Readings
Psalm
143 I remember the days of old
O
Lord, hear my prayer; listen to my cry for mercy;
In your faithfulness and righteousness come to my relief.
Do not bring your servant into judgment,
For no one living is righteous before you.
The
enemy pursues me, crushing me to the ground,
Making me dwell in darkness like those long dead.
So my spirit grows faint within me;
My heart within me is dismayed.
I
remember the days of long ago;
I meditate on all your works
And consider what your hands have done.
I spread out my hands to you;
My soul thirsts for you like a parched land.
Answer
me quickly, O Lord; my spirit fails.
Do not hide your face from me
Or I will be like those who go down to the pit.
Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love,
For I have put my trust in you.
Show me the way I should go,
For to you I lift up my soul.
Rescue
me from my enemies, O Lord,
For I hide myself in you.
Teach me to do your will, for you are my God;
May your good Spirit lead me on level ground.
For
your name's sake, O Lord, preserve my life;
In your righteousness, bring me out of trouble.
In your unfailing love, silence my enemies;
Destroy all my foes, for I am your servant.
Matthew
10:40-42 Giving a cup of cold water
Whoever
welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me.
Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet's
reward; and whoever welcomes a righteous person in the name of righteousness
will receive the reward of the righteous; and whoever gives even a cup of cold
water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, truly I tell you,
he will not lose his reward.
Arcana
Coelestia #561 Lasting impressions
What
are "lasting impressions"? They are not only the good and true things
we have learned from the Word of the Lord since early childhood, which have been
imprinted on our memory, but all the experiences that come from these good and
true things: experiences of innocence in early childhood; experiences of love
for our parents, brothers and sisters, teachers, and friends; experiences of
kindness toward others, and of compassion for the poor and needy; in short,
every experience that involves goodness and truth. These experiences, along with
the good and true things that have been imprinted on our memory, are called
lasting impressions, which the Lord preserves with us and stores away in our
inner self, though we ourselves are not directly aware of it at all.
Sermon
I
remember the days of long ago; I meditate on all your works and consider what
your hands have done. (Psalm 143:5)
This
is a weekend of memories. Of course, it is a weekend of memories of those who
have gone before us. The graveyards of our country receive more visitors on this
weekend than at any other time of year. Yet those of us who believe in an
afterlife do not visit the graves of our loved ones who have died to mourn
(unless it was a recent death, still fresh on our hearts), but to remember those
with whom we have shared treasured times of our lives.
Memorial
Day weekend is a weekend of memories in a different way as well: it is a weekend
for creating memories. Many people take trips over Memorial Day weekend.
Visiting family; camping; even going to the park to fly a kite. It is a time we
often gather together with our family and friends to enjoy the company of the
living. Our enjoyment of these special times creates memories that we carry with
us into the years to come.
We
may think that these memories are, so to speak, frosting on the cake of
life--that they are a sweet addition to our life, but that we could do quite
well without them. Nothing could be further from the truth! In fact, these times
when we play together, touch each other, and relax in the warmth of each other's
love are vital to our very survival on many levels.
Physically,
as babies if we do not experience the warmth of love in human contact, cuddling,
caring, we will literally die. This was discovered in a very unfortunate way
when babies in a nursery that were not picked up and held simply did not
survive. Nor does our need for human touch and love stop when we are babies. As
adults, we can survive without touch, but it is a rather grim kind of
survival. Without regular physical contact with others, we tend to shrivel up
emotionally and spiritually; we lose the joy and excitement in our lives, as if
we were subsisting on dry crusts of bread.
To
survive emotionally and spiritually, we also need the warmth of loving
relationships on the deeper levels of human life. As children, we need to know
that someone loves us. We need those expressions of love from our
parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, teachers, and friends. Without that
feeling of being loved, children withdraw into a shell, or become angry, lashing
out in ways that seem to make no sense; or they hungrily search for love in all
the wrong places, resulting in pain and betrayal, teen pregnancies, drug abuse,
gangs, and many other destructive behaviors and damaging experiences.
And
just as with physical touch, we adults also need the spiritual touch of
love from others and for others. We seek that love in marriage and family; we
seek it in close friendships that we build up with those we feel we can trust
and open ourselves up to. Without this, once again, we shrivel up inside, and
find ourselves living a very sad and dry life.
Why
are physical and spiritual touch so important to us? From a material standpoint,
it seems as if we should be able to survive just fine without continual contact
with others. After all, our body simply needs nourishment, air, sunshine,
exercise, rest, and so on--and none of these require other people to be with us.
Yet we are not merely physical beings. We are also beings of spirit. And just as
food and sunshine provide nourishment to our physical bodies, love and
understanding provide nourishment to our spirits. Without love, expressed
through sharing thoughts and feelings, working and playing together, touching
each other--without love, we die spiritually, because without love we are
deprived of our spiritual food and our spiritual sunshine. Without
understanding, learning, knowledge, our inner growth is stunted, and we become
unable to fully express the love that is within us.
Also
like food, the spiritual nourishment we receive makes a lasting impression on
us. If we grow up with a poor diet and a lack of sunshine, air, and exercise, we
will become sickly even if we started out with a healthy constitution. On the
other hand, those who inherit genetically transmitted diseases can live longer
and healthier lives than they otherwise would through careful attention to
healthful living practices. Our bodies are imprinted by the nourishment and care
they receive--and if that nourishment and care is seriously lacking, we will die
early as our body breaks down under the strain.
Our
mental and emotional experiences also make lasting impressions on us. Like
physical food, our spiritual food--love and understanding--help us to build
healthy spirits if that food is plentiful and healthful; but we will languish
and die spiritually if that food is poor, or lacking altogether. Parents who may
be fine people themselves, but who neglect to give their children the spiritual
nourishment that they themselves received as children, will handicap their
children in a way that is far more damaging than any physical handicap could
ever be. On the other hand, children who are born in very dismal physical and
financial circumstances can become strong and good adults if they are given that
precious spiritual nourishment of religious teaching and genuine love from those
who care about them.
We
do not need to experience--or offer--some amazing act of selfless love to be
deeply affected. As Jesus said, even a cup of cold water offered to a little one
can lead to great reward--a reward felt by both the giver and the receiver of
the gift.
As
I look back on my own life, memories flood to mind of these gifts, usually given
without fanfare or any realization of their long-term power. Once when I was six
or eight years old, and my family was on a camping trip, I was walking along a
path with some of by brothers and sisters. We came to a place where the path
split into three. I was sure I knew which one we should take. My siblings tried
to convince me otherwise, but to no avail--I was stubbornly determined to take
that path. So they let me. Soon I was completely lost, and very scared that I
would never see my family again. It was probably only five or ten minutes that I
was out there on my own, but it seemed like hours. I stumbled along, crying,
until I came to a place where a chain link fence blocked my path. I started to
climb the fence. As I reached the top, I felt hands lifting me down. It was one
of my brothers, who had come out to look for me. He probably never knew how much
relief flooded into me when he took me down from that fence. I was saved! And at
a deeper level that I was probably not aware of at the time, I knew that even
when I stubbornly insisted on doing stupid things, there were people who loved
me and cared about me, and who would go out of their way to help me out of the
trouble I got myself into.
Sometimes
we are on the giving end without even realizing it. Once when I was sledding
with some of my brothers and sisters at a very popular hill nearby, a kid
started picking on my younger brother, jumping on top of him and punching him. I
was bigger than this kid, so I calmly walked over to him and bodily picked him
up off my brother, told him to knock it off, and promptly forgot the incident.
The only reason I have any knowledge of it now is that over twenty years later,
my brother mentioned it in the course of conversation, saying he had really
appreciated what I'd done for him. For me, it didn't seem like anything; for
him, it was that feeling of being saved by someone who cared about him.
These
experiences--these lasting impressions from earlier years--are what keep us
going in a very real way. Even if no one involved fully realizes their
significance at the time, it is no accident that we build up impressions of love
and understanding from the time we are conceived, throughout our infancy and
childhood, and all through all the rest of our life here on earth. For we are
not really the ones giving these precious gifts. It is the Lord within us who
gives the gifts--who moves us to show kindness and understanding for one
another. When I pulled that kid off my brother, I thought nothing of it. But the
Lord saw the entire situation, and prompted me from within to do what needed to
be done--just as it was not only my older brother, but my parents, and
ultimately the Lord, who prompted him to come after me and lift me off of the
fence that I was blindly climbing.
All
of this gives new and deeper meaning to our observances of Memorial Day. When we
cherish and honor the memories of those who have loved us and cared for us, it
is not merely a sentimental notion that "practical" people can do
without. It is a recognition that without their love and care--and without the
Lord, who gives us the ability to love and care for each other--we could never
have become the people we are today, able to love others, to care for others, to
show others the way, to share of ourselves with others.
And
this also reminds us that we are the ones who are helping to build up these same
vital impressions in those that we care for, in those who look up to us as their
parents, their grandparents, their family members, their friends. The little
day-to-day kindnesses that we show to each other are not something we can take
or leave, something that will make no difference one way or the other. Simple
acts of thoughtfulness; a helpful pointer to someone who is lost; an arm around
the shoulder of someone who is feeling down; these are the very substance and
nourishment of our existence, forming lasting memories and deep impressions of
love and understanding that can keep us going through all the passages of our
lives. Amen.