A God Who Remembers

Introduction (5m)

We Remember

Died in WW’s and conflicts since. Those whose own lives blighted by life-changing injuries - physical/mental. Those whose family lives were changed forever by consequences of war.

We were created to remember by a God who remembers

In his image.

God commands us to remember

Remember the Sabbath, keep it holy.

Remember his wonderful deeds.

Remember the wonders God has performed.

Why does he demand this of us? Because he is a God who remembers and we are made in his image

Isaiah 49:15–16 NLT

“Never! Can a mother forget her nursing child? Can she feel no love for the child she has borne? But even if that were possible, I would not forget you! See, I have written your name on the palms of my hands. Always in my mind is a picture of Jerusalem’s walls in ruins.

The National Memorial Arboretum

Every day (except Xmas Day) over 300,000 people a year visit NMA to remember those who have served and sacrificed.

Photo

Nearly 400 memorials with name upon name upon name. Graven in stone to be remembered for long time to come. But however meticulous, not every name is there. Some will have been forgotten.

But God says they are never forgotten by him: graven on his hands. And neither are you.

Explanation (5m)

God’s promise to a people in exile

God’s people in strange land, away from homeland, feeling forgotten, abandoned.

Isaiah’s message is that God is about to free them from their bondage and lead them home.

Isaiah 49:13 NLT

Sing for joy, O heavens! Rejoice, O earth! Burst into song, O mountains! For the Lord has comforted his people and will have compassion on them in their suffering.

But God’s people (that’s us!) think they know better than the prophet, and their response is ...

Isaiah 49:14 NLT

Yet Jerusalem says, “The Lord has deserted us; the Lord has forgotten us.”

What a letdown! Look around at where they are/circumstances/problems/pain - “No. Forgotten. Forsaken.”

God’s people (that’s you and me!) can be impossible to please sometimes!

Isaiah’s message: joy, hope, redemption, remembrance but their response is gloom and doom.

Is it ever enough? What would a grand and powerful gesture by God be if we did not respond with a whine? The mountains get it, the children of God not so much. It is not easy for us to let go of suffering. Even when all of creation is recognising God’s comforting power, we are still left behind in an earlier time.… Free to come into the light … the people of God are too busy decrying how God has forsaken and forgotten them to recognise how keenly they are remembered and how gloriously they have been freed. Perhaps we do not need so much to pray for God’s intercession in the midst of our broken-ness as to pray for the discernment to recognise how God is already interceding for us. (Pastor Doug King)

Fortunately, God’s response to this is not to give up on us but to keep on reminding us that he remembers us

Isaiah 49:15–16 NLT

“Never! Can a mother forget her nursing child? Can she feel no love for the child she has borne? But even if that were possible, I would not forget you! See, I have written your name on the palms of my hands. Always in my mind is a picture of Jerusalem’s walls in ruins.

Stretches out hands - see! your names are graven there. God - cosmic but deeply personal. God loves us profoundly, utterly, perfectly. Has not forgotten us but remembers us as a mother would remember her child. As intensely as God’s people feel forgotten/abandoned by God, he intensely remembers and is connected with them.

The promise is this: Every time God stretches out his hand, he sees your name on it and remembers you. You are never forgotten.

Application (5m)

As we live in this hope, we are commanded to remember too

Not just those who have served and sacrificed as we do today. But to remember our mission:

Isaiah 49:6 NLT

He says, “You will do more than restore the people of Israel to me. I will make you a light to the Gentiles, and you will bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.”

A light to those who are not yet part of God’s family. To bring salvation, shalom to our community and beyond.

Many people in our community who feel alone, forgotten by God and by others. Living in poverty. Street homeless. Elderly and living alone. Suffering with mental health. Abusive relationships. Battling cancer and other diseases. Economic hardship. All can fuel a sense of abandonment.

We can respond (as we do - Employment Plus, CFL, Winter Assistance, Tuesday Fellowship, visiting, prayer ministry) and assure them not forgotten by us, nor by God.

Yes, we remember our fallen. Those who gave ultimate sacrifice.

We will not forget them. God will not forget them.

But we also choose to remember those who feel lost and abandoned today.

We will not forget them. God will not forget them.

The name of each one of them, like the name of each one of us is written on the palm of God’s hands.

The God who remembers.