The Good Old Days
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They don’t make things like they used to
They don’t make things like they used to
Some time ago I was working on repairing something in our garage. I cannot say with any certainty what it was, but it involved a wrench and a great deal of pressure. At some point I became frustrated with my lack of progress and decided to apply a bit more pressure to the wrench and after a moment I felt movement. I thought, “Finally!” and pushed a bit harder and snap! The wrench had broken. As I was rubbing the soreness from my hand that had smacked the wall from the sudden momentum, I said in the most Christian voice I muster,”They just don’t make things like they used to.”
We’ve all likely used that expression at some point, at least those of us who have a little gray hair have. I remember as I said it that I sounded very much like my Dad. He would declare daily how much better things were when he was younger. And not just a few things were better in Dad’s younger days, but everything and I mean everything was better. Music? Better. Cars? Better. Coffee? Better. Everything was better back in Dad’s glory days. But it isn’t just Dad that felt this way, I think we all tend to have similar thoughts. Bruce Springsteen penned a song called “Glory Days” and the lyrics reminisce about how everything was bigger, better, brighter, faster, back in the Glory Days.
So we all tend to have these thoughts or feelings from time to time. Now before we go to far I want to give a disclaimer right here that there is absolutely nothing wrong with reminiscing. In fact I think most would agree that looking back on the fond times in our lives can provide us with some hope for the future and comfort us in times of distress. But what I’m about to talk about goes way beyond nostalgia, way beyond, reflection and beyond the enjoyment of warm memories. The best way to illustrate this is to look over some scripture together:
“If only the Lord had killed us back in Egypt,” they moaned. “There we sat around pots filled with meat and ate all the bread we wanted. But now you have brought us into this wilderness to starve us all to death.”
“We remember the fish we used to eat for free in Egypt. And we had all the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic we wanted. But now our appetites are gone. All we ever see is this manna!”
This is a fascinating portion of scripture. The Israelites had just witnessed the Lord’s mighty victory as He parted the Red Sea so they could go safely across while slamming the walls of water down onto the Egyptians in defense of His people. You would think that at this point in their journey they would have realized that there was nothing that was beyond the power and reach of almighty God. You would think… But then they became a little uncomfortable and got a little hungry. Loved ones that is all it took for them to develop some warped amnesia. Look again at : They talked about unlimited food! They talked about sitting around and feasting! How easily they forgot what their condition really was:
This is a fascinating portion of scripture. The Israelites had just witnessed the Lord’s mighty victory as He parted the Red Sea so they could go safely across while slamming the walls of water down onto the Egyptians in defense of His people. You would think that at this point in their journey they would have realized that there was nothing that was beyond the power and reach of almighty God. You would think… But then they became a little uncomfortable and got a little hungry. Loved ones that is all it took for them to develop some warped amnesia. Look again at : They talked about unlimited food! They talked about sitting around and feasting! How easily they forgot what their condition really was:
That same day Pharaoh sent this order to the Egyptian slave drivers and the Israelite foremen: “Do not supply any more straw for making bricks. Make the people get it themselves! But still require them to make the same number of bricks as before. Don’t reduce the quota. They are lazy. That’s why they are crying out, ‘Let us go and offer sacrifices to our God.’ Load them down with more work. Make them sweat! That will teach them to listen to lies!”
So the slave drivers and foremen went out and told the people: “This is what Pharaoh says: I will not provide any more straw for you. Go and get it yourselves. Find it wherever you can. But you must produce just as many bricks as before!” So the people scattered throughout the land of Egypt in search of stubble to use as straw.
Meanwhile, the Egyptian slave drivers continued to push hard. “Meet your daily quota of bricks, just as you did when we provided you with straw!” they demanded. Then they whipped the Israelite foremen they had put in charge of the work crews. “Why haven’t you met your quotas either yesterday or today?” they demanded.
So here we see the reality of their past. They were called lazy. Their resources were taken away. They were further oppressed. They were pushed hard. There was no grace and no compassion.
It almost seems insane that they could forget and it seems absolutely incredible that they would construct a narrative about the past that was simply not true and yet we can see that is exactly what they did.
How? Why?
There is a temptation to worship the past
There is a temptation to worship the past
It seems to me that when there’s conflict, discomfort, stress, or resistance in our present, we began to worship the past. We allow our perception of things to become warped. We go from reminiscing about what was to distorting it and from distorting it to eventually worshipping it. This is true weather we’re talking about objects, people, and especially the past.
Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused. Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools. And instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they worshiped idols made to look like mere people and birds and animals and reptiles.
Here’s the pattern as laid out in Romans. They certainly knew God, but refused to worship Him and instead of giving Him thanks they began to think foolish things, like how much better it was back in Egypt. They worshipped idols and in this case the distorted memory of what was and as a result they missed the beautiful future God had planned for them.
But as surely as I live, and as surely as the earth is filled with the Lord’s glory, not one of these people will ever enter that land. They have all seen my glorious presence and the miraculous signs I performed both in Egypt and in the wilderness, but again and again they have tested me by refusing to listen to my voice. They will never even see the land I swore to give their ancestors. None of those who have treated me with contempt will ever see it.
Only God is worthy of worship. Not things, people, or even memories. God alone is worthy of our worship and our praise. And when it comes to the past you might be tempted to think that is merely a message about letting go of the bad parts of our past and embracing the good, or not distorting truth, but I’ve got to tell you we can get just as stuck in the positive moments as we can the negative and perhaps even more stuck.
God wants to do something new
God wants to do something new
This is what the Lord says—
he who made a way through the sea,
a path through the mighty waters,
who drew out the chariots and horses,
the army and reinforcements together,
and they lay there, never to rise again,
extinguished, snuffed out like a wick:
“Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past.
See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
and streams in the wasteland.
Isaiah 43:
This is what the Lord says—
he who made a way through the sea,
a path through the mighty waters,
who drew out the chariots and horses,
the army and reinforcements together,
and they lay there, never to rise again,
extinguished, snuffed out like a wick:
“Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past.
LOOK AT THIS PORTION OF SCRIPTURE!!!!!
Forget the former things! Do not dwell of the past!
See I’m doing something new!!!
Here, the prophet gives a direct reference to how the Lord delivered them from Egypt, speaks of God’s victory and then says forget the former things.
Why?
Notice He does not say to forget God. God is still active and preparing to do something new.
The new thing God was prophesied doing in this passage is Jesus, God in the flesh. But there was more: Jesus ascends back into heaven and God sends the Holy Spirit to indwell His church.
No… we’re not supposed to forget about God, we’re supposed to forget about, not dwell on the past.
I think its appropriate to say that the prophet isn’t saying we should have no memory of the things of God, but we certainly cannot get so stuck in the history that we never realize the new thing God is doing.
You remember the story of Lazarus? Dead for days and Jesus brought him back to life. I’m sure Lazarus remembered that tomb, but I’m also sure he did not ever spend an extended amount of time there after his new thing. What about the pool of Bethseda, that place of sickness, superstition and disease? You remember the story? You know who never went back there to hang out? The man Jesus healed and gave new life to. I’m sure they remembered fondly the day Jesus brought healing and life but what a waste if that’s as far as they had ever gotten.
The past is not where are glory days are.
A few weeks ago we had a fantastic rally in Syracuse where over 700 people came to worship, fellowship and learn. What good will any of it be if we just simply remember it? God wants to do more. So. Much. More. The glory days aren’t in the past, they’re right now. God in the present, living through His church as we love suffering humanity in Jesus name.
Yet not even Titus, who was with me, was compelled to be circumcised, even though he was a Greek. This matter arose because some false believers had infiltrated our ranks to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus and to make us slaves.
