Remembering the sacrifices made for us!

It was September 2006. The rooftop was sweltering. Three US Navy SEALs were in an "overwatch" position on a Ramadi home with two Iraqi soldiers. It had been an eventful morning, but it was quiet at the moment. From below, without warning, someone lobbed a grenade. It bounced off Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael A. Monsoor's chest, then without warning , then clattered on the deck. Penned together, all five were easy prey for the grenade's deadly spray of shrapnel. At point-blank range, it couldn't miss.

Monsoor yelled, "Grenade!" and made a snap decision that would mark him for all time. He flung himself onto the device, smothering it with his torso, just in time to absorb the blast. The result was predictable; he lived only 25 minutes before dying of his injuries. His companions escaped with only scratches and minor wounds. Breathe, just breathe is what I imagine they were thinking and needed.

Because of the configuration of the rooftop, only one of the five men had a pathway of escape, had he chosen to use it; Yes, Michael Monsoor. For his stunningly self-sacrificial action, he received the Medal of Honor, our nation's highest military honor, posthumously. As is written in his official Navy Summary of Action, "Monsoor's actions that day could not have been more selfless or clearly intentional."  It is inconceivable that those who survived the rooftop blast would forget Monsoor's sacrifice. Their very lives are a testament to what he did to save them.

So now I ask you who, further back in history, perfectly embodied a sacrifice that "could not have been more selfless or clearly intentional"'. The answer is Jesus Christ. What our Lord did to save us could not have been more selfless or clearly intentional! The freedom and salvation we know as Christians are clearly traceable to a specific choice made by a man sacrificing himself just as the SEALs who escaped the otherwise-deadly blast that day on the rooftop are alive today because of a specific choice of a man to sacrifice himself .

Memorial Day is an opportunity, as a nation, to remember and appreciate those who have died so that we might live freely. The civil blessings of stability, prosperity and freedom we enjoy are a testament to the price they paid. A Christians we remember those who have gone before us, sacrificed their lives for us and we pray for them in thanksgiving for their service to this great nation. And right alongside that prayer we should honor the Father who gave his life for us, whose sacrifice gives us eternal life and thank him also for the blessing given to us. This day, Memorial Day, can help inspire us to the greatest thing of which we are capable, by God's grace; sacrificial love. Love that sacrifices for the beloved is divine and the only true love.

In remembering what our Lord did, and what others such as Michael Monsoor have done, we are reoriented to what life is really all about. We are more likely, in our turn, to love someone at our expense. At its best, Memorial Day is a civil and military echo of a profound theological truth: that God, "who is love" (1 John 4:8) sacrificed Himself so that we might live {1 pt. 2:24}! So today Breathe, breathe deep and sit for a few minutes in the arms of our fallen hero, our God, our Jesus, our Father who made the ultimate sacrifice for us!

FYI...Our Memorial Day was originally known as "Decoration Day," an opportunity to decorate many graves of the over 600,000 men who died in the Civil War. It was, by far, our nation's costliest was in terms of human life, about 2 percent of the entire population. Today, that would translate into 6.5 million people. Memorial Day honors all who have died in military service to our country since its inception.

This beautiful story and analogy was printed in my church's bullentin today. I took the liberty of changing it just a bit. I hope you touches you as much as it touched me. 

God bless all those fallen for us and thank you Father again and again for your sacrifice! May each and everyone one of you, my friends have a blessed and safe Memorial Day!