Have We Forgotten?

Sept. 01, 2004

Recently I received an e-mail with a link to a site about “Remembering the Blood of Heroes”, a graphic view of World Trade Center attack. The question they asked is have we forgotten? And the answer is a resounding “YES!!” Three years ago our country was in turmoil and seemed very fearful of our shadow. Now the country seems to have returned to daily life without much remembrance. I recall the couple months after September 11^th, American flags were flown everywhere it was possible, and now…hardly a flag is seen on the anniversary date.

But let’s not stop there. What about Operation: Desert Storm? I vaguely recall anything about that. And what of Vietnam? How many Americans died in that war? Going back even further you have Korea, WWII, and WWI. Not very many people ever think of those events because they were fought on foreign soil and have now become a simple history lesson in school. And the only time we remember such wars are twice a year; Memorial Day and Veterans Day. Even then, it’s only those who fought in the wars or family members who have lost loved ones. The rest of the country look at these two days as just another excuse to get drunk!

And what of the Crucifixion of Christ? Have we forgotten that? Once again, the answer is a resounding “YES!!” Most people do remember, but it’s usually once a year in the springtime and has become just another bible story, known as The Easter Story, to the denominational world. There is no sense of realism to the event, no graphic pictures brought to mind of how one innocent man suffered at the hands of hundreds only to be nailed to a wooden cross and allowed to slowly die.

And do they understand why He died? Not really. They just know He died so God could raise Him from the dead. But there’s more to it than that. Heb. 9: 11-15 has the answer, “But Christ having come a high priest of the good things to come, through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation, 12. Nor yet through the blood of goats and calves, but through his own blood, entered in once for all into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption. 13. For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling them that have been defiled, sanctify unto the cleanness of the flesh: 14. how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish unto God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? 15. And for this cause he is the mediator of a new covenant, that a death having taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first covenant, they that have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.”

Jesus died for everyone on the planet; past, present, and future. He died so we don’t have to and yet not many are aware of that. The Easter story is centered on the last days and then the resurrection.

The Lord’s Supper was given to us by Jesus and supported by the apostles as a memorial to Christ’s death. (1 Cor.11: 23-26) It is taken once a week. (Acts 20:7) It is not proof of one’s membership in the local congregation. (Matt. 15: 8-9)

This year let’s remember the people that lost their lives involving the World Trade Center more often than on September 11^th. And, more importantly, let’s remember the sacrifice Jesus made more often than we have, at least once a week during worship service. And especially in December when all others are focusing on a helpless baby in a manger.