THE ULTIMATE ULTIMATE SACRIFICE

Memorial Day is just that: It is a day to refresh our memories of all those who died that we could enjoy the freedoms we have today. It is a day when we honor those who paid the "ultimate sacrifice." When one contemplates the hundreds of thousands that have died fighting America's wars, our wars, it is overwhelming. What a high price has been paid that we might, among other things, worship freely this morning. Recently, I completed reading a book chronicling firsthand accounts of the Allied invasion of Europe in World War II. It was moving to read of the almost unbelievable deprivations, hardships, suffering those soldier boys faced. Then, there were all those that were killed. One account really got to me. During the invasion, to supply the front line companies that were being rapidly depleted by casualties, new recruits were transported from here at home to the frontline with minimal training. One teen age recruit had just been a few weeks in the infantry. Days later he was transported to France. Hours later he was put into a fox hole on the front line. Minutes later, he was dead. He never fired his rifle. He was just put into a hole in the ground that had an artillery shell dropped into within fifteen minutes. He performed no heroics, yet he still gave his all. Certainly, he and the countless others paid the ultimate sacrifice. "Ultimate" means no greater. We might should just leave it at that. But, Jesus paid an even greater than ultimate sacrifice. He not only suffered the awful bodily and mental pain in the tortuous death of the cross. He, also, bore the weight of all our sins, the onslaught of all of the forces of hell, and the awfulness in that moment when the Father turned his face from Him. Perhaps we can say that Jesus paid the Ultimate Ultimate Sacrifice. We remember that today.