John Wilsey: Created to remember

NICK EICHER, HOST: Today is Tuesday, April 22nd. Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Nick Eicher.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: And I’m Mary Reichard. This past Saturday, April 19th, marked 250 years since the first shots were fired at Lexington and Concord. That clash launched what would become America’s War for Independence. WORLD Opinions contributor and historian John Wilsey says there are many reasons to remember it.

JOHN WILSEY: One week after the momentous events in 1775, the president of the Massachusetts Provincial Congress Joseph Warren wrote these words to his fellow colonists:

“We profess to be [the king’s] loyal and dutiful subjects, and…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, Warren was killed by the British at the battle of Bunker Hill. His body was dumped into a common grave by his enemies. Later, Paul Revere 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. He said it was not due to the Stamp Act. It wasn’t over the tea tax. It wasn’t even John Locke’s political philosophy. Preston had only read the Bible and the catechisms. “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 1775 have captured the imaginations of generations. 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.

As divine image-bearers, we possess great dignity, but as sinners, we have the tendency to forget the past and thus become fools. 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.

I’m John Wilsey.

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