THE COVENANTER
But the irony goes even deeper than that. was without honour and dignity; he is
Why do we remember Absalom today? remembered for his father’s love and tears.
Because of the pillar which he raised to his And what of us? In the end of the day, what
own achievements? No. If we remember is it that gives you and me significance?
Absalom at all it is because of his father’s love Surely it is that God, who made us, so loved
and tears – “O my son. Absalom! My son, us, rebels that we are, that he gave his Son to
my son Absalom. If only I had died instead die for us. That is the measure of the worth
of you. O Absalom, my son, my son!” God places upon you and me
This annual Commemoration Service which David wept when he learned of Absalom’s
has taken place on this Sunday for the past death, and cried, “if only I had died instead
40 years is an Absalom’s pillar of sorts. And a of you, O Absalom, my son, my son.” But
fine and worthy pillar it has been. All honour God has not only shed tears over us. In
to those of you who have kept the pillar in Christ he has borne the consequences of our
good repair all these years. And though rebellion. He did so at Calvary. He died in
this is the last formal commemoration of our place. What David wished he could do
the regiment’s disbandment, the memories for Absalom, God actually did for us.
will live on, and the camaraderie and
friendships forged in active service across That is the heart of the gospel. “The Son of
the world, and the pride in having served God loved me,” says the apostle Paul, “and
with the Cameronians. The regiment’s place gave himself for me.” Or as he puts in his
of honour in the annals of military history letter to the Romans which was read to us
is secure. The Cameronians will always be earlier in the service by Colonel Mackay,
remembered. Of that there is no question. “Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely
will anyone die for a righteous man, though
But to return to our story, Absalom is for a good man someone might possibly
remembered, not because of the pillar he dare to die. But God demonstrated his love
raised to his achievements, but because for us in this; while we were still sinners,
of his father’s love and tears – “O my Christ died for us.
son, Absalom. My son, my son Absalom.”
Absalom is remembered because of his CS Lewis, that great apologist for the
father, and for no other reason. Christian faith back in the 1940s and 1950s
(and how we need another CS Lewis in our
But what about you and me? Are there not day to commend the faith to those whose
parallels between ourselves and Absalom? mindset leaves no place for God) described
Surely there are. Like Absalom, like the Christ’s death for us on the cross as the
prodigal son in the parable Jesus told, we “intolerable compliment which God has
too are rebels. We’ve rebelled against our paid us.” Intolerable because we can’t ignore
Father in heaven. And like Absalom we it or escape it. The fact that God wept over
have erected monuments which proclaim us and gave his Son to die for us, ensures that
our independence of God, and which we shall be remembered, and remembered
defy his authority – monuments to man for all eternity. Because at death we won’t
which glorify his achievement and which lapse into oblivion. There is no question of
proclaim, “Glory to man in the highest!” God forgetting us. How could he when he
The face of the earth is covered with them. gave his Son to die for us. The question is:
But, of course, it is also littered with piles how will we be remembered? Will we be
of rubble which mark the place where those welcomed with the words, “Well done, good
who built monuments to themselves came and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of
to a sticky end (think of Hitler’s bunker) - your Lord”? Or will we be dismissed with
just like Absalom who built a monument the words, “Depart from me. I never knew
to himself, only to end up under a pile of you.”? Eternal destinies hinge on how we
stones in a dark corner of a forest. So there shall be remembered.
is a parallel between the story of Absalom
and our story. May this final service of commemoration,
followed by a last conventicle, point us to
But we can press the parallel even further. that day when one way or another, we shall
Absalom is remembered not because of all be remembered by the God whose verdict
the pillar he raised to his achievements, alone matters.
far less for the ignominy of his end which
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