Why is it that
we can remember some things, but forget others? I dare say there are
certain reminiscences that will stay with us until the day we die—that
moment when Dad took off the training wheels and we zoomed down the sidewalk
for the very first time, when we finally passed the driving test, when we
walked across the stage on graduation day, when we walked down the aisle on
our wedding day, or the time we bid our final goodbye to a loved one. Those
experiences of profound emotion, excitement, joy and even grief are the
kinds of things not easily forgotten. At the same time there are plenty of
things we tend to forget—our lunch money, an appointment at the doctor’s
office or an important anniversary or birthday. I get kidded at home a lot
of times because while I am able to remember the most useless piece of
trivia from years and years ago, like the family telephone number when I was
five years old, 425-3858, I can’t remember to pick up all the items on the
grocery list. What’s that all about, I ask you?
Still there are those
experiences in life that we remember all too well, but would just as soon
forget—the day we heard the news of a loved one’s serious illness, the time
when our words or actions broke another’s heart, the moment we recognized
that something or someone was completely out of our control. We can forgive
and be forgiven. We can do our best to forget, but sometimes, the pain, the
hurt, the resentment are difficult memories we carry with us for a long,
long time, maybe even a lifetime.
We’re reminded too of how
our forgetting can be just another means of denial of not remembering. The
past couple of Sunday’s, the Austin American Statesman has run a series of
articles on the sad story of the systemic removal of African Americans from
a number of communities including some right here in the Lone Star State.
We’ve all heard tell of the horrific accounts of beatings and lynchings that
we commonplace and even celebrated with a kind of festival atmosphere, but
the more subtle story of racial cleansing has rarely, if ever been told. If
you’ve not had a chance to read about it I really encourage you to do so.
I’ve been especially struck by some of the letters to the editor though,
letters that ask wonder why the writers had to go and dig up all that dirt
from so long ago implying that we’d all be better off if we just left it all
alone. I’m reminded once again of what Holocaust writer Ellie Wiesel has
said. “Those who forget the past are destined to repeat it.”
To a church that seems to
be suffering from a serious case of amnesia, Paul speaks a clear message.
“Remember. Remember the way things once were. And remember who you have
become.” Man, woman or child—no matter who you are, or where you’re headed,
it’s a good thing to remember. Yes, even as the church, we do well to
remember.
The way that Paul urges
the Ephesians to remember, you get the feeling that times haven’t changed
all that much. “Remember that at one time you Gentiles by birth, called
‘the uncircumcision’ by those who are called ‘the circumcision’…remember
that you were at that time without Christ, being aliens…and strangers to the
covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.” If he
goes to such great lengths to get them to remember, you get the feeling that
maybe they had begun to forget something very important. In fact they had.
They’d forgotten that there had once been a day when they didn’t even had
the proverbial pot in which to take care of their business a started to
believe in themselves rather than God, that because they were such great
people somehow they were owed something.
It’s a temptation that
church faces in every day and age. We may consider ourselves life long
Christians. For good reason, many of us myself included might even be able
to say that we’ve never known any different. But even if we’ve been going
to church, maybe even especially if we’ve been a part of the church all our
lives we are called to remember. And it’s important for us to get out of
the kind of individualistic mentality that so shapes us and the way we look
at things. Instead, we need to think in terms of our collective identity as
the people of God throughout all of history. Let’s put aside all that
nonsense about progress in the human condition, that by virtue of what we
know about human behavior and the world around us, we’re better people than
all those who have come before us. Nonsense! Our humanity connects us with
every generation that has come before and that will follow us, plain and
simple. When it comes to understanding ourselves, we too bear the tell tale
signs of a serious case of collective amnesia. We’ve lost that sense of our
true identity.
We presume that because we
are Christian, we’re on the inside track with God. And because of that
we’re afforded a position of privilege. We know what’s right so there’s
really no point in listening to someone else. We know the difference
between good and evil so what more is there to say? By implication the
church is a collection of like minded folks like me where my needs are met,
where I am made to feel good about myself, where my particular world view
and political opinions are affirmed and blessed. After all, we are God’s
chosen people and as such we’ve got it coming to us. When our stock is
rising, when our future seems bright and full of promise, why worry about
what has been? The past is the past. Let’s get over it! All this talk of
remembering gets kind of old. That was then but this is now! The world is
a different place these days. We have to protect our own self-interests at
all costs. Secure the borders. Clamp down on anyone who dares to call our
God given heritage into question.
The trouble is though, the
minute we start to think that we’ve got it made, that we’re one of God’s
insiders, it’s a sure sign that we’ve begun to forget and that we’re liable
to find ourselves on the outside, looking in. So, it’s a humbling message
that we’re met with today, a call to remember that we are not Lord’s unto
ourselves, that apart from God we’re nothing, that to forget is to put our
very lives in jeopardy.
But for people prone to
forget, for those who for the life of them just can’t remember, for you and
me Christ has come. “Now in Christ Jesus you who were once far off have
been brought near by the blood of Christ.” The wall of separation between
us and God, between us and our neighbor are gone. We are free, free from
our past and yet free to engage in holy remembering which leads us to
recognize that we are who we are today because of a God whose loving hand
has been at work in human history, molding, shaping and shepherding a holy
people to live in the bright light of grace.
Now because of what God
has done in Jesus we don’t have lift ourselves up by diminishing or
demonizing others. Every one of us in our own way can continue to keep the
covenant God has made with us in baptism, to strive for justice and peace in
all the earth, to seek first the kingdom of God and God’s righteousness.
“So then you are no longer
strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members
of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and the
prophets, with Christ Jesus as the cornerstone.” When it comes to building
the church, the Spirit definitely knows what the Spirit is doing. And as
the Spirit works in us through our collective remembering, the life we live
together in worship and praise of the one who is our hope, our peace, our
cornerstone, that a true and lasting foundation is laid. “In Christ, the
whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord;
into whom you are being built together spiritually into a dwelling place for
God.”
As God’s own, we remember
who we once were. At the same time, the Holy Spirit leads us to remember
that in Christ, God is for us. If God is for us, then who can be against
us? For the precious gift of memory let us give our thanks and praise.
Amen.
Pastor Brian Peterson
-
Really Simple Syndication (RSS) is a web format for
sharing "21st
Century Worship" on
PDA
channels for your handheld/PDA device, MP3 player or
smartphone