On May 5, 1868, The Commander-in-Chief of the Grand Army of the Republic, General John A. Logan, published General Order Number 11 that established the 30th day of May as Decoration Day.  The purpose of this day was for the:

“Strewing of flowers or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion.”  Thus was born what we now call Memorial Day.

Since ancient times graves of the dead, war dead and family, had been decorated by loved ones in a way of remembering them.  Cemeteries were, and still are, like parks.  People would take picnic lunches and after the decoration of the graves, they would sit have eat their lunch and tell stories of their loved ones, so the practice was not new when General Logan declared the practice in 1868.

May 30th was chosen as the date for two reasons; no significant Civil War battle had been fought on that day, and the thought was that flowers would be available all over the country since the cold weather would have passed.

The name was changed from Decoration Day to Memorial Day in 1967 and 1968 the Uniform Monday Act moved the annual remembrance from May 30th to the Last Monday in May thus creating a three-day weekend and the unofficial start to summer.

So each year people head to the cemeteries and decorate the graves of loved ones.  Some of them are veterans and some not.  The sentiment is the same no matter how or when they died.  Several years ago I decided that I would adopt several veterans’ graves and decorate them as they had long been neglected.  I would encourage each of you to do the same.

But Memorial Day is also a good time to take stock of our lives and what we have done or left undone this previous year.  Sure it is supposed to be a day set aside for remembrance of our war dead, but how will we be remembered?

I know we don’t like to think about it, but there will come a time in history when we are no longer here.  Will our lives be reduced to a few lines on a stone tablet above our final resting place?

In the Eastern Orthodox Tradition that I have come from, when someone dies we say, “May their memory be eternal.”  We are asking that the memory of the person who has died remains green in our memories and by doing so they live on.  Sure we are sad when someone dies and is no longer with us, but keeping their memory alive is important for us and for those who come after us.

In the Scripture passage we heard this morning from the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus was in Bethany at the home of Simon, the leper.  This would be a very unusual thing for anyone to do since lepers were ritually unclean and were in their presence made you ritually unclean.  But while he is there a woman comes in and anoints his feet.  This was not an uncommon practice in Palestine in the 1st Century.

People wore sandals on their feet, and the roads were dusty.  Upon entering a home, the lowest member of the household would remove your sandals and wash your feet.  This would be repeated by Jesus and his Apostles the night of the Last Supper.  Washing someone’s feet is the ultimate act of service to that person.  However there is one other thing to consider, a woman was washing his feet, this would have been unheard of, men washed men’s feet, and women washed women’s feet.  Another societal breakdown.

But what she did next is what she is remembered for.  She anointed his feet with costly oil, oil that some said could have been sold for large sums of money and that money given to the poor.  The words that Jesus speaks next have been used and misused by Christians since the day he spoke them. “For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me.”

This woman, whose name we will never know, will be remembered for the ultimate act of service to another and, as Jesus says, preparing him for his death.  But what about us?  How will we be remembered?

We have the potential to influence more people’s lives today than any other point in our history.  The very fact that we can push a button and our thoughts and words and be sent around the world in a nanosecond makes what we have to say all the more necessary.  This past week I was at a seminar about boundaries in the church.  We focused a lot of attention on the building of walls to keep people at a safe distance, so we do not get sued for something we did or said.  One of the presenters made the statement that we should avoid anything controversial and simply preach the love of Jesus Christ.  As you can imagine, I took exception to that statement.

I made the statement that the very act of preaching the love of Jesus Christ is controversial and if it was not then we were doing it wrong.  Historically our church pulpits have been used to bring about some of the biggest changes in history and policy.  From pulpits not far from here the abolition movement began and from this very church one of the first statements by any church, banning from membership those who owned slaves was written, voted upon and excepted.  Being a Christian is controversial, it is to love those who are not lovable, it is to forgive those who need forgiveness, it is to stand out in our world, it is to speak up when we see wrongs, and it is to work for a better world for all people.  I told the presenter to avoid controversy was unchristian.

Some of us probably could be remembered for great things.  Someone sitting here or listening to these words online might find the cure for cancer or some other astonishing feat in life but most of us, the vast majority of us, will remain unknown except for those around us.  The world will never know our names or what we have done.

But I will draw your attention to another passage of Scripture from the Gospel of Matthew, this one in the chapter just before the one we read this morning.  In the 23rd verse of the 25th chapter we hear these words:

His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and trustworthy servant; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’

How will we be remembered?  I pray as a good and trustworthy servant of God and of the people that God has placed in my life.  This should be our goal; this is what we should strive for in life.  Our memory should be that we spoke up for those who could not speak, that we served those who had less than us, that we forgave those who harmed us, and that we loved God, and we loved our neighbor.

I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, ²¹ that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. John 17:20-21

In the 17^th Chapter of the Gospel of John we have glimpse of Jesus in prayer.  He has prayed for himself and for those that have been with him throughout his ministry and then he turns to the future and he prays for all of us.  The remarkable thing about this is that he had full confidence in the future of the mission and what would happen.

At this moment his followers were few and he was facing the Cross but his confidence was unshaken and he was praying for those of us, who would come after him, and believe in his name.  But what was this prayer of his for us, for more specifically for his church of the future, it was that we would all be one.  We read in verse 21, “That hey all may be one, as you, father are in me and I in you.”

What is this oneness that Jesus is speaking of here, is it oneness of doctrine or belief?  What about worship, is he praying that we will all have the same worship and worship the same way?  I do not think so.  The essence of the oneness between Jesus and God is love, unconditional love.

There is an old song that goes, “They will know we are Christians by our love.”  This is true.  God is the essence of love and we are commanded to love God and to love each other.  The witness of this love from to us in the third chapter of John, “for God so loved the world that he sent his only Son.”  Christian unity should transcend all of our differences and join us together.

If we truly loved each other, and God, then no church would exclude anyone who was a disciple of Christs.  Only the implanted love in each heart will be able to tear down the barriers which we have erected between us, artificial barriers that keep us apart.

It is normal for humans to be divided and it goes against the grain, as the saying goes, for humans to come together.  We see this after some sort to tragic event.  People come together for a little while and then the natural tendency to separate returns.  The unity that Jesus prayed for was to be the unity that convinced the world of the truth of his message.  This is the unity that would transcend nationality and socio economic standing and truly bring people together.  Real unity between all Christians would be a supernatural fact that would require a supernatural explanation and that explanation would be God’s love.

It is our individual duty to demonstrate to each other and to the world that unity of love with all of humanity that is the answer to the prayer of Christ.  And the reason why this is so important should be obvious, faced by the disunity of the Christian faith, the world cannot see the supreme value of the Christian faith.

They will know we are Christians by our love.  Love for all of humanity not just the parts we like.

During the early morning hours of August 29th, Hurricane Katrina was swirling off the coast of Southern Louisiana.  The call to evacuate the lower portion, including the City of New Orleans, had gone out hours before and most people heeded the call.  Those who could leave the city had left and only those who were unable to leave, like patients in nursing homes, were still in the city.  The storm raged closer and eventually made landfall, and the devastation began.  The aftermath of the story left 1,400 dead, and 8o% of the City of New Orleans flooded due to the storm surge that breached the levy system surrounding the City.  Most of the Southern part of the State was just washed out to sea.  Houses, cars, memories, all of it gone in an instant.

Shortly after the storm had passed, I was called to deploy to the area to provide was spiritual and emotional help I could.  I have become somewhat of an expert in the field of disaster mental health, and so I get to go to places such as New Orleans and Newtown Connecticut after situations like these.  There is not much we can offer someone after something like this happens to them, maybe a bottle of water and an energy bar, but sometimes just sitting with someone and holding their hand will help them on the road to recovery.

I will relate one story to you, of the many hundreds that I heard during my two weeks on the ground in New Orleans.  Many people had no way to leave the City.  They were the poor, the marginalized, the minorities, the forgotten people of the city.  They made their way to the Superdome and the Airport.  The Government of the United States as well as the Government of the State of Louisiana denied that anyone had taken refuge at the airport.  Keep in mind that the Government was under a tremendous amount of pressure from all sides after the storm had passed.  I was sent, along with some others, to see what we could find out and if there were people there what aid we could bring to them.

When we arrived, it was a scene of absolute chaos.  All social systems had broken down, and it was every man and woman for themselves.  A doctor ran up to me when I came in and kept repeating “tell me I did the right thing”  You see he was the one who had to decide who lived and who died.  He took me to what was called the “black ward.”  This was the place where all of those who were not going to make it was now living.  They were caring for them as best they could with what limited supplies they had.  He asked me to pray for them, and so I did.  I knelt down next to each of the 65 people in that room and said a prayer over each of them.  Two of them died while I was there.  I see their faces each and every day of my life.

Well, time moves on and soon we forget, those of us who can anyway, about what happened and we go on with our lives.  But what about those who cannot go on, what about those who struggle each day.

In today’s Scripture lesson we hear the story about a man who has been sick for many years thirty-eight years to be exact.  He is laying by the pool that is supposed to heal him but since he is sick, and alone, he has no one to place him in the pool, and someone always gets in there before him.  You see he had to step in just at the right time to be healed.  So he just laid there, day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year, just waiting for someone to come along and help him.

Jesus walks up to him and asks him, “Do you want to be made well?”  The man does not say yes he says that he has no one to place him in the pool at the right time.  Jesus asked him a simple question, “Do you want to be made well?” and he cannot answer yes or no.

We do not know what illness the man had.  Some translations lead us to believe he was paralyzed, and therefore he could not move.  Whatever it was he has had it for a long time.  Perhaps he has gotten used to the idea of being sick; it has become a part of him, and he is not sure what he will do if he does get well.  But either way, there is no one to put him in the pool.

Day after day people steps over him to get in the water first.  They see him lying there, and they pass right by to get what they want.  They see him there, but they do not acknowledge that he is there, right in front of them.  They step over him and are made well, and our friend continues to suffer.

Jesus does not wait for the answer he tells him, “Stand up, take your mat and walk” and he does just that.  Our passage ends there, but if we read on for a few verses, we read that the man goes to the temple, and he encounters Jesus again, and Jesus tells him that he should sin no more.

Again, we are unsure of what his illness is, and we could speculate all day, but there are two things to point out here; one is that it was the faithfulness of the man that healed him, and all of those sitting around ignoring this man were likewise ignored by Jesus.  Jesus does not heal anyone else, in fact, there is no record that Jesus even spoke to anyone else.

All of us are in need of some healing.  Perhaps it is an illness or perhaps it is despondency or maybe it is a spiritual illness of some kind.  Jesus meets us, as he did our friend in the story, where we are as we are.  Notice there was no sign posted in this place saying Jesus would be holding a revival tent meeting down the street and if you wanted to be healed you could come, and after a suitable donation, you would be made well.  No, Jesus went to where the man was, accepted the man as he was where he was, and healed him.

We do not know what happened to the man in the story just as I do not know whatever became of the doctor I met in New Orleans, in fact, I do not even know his name.  I assume that those sixty-five people I prayed over died at some point in time after that, but I have no way of knowing for sure.  I don’t think I healed anyone physically, but maybe the words I spoke to them healed them spiritually and prepared them for their death.

Where will Jesus find you?  Are you sitting by the pool waiting for someone to carry you in?  Are you the one that steps over others to get what you need?  Are you one of the many others in that room so blinded by their issues and life’s wows that you cannot see the suffering of others?  Whatever it is, wherever you are, Jesus offers us healing.

In a few moments, we will gather around the symbolic table of the ultimate sacrifice that Jesus made for each one of us.  We gather together to pray for one another and to support one another; that is the union in communion.  Jesus stands ready to help us in the midst of life’s storms let us prepare ourselves and pray for one another.

Simon Peter felt like a failure. On the last night of Jesus’ life on earth, Peter made an impossible commitment: “I will never run away and leave you.” But only hours later, Peter shouted, “I told you, I don’t even know him. Leave me alone!”

Now, Christ had died, Christ had risen, but Peter understood none of this. He was literally at the end of his rope. What had the last three years been about anyway?

Imagine one of those scenes that, in a few short weeks, will be duplicated all over the United States.  Imagine a brilliant, sunny day in late spring. Outdoors on a university football field, or maybe in a high school gym… folding chairs will be set up, row upon row. Proud parents and family members will be stretching their necks to see. Down front, will be the squirming graduates, in caps and gowns. They will look like the very picture of scholarship.

Suddenly feeling self-conscious, the grinning graduates will march across the platform, receive their diplomas and return to sit with the rest of their classmates… these special people they’ve felt so close to, most of whom they will never see again.

At the punch bowl reception a few minutes later someone will walk up to the graduate and say, “congratulations!” Then, suddenly, with tear-filled eyes, they may say, “You know, you may not realize it now, but these years you’ve just completed are the best years of your life!”

The person doesn’t mean it to come across this way, but these are among the deadliest words one human being can say to another. It’s like saying, “You may think you’re at the threshold of something new, but don’t fool yourself, kid, it’s all downhill from here.”

Peter may have been feeling something similar when, in our Scripture Lesson for this morning, he tells the other disciples, “I’m going out to fish.”

Then the scene changes and Jesus is talking with his disciples.  There he was standing on the shoreline asking them if they had any food.  They had been out all night, and they were tired, and the fishing had not gone well.  Jesus asked them to cast their nets again, so they did, they brought in more fish than they could handle.

As they sat by the campfire eating Jesus singles out Peter for a little chat.  History tells us that Peter was the oldest of the Apostles and for that, and several other reasons, he was the defacto leader of the little group.  But Jesus singles out Peter for another reason, forgiveness.

Peter was the first to proclaim and profess his love for Jesus and was the one who tried to defend him when he was being arrested.  But Peter was also the one who denied Jesus not once, not twice, but three times.  Jesus told Peter this was going to happen, but he would not listen.

Now comes the time when Jesus needs to restore Peter’s confidence.  They are about to be sent out on a mission that will change the world, and Jesus needs Peter to be at his best.  So he turns to him and asks him, Peter, do you love me more than these?

Now there is some disagreement as to what “these” means in the story.  I believe there is a double meaning in all of this.  As they sat there, and Jesus asked Peter this question, he motioned around with his hand at all that was around them, the fishing boats, the equipment necessary for fishing, but the disciples were also there as well as their families.  Jesus is asking Peter do you love me above all of this?

Peter answers, “Yes, Lord: you know that I love you.”  And Jesus responds, “Feed my lambs.”

After a little while, Jesus turns to Peter and again asks him if he loves him.  Peter answers that he does, and Jesus tells him to “Tend his sheep.”

Again a little while goes past, and Jesus asks Peter if he loves him.  Now Peter is a little concerned and a little sad that Jesus is asking him again if he loves him. Peter turns to him and says, “Lord, You know everything, and you know that I love you.”  Jesus says to him, “Feed my sheep.”

Now this little dialogue is confusing enough and it loses some of its meaning in English.  You see in English we have one word for love.  It’s the same word we use to say we love hamburgers and the same word we use to say we love our children.  In fact, this is one of the most overused words in the English language.

But what we see here before we is that Jesus uses different forms of the word love.

The first two times that Jesus asks Peter, Do you love me?”  Jesus is using the agape form of love.  Agape love is the highest form of sacrificial and self-emptying love; this is the kind of love that God has for all of the humanity and that we can develop only through maturing in the grace of God.

Also, notice that Peter never truly answers the question he only says, “You know I love you.”  Jesus asks a simple yes or no question, “Do you love me?”  Peter says you know…  Perhaps it has to do with his emotional ties to the denial, but Peter is unable to say that he loves Jesus in this agape way.

So the third time Jesus asks Peter, “Do you love me?” he uses the philo form of love.  This is a lesser form of love more like brother affection.  Jesus lowers his expectations and is willing to accept whatever form of love Peter is ready to give.

But through all of this Jesus knows that Peter will grow into the agape kind of love for him and even shows Peter how that will come about as Jesus tells Peter about his death.  Peter was grieved by Jesus’ asking him three times if he loved him or not and I am sure that Peter had his denial on his mind, but with each semi-answer, Peter gave Jesus gave him a mission, to feed and tend his lambs.

What sort of love do you have for Jesus today, is it that all in agape love or is it the more philo love.  It does not really matter because just as Jesus was willing to accept whatever he could get from Peter that is the case with us today, Jesus is ready to take us as we are, right here in this place, and he is willing, through the grace of God, to move us from philo to agape!

Jesus has charted the course for us; he knows we are tired from our many years of labor, and he is asking us to cast our nets on the other side.  He is showing us a different way to live, to love, and to grow.  Jesus did not abandon Peter when he denied him, Jesus reached out his hand and told him that it was okay, sure you stumbled, but it’s okay.