Memorial Day appears to have become the official kick-off for summer festivities, although originally designated a day to honor those who had lost their life in battle. General John Logan is  recognized by Congress as starting Memorial Day in Waterloo, NY on May 30, 1868 when he called attention to comrades fallen in the recent rebellion. The traditional date of May 30 was changed in 1971 to the last Monday in May in order for federal workers to have a 3 day weekend.  After WWI, Memorial Day was extended to include tribute not only to fallen comrades, but have included friends and family as well. On Memorial Day, we mourn the loss, remember the lives, and are thankful for the sacrifice that they have made.

         
We quite often credit heroic acts as shaping this country into what it is today. Many men and women have given part of or all of their life for the freedom of this country though they may not have been considered heroes. There were ones who were left at home that also did their part for freedom. Here is a story I’d like to share from “Stories of the Heart” about one WWI hero.

         It was a few weeks before Christmas 1917. The beautiful snowy landscapes of Europe were blackened by war.

         The trenches on one side held the Germans and on the other side the trenches were filled with Americans. It was World War I. The exchange of gunshots was intense. Separating them was a very narrow strip of no-man’s-land. A young German soldier attempting to cross that no-man’s-land had been shot and had become entangled in the barbed wire. He cried out in anguish, then in pain he continued to whimper.

         Between the shells all the Americans in that sector could hear him scream. When one American soldier could stand it no longer, he crawled to that German soldier. When the Americans realized what he was doing they stopped firing, but the Germans continued. Then a German officer realized what the young American was doing and he ordered his men to cease firing. Now there was a weird silence across the no-man’s-land. On his stomach, the American made his way to that German soldier and disentangled him. He stood up with the German in his arms, walked straight to the German trenches and placed him in the waiting arms of his comrades. Having done so, he turned and started back to the American trenches.
        

         Suddenly there was a hand on his shoulder that spun him around. There stood a German officer who had won the Iron Cross, the highest German honor for bravery. He jerked it from his own uniform and placed it on the American, who walked back to the American trenches. When he was safely in the trenches, they resumed the insanity of war!

       That German soldier was thankful for that American soldiers sacrifice. I am unable to verify the authenticity of this story; it does however make for a good hero story.

      
      Here is a story of a civilian on the battle field and becoming hero of the day. This story comes from I Samuel, chapter 17.

     
       On one side of the valley is the army of the Philistines and on the other side of the valley is the Israelites led by King Saul. Things aren’t looking good for the Israelites; the Philistines have this ten foot tall giant that keeps taunting them. No one is willing to stand up to the giant.

          A young shepherd boy shows up with food his father has sent to his sons and brother of this shepherd. David was this young mans name. David could not understand why the army would not fight this giant; having slain a lion and a bear, he felt certain that God would deliver the giant to him.

         
      David went after the giant, armed only with a slingshot and five smooth stones took aim and dropped the giant with one stone to the forehead. David then took the sword belonging to the giant and cut the giants head off. This heroic act by David caused the Philistines to flee and gave victory to Saul’s army.

         
      We all have a job to do whether it is in the military or in God’s Army. Like the military, God does not always produce heroes, although the position is just as important. Here are several Memorial Day concerns for the church:

Killed In Action (Luke 8:4-15)

          Jesus tells a story about a farmer who sows seeds, some falling among the rocks and withering away, while others fell on good ground and produced as expected. Jesus told the disciples that these seeds represent God’s word. The devil comes along and takes away from them - killed in action.

Missing In Action/Presumed Dead (James 1: 21-25)

          James in these verses explains just how far a Christians can stray from God. You can get yourself so involved in evil that you can actually deceive yourself into thinking that you are doing God’s work. You hear the word but do something else. James is saying that you can get so far from what the word says that you could be dead in Christ. Sometimes these people show up at Christmas and Easter.

Missing In Action/Held Prisoner (Hebrews 6:4-6)

          The ones mentioned in these verses have deserted their first love God. They are held prisoner in Satan’s world by turning their back on God. These people probably never fully repented in the first place. They are nailing Christ back to the cross by rejecting Him.

          As we mourn loss, remember lives and sacrifices made by both the ones that we know and the ones that we haven’t met, and remember the missing in action from God’s army. We owe a lot to the ones that have gone on before us. Thank you Jesus for your loss, life, and sacrifice that bought us freedom and eternal life.

            What contrasting size the number one has; it can stand alone or be elevated to supernatural heights. Take one away from a larger number and it stands alone having no significant power or authority. Elevate the number one and separate it from the rest of the numbers; you now can call it the One. No matter whether we use one as a single entity or use one to contrast one person from another there is considerable power in that seemingly small number. The number one appears to have more reason for being around than any other number that we use. One way or another everything seems to start with one.

            There are a couple parables in Luke 15:4-10 that makes you fell that too much attention could be focused on one. The first is about a Shepherd who had 100 sheep and one became missing. The Shepherd would leave the 99 to find the lost sheep. When the Shepherd found the lost sheep, he would lay it on his shoulders and celebrate and upon returning home would celebrate with his friends that the lost sheep had been found. Moving on to verse 8, we are told of a woman who had 10 pieces of silver. The scripture says that she would light a candle and search for the coin until she found it; and like the shepherd celebrated with her friends and neighbors that she had found it. In these two parables Jesus was not lowering the importance of many, but implying that importance of lost souls. Here Jesus is not saying that the ones remaining should be neglected; He is merely stressing the importance and reason for celebration when one lost soul is found. Verse 10 backs up verse 7 when the celebration is taken right to the throne of God.

            The Gospel of John begins in verse one describing the Deity of Christ. John elevates Jesus to a one status that was with God from the very beginning. Verse one says that “In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the Word was God”. Jesus is clearly the “One” sent here from heaven to seek the lost. Speaking to Thomas, one of the disciples (John 14:6), “Jesus said unto him, I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life: no man comes to the Father, but by me.” Jesus is truly the power of one!

            Diversion from an original focus; been there done that, got the medal, we all have. There is not one single day that goes by that some distraction diverts our focus away from something that we were doing. In one way or another our attention gets diverted from what we are doing or the goal we have set to something else and something happens to our original focus, generally causing a disaster of some magnitude. Often distractions are merely challenges meant to get us away from perusing our destiny or at the very least delaying us. I believe that there are two different types of distractions: the discouraging, de-railing ones that Satan uses, and the encouraging, sometimes misunderstood ones that God uses to get us back on track.

            This week seems to have had its share of distractions. I knew this week’s message was to be on distractions, yet, the message just would not come together and then on a farm in Bedford County, yes it was by the hog lot, I thought about the prodigal son mentioned in Luke 15:11-24. This is a story of a father who had two sons. The young son was distracted by the things of the world and requested that the father give him the portion of his father’s goods that he deserved. By the Roman law, then in effect, the father divided the amounts required by law. The young son left his home and traveled to a far land where he wasted his money on some pretty wild living. The riches soon were wasted and the son began to live in poverty. Distracted again, he became a citizen of the country and went into forced labor feeding hogs. Here is where the original focus comes back into perspective; the son realizes that his father’s servants are better off than he is and returns to his father’s house willing to work as a servant.

            If we were to insert our name into this story, there would be many similarities that would relate to our own lives. Now look at this same story and put Israel or the United States in place of the son. Again you see a diversion from the original focus. The prodigal son here represents one who has all their needs met yet still refuses to look to God. In this story the son is distracted by an inheritance that he has not yet earned, although it was freely given because of the relationship with the father. Satan distracts us when we want the promised inheritance without the father. The son is now without the father who replenishes his needs and is with Satan who uses and abuses. Think about the most disgusting job that you have ever had; was it as dirty and smelly as pigs and you ate with them too? Yes, distractions can come at a terrible price. Humility takes over and the son returns to the father, asking forgiveness and to come back as servant status. The father placed a ring on the son’s finger and killed a fatted calf to celebrate the return.

            Like the prodigal son, God has a ring for our finger, a ring that shows the world that ours needs are forever met, and the special calf, the one free from sin, God sent it too. Jesus paid the price for our distractions.

             Celebrations honoring motherhood trace back to ancient Greece. There each spring the festival of Cybele, great mother of the Greek Gods took place. Attempts were made in the 1880’s and 1890’s to establish a day to honor mothers. Anna Jarvis, who lived in Grafton, West Virginia, is credited with establishing and promoting the present recognized holiday, Mother’s Day. Her efforts to recognize her mother prompted President Woodrow Wilson in 1914 to make the second Sunday in May, Mother’s Day, an official holiday. This holiday recognizing mother’s creates the greatest sale of rings, flowers, and cards of the entire year, not to miss the flooded phone systems. Although not celebrated on the same day, Mother’s Day is celebrated in nearly every country in the world.

            Mother’s love has brought many of us through some very difficult times. Over the years I have heard many less than favorable comments about fathers and more favorable comments about mothers. Mothers had a head start on the fathers; they began caring for us nine months or so before raising us really got messy. Who ever heard of “Dr Dad”? Your mother is the one that could kiss a hurt and make it better.

            Here is a story from I Kings 3:16-28 that tells of a mother’s love and the wisdom of a great king. There were two prostitutes that shared the same living quarters. The Bible says that within three days of each other that they both had babies. During the night one of the mothers had accidentally rolled over onto her son and suffocated him so she quietly exchanged her child with the living one. It is hard to fool a mother when it comes to her own child and this time was no exception. The two women began a disagreement over the living child that would end up in King Solomon’s Court. Both women argued their case before the king supporting their claim to the living child. Solomon in his great wisdom says, “Bring me a sword to cut the baby in two pieces and give each mother half.” Now the baby snatcher was just fine with that decision; the real mother was willing to give up her child that it might live, truly exhibiting a mother’s love.

            There are a number of mothers that have been mentioned in the Bible, each telling her own story. One broke the law to ensure the safety of her son, Moses, while another loved her sons James and John so much that she wanted them to sit on either side of Christ in His future kingdom. Timothy’s grandmother Lois and his mother Eunice handed down to him a rich faith. (2 Timothy 1:5) A goodly mother is a great influence on a child growing up. Chuck Swindoll said: “If you were blessed with a good mother, you reap the benefits the rest of your life. If your mother neglected your needs…much of what you suffered can’t be erased. For good or ill, a mother’s mark is permanent.”

            Ephesians 6: 1&2 gives children a duty to obey your parents in the Lord, and to obey your father and mother. God expects us to obey parents that are living for Him. Love your mother, treat her with respect, the mark she left may not be the greatest: she did bring you into this world, she made that choice.

            When I look at a bulldog I see a lot of grunting and growling, why they don’t ever seem happy. Many Christians do a lot of grunting and growling trying to please God. A bulldog and a poodle were in a contest to see which one could get in the house first. The bulldog was first to the challenge; he grabbed the door knob with all his might and tried to open the door. No matter how hard he tried he could not get the door open and retreated in defeat. The little poodle did just what he had done for years, walked up to the door and scratched it a couple times and patiently waited. A few seconds later the master opened the door, picked the poodle up in his arms and loved him. It doesn’t matter how much grunting and growling we do, it is the relationship that counts. The Bible says in James 4:8 NKJV, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.” We, like the poodle, ask, patiently wait, will be sheltered in the Masters arms, and covered with His love.

            Bulldog Christians spend their time just grunting and growling; just eat up with worry and anxiety. Sure they say they look to the Master for their needs yet they don’t really trust Him. The Bible talks against worry and anxiety in Matthew 6:25-34. Verse 25 tells us that life is more than treasures and that our body is more important than the clothes we wear. In verse 26, we are told that the Master provides for even the smallest part of His creation, the birds of the air, and that He provides for all His children.

Verse 27 tells us that no matter what happens we can not change the outcome so why worry. Quite often a lot of time is wasted over things that don’t even happen. Verses 28 & 29 emphases the beauty of the field lily, something that has nothing to do with its own effort but given by the Creator. Verse 30 uses the grass of the field to strengthen the guarantee that God has given. We have so little faith, yet God can be trusted to carry out what He has promised. Verse 31 says that even an anxious thought should be forbidden. The next verse, 32, talks about the Gentiles, which had no part of God’s covenant with Israel. This verse indicates that God will answer all needs as long as you seek His Will. The last two verses tell us to first seek the Kingdom of Heaven and His Righteousness sealing His guaranteed provisions. There is absolutely no reason to worry since we have God’s assurance that things are already taken care of.

            God has promised to meet our needs. We are to pray expecting something to happen. Mark 11:24, “In prayer, believe that you have received it and it will be yours.” If you are praying for rain, you had better carry an umbrella. There is no need for grunting and growling, just ask, wait patiently, God will answer. I hear people say that God will provide, He answers prayer, but they go about life without taking God seriously. Last week when God provided an opportunity for Valley Cowboy Church to purchase the building that we were worshiping in, there was a lot of’” how will we come up with $5600 in a week?” God will provide and He did; by Thursday night the blessings had totaled $5601.75 and another $100 came in on the seventh day. Praise God, He didn’t listen to the bulldogs. God expects complete trust from us so why not expect the same from Him. Praise God, He is GOOD!