Psalm 105:37-45
The Lord brought his people out of Egypt, loaded with silver and gold; and not one among the tribes of Israel even stumbled. Egypt was glad when they were gone, for they feared them greatly. The Lord spread a cloud above them as a covering and gave them a great fire to light the darkness. They asked for meat, and he sent them quail; he satisfied their hunger with manna—bread from heaven. He split open a rock, and water gushed out to form a river through the dry wasteland. For he remembered his sacred promise to his servant Abraham. So he brought his people out of Egypt with joy, his chosen ones with rejoicing. He gave his people the lands of pagan nations, and they harvested crops that others had planted. All this happened so they would follow his decrees and obey his instructions. Praise the Lord!
If you’ve ever slowly walked
through a graveyard, taking the time and thoughtful tour, you’ve also come away
wondering about the rest of the story of the lives that lay buried there. You wonder what it was like to be that
person, what joys, pains, sorrows and good times are also interred beneath the
stone in the cold earth. I’ve seen a few
lengthy epistles on a few headstones that tried to get as much of the story as
possible carved in stone. But how can
you get a person’s life summarized in 100 words or less, or, for that matter,
in 1,000 pages?
That was the opener for the
conversation between my best friend and me several days ago. We were headed for yet another doctor’s appointment,
and the pensive question bit into the silence as we drove; how can you tell a
person’s entire
story?
Of course, being the professional clergy in the conversation, my stock
answer came tumbling out before I even considered; nobody can tell another’s
story – we write our own obituary with the way we live, every thought, action,
relationship, gift, and conversation. Our
conversation lasted all the way to Winston.
And then the Psalmist showed up in
today’s lection, Israel’s epitaph: Every bit of what happened was so Israel would obey God’s laws
and will.
And, doesn’t that put meat on the bones of captivity, bondage,
suffering, plagues, Passover, wilderness, and all the story since Eden? Doesn’t it sum up the story of humankind from
the very moment of creation? God, the
loving Creator and parent of us all, did everything with us to lead us to Him,
His will, and a relationship with Him!
I have considered my bride’s question
since the moment it pierced the quiet ride we were having, and it led my mind
back to when I was 19 and my Dad had that conversation with me as I was getting
ready to leave my parent’s home and form a new household with Elizabeth. Dad only told me two things, the first being
when the difficult times came. those would be ours to work out; the leaving and cleaving clause in those marriage vows
meant accepting responsibility and the work necessary to making a marriage last
and also count. The second thing Dad
told me was like the Psalmist’s summary:
everything
your Mom and I have tried to do for and with you was so you will be closer to
God. Dad did say one other thing, but he said it
with a smile; that was: and, remember, you can always come home for a visit…a VISIT. (I got it….the leaving was a
one-way-door).
I think it’s an inescapable question
that flows from considering the worth of your story. It’s a question that most people on the
longer side of 5 or 6 decades of living (or more) must entertain. Let’s face it, when you get near that threescore and ten thing, you can’t avoid thinking about the next chapter. Life is brief, moves quickly, and disappears
like a wisp of wind. Or, as Dad was also
fond of saying in his later years, I ain’t buying any green bananas.
In the interest of tying today’s
thoughts and Israel’s story together with your story and mine, remember that
Israel’s story (as told by the Psalmist) was all about God’s presence and
providence. It was rescue, relationship,
and remembering. And this is exactly the
summary of why Jesus came – he died to rescue us, and draw us into an eternity
of relationship, and he doesn’t want us to ever forget that.
Let’s
Pray Together:
Father, we are mindful that our story does matter. We care that people know we lived, and that our lives counted. Help us to live so as to leave obedient footprints following after you. Help us to make our life’s stories impossible to tell without seeing Your holy child, Jesus, on every page.
For You Today
Do you recall the pizza commercial
line that asked the question:
So, what do YOU want on your tombstone?
You’re answering that question
every day!
You
chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road today.
Have a blessed day!
