May 26, 2024
Greetings and blessings to all of you. Today we celebrate Memorial Day. It is a day set aside to honor and remember the military personnel who died in the performance of their duty. Why do we have the military? To defend our nation against external threats and ensure security for our nation. Did you know that we live in enemy territory? The Bible tells us in I Peter 5:8 “ ..because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.” The military is assigned to various locations to expose the enemy before damage occurs. Our location is “where God has placed you.” God has told us to have an attitude as a soldier. When you recognized (by God’s sovereign will) you needed a Savior because you were condemned to hell and not heaven you were enlisted in the army of God so to speak. The Bible speaks in 2 Tim. 2:3 “you must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.” What are those hardships? You and I have what we would consider hardships like day-to-day small battles like health issues, lack of energy, unkind relatives, not enough money, dreams not being fulfilled and others. However, some of us are aware of major hardships like the disciples in the Bible who just wanted to follow Christ loving Him with all their heart, mind, body and soul. But their enemies the political rulers and system of their day would come against them. And let us not forget the spiritual warfare that is led by Satan and his fallen angels who is determined to defeat us in our Christian walk/race. Obstacles such as betrayals, false doctrines, persecutions continually coming against the teachings of Christ. Today we should remember the many soldiers who died and were left with a handicap. But using Noah’s Ark as a metaphor. ..that generation like us had a “do your own thing” mentality. Those people spent leisure days “living it like there was no God”. Crime was major, the spirit of anarchy was in the air, no Godly leadership, human life was a mockery. But God has called us out of the dark into the light to build an “Ark” as a statement of warning to the lawlessness and violence we are hearing and seeing. The Ark then serves as a warning, a place of safety and the voice of the Church to be highly visible within our society. We are called to be God’s voice in the world. In an age when many think the church is supposed to stay out of ‘political” matters would do well in loving our human government enough to want to see them in the Ark.
With the Love of Christ
First Lady Vivian C. Currie
Pastor ALC