BO WAGNER PASTOR
Deuteronomy 32:7 Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations: ask thy father, and he will shew thee; thy elders, and they will tell thee.
In the life of God’s people, Israel, there was a constant push by God and godly leaders for people to do whatever was necessary to remember their own past. In that text from Deuteronomy, Moses told them to remember the days of old, consider, think back on the years of many generations, ask your fathers and grandparents and let them tell you about it.
It was wise advice then for them, and it is still wise advice for us now. And since Monday, May 26 in Memorial Day, it is fitting, I think, to use this column for that purpose.
Rick Monday was the first player selected in the first draft in June 1965. He played 19 seasons of major league baseball, making two All-Star squads and appearing in the World Series two times. He was a member of the Dodgers’ 1981 World Series championship team. He hit the dramatic, game-winning home run in the ninth inning of the decisive game of the 1981 National League Championship Series at Olympic Stadium in Montreal; that is quite the list of accomplishments.
But it was at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles on April 25, 1976, that Rick Monday became a legend. Two protesters ran into left-center field and tried to set fire to an American flag after the start of the bottom of the 4th inning. Monday dashed over and snatched the flag from them and jogged it into the infield; the crowd went wild, cheering him on.
Ballpark police officers arrested and escorted the two intruders, William Thomas and his 11-year-old son, off the field, and afterward, the father of the boy was fined, charged with trespassing, and put on probation. When Monday came to bat in the top half of the 5th inning, he got a standing ovation from the crowd, and the big message board behind the left-field bleachers in the stadium flashed the message, “Rick Monday… You Made A Great Play…” He later said, “If you’re going to burn the flag, don’t do it around me. I’ve been to too many veterans’ hospitals and seen too many broken bodies of guys who tried to protect it.” You see, Monday had served a six-year commitment with the United States Marine Corps Reserve as part of his ROTC obligation.
But if the exact same thing happened today, it is likely that Monday would be vilified, sued along with the team, and would lose and/or be arrested, while the flag burners would become celebrities. The times, they are a-changing. This country for decades now has been having an internal war, a war for the heart and soul and values of this country, and the outcome is still uncertain.
Within about 150 years after its discovery and adventurers then rushing to its shores to start a new life, the colonies found themselves in a fight for their lives and liberty. Though they were separated by an ocean, King George of England was determined to rule them with an iron fist. He subjected them to taxation without representation, people were forced to quarter standing armies, and innocent people were deprived of jury trials.
The colonies protested, and George III responded, “Blows must decide whether they are to be subject to this country or independent.” George moved the greatest army on earth against America. Many Americans, then like now, wanted peace at all costs. But on March 23, 1775, Patrick Henry responded this way in the Virginia House of Burgesses: “The battle, Sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave. Besides, Sir, we have no election. If we were base enough to desire it, it is now too late to retire from the contest. There is no retreat, but in submission and slavery! Our chains are forged! Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston! The war is inevitable– and let it come! I repeat it, Sir, let it come!
“It is in vain, Sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry peace, peace– but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God!”
Henry then summed up the American spirit with this memorable conclusion: “I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death!” This is what millions of people have put on the uniform and died for: liberty.
Edmund Burke understood this. In the British Parliament in 1774, Burke was arguing for conciliation with the Colonies and trying to explain to his government what they did not seem to understand about America and Americans. He said, “In this character of the Americans, a love of freedom is the predominating feature which marks and distinguishes the whole; and as an ardent is always a jealous affection, your Colonies become suspicious, restive, and untractable whenever they see the least attempt to wrest from them by force, or shuffle from them by chicane, what they think the only advantage worth living for.”
Freedom: the only advantage worth living for. That is the bedrock founding principle of the United States of America. Tell your children and grandchildren; make sure they know.
Bo Wagner is pastor of the Cornerstone Baptist Church of Mooresboro, NC, a widely traveled evangelist, and the author of several books. His books are available on Amazon and at www.wordofhismouth.com
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