Memorial Day: Remembering Those Who Have Entered the Church Triumphant
This weekend is Memorial Day weekend. Originally Memorial Day was dedicated in the United States to honor those who have died in service to this nation. Memorials to soldiers killed in the line of battle are made. Growing up our Lutheran Pioneer train (#180, Mt. Olive in Appleton) would march in the annual Memorial Day parade, which ended at Riverside Cemetery, where a tribute to slain soldiers would be made.
Soon, this also included others who died in our stead, such as police officers and fire fighters. These men and women have sacrificed their life so that our streets and societies would be safer and our lives and property protected. Perhaps this was brought into sharper focus on Memorial Day 2002 as we remembered the many police officers and fire fighters who died in the World Trade Center towers on September 11, 2001.
In both cases we remember Jesus' words: "My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command." (John 15:12-14; New International Version)
Americans have also taken this time to remember ancestors and relatives who have been taken from the Church Militant to join the Church Triumphant. This assembly of the elect now in glory was seen by the Apostle of John in his vision on the Island of Patmos. This vision is recorded for us in Revelation 4 with the vision of the host arrayed in white.
This vision was set to music as a hymn, one of my favorites. It uses a Norwegian tune. Written by Hans Brorson, it vividly details the glory that will be ours after death. Thus for this Memorial Day weekend I will share my thoughts in a devotional style with this hymn.
"Behold a Host, Arrayed in White"
by Hans A. Brorson, 1694-1764
Text From: The Lutheran Hymnal (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1941)
1.
Behold a host, arrayed in white,
Like thousand snow-clad mountains bright,
With palms they stand.
Who is this band
Before the throne of light?
Lo, these are they of glorious fame
Who from the great affliction came
And in the flood of Jesus' blood
Are cleansed from guilt and blame.
Now gathered in the holy place,
Their voices they in worship raise,
Their anthems swell where God doth dwell,
Mid angels' songs of praise.
Brorson begins with the vision-faithful Christians who have passed on now in the company of the Lamb, the Lamb who was slain but now is risen, ascended, and ruling the earth. John was given this vision so that the Church would have hope in the trying times ahead. Much of what we read in Revelation is scary-the four horsemen, plagues, wars, famines, and death. But the vision also tells us that God is curbing the effects of these calamities. They are allowed, but only for a limited extent!
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