On a 250th anniversary, what is the point of remembrance?

This past Saturday, April 19, 2025, marked the 250th anniversary of the military actions at Lexington and Concord, marking the start of what became America’s War for Independence. April 26, 1775—one week after the momentous events at Lexington and Concord in the colony of Massachusetts—Joseph Warren, the president of the Massachusetts Provincial Congress, wrote these words to his fellow colonists. He said, “We profess to be [the king’s] loyal and dutiful subjects, and, so hardly dealt with as we have been, are still ready, without lives and fortunes, to defend his person, family, Crown, and dignity. Nevertheless, to the persecution and tyranny of his cruel Ministry we will not tamely submit—appealing to Heaven for the justice of our cause, we determine to die or be free.” Less than two months later on June 17, Warren was killed by the British at the battle of Bunker Hill. His body was tumbled into a common grave by his enemies, but he was later identified by Paul Revere who recognized the body from a set of false teeth he had made for Warren.

Sixty-eight years later, a young undergraduate named Mellen Chamberlain interviewed a 91-year-old veteran named Levi Preston, who saw action at Concord on April 19, 1775. Chamberlain wanted to know why Preston fought the British. Was it because Preston had been angered by the Stamp Act of 1765? Preston replied, no, he had never bought a stamp nor had he ever used one. What about all the hub-bub over the tea tax? Was that what got Preston upset? Preston said, no, he did not drink tea, although he had heard reports of it being thrown into Boston Harbor. Chamberlain said it must have been that Preston had read John Locke’s political philosophy, or the writings of the great Commonwealthmen. No, Preston said, he’d never heard of them. He had only read the Bible and the catechisms. Then what, Chamberlain asked, made Preston want to go and fight the British who had advanced from Boston to attack Lexington and Concord? “Young man,” Preston exclaimed to the baffled questioner, “what we meant in going for those redcoats was this: we always had governed ourselves, and we always meant to.”

Stories like these from the battles of Lexington and Concord in April 1775 have captured the imaginations of generations of Americans since the event happened two hundred fifty years ago. Remembrance of the people, the ideas, and the occurrences of the American Revolution give us wisdom and inspire gratitude in the present. Also, stories like Warren’s and Preston’s powerfully engage our emotions and appeal to our sense of nobility. While these good effects are caused by remembrance and reflection, ultimately, they are not the primary reasons why we remember.

We remember the past because it is in our nature to do so as image-bearers of our Creator. Unlike any other creature under heaven, human persons know our place in time, as well as in space. We comprehend the passage of time as the thin line of the present continues to advance into the future. We carefully chronicle the past, learn from those who have gone before, and conserve the best of tradition as a stewardship to pass down to children and grandchildren. We look to the future with expectation for the fulfillment of hopes and aspirations for ourselves and those we love. As Christians, we look to the day when Christ will return to usher in the eternal age.

Animals do not have an awareness of their place in time, as intelligent as many species were made to be. Animals may have some ability to recall and remember, but not like divine image-bearing persons. To persons it has been given the power to mark the events of the past, to remember them, and to act virtuously as God commanded us in His Word and provided the model for righteous living in the faithfulness of His Son. We also have positive examples to follow and negative examples to heed in history as we pursue the good, the true, and the beautiful.

As divine image-bearers, we possess great dignity, but as sinners, we have the tendency to forget the past and thus become fools. Cicero wrote, “To be ignorant of what occurred before you were born is to remain always a child.” Proverbs 26:11 says, “Like a dog that returns to its vomit, so is a fool who repeats his foolishness.” When we give in to forgetfulness, we become neglectful of our traditions, our origins, and what makes us who we are. Forgetfulness leads to thanklessness; thanklessness leads to prayerlessness; prayerlessness leads to atheism. Paul identified the reason for the degeneracy of unbelievers when he said this in Romans 1:21—“For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their reasonings, and their senseless hearts were darkened.”

When we remember the 250th anniversary of the start of the American Revolution, it is not for the sake of vacant sentimentality, transitory amusement, or pedantic immodesty. We remember because we were created to do so. And in remembering the events that brought our nation into being, we give acknowledgement and thanks to the Father of lights, the Giver of every good and perfect gift. As our home and our heritage, America has been, and remains, a good gift that God has given to us. Praise God from Whom all blessings flow.