses. Some should seek to correct bad memories. Others should rejoice and give thanks to God for loving, cherishing, spiritual, responsible spouses that were their strength and mainstay.

Each year, my family conducts a memorial observance at several cemeteries where our loved ones are buried. Some are connected by blood or marriage, others are people who have formed a link of love in our Golden Chain of life. Some have been buried over seventy five years and others only a year or two. Many of the family never met some of those we honor but it gives those who have a chance to share and recall the influences on their lives.

We need to look back and remember people. We need to remember the people who made an impact on our lives. Lest we forget-Memorial Day means people and people count most of all.

Remember these words of Jesus! “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you” (John 15:12).

Amen.