For many of us, the next few months are going to be filled with memories. Thanksgiving and Christmas will look very different this year and so we might spend a little more thinking back to when we were young, or when our children were young. Many laughs will be shared when someone will say, “do you remember when…” In our family it’s, “do you remember the year Mom dropped the stuffing and the cut glass bowl shattered? She cried because a family heirloom was gone. We cried because we had no stuffing. (Let’s be honest, the stuffing is the best part of Thanksgiving.) Or, maybe for you it’s, do you remember the Christmas we had no power? Or the Christmas I got my bike, or we gave our kids their first bike. A classic holiday movie is all about one man remembering the Christmas he got a Red Ryder BB gun and then went out and shot his eye out.
With limitations on what we might be able to do this holiday season, and who we might be able to be with, we can find great comfort and experience a measure of peace and joy in our memories. Remembering the past can be fun, and it can be a powerful force in our lives, but real transformation comes when we stop and remember God. Remembering God is so important to our lives and faith that one of the most common commands in the Bible is to remember. Over and over again God tells us to remember Him and what He has done. One of the last acts of Jesus was to command his followers to remember. Think about it, this was Jesus’ last night with his disciples, this was their final meal together, and some of Jesus’ final words to them were, every time you eat this bread or drink this cup - remember me. Do this in remembrance of me.
There are two important reasons why remembering God is so important. First, Remembering God in the past helps us TRUST God in the present. Remembering who God has been in our past and what God has done for us, helps us trust God for the moments we face today. We see this in the life of Moses. Moses told the people of Israel to remember God from their past in order to help them trust God for their present.
Moses had led the people out of Egypt and through the wilderness. He has the nation sitting on the edge of the Promised Land ready to enter, but there is a problem, the Promised Land is already populated. The people of God are filled with fear and doubt, and they begin to question whether they can actually move into this land and live there. To help them overcome this fear and to fill them with a sense of strength and purpose, Moses told them to remember. Deuteronomy 7:17-19
You may say to yourselves, “These nations are stronger than we are. How can we drive them out?” But do not be afraid of them; remember well what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt. You saw with your own eyes the great trials, the signs and wonders, the mighty hand and outstretched arm, with which the Lord your God brought you out. The Lord your God will do the same to all the peoples you now fear.
When they were afraid to move forward, and afraid they might fail, Moses told them to remember God and trust Him. If God was with us in the past - than he is with us today. We don’t need to be afraid, we can have faith. What do you need to remember to help you deal with the problems of today? What fear or obstacle can be overcome by remembering how God provided for you in the past?
One of the first big transitions in my life happened when I left CT and went to MSU. I didn’t know anyone in the state of Michigan let alone at MSU. It was a difficult time, and in the first few weeks I often wanted to give up and go home. My parents helped me make it through that difficult time until I had my feet on the ground and felt more comfortable. The next big transition came when I went to Yellowstone to work for the summer. The first few weeks were tough and my parents helped me get through it until I was feeling more comfortable. The same thing happened when I went to Colorado to work, and when I started at my first church in Altoona. Finally my mom said, Andy, your first few weeks in a new location are always difficult - but you always make it through and then enjoy what you are doing. I needed to remember how God had helped me in the past, to give me confidence that the present situation I faced could be overcome.
What do you need to remember from your past to help you face the challenges of today? Was it a time you were able to do more than you thought you could and looking back you realized God was with you? Was it a time when you experienced healing or hope, and so today you can trust God for the situation you face today? Maybe it was a time that you just got through by the grace of God, but looking back now you can see that God was there - so you can have assurance that God is still there. Remembering how God helped us in the past can help us trust God in our present situation.
The second reason remembering God is important is that, Remembering God in the past directs our actions in the future. When we can see the specific way God helped us in the past, it not only gives us strength for today, it can guide and direct our steps for tomorrow. Knowing how God has worked in our past truly can guide our decisions and actions as we move forward. One of the best examples of this comes from one of the most well-known stories in the Bible, David and Goliath. If you remember the story, Goliath was a giant who tormented the people of Israel. No one wanted to fight Goliath due to his size and strength, and so for 40 days the people of God were beaten down by their enemy. Morale was low, and defeat seemed sure, until David came along.
David was just a young man, maybe even a teenager, but he was willing to stand up to Goliath and fight him in battle. What is it that directed David’s steps in this situation? It was remembering how God had helped in the past. 1 Samuel 17:32-37a
David said to Saul, “Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him.”
Saul replied, “You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a young man, and he has been a warrior from his youth.”
But David said to Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.”
What gave David the courage to move forward and fight Goliath was remembering how God helped him fight lions and bears in the past. If God could bring him those victories, then God could bring him this one as well. Remembering God in the past guided David’s decision and directed his steps for the future. So once again, what do you need to remember?
Has God seen you through financial problems in the past? If he has, how does that direct your financial decisions for the future? Has God healed brokenness in your marriage? If he has, how can that help you create a healthier relationship in the future? Has God guided you in major life decisions? If he has, can that give you boldness and confidence to keep moving forward knowing that God will guide you as you go? What do you need to remember?
Now, I know some of you might be looking at a past that is pretty broken and dysfunctional and you might be saying to yourself, there is nothing I want to remember, nothing at all. I don’t want to remember what has happened to me or what I have done and the poor choices I have made. If that's the case, here is something to remember, God was with you through all those painful times and he helped you through. I can say that confidently because you are here today. By God’s grace, seen or unseen, you are here today so God did see you through and He will see you into the future. We can trust God for today and walk with Him into tomorrow.
Remembering God is important, but it is easy for us to forget, so let’s look at two things we can do to help us remember. The first thing we can do is Write it down. When we see God move, when we feel the presence of God at work, when we have been touched by God’s love and grace - write it down. When the people of Israel finally did cross into the Promised Land, they were led by Joshua. Most of the people crossing over were not the same ones who left Egypt so they weren’t the ones who saw the Red Sea part. Because they couldn’t remember firsthand the power of God, God does a new miracle for them to remember in their future. Joshua 3:14-17
So when the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant went ahead of them. Now the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest. Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge, the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away.
You have to believe that when this happened someone stopped to say, hey wait, isn’t this what God did when he parted the Red Sea? Isn’t this the power of God now leading us into the Promised Land? This moment did remind the people that God had been with their ancestors in the past, but this was an important moment for them to remember into the future. It was so important that God told them to remember it. In essence he said, write it down. Joshua 4:1-7
When the priests who were leading the people stepped into the waters of the Jordan River to cross over into the new land, as soon as their feet touched the water, the waters stopped flowing. The Jordan River stopped flowing so the people could cross over on dry ground and to help them remember this moment God tells the leaders of each tribe to take a stone from the dry river bed and set up a pillar, or altar, on the other side.
When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, “Choose twelve men from among the people, one from each tribe, and tell them to take up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, from right where the priests are standing, and carry them over with you and put them down at the place where you stay tonight.”
So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, and said to them, “Go over before the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ Tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever.”
These stone pillars were a testimony to God’s presence, power, and provision. It was their way of writing down this historic moment so that in the future they could remember it and tell their children. We can mark the stories of God’s provision by actually writing them down and keeping a journal, but there are other ways we can do it. Pictures are a great way to remember God’s provision, power, and presence. Every picture of Yellowstone is a reminder that God provided for me. I have a painting of my church in Lewisburg and a wood carving of my church in Altoona and they remind me that God provided for me in these places and used me for His purpose so He will do it again. Pictures, art, music, and journals, are all ways we can write it down and then go back to remember.
Another way to help us remember is to Tell it to others. The stone pillars weren’t just to remind the people what had happened, they were also to remind the people to tell God’s stories to others. Sharing our stories not only helps us remember, they can help other people see God’s hand at work in their own lives. Specifically we need to tell the next generation about God’s presence and power. Our children and grandchildren need to hear about our faith and know that they too can trust God. In fact, God tells us to make sure we share our faith with the next generation.
A few weeks ago, our church and community lost a true servant, Lew Wian. Lew, and his wife Pat, helped make the food bank what it is today. Lew worked hard, quietly, and faithfully for more than 10 years to make sure people in our community had food. He put his faith into action, but he also knew God told him to share his faith. At his memorial service, I was blessed to be able to share some passages that Lew highlighted in his Bible and some of the comments he wrote in the margins. This is from Psalm 78:1-4a
My people, hear my teaching; listen to the words of my mouth.
I will open my mouth with a parable; I will utter hidden things, things from of old—things we have heard and known, things our ancestors have told us. We will not hide them from their descendants; we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, his power, and the wonders he has done.
Under this passage Lew wrote - Teach the next generation. God wants us to remember the past so that we can not only stand strong in our faith but so we can teach the next generation that they can also trust God. There is no one else who will do this. The schools won’t do it. The government won’t do it. The secular entertainment and sports world won’t do it. We have to do it. We have to write it down and tell it to others.
We close worship today by remembering what Jesus specifically wanted us to remember. We remember that God so loved the world that He sent his one and only Son so that whoever might believe in Him might not perish but have everlasting life. We remember that Jesus loved us so much that He gave Himself fully for us so that we might be able to live life to the fullest. We remember that God is with us in this meal and that the fullness of God’s grace and power is here to help us trust God today and guide our actions tomorrow. Jesus said, every time you do this - remember me.
What do you need to remember about Jesus today?
Next Steps
Remember
What is one of your favorite memories? Why is it special? Share that memory with someone this week.
Read Deuteronomy 7:17-19 and 1 Samuel 17:34-37
● Why was remembering what God had done in the past so important?
● How did remembering these things help David? How did it help the people of Israel?
● What do you need to remember about God? (Think about who He is, what He has done, and what He has done in your life.)
Read Joshua 4:1-24
● How and why did God want the people to remember this moment?
● How can you document the moments of God’s provision and power working in your life?
● Write down this week the ways God has been faithful to you.
● Who can you tell this week about God’s love and grace?
How can you start living today so that tomorrow you will have powerful memories of faithfulness to draw from?
