in commemoration of Memorial Day in the United States, a rerun of an article published in 2003.
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When Israel crossed the Jordan River led by the priests
carrying the ark of the covenant, not one Jewish foot got wet (Joshua 3:17).
Safely reaching the other side, Joshua, following the LORD’s command, had a
monument set up. Twelve stones, one for each tribe, were set up as a memorial
to God’s protection of His people Israel (Joshua 4:1-7). Memorials are
important. Remembering the goodness of God or courage of patriots reminds us
that we didn’t get where we are by ourselves that we have God to thank and
others to remember gratefully.
In the United States, we recently observed Memorial Day.
Besides being a gateway to summer activities, Memorial Day is a day marked by
parades and speeches. Flags and flowers are placed on the graves of many
servicemen. It was first observed on May 30, 1868, for the purpose of
decorating the graves of the Civil War Dead. Now, it remembers all of those who
died in the wars our nation has fought. It’s good to remember such things.
Many nations have similar holidays, when the national heroes
are remembered. If the Soviet Empire was good at anything, it was the erection
of statues and monuments. Heroic statues dominated parks and corners in the
most far-flung corners of the Soviet Union and its various puppet states.
This is not necessarily the case all over the world. In
fact, the Tradewinds, a West Indian musical group, laments the lack of heroic
remembrances of the past in a song titled, “Where Are Your Heroes, Caribbean?”
Heroes are good things.
When my wife and I travel to Budapest, Hungary, one of the
sights I like to visit is the Szoborpark, “The Statue Park,” a small resting
place for monuments of the Soviet era. The statues, torn down and removed from
their former places of prominence, serve now as stark reminders of a dark past
in a nation struggling to overcome the results of domination, not only of the
Soviets, but of numerous occupations by foreign conquerors. A large statue of
Vladimir Illyich Lenin towers over the entrance to the park, just as Lenin
loomed large over the lives of so many in the extensive empire of the Soviet
Union.
One might argue that statues of Soviet heroes constitute
religious art, or even iconography. That by keeping these relics, the nation is
merely keeping alive the memory of their Soviet masters. I, for one, think that
the Hungarians have done a brave and wonderful thing by keeping these statues
as a reminder of a dark and vicious time in their history.
God's Word tells us that we need to remember the past. In
fact the word “remember” is used more than 230 times in Scripture. Granted,
most of those references refer to remembering the Covenant and the goodness of
God. But some are historical references, which bid us to remember the dark
days. For instance:
Deuteronomy 24:22 teaches, “Remember that you were slaves in
Egypt.”
Deuteronomy 25:17 advises, “Remember what the Amalekites did
to you along the way when you came out of Egypt.”
Deuteronomy 32:7 says, “Remember the days of old; consider
the generations long past. Ask your father and he will tell you, your elders,
and they will explain to you.”
The Apostle Paul instructs us, in Ephesians 2:12, to
remember that we “were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in
Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without
God in the world.”
History has meaning, and we abandon it at our own peril. A
society is well-served which is reminded of its own atrocities as well as those
perpetrated upon it. A nation should properly commemorate its accomplishments
as well as its flights into plain old national airheadedness. Christians,
especially, should have no problem embracing the idea that history is the
glorious tracing of the goodness of God — in our lives and in the grand scheme
of things.
Yes, we should tear down the "high things," those
idols to which we often give our obeisance. They often take less concrete a
form than statues, however. Sometimes we are our own idols, or we pay homage to
such things as education, good looks, and lineage (including church lineage!).
Such idols need to be taken off the altar of our hearts and replaced with
service to the One, True God. There are things that we should remember,
however. Our collective heritage should be remembered. Our wars, our societal
strife, our outrage, and our servitude should not be erased from our memories.
Just as God’s Word looks back at the history of Israel — its good days and the
bad ones — we should note the days of old. They are what helped to mold us.
They are lessons in godliness and godlessness.
It's entirely appropriate that the citizens of Hungary
maintain the statue park. It is good for them to remember the evil things of
the past along with their wonderful cultural and historical heritage. It is
also appropriate that the statue park should be located in a far corner of the
city which is wind-swept and difficult to reach. Remembering is good, but it
doesn't have to be in your face.
