Lest We Forget

By Robin G. Jordan

Jesus warned his disciples that before the coming of the Son of Man they would hear of wars and rumors of wars. Nation would rise up against nation and kingdom would rise up against kingdom. Sadly war is a part of the human condition. In every generation sons and daughters will march off to war, some to fall in a foreign land, giving their lives in the service of their country.

I was born at the end of the World War II. As a child in England I remember going to the beach and seeing a washed-up mine cordoned off with barbed wire. Pillboxes and tank traps were a more common sight. I recall a slim volume of poems by Ivar Campbell that are among my mother's favorite poems. Campbell fought in "the war to end all wars." He was a Lieutenant in the 3rd Battalion of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. He died on January 8, 1916 at the age of 25, from wounds received in action.

In England they observe Remembrance Day in which they honor the memories of those who died in more recent wars as well as those who fell in both world wars.

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, saw dawn, felt sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up your quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

John McCrae, 1915

In my lifetime the United States has fought the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Gulf War, and the Iraq War and a number of smaller conflicts. US troops are fighting and dying in Iraq and Afghanistan this very moment. I, like many others in my generation and past generations and in generations to come, look forward to the day when God will “abolish the sword, the bow, and war from this land” and make us to lie down in safety (Hosea 2:18 ESV).

The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.(Isaiah 11:6-9 ESV)

Until that day comes, as God promises that it will come, men and women must heed their country’s call to defend its liberties and must die on some foreign battlefield.

We have set aside one day of the year to remember their sacrifice and to honor them. But we should remember every day of the year, not just one day of the year, what they have done for their country. Some died heroically, laying their lives down for their friends and those they barely knew. Others did not have an opportunity to show their true character. They died even before they made it to the beach. Some were killed the same day that they arrived in the combat zone; others died just a short time before they were to leave for home. Some are buried in foreign soil; others lie in the soil of their native or adopted land. All are our nation’s honored dead.

How then should we honor their memory? By caring for their widows and orphans, for their loved ones. By caring for those who returned home alive but wounded in body, mind or spirit. By making adequate provision for the civilian employment, education, disability, health care, housing, and retirement of all who have served their country, for the education and health care of their children, and the care of their spouses in ill-health and old age. We owe them nothing less.

O Lord, thou lover of souls, who through the mouth of thy prophet of old hast declared that all souls are thine: We thank thee for the brave and faithful dead who have laid down their lives for their country; for the devotion and courage of the soldiers and sailors and airmen who have fallen in the cause of truth and righteousness. Grant us so to follow their good example in faithfulness and endurance, even unto death, that we may be found worthy of the crown of everlasting life; through the merits of Jesus Christ our Saviour. Amen

O Lord, our heavenly Father, we commend to thy mercy all who suffer as the result of war, especially the maimed, the blind, and those who are afflicted in mind. Have pity upon the homeless and friendless, and upon those who no longer have a country of their own. Fill us with compassion for them, prosper all who seek to minister to their needs, and hasten the coming of thy kingdom of justice and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

Comfort, O Lord, we pray thee, all who are mourning the loss of those who laid down their lives in war. Be with them in their sorrow, support them in their loneliness. Give them faith to look beyond the troubles of this present time, and to know that neither life nor death can separate us from thy love which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.