Two Minutes To Immortality: Reflections On Memorial Day

In the dedicatory ceremony for Gettysburg National Cemetery that came in the wake of the most well known battle of the American Civil War, Edward Everett delivered an eloquent oration that lasted well over two hours, and it died not long after it was spoken. Lincoln’s address, by contrast, lasted about two minutes, and it has achieved near immortality. There is much to be said for brevity.

To overstate the impact that Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address has had on American culture and, indeed, on the world would be a difficult feat indeed. Yet, like some exotic birds, the American eagle may well be in danger of extinction—ideologically, if not politically. Lincoln said, “The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.” The fact is, however, that the world has much noted and long remembered what Lincoln said there, while many have forgotten what the soldiers did there.  Surely this is one of history’s most ignoble ironies.

Historians and political analysts still argue over which side was in the right. Each side fought for freedom, though they understood its blueprint in different ways. The saddest part, of course, is that these differences could not be resolved without bullets and bloodshed. As for the soldiers (of both sides!), while one might question the legitimacy of their cause, their commitment to that cause is not open for debate.

In his address at Gettysburg, Lincoln eulogized soldiers who had sacrificed their lives on the field of battle as those who had given “the last full measure of devotion.” That’s really the acid test, isn’t it? Being willing to sacrifice your life for a cause! It testifies not only to your commitment to that cause, but also to the supreme value with which you esteem the cause. Soldiers of the Union and Confederacy in the main were fighting for their families and friends so they would have a better life, even if it meant sacrificing their lives to make it happen. In the end, it was the faces of their loved ones—not merely commitment to an ideology—that drove them to persevere.

On the eve of this Memorial Day, may I invite you to consider the quintessential cause for which we all should be willing to sacrifice our lives: NOT that our loved ones will have a better life, but that they will have a better afterlife.

No one has modeled this goal perfectly nor made its accomplishment certain apart from Jesus!  With our faces in His mind, Jesus laid aside all his armor and resolutely faced His epic battlefield, Golgotha! “No one has greater love than this—to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:13). That’s what Jesus said there . . . and that’s what Jesus did there. Are we in danger of remembering His words, but losing sight of His deed? The “acid test” is our willingness to follow Jesus’ example.

It is not that we must die physically for others (although this is a laudable possibility, it can do nothing more than lengthen or improve their earthly sojourn). It is rather that we must die spiritually to our self-interests and sacrifice our lives to bring others the message of what God has done for all of us in and through His Son.

Scripture gives us key examples of people who have done just that: Jesus’ disciples, His half-brothers James and Jude, Timothy & Titus and their supremely influential mentor, the apostle Paul. But the list of God’s heroes of the faith is not restricted to those who function in official leadership roles; indeed, the vast majority are unsung heroes who simply carry the gospel to everyone they meet and make disciples of whoever is willing—people like Epaphroditus, whom the apostle Paul described as a “fellow-soldier” who “risked his life” in Christian service (Philippians 2:25-30).

This Memorial Day, when we rightly pause to remember the fallen American heroes who have given their lives in service to our country so the rest of us might have a better life, let us also pause to remember the heroes of faith who have given their lives in service to the gospel so the rest of us might have a better afterlife. And may our remembering issue forth an indefatigable resolve that says “YES!” to Christ’s command: “Go! And do thou likewise!”