Remembering

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Wednesday, September 13, 2017

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Dedicate to me every firstborn among the Israelites. The first offspring to be born, of both humans and animals, belongs to me.”  So Moses said to the people, “This is a day to remember forever—the day you left Egypt, the place of your slavery.  Today the Lord has brought you out by the power of his mighty hand….“On the seventh day you must explain to your children, ‘I am celebrating what the Lord did for me when I left Egypt.’  This annual festival will be a visible sign to you, like a mark branded on your hand or your forehead. Let it remind you always to recite this teaching of the Lord:  ‘With a strong hand, the Lord rescued you from Egypt.’  So observe the decree of this festival at the appointed time each year.  Exodus 13:1-3, 8-10^(NLT)

With each passing year it becomes more difficult to keep the past alive.  Memory is a fading thing.  This is why we RE-member; we put back together that which has been DIS-membered from us (no matter how imperceptibly or how dramatically).  We regather our sense of that moment in time when things changed. 

Some things need to be kept alive.  For a nation at war, there needs to be a recalling of why we do what we do – why we continue to send our sons and daughters into harm’s way.  Because once purpose fails in our memory, once reasoning is put aside in favor of action, that which remains becomes grotesquely horrid, a caricature of what was once a noble quest, and now a thing filled only with the carnage of blood and future victims of PTSD.  War becomes our reason for war.

Like Israel, we are to remember the place of our slavery.  When we remember why we embarked upon a bloody course of fighting, we can re-focus on where the goal is, and when enough will be enough.  We remember to keep our direction sure and our course to our objective of peace straight.

This is what a memorial is supposed to teach, how things went wrong, and how it was put right.  In so doing we teach our young ones who were born into the chaos we now experience – those who have no memory of why the chaos began – that chaos is not our target; our target is an end to chaos.

Another memorial was created to teach how things went wrong.  We call it by many names:  the Supper, Communion, Ordinance, Sacrament, Eucharist and more.  There are not many moving parts…a bit of bread, a sip of wine.  But as the simplicity of the 9/11 memorial begs a storehouse of nightmarish memories 16 years ago, the Lord’s Table envisions the war of the ages begun in Eden.  It is the covering of blood over the sin of our species.  It is the event of the cross where we RE-member; it is where the broken members of our spiritual being are knit back together, so we are once more whole and fitted parts of our Creator’s body.

This then is the target we revere and to which honor affixes expending the price – peace in a world gone mad with the lust of anger, lust and killing.

Truly, let us remember our loss, and justly, let us push for the restoration of what is holy and right.

For You Today

It is well-said that freedom isn’t free; neither is the cost of remembering. 

And the highest cost is certainly that of forgetting!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road…have a blessed day!

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[1] Title Image: Courtesy of Pixabay.com

We Remember

Thursday, September 11, 2014

Do the best you can to live in peace with everyone.  My friends, don’t try to punish anyone who does wrong to you.  Wait for God to punish them with his anger.  In the Scriptures the Lord says, “I am the one who punishes; I will pay people back.” 

But you should do this:  “If you have enemies who are hungry, give them something to eat.  If you have enemies who are thirsty, give them something to drink.  In doing this you will make them feel ashamed.”            

Romans 12:18-20 (ERV) © 2006 by World Bible Translation Center

If you’re older than 20 it’s hard to forget where you were and what you were doing that day.  I was sitting in my study at church.  The church secretary had turned on the TV and she cried out from down the hall, the Trade Center is on fire.

My immediate thought was simply:  a fire.  That changed quickly.  As we stood watching the first tower burning, reports started unfolding of an “accident” – an airliner had collided with the building.  And, while we watched, the second plane hit.

The word “terrorism” has been part of our national vocabulary ever since.

Throughout that first day we were frustrated trying to get in touch with family and friends living in New York and the surrounding area.  It was a frightening, sickening sensation, wanting to know if loved ones were alright.

Events over the past 13 years have not diminished the memory; the terror in “terrorism” and the devastation in loss have that effect.

But while the terrorists wanted to implant terror – fear which refuses to go away – for most Americans the fear was temporary; what lasts to this day is a cry for justice.

But justice is an incredibly sharp, double-edged pendulum; when it swings it will swiftly measure and exact retribution.  It is much like the man who was obviously guilty and brought before the judge.  With indignation he bellowed, “Judge, I want justice!”  The judge calmly replied, “Sir, considering the evidence against you, I think you meant to ask for mercy.”

This is why Paul reminds us to leave vengeance or payback to the only judge equipped to handle it – God Almighty.  All of us are too bent toward sin to demand justice.  Osama bin Laden has been gone several years now.  Although we may have felt some sense of “closure” at his death – did that really satisfy a thirst for payback? 

Vengeance is like drugs, materialism or sexual perversion – nothing is ever enough; there is always a desire to push-on to the next level, go deeper and gather more.  Vengeance is a dish you cannot serve cold; only God can judge justly.

So What Now?

Today marks the 13^th anniversary of the attacks.  Many of us are still often reminded of how different our lives became on that day:

·        security measures at travel venues and sporting events. 

·        9-11 speaks volumes of indelible images to our minds of tragedy and suffering

·        there is distrust and presumed guilt for persons of Muslim faith.

But Paul reminds us to do [our] best to live in peace with everyone. 

He suggests reversing the fear or terror factor by ministering to our enemies who are hungry and thirsty.

I can think of only one first step in any of that – relinquish!  Let go of fear, anger, or distrust of others.  Give it into God’s capable hands and let Him work out the justice.  Place yourself in the middle of His mercy.

For You, Today…

What will you remember today?

I suggest you remember the cross of Calvary, where we were the terrorists, and Jesus forgave.  Then you’ll be in a place to forgive others.