I suppose because my day off is Tuesday I fell into the habit of visiting my hometown of Gahanna, Ohio when Memorial Day rolled around.  With the church office closed for that holiday I have the luxury of two days off in a row.  Indeed, my family has headed down as early as Sunday evening because my usual custom has been to get up early on Monday and take a walk down memory lane--past the house in which I was born, which is across the street from the house in which I was raised.  Both are a short walk from the old Gahanna Community Church and my grade school where the same monkey bars I used to reach for are now about chest high.

My mother was born in that town, as was her father and his father before him and his father before him all the way back to the founders of that town.  There are many generations of my family resting in the town cemetery where I will someday be laid to rest.  A war memorial is in the center of the cemetery with the names of those who served in the Great World War Two from our town, including Nancy’s father.  When my walk takes me to the cemetery, that same memorial is decked out in bunting for a service later in the day while the surround graves have been recently mowed and trimmed and most all are freshly planted in flowers.  The graves of veterans are marked with American Flags.

A little further down the way is a larger memorial to those who have served in the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force or Coast Guard.  Brick pavers bear the names of my father, father-in-law, brother and even my own name as those who have served in one branch or another of the armed services—along with many other names familiar to me.  There is an eternal flame at the center of the memorial signifying the blessed memory of a grateful nation which refuses to be extinguished—most especially the memory of those who made the supreme sacrifice in service to their country.  And so it goes in cities and towns across this land, including the fair town of Aurora, Ohio with its flag-festooned cemetery and memorial to veterans at Breezy Park.

And so it also goes in cities and towns around the world who have a similar debt owed to their war dead.  Nancy, the kids and I happened to be touring the Arc de Triomphe in Paris when we were inadvertently caught up in a wreath laying ceremony.  An insistent Frenchman in uniform lined us up in front of a crowd to lead everyone in singing the French National Anthem.  None among our clan, of course, could speak a word of French, but Mary said to just keep singing the word "watermelon" over and over again, which we did with patriotic gusto.  Afterwards we were invited to sign a large commemorative volume, into which Nancy wrote the words: "Remember the Normandy Invasion and Tank Commander Robert S. Lamneck, D-Day +7."

Regardless of where you live, there is something akin to religious fervor when remembering those who sacrificed themselves for our sake.  And so it should be, for at the heart of our Christian faith is a Lord who sacrificed himself for our sake.  In doing so, according to our religious tradition, he demonstrated the most profound love of all.  The title of our message for today is "Demonstrated Love."  It is important to say, "I love you," but it is infinitely more important to demonstrate "I love you," otherwise the words are empty and meaningless.

Again, the most profound way to demonstrate "I love you" is through sacrifices made on behalf of another.  That is why observing Mother’s Day and Father’s Day can also be attended by religious fervor because we are remembering those who made great personal sacrifices on our behalf.  It has been said that emotions are almost impossible to define with words, but I think we come close to defining love where "one makes personal sacrifices on behalf of another’s wellbeing."

According to our text for this morning, the Lord demonstrated the most profound love by sacrificing himself for our sake.  And the Lord demonstrated that love as an example for us to follow in our relationships with one another.  As he says in our Call to Worship, Love each other as I have loved you.  Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down one’s life for one’s friends (John 15:12-13).  It is with this biblical mandate that we observe such holidays as Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and Memorial Day because each lifts up love understood as personal sacrifice for the sake of another.

In our text for today Paul writes, You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly (Verse 6).  I wonder what made that time the right time?  About a year and a half ago I ambushed someone with a drinking problem.  After making quiet prearrangements with an Alcoholics Anonymous group I took this person on a seemingly innocent ride in my truck where we talked about the weather until we arrived at the parking lot of a church hosting this group meeting.

Once in the parking lot I hit the nail on the head about the drinking problem and asked if this person was ready for the kind of help only Alcoholics Anonymous could provide.  Apparently the timing was right because the answer was "yes" and, striking while the iron was hot, we got out of the truck and walked into the meeting.  I am happy to say that person has been a walking victory ever since.  But the timing had to be right for God’s redeeming grace to work.

Approached too early and denial could have proved too powerful a deterrent.  Approached too late it might have been too late to save a marriage or job or some other alcohol related casualty.  Approached too early and I might have risked a relationship by being considered too intrusive.  Approached too late and I might have failed a loved one in need.  As it happened, the time was right and that moment of truth is now thankfully remembered as an expression of love.

God’s love and grace are never an issue.  The issue is our receptiveness to God’s love and grace.  Sometimes God has to wait on us until his saving power can go to work and his love can express itself.  This is what I think Paul has in mind when he says, You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.  Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die.  But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Verses 6-8).

You will note three adjectives applied to the human condition, none of which is very flattering: powerless, ungodly, sinners.  A lesser god might just write us off.  A lesser love might not see the latent potential in the greatest of sinners like Saul who, once saved by grace, became the Apostle Paul.  But God’s love is a perfect love that sees beyond imperfections to the potential within.  God’s love is a patient love that is able to wait until the time is right for a heart to be receptive.  God’s love is a demonstrated love that goes way beyond mere lip service to the point of personal sacrifice on behalf of another’s wellbeing.

Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down one’s life for one’s friends.  God, through Christ, laid down his life for us.  He demonstrated the kind of love he expects us to have for one another—a love that makes personal sacrifices on behalf of another’s well-being.  There are many ways that we can make such sacrifices, but the greatest expression of all is when one literally lays down one’s life for the sake of others.  It is that profound sacrifice that we remember on Memorial Day.

This is a great nation.  It has its share of admitted faults, but what nation does not?  Nations are comprised of people, and people are sinners.  But on the balance, America stands out among the nations of the world—yes in terms of finances, military might and political influence but, much more important than these, in terms of the marked degree of personal liberty enjoyed by its people.  You don’t find it to near the same degree in China, India or Brazil, and neither do you find it in Afghanistan, Iraq or Venezuela.  You don’t find walls keeping Americans from leaving.  Quite the contrary, you find another problem entirely.

Americans love their country and will fight for their freedom.  Many times Americans have been underestimated in this regard by her enemies.  Thought to have been softened and weakened by freedom and affluence, Americans have shown themselves willing, time and time again, to offer what President Abraham Lincoln called "The last full measure of devotion" in service to the land of freedom.  And they have done it because they love this land.  As another President named James A Garfield is quoted at the top of our bulletin—a President who came from the Great State of Ohio and who preached from the pulpit of this church on more than one occasion—"For love of country they accepted death…."

Each day we are blessed to live in the land of freedom we benefit from a profound, self-sacrificing love offered on our behalf.  We owe a debt of love to those who loved us first.  Not just a flag-waving, lip service love but a demonstrated love like theirs.  How do we return a demonstrated love?  What sacrifices could we make on their behalf?  I suppose we would have to think about what is most important to those who serve at the battle’s front and in harm’s way.

President Garfield has already reminded us of their great love for country.  We can also easily imagine their love for family—for the spouses they have married and the young children from whom they must now be parted for months and maybe years at a time.  We can also appreciate the bond of love that binds them with their brothers and sisters-in-arms who constantly have their back in dangerous situations.  Indeed a great guilt is often borne by those wounded in battle and removed from their units to recover.  The obligation they feel to remain and protect their fellow soldiers is that great.

The voice of the fallen soldier cries out to us, if you want to return my love then take care of that soldier who was sitting next to me when our vehicle was struck by a roadside bomb—and who survived with a traumatic head injury.  Don’t make that soldier exposed to Agent Orange jump through impossible hoops to get some treatment, and don’t expose those widowed and orphaned by war to a life of poverty.  Don’t just tell me you love me on Memorial Day; demonstrate that you love me by making some personal sacrifices to provide for decent veteran benefits.

The voice of the fallen soldier cries out to us, I love this country.  I want you to love this country too.  Don’t misuse your freedom to indulge your carnal appetites at the expense of others.  Don’t weaken our nation by neglecting needful responsibilities that fall to you as a spouse or parent or citizen.  Learn from me how to sacrifice for the sake of the common good so that you may preserve and protect the land of freedom for our succeeding generations.  I have demonstrated my love for you.  If you want to return the favor, demonstrate your love for my country, my family and my fellow soldiers.

Audie Murphy was the most decorated soldier in WWII, having received virtually every citation including the Medal of Honor.  He was also a movie star following the war, starring in 44 films.  He was also a pistol of sorts.  Among other things, he could not manage money well so that his wife, Pam, was left penniless when he died in a plane crash in 1971.  While his grave at Arlington National Cemetery was becoming the second most visited grave after that of JFK, Pam was moving into a small apartment and taking a clerk’s job at the local VA to pay the bills and pay down the debt.

But despite his flaws, Pam loved her man whom she said was her hero.  When it became known that Pam was Audie’s widow, veterans would shake her hand with tears in their eyes as if General Patton himself stood before them.  But during her 35 years of service to the VA, where nobody could cut through red tape like Pam, she stood out on her own accord as a "VA Angel."  Indeed, when approached to be the subject of a Veteran’s Day column, Pam shook her head "no" and said: "Honor them, not me," pointing to a group of veterans down the hallway.  "They’re the ones who deserve it."