Remembered and Remembering
Grace, mercy and peace be unto you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. The text for this evening's message is the epistle lesson from Jude that was read earlier in the service.
Remembering and remembered.
How many of you have a great memory? Okay. I think I have a greater memory than you do. I can remember all the way back to when I was two. And I'm much older than you, even though you probably can remember when you were two. But I've got a lot more years that I could've forgotten since those years when I was two. But for as much as I can remember things that happened in my life when I was two years old, I can walk into the grocery store or the hardware store or the sporting good store and get everything but what I was supposed to go into the store to get in the first place. Part of that is, I trust my memory to remember what I'm going in the store for. But there's all kinds of other distractions. You know, in the grocery store, there's all kinds of other food items that sometimes look a little more appealing than what I'm actually going to the store to pick up. So those always find their way in my cart. And then, it isn't until I get home that then it's like, oh yeah, that's what I was going to the store for. And sometimes, I even go to the store three or four different times to get that same thing, and it takes me the fifth time before I actually bring it home with me.
In some ways, I suppose that may be how we sometimes remember God. Our Lord, Jesus. We may remember back how He worked in years olf old, but we may not, we may not be focused on how He is working in the here and now.
I had a great-grandmother who I never knew. I know her name was Clara. I knew what she look like from photographs. And I can almost picture her life through what my grandmother and her sisters and brother shared about great-grandma. Even though I never met her, I have a pretty good idea of what kind of person she was like.
None of us have ever seen Jesus. Oh, we may have seen pictures of him like we have one over there on the side of the sanctuary. Or we may have a picture of Jesus at home. Or maybe there's pictures in our Bible. But those are only people's thoughts about what Jesus might have looked like. Their interpretation of what He might have looked like. But even using those images and what we have in scripture that speaks about Jesus, we get to know an awful lot about Jesus, don't we? And we should remember a lot of those things that Jesus did and taught, and what God had been doing in the past to prepare for Jesus coming the first time. And if we remember those things, then we should be even better able to think about and remember that He's promised to come again.
We have a nice little letter in the scriptures. The next to the last book in the New Testament. And it's the letter of Jude. Now, I must confess, up until probably upper Sunday School, upper-grade Sunday School when we really had to memorize the books of the Bible, to be honest, I thought Jude was just the fellow that the Beatles were singing about in the song "Hey Jude." Who's Jude? And why does he have a letter in the Bible? And why is it in the back of the New Testament? Why is it tucked away in the back?
Jude is a brother of Jesus. And it's interesting that his letter appears in the scripture, because most of the other writings in the New Testament are written by either an evangelist and apostle or somebody connected to an evangelist or an apostle. For instance, Luke is tied with Paul. Mark is tied with Peter. But then there's Jude, and he's neither an evangelist nor an apostle, nor necessarily tied to an evangelist or apostle, and yet his words, his letter makes it into the scripture. It's one of those letters that we call a general letter. It's written to the church in general, not specific like St. Paul writes to Ephesus or Galatia. But like Peter, it's written to the church in general. And Jude is writing about 68 AD. So, about 35 years after Jesus had been crucified, died and risen and ascended to heaven. Now, 35 years, that doesn't seem like a very long time, does it?
How many of you can remember, something from 35 years ago? Right at the moment? Even I can't. I'd have to think about, well, when was 35 years ago? And then you realize that oh, that is a long time. In fact, it's approximately when I graduated from high school.
A lot has changed in 35 years. But there's still some things about high school and the students I went to school with that I do remember. Some good, some bad, some in between. But the thing is, when you show up at the class reunion, everybody looks different. Everybody looks different. One fellow, gentleman going to his 65th year class reunion looked in the gathering room, reception room, and he said to his wife, "This must be the wrong place." And his wife said, "No, it's the room, it's the room name that is on the invitation." "Well, it's full of old people," he sayd to his wife. And then there's little pictures on badges that identify what they looked like 65 years before.
But Jude is writing 68 years, 68 AD, 35 years after the events of Jesus' suffering, death, crucifixion, burial, resurrection, ascension. And he's writing because the church has begun to forget who Jesus is and what Jesus has done.
He opens with a greeting: Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, to those who are called beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ: may mercy, peace and love be multiplied to you. Beloved in God the Father, kept for Jesus Christ.
He goes on, then, in verse five: Now, I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, He has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day.
You'd say, well, what's he mean, Jesus saved people coming out of Egypt? Jesus is there, leading the people out of Egypt. They had forgotten that. And they were also beginning to forget that Jesus had delivered people out of the hand of slavery to sin, death and the devil, himself.
The apostles were passing away. The message was being forgotten.
I don't know how it is in your family, but my brother always ask me "Now, do you remember this?" You know, something about the family, the story. Well, yeah, I sort of do. Don't you? Well no, I was never around, paying attention to those stories. It's like, well, you probably should have, because then, between the two of us, we'd remember everything. But the people were beginning to forget. And so for Jude, it's critical to remind the people, remind the church to remember what Jesus has done. And to remember that Jesus is the Savior of those who believe and that He is the destroyer of the ones who don't believe.
Now, it's probably easy to remember that Jesus is the Savior of those who believe. We hear it again and again, and it gets reinforced for us. But this notion that Jesus is also the destroyer of the ones who don't believe, well, maybe we've forgotten that. Maybe we've forgotten that it wasn't just God saving the people from Israel, but God also destroyed those who, in their unbelief and the hardness of their heart, grumbled against God and Moses, sending those fiery serpents. But He was also the same One that saved them through the promise of: look to the serpent and live. He's the same God that Jesus speaking to Nicodemus says, God loved the world so much that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him might not perish but have eternal life. He did not come into the world to condemn the world because the world was already condemned by sin. And later on, He goes on and says the one who's condemned is the one who doesn't believe. And they're going to be destroyed.
And it's the same Jesus, Son of God who is both Savior and Destroyer. And if we fail to remember that, then we fail to remember what He's done. And we fail to remember that we are as believers those who are beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ. And constantly, constantly, God is offering opportunities for you and I to have our memories jogged. He reminds us that in the water of baptism, we became his child: His son and daughter. We have the font right there front and center. It's not back in the dark corner somewhere, only getting pulled out when we have a baptism, but it's there front and center. So that every time we gather here, we're reminded - particularly if you were baptised at that font - that God claimed me as His own. It's easy to see that, but in our day-to-day life, how easy is it to remember that we are baptized children of God?
How often don't we allow the world to dictate how we will behave, rather than the fact that were baptized children of God. How often don't we buy into the words of the world that want us to forget we're God's child. Who want to suggest that well, if God really loved you, then He'd give you everything that you want?
It's difficult to remember, and sometimes it's difficult to be reminded. But God wants to remind us that He remembers us, because He loves us. He wants us to know that He remembers us, even when we may forget Him, whether it's momentarily in the moment of temptation and we fail to remember and we plunge headlong into sin. Or maybe, it's for a longer period where we just get caught up in the things of the world and life, and we think there's no time for God. And before we know it, we forgot. We don't remember anymore.
Oh, that it would be just as simple as that Little Debbie's commercial where the Swiss cake roll comes out, and there's a little girl to the adult, saying, "Now, don't you remember when?" Oh I loved those Swiss cake rolls. And suddenly, she's back in her childhood. If it could only be that simple. And yet, it is, really. When our Lord bestows upon us His supper, and He gives us His body and blood. It's like "Remember when? Remember when you were so eager to receive?" And maybe that eagerness has waned. And yet, in that, not only do we remember Jesus and His suffering and death, but we are reminded that He remembers us.
The day will come when both Savior and Destroyer will judge all humankind. And there will be an accounting. We'll have to make an accounting of our lives. What have you done with the life I gave you? And those fail to remember, those who don't believe, they're going to be destroyed on the basis of their unbelief. And those who are saved, well, we're not being saved because we're such good and great people. But we will be saved because we remember Jesus and what He's done for us. We believe in Him.
Beginning of the service, every week, we have our confession of sins. And God says to us through the pastor: I forgive you your sins. And beyond that, God says, and I remember it no more. So, whatever you came in burdened with this evening, it's been forgiven. Is it going to show up on that last day on the Lord's print out of your deeds? No! Cuz it's been forgotten. But He remembers your faith.
That thief on the cross, what are his words? Jesus when you come into your kingdom, remember me. Remember me. And Jesus' words to him were: I tell you assuredly, today you will be with me in paradise. Jesus says those same words to us when we hear that our sin is forgiven. We have admittance into heaven.
But we must remember, beloved, the prediction of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. They said to you: in the last time, there will be scoffers following their own ungodly passions. It is these who cause divisions - worldly people devoid of the Spirit. But you, beloved, build yourselves up in your most holy faith. And praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourself in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. And have mercy on those who doubt. Save others by snatching them out of the fire. To others, show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh.
But you must remember, beloved - Jude goes on - the the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ predicted. They said to you: in the last time, there will be scoffers following their own ungodly passions. It is these who cause divisions - worldly people, devoid of the Spirit. There are scoffers in our world, aren't they? We may even know some of those scoffers. Oh, you're off to church again tonight. Didn't get enough on Sunday that you're going Wednesday? Doesn't matter that you're going to be out next weekend hunting. Scoffers. Well, what do you mean, Merry Christmas?
They follow their own ungodly passions. That's not to say that there aren't times when we, ourselves follow our ungodly passions. But when we do, hopefully the reproving of God's word draws us back to confess our sin. Because, by God's grace - thanks be to Him also - we are not devoid of the Spirit.
So then, as we await that last day when the Lord comes: both Savior and Destroyer, what should we be doing? How can we keep our memory about Jesus active and alive?
No, we don't need to go to the pharmacy and get some kind of a pill like those that are supposed to restore our memory or keep our memory going. We do have to involve ourselves in some things, but it's not like sitting down with a book of Sudoku, and working gradually from the very, very easy, up to the difficult. Or playing a game of Mahjong on your phone to keep your mind exercised. No, we do it. We do it as we participate. Jude says: build yourselves up in your most holy faith. Pray in the Holy Spirit. Keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. The Holy Spirit is actively working in us that we might actively be involved in those activities for our spiritual benefit.
But then also, we need to be mindful of those who are not of the faith. For whom, when Jesus returns, they're going to be destroyed. And we know some of those people, and we don't necessarily want them to be destroyed, but ultimately, it's going to rest upon them. But Jude says: have mercy on those who doubt. Save others by snatching them out of the fire.
Hardest thing to do was to tell my brother: you better watch it, or you're going to get into really bad, deep trouble. Hardest thing to say. He could have said, "Well phooey on you, Older Brother. What do you know?" And I think for a time, that may have been his reaction. But you see, eventually, he saw the light, so to speak, and he confessed, "Yes, I know. I was trying to be too much like the world and too much in the world. And I know that you were only looking after me." And he went on to say, "And not in a purely worldly sense, but in a spiritual sense, as well."
There are people we all know that need to be snatched out of the fire. And some, we simply need to show them mercy. Hating even their clothing, stained by their sin. Showing them mercy but hating their clothing. Not hating the person, but rather showing them mercy, that God might still act within their lives, to turn them from unbelief to belief. To rescue them out of the fire that never goes out, to which the Destroyer will send them. And rather be saved by the Savior and faith in Him.
And then, Jude concludes: now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of His glory with great joy, to the only God our Savior through Jesus Christ, our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority before all time and now and forever, amen. He who is able to keep you from stumbling and present you blameless before the presence of His glory. Jesus is able to do that. He is able to keep us from stumbling. The problem is, we don't turn to Him when we feel that we're stumbling. Instead, we fall headlong, rather than allowing Him to keep us from stumbling into sin. And He will present us blameless, because He's forgiven our sin, and He remembers them no more. We are blameless before God. Not on our own merit, but because of our Lord Jesus, His death, resurrection, ascension, seated at the throne of God's right hand, remembering us, to present you with great joy.
Do you ever think of Jesus' great joy in presenting you to His Father? Hey, Father! Here's Brian. I want you to meet him. He's overjoyed. Oh, and here's Renee. And Jane and Sara and Bob and Donald.
The Lord has great joy in bringing us before His Father's glory. And we, too, St. Peter says, are filled with an inexpressible joy in the meantime, because we know that we are receiving the goal of our faith, the salvation of our souls.
That's why Jude wants the church to remember what Jesus has done. And that He's both Savior and Destroyer. And how Jesus longs to present all people, joyfully before His Father's glory. But sadly, only those who, by faith, put their trust and hope in what Jesus Christ has done, will they be able to enter into that blessed joy and escape the fire.
Indeed, to Him be glory, majesty, dominion and authority before all time and now and forever, amen. And now, may the peace of God, which surpasses our understanding, keep our hearts, and our minds in faith in Christ Jesus unto life everlasting. Amen.