Remembering and Forgetting

Communion Scripture:

Psalm 136:1 (CSB)

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.

His faithful love endures forever.

Sermon:

Thank you! I want to start this new year to express my gratitude for this church and the way you have showed love to us while Cathy is sick. Cathy is doing very well and has responded to the treatments she received in Kansas City. Her chemotherapy took away the protection of her immune system. How many of you have had at least one Covid shot? Cathy had five or six, but the chemotherapy took them all away. This means she must be very careful for a few more months as her body heals and she begins receiving the vaccines that were destroyed by the chemotherapy.

During this time, my job has mostly been cleaning. One thing that is very dangerous for Cathy is dust. That means I vacuum away all the dust I can find in the house twice a week. On another day, I vacuum and clean all the floors. I clean the bathrooms every day. Do you need me for some house work?

It is very exciting for me to be with you in this new place. What an answer to prayer it is to be here. God has truly been at work in Wanamaker Woods for them to open the doors for us to meet here. I am thankful for them and their missionary heart.

Happy New Year!

Today, I want to talk about two things we should do as the old year ends and the new year begins. These are things important for us if we want more and more of the life of Jesus in us.

First, we must remember.

Judges 8:34 (CSB)

The Israelites did not remember the Lord their God who had rescued them from the hand of the enemies around them.

If you know about the book of Judges, you realize that it was a very dark time in the lives of God’s people. Moses had led them to the Promised Land, but he died. Joshua led them to claim what God was giving them, but Joshua was dead. That began the period when the people would forget God’s goodness and begin worship the terrible gods of the people around them. Then God would send a judge to rescue them. They would do better for some years, then the judge would die and the people would return to their sin.

Remembering is so important that God had the people do a variety of things to remember what he had done. They couldn’t see down at a computer or pick up their phone and say, “Siri, remind me what God did for our people.” They didn’t have phones or computers. They didn’t have pens and ink. Gradually they had scrolls of material on which things were recorded. But the most important way for them to remember for hundred of years was to tell the stories over and over of God’s faithfulness.

Here is one example of what they said:

Psalm 136:1–9 (CSB)

1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.

His faithful love endures forever.

2 Give thanks to the God of gods.

His faithful love endures forever.

3 Give thanks to the Lord of lords.

His faithful love endures forever.

4 He alone does great wonders.

His faithful love endures forever.

5 He made the heavens skillfully.

His faithful love endures forever.

6 He spread the land on the waters.

His faithful love endures forever.

7 He made the great lights:

His faithful love endures forever.

8 the sun to rule by day,

His faithful love endures forever.

9 the moon and stars to rule by night.

His faithful love endures forever.

This Psalm has 26 verses. Do you know what is the same in every verse?

HIS FAITHFUL LOVE ENDURES FOREVER.

I asked all of you to remember one way God has been faithful to you in 2022.

“What is one way you saw God at work in your personal life in 2022?”

I don’t want long stories, but clear, short answers. I don’t want ways people saw Him at work in the church or in the life of someone else. I want this to be about each person and their own walk with God. My answer would be, “God taught me that He can even use cancer to give us opportunities to share His love with other people.”

After each person shares, we will say together:

HIS FAITHFUL LOVE ENDURES FOREVER.

God wants us to remember! Thank you for remembering with me today!

Second, we must forget.

This might seem a little strange, telling you that something else we must do at this time of year is to forget.

Philippians 3:13–14 (CSB)

13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead, 14 I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus.

How many of you drive a car?

What if you spent all your time lookout at the rear view mirror?

Spiritually, it is important that we focus on what is ahead of us and not what is behind us. Here are two great dangers not forgetting:

We fail to release hurts and disappointments.

We have all gone through the pain of disappointments of life.

Our child rebels and refuses to have a relationship with us. Our boss fires us after a coworker lies about us. Our spouse was unfaithful. Our friend ignores us because of new friends.

Disappointments can drive us into depression and despair. We must learn to let them go so that we can go forward with joy.

We begin to believe our best days are behind us.

In can be so tempting to believe we are too old to have a purpose in life. We can grow weak and lazy because we don’t exercise our body and our minds. We fail to understand that our older years can be some of our best years in our walk with God.

If you have ever studied leadership or management, you have read something by Peter Drucker. Drucker was known around the world as a teacher of management and he had 39 books published on this subject. The amazing thing is that when he turned 65 years old, he had only written 13 of those books. After at 65, he wrote 26 more books!

Never say you are finished! Never quit believing that God wants to work in and through you. As long as you are still breathing, keep looking forward to what God wants to do in your life.

Now, please bow your heads. Ask God: “Lord what do You want to do in me this year.” Please speak to my heart and show me. Help me let go of hurts a disappointments that have held me back. Grow my faith to believe that You have something special You want to do with me in 2023.