From the first book of the Bible, called Genesis, to the last one, Revelation, the topic of remembering the Creator and Christ has been frequently presented to the people of faith. God put the Tree of Knowledge in the Garden of Eden for Adam and Eve to remember Who made that beautiful paradise (Genesis 2:16-17). The Lord blessed the Seventh Day and made it for us, as His people, to reflect on the Creator God and keep it holy (Genesis 2:3). Jesus, the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End, wanted us, as Christ’s followers, to remember His Second Coming and be well prepared for the Holy City (Revelation 22:12-20).

In our sacred texts for today, we can continuously explore the remembering God and Christ subject. As Pat shared that Old Testament scripture this morning, the Warrior Joshua held an excellent teaching conference for the people of Israel while using an illustration of the twelve stones. He asked each representative of the dozen Israeli tribes to take one stone out of the Jordan River. After installing those monuments at Gilgal, Joshua questioned the people of Israel about the meaning of those stones. Later, he answered that inquiry in the following statement. “Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground. …He [God] did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the Lord is powerful and so that you might always fear the Lord your God” (Joshua 4:6-7, 19-24). Joshua made those rocks as a sign of God’s power, provision, and protection for the future generation. When they look at those memorial stones in the coming days, they will recall the God of the ancestors as Powerful, Faithful, and Merciful.

While reflecting on this part of today’s scripture, I noticed that Joshua mentioned God’s other miracle in the Red Sea before emphasizing the miraculous event taking place in the Jordan River. After crossing the sea, Moses would have asked his people to remember God as the Way Maker and the Promise Keeper. At that time, young Joshua took Moses’ teaching in his heart. Later, he wanted to give his people that type of historical education after walking through the river. With the help of the Mighty Lord, the people of God fulfilled their God-given mission.

As God’s people, we also have a holy mission of passing on what we have learned from the Lord to our descendants. A couple of weeks ago, we at St. Andrew’s Fenelon Falls had a sacred ceremony over some of Glenarm Church’s memorial objects. We have made a small museum out of those commemorative items in this sanctuary. Some have been transferred even from the first Glenarm church. For example, according to Barb Silver, “The three window frames came from the church which was originally built on the Glenarm cemetery.” Some hard-working people’s names were written on the papers, and those sheets were placed in the frames. Recognizing the godly memorials that were donated can be a way of showing our respect to our spiritual ancestors. We also acknowledge all the dedicated hearts that Glenarm people have had toward God’s church cannot be limited by those holy elements. With many faithful hands of Glenarm people, the church has not only survived under the hardscrabble environment, as the name of the town would imply. But the church has also strived to serve the Lord and be a spiritual beacon in Glenarm and its surrounding community. If Glenarm is still open, we could celebrate its 157th anniversary at this service. The Glenarm Museum in this sanctuary memorializes 157 years of God’s faithfulness to us. All of us sitting here will eventually be forgotten just as our spiritual forefathers have been gone. But as long as St. Andrew’s church is here, these Glenarm collections will testify to our Mighty and Merciful God. When our descendants pause to reflect on each memorial object in this museum, they will recall many wonderful stories God has done for our church.

In our Gospel for today, Jesus shared a piece of bread with His disciples at the last supper. That Passover meal between Christ and them would represent God’s rescuing plan. In the Old Testament, the Lord saved the people of Israel, who put lamb’s blood over the door of their house, from the plague of death. In the New Testament, Jesus protected whoever put their trust in His blood on the cross from the power of sin and death. According to Jesus’ instruction, as His followers, we are to remember Christ’s unique ministry whenever we observe the elements of the Lord’s Supper. The body of Christ broken and His blood shed would signify God’s forgiveness and eternal life. When we participate in Holy Communion with Christ, we recall His sacrificial death and recognize His mighty resurrection. When we remember these supernatural blessings during this sacrament, we cannot be enough for being thankful to Christ for His enormous love for us. These divine memorials, known as the Cross and the Crown, can help us overcome any challenges we may face in our faith journey. Think about God’s love for our world, country, community, church, family, loved ones, and ourselves. One more time, we cannot praise the Lord enough for what He has done for us.

In our Epistle for today, we can recognize that God not only asks us to remember what He has done for us. But the Lord also remembers what His people have done for His Kingdom Ministry. God remembered Christ’s sacrifice for His people. Christ’s death on the cross was not in vain (1 Corinthians 15:58). Eventually, the name of Christ has been exalted to the highest place. Everybody under heaven confesses that He is the Lord of lords and the King of kings (Philippians 2:9-11). The Son of God also remembers what Christ’s followers have done for His Mission.

While listening to Mark’s presentation this morning, like you, I learned about the tremendous sacrifice our fallen soldiers had made during the Dieppe Raid. We have also realized that that military operation was not in vain. God remembered all sacrificial soldiers in Dieppe and blessed them with the Allied victory two years later. We hope Mark can tell us about this topic on one of the future Remembrance Sundays.

When my family and I travelled to our homeland some years ago, we visited the War Memorial of Korea. Over 26,000 Canadians were sent to support in the Korean War. Canada’s immense military contribution, along with the other 20 countries of the United Nations, helped South Korea keep its freedom from North Korea’s hostile invasion. Even long before wartime, some Canadian missionaries came to Korea and shared the love of God in words and deeds. Since the ceasefire in the Korean Peninsula, South Korea has developed significant economic growth and became a free democratic society. If Canadian veterans of the Korean War were invited to Korea, they would be amazed by seeing the massive difference between then and now. In the Canadian section of the UN cemetery in Korea, the Memorial Statue to the Canadian Fallen has the following inscribed statement: “We [the people of South Korea] will never forget you brave sons of Canada.” All 516 courageous Canadian soldiers’ names are written on the front of the monument. The people of South Korea want to remember all of them! God places all the sacrificial works all the men and women in uniform have done for His freedom ministry.

While preparing this message, I asked myself, “What kinds of spiritual memorials do I have in my life? How can I pass them on to my children? What about us as our church? Do we have some spiritual monuments and want to hand them to the next generations? These sacred stones would serve as a reminder of the unchanging Mighty God. The Lord, our Christ, is “the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow” (Hebrews 13:8). When we face challenges, sometimes we forget He has helped us in the past. We may feel like we are going to drown in the Jordan River. We may wonder whether God could carry us as He did it before. Once more, we need to think of what the memorial stones would say to us. Can we hear something like, “Yes, God can take care of our Jordan Rivers.” When we remember the God who gave us the ability to handle any difficulty in the past and the God, who is doing the same today and will continuously provide us with His supernatural power in the coming days, we can attempt something great for Him again and expect something great from Him again. The Lord our God still has all power. He will do it repeatedly as long as we repent of our sins, remember His crucifixion love for us and rededicate our lives to Him.

On Remembrance Sunday, we remember those who have sacrificed for our freedom and express our thanks to them while worshipping the Lord our God. As we recall those who have given their lives in battle, today we also recognize Jesus, who “laid down his life for his friends” on the spiritual battlefield called Calvary (John 15:13).

Someone said something like: “Real remembering is doing.” We may not be called to carry firearms, but while remembering the brave acts of soldiers, we, as Christian soldiers, are encouraged to do something good and make a difference in our community.

*In this sermon, I have used some thoughts and materials from the various messages based on the following texts, Joshua 4:1-13, 19-24; Luke 22:14-19; 1 Corinthians 15:54-58.