LEST WE FORGET
The line above is one repeated a lot during this time of year. And while it is true that we should not forget the sacrifice made by those who gave so much for us, it is also true that what we remember and how we remember it is often altered by what we read and see in the media. The images of war either glamorizes conflict and trivializes sacrifice or in some other way changes the reality of what really was at that time.
“Memory has a way of playing tricks on you.” There is a lot of truth to that saying as memory is often altered by the preconceived ideas of what a person thinks a situation should be like, what difficulties might have been encountered, and what objectives might have been met. Thus, even if someone has actually been witness to an event, we may not remember it as it truly happened. We tend to minimize what is really unpleasant and focus on the more tolerable aspects at the time.
This minimization can result in the loss of the reasons for which sacrifices were made or they can be diluted in the translation. It’s not really sufficient to recall only the sacrifice and not the purpose for which that sacrifice was made. And at the same time, if that purpose or ideal has been diluted or compromised, then the sacrifice made for it has also been, to some degree, lessened.
Do we really still support the ideals and purposes for which so many sacrificed in years past or have we “muddied the waters” to the point that what our forefathers fought so hard for no longer remains as valid as it once did? Have we in fact lost our country’s first ideals?
In many ways, this could be similar to the church at Ephesus. This church was one of the churches started by Paul shortly after his conversion and not long after Christ’s ascension. This was also near the same time as when the apostles were preaching and taken before the Sanhedrin, the High Court, and told “…not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus” (Acts 4:18). They replied: “…‘Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard’” (Acts 3:19-20).
And what did they speak about? “For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness”(1 Corinthians 1:22-23).
But about a mere 50 or so years later, in John’s letter to the church in Ephesus, He said: “‘I know your works, your labour, your patience…Nevertheless I have [something] against you because you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works…”(Revelation 2:2-5). Failure to do these first works resulted in Christ saying He would remove the light from the church - “He who has an ear to hear, let him hear…” (Revelation 2:7). And that is what did come to pass - the church at Ephesus is no more.
Many great churches of the past are, today, no more. Did they leave their first love as well? Did they forget what it was that that caused the first church to be so successful? In the same vein, there are many aspects of our society that have changed from what made it so great and successful in the first instance. Have we put aside the principles and reasons for which so many sacrifices were made over the past century?
The church at Ephesus forgot its “first love,” it’s real reason for existence. Countries can do the same thing and just as the light can be removed from a church the same can happen to a country. And then, what does all the sacrifice really mean?
Just as a church needs to remember its real purpose, so does a nation. It is important to keep the real reasons for our being here in mind, lest we forget and go the way of the past. Lest we forget what others did for us. Lest we forget what Christ did for us.
Lest we forget. This Remembrance Day, something to think about.
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