Bruce Collins, Evangelist

1 Corinthians 11:26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.

Memorial day weekend is a sad nostalgic day for many people. Most of us have loved ones that have died. On Memorial Day we go to the cemeteries to honor and remember them. We decorate the graves and headstones with flowers and flags, pictures, letter, and poems. We also remember the price of our freedom because on Memorial Day we honor the soldiers that have given their lives for that freedom.

Memorial day reminds us of the finality of death. When David’s infant child by Bathsheba died, he said, “I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me. (2 Samuel 12:23)” Death, with the exception of a few people that Scripture records were raised from the dead, has always been a one way street. Even those that were raised from the dead in the Scripture died again. There is, of course, one notable exception. The Lord died and then rose from the dead never to die again.

Christians cannot go to a grave with a monument that contains the Lord’s body to remember the Lord. Some religious movements think we have been cheated because we don’t have a sacred place like that where we can go to show our respect to the Lord. Christians buried the Lord’s body, but His body didn’t stay in the grave. Angels told those who came to the tomb, “He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. (Matthew 28:6).” We do remember Him, however. Every so often we take a loaf of bread and a cup of wine and eat and drink from those symbols of his body and blood to remember Him until He comes. Our remembrance is sad and nostalgic when we think of the sorrows that the Lord bore because of our sin. We are reminded that the world hated him and it was without a cause (See John 15:25). However our memorial to Him also contains great joy. We are reminded of His love in dying for us, and every time we remember Him we are reminded that He is coming again.

Christians declare that the rest of the story is yet future. Those of us who are living when the Lord comes will meet Him in the air without dying. Those of us who have died will be raised to meet the Lord in the air just before those who are living are caught up to meet the Lord (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). The rest of the world will be left for the terrible tribulation that is going to try those who dwell on the earth (Revelation 3:10). The Lord’s promise to come again is a motivating, purifying, blessed hope for the Christian. To the unsaved world, it is a fairy tale.

How many people are actively and regularly remembered 2000 years after their deaths? I do not know of very many. Even those who say that they don’t believe in the Lord have trouble forgetting Him. Some of them spend their time removing His Word from our schools. They worry that we might talk to Him publicly in prayer even though they say He doesn’t exist. They go to great lengths to prove that time and chance merged molecules and atoms in just the right way so that a lightning strike or something like that could give rise to this miracle called life. In addition, they help the rest of us remember that His word is true when they say, “Where is the promise of His coming (see 2 Peter 3:4)?” The skeptical attitude of the world toward Him and His coming gives me confidence in His coming again. One would think that a world that does not believe in Him would forget about Him. However, they simply cannot forget Him and His promises. I wonder if deep down in their hearts, most skeptics are still wondering if they are really right in rejecting Him.

Years ago, I found peace when I believed that He had promised me eternal life if I would simply trust Him. Today, every time I remember Him by eating from a loaf of bread and drinking from a cup of wine, I am encouraged by the fact that He has promised to come again FOR ME. I believe that He will keep that promise.

Bruce Collins