Tag: remember

All Saints Day (Psalm 34:1-10, 22)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment

I will praise the Lord at all times;
my mouth will continually praise him.
I will boast in the Lord;
let the oppressed hear and rejoice.
Magnify the Lord with me.
Let us praise his name together.
I sought the Lord’s help and he answered me;
he delivered me from all my fears.
Look to him and be radiant;
do not let your faces be ashamed.
This oppressed man cried out and the Lord heard;
he saved him from all his troubles.
The angel of the Lord camps around
the Lord’s loyal followers and delivers them.
Taste and see that the Lord is good.
How blessed is the one who takes shelter in him.
Fear the Lord, you chosen people of his,
for those who fear him lack nothing.
Even young lions sometimes lack food and are hungry,
but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing…

The Lord rescues his servants;
all who take shelter in him escape punishment. (New English Translation)

In all times and every place throughout history God has specialized in taking imperfect and broken people and transforming their lives. On the Christian Calendar, November 1 is the day each year to remember the saints who have gone before us. This day is meant to be an intentional way of not forgetting the people, friends, and family – as well as long-dead historical saints – who made a significant impact in our spiritual lives.

All Saints Day is more than a focus on extraordinary persons; it highlights the work of ordinary Christians who faithfully lived their lives. We give thanks for the gift of how they lived their faith every day. We also remember that all believers in Jesus are united and connected through the cross.

Remembering is a prominent theme in Holy Scripture. Over one-hundred times we are told to remember God’s covenant and actions on behalf of people; to remember the needy and those less fortunate; and to remember the important people who influenced us in our journey of faith.

Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you.  Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. (Hebrews 13:7, NIV)

We are to be inspired now in the present with the actions of faithful saints of the past. They serve as a model of faithfulness, so that we will persevere in our Christian lives and not give up. Through biblical stories of very human persons being used of God, as well as reading biographies of godly people, we can gain motivation for patience and perseverance until Jesus returns.

Who were the people in your life that went out of their way to communicate God’s love to you with both words and actions? Who were those persons who labored behind the scenes in prayer so that you and others would know Jesus? 

If any of those persons are still around, and you know where they are, remember them. Drop them a note. Express to them a simple thank you for their influence in your life. You will not only encourage that person – it will help you remember and re-engage with something in your life you may have forgotten or have just taken for granted for too long.

We are not to live our Christian lives in isolation from others, as if we do not need them. You and I are here today because someone influenced us in the way of Jesus. And we will continue to persevere and thrive in the faith when we remember those who have gone before us and allow those here in the present to journey with us along this road of faith.

Today is all about remembrance. We remember answered prayer and salvation. We recollect the people who gave us the life-giving gospel message in both word and deed. We remember the death of Christ and recall that he said he is coming back.

The psalmist recalled his rescue and pulled it forward into the present so that all God’s worshipers could taste and see that the Lord is good. This is exactly what the Apostle Peter did for a church which needed to recall and remember the mighty acts of God:

Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him—you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 2:2-5, NIV)

Our memories are accessed through symbols and with taste and sight. God uses symbols to reveal himself to us.  For example, when God wanted to show us the ugliness of sin and the cost of forgiveness, the Lord told the Israelites to kill an animal and sprinkle its blood on their clothing and on the altar.

That sounds awful. Yet, worshipers never walked away from the experience scratching their heads and wondering what it was all about. That’s because they encountered and tasted the drama of sin and redemption. Their senses saw it, felt it, smelled it, and tasted the meat from it. 

Symbols have power. We cannot know God with only our minds; we’re more than brains on a stick. People need ordinary events, like shared meals, that include symbols and rituals. 

Every year faithful Jews gather to remember and re-enact the Passover – the story of how they were enslaved in Egypt, oppressed by Pharaoh, and set free by God.  To this day pious Jews still remember the Passover by eating and drinking together and telling stories.

We need both words and sacraments. Therefore, holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas involve both verbal expressions of gratitude and love, and particular actions of love in giving gifts and sharing food. Together, it all connects us to God, to one another, and to a history of God’s people. 

Jesus met his disciples in the Upper Room to celebrate Passover together. Jesus energized their time together by filling it with words and symbols of love and redemption. Christ told the disciples about his upcoming death and acted symbolically. “Take and eat – this is my body….  Take this cup – drink from it, all of you.” (Luke 22:7-20)

Rather than sitting around, analyzing the bread, and discussing the wine’s vintage, the disciples ate and drank.  They tasted real food and drink. They also tasted real spiritual food. It’s one thing to speak of God’s presence, and it’s another thing to experience that presence through an ordinary shared ritual of bread and cup.

God is good. Jesus is our Emmanuel, God with us. Christ is present with us through our ritual of fellowship and food. When the sixteenth-century Reformer John Calvin was asked how Jesus is present to us at the Lord’s Supper he explained: “Now if anyone asks me how this takes place I shall not be ashamed to confess that it is a secret too lofty for either the mind to comprehend or my words to declare….  I rather experience it than understand it.”

The taste of bread reminds us of the incarnation of Christ, and Christ’s humiliation and death. The taste of drinking the cup reminds us of the sacrifice of Christ, the drops of blood which Jesus sweated in Gethsemane, and the beatings, floggings, nails, and crown of thorns that caused the bleeding.

Tasting the bread and cup when we celebrate communion reminds us that our sins are forgiven, we are united to Christ, and we are united together. 

There are historical events which are just that. Then, there are past actions which linger with continual results into the present. The incarnation, life, death, resurrection, ascension, and glorification of the Lord Jesus are past redemptive events which continue to exert powerful force into the here and now.

Saints throughout church history have moved the message of Christ along and demonstrated for us that the past lives in the person of Jesus Christ.

Along with them, we proclaim that Christ has died, Christ has risen, Christ is coming again. And God has something planned for those who have gone before us, along with us, so that together we will experience the perfect righteousness of Christ forever. (Hebrews 11:39-40)

We are encouraged through word and sacrament to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ until he comes again. Let us respond to God’s wooing invitation to eat and drink, to taste and see that the Lord is good through faith, hope, and love. Let us find in God our refuge and strength, our ever-present help.

Soli Deo Gloria

Follow God’s Word (Deuteronomy 6:10-25)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment
Priest Teaching Children The Catechism, by Jules-Alexis Meunier, 1898

Now once the Lord your God has brought you into the land that he swore to your ancestors, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give to you—a land that will be full of large and wonderful towns that you didn’t build, houses stocked with all kinds of goods that you didn’t stock, cisterns that you didn’t make, vineyards and olive trees that you didn’t plant—and you eat and get stuffed, watch yourself! Don’t forget the Lord, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 

Revere the Lord your God, serve him, and take your solemn pledges in his name! Don’t follow other gods, those gods of the people around you—because the Lord your God, who is with you and among you, is a passionate God. The Lord your God’s anger will burn against you, and he will wipe you off the fertile land. Don’t test the Lord your God the way you frustrated him at Massah. 

You must carefully follow the Lord your God’s commands along with the laws and regulations he has given you. Do what is right and good in the Lord’s sight so that things will go well for you and so you will enter and take possession of the wonderful land that the Lord swore to your ancestors, and so the Lord will drive out all your enemies from before you, just as he promised.

In the future, your children will ask you, “What is the meaning of the laws, the regulations, and the case laws that the Lord our God commanded you?” Tell them: We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt. But the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. Before our own eyes, the Lord performed great and awesome deeds of power against Egypt, Pharaoh, and his entire dynasty. But the Lord brought us out from there so that he could bring us in, giving us the land that he swore to our ancestors. Then the Lord commanded us to perform all these regulations, revering the Lord our God, so that things go well for us always and so we continue to live, as we’re doing right now. What’s more, we will be considered righteous if we are careful to do all this commandment before the Lord our God, just as he commanded us. (Common English Bible)

The Catechism, by Edith Hartry, 1919

Christians often refer to the Bible as “God’s Word.” By that reference we mean that God has graciously revealed the divine nature to us through this Book, the Holy Scriptures. 

The ancient Hebrews referred to the first five books of the Old Testament as the Law of the Lord or the Torah. The Jewish people understood God as a great, high and holy Being who mercifully accommodated or communicated to us on our level by giving the Law. 

Just as a parent coos and babbles and speaks in a very different way to a baby in a crib, so God speaks to us in a way we can understand about the care, concern, and love the Lord has for us. Just as an infant is unable to understand an adult conversation taking place, so God is a lofty Being who is well above our comprehension. We have no ability to understand anything God says unless the Lord graciously and lovingly bends down to speak to us on our level.

God’s Law, the Torah, was the curriculum for Israel’s religious instruction. The Law of the Lord is meant to be a behavior pattern, to be embodied in the lives of God’s people through both teachers and parents who learn God’s Word and, in turn, pass it along to children and others – thereby providing guidance for how to live in God’s world. 

God’s law is an extension of God’s grace, and we are to gratefully accept the grace of God expressed in God’s Word. We are to ingest it, eat it, reflect on it, and dwell with it, in order to know God and be the people God wants us to be.

There are several other words that come from the root word for Law, Torah, in the Hebrew language. A teacher is a “moreh.” A parent is a “horeh.” Parents and teachers are to be living guides in the way of God’s Word. The Hebrew word for teaching is “yarah.” 

So, in other words, the moreh’s and the horeh’s are to yarah the Torah. Parents and teachers are to point and lead others into the ways of the Lord. The fifth book of the Law, Deuteronomy, makes it clear how parents, mentors, teachers, and influencers are to pass on God’s Word:

Israel, listen! Our God is the Lord! Only the Lord! Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your being, and all your strength. These words that I am commanding you today must always be on your minds. Recite them to your children. Talk about them when you are sitting around your house and when you are out and about, when you are lying down and when you are getting up. Tie them on your hand as a sign. They should be on your forehead as a symbol. Write them on your house’s doorframes and on your city’s gates. (Deuteronomy 6:4-9, CEB)

A Village Catechism, by David Rychaert III (1612-1661)

God’s Law, or God’s Word, is to be as familiar to us as our back door and it is to be in front of us all the time. When children ask us anything about God’s commands and regulations, we are to have a ready answer for them, in language and ways that they can understand.

We do this by carefully and systematically engrafting Holy Scripture into our minds and hearts. As we get God’s Word into ourselves, we are to also get it into our children and others. It happens by continually talking about Scripture – at home around the dinner table, as well as when we are working or playing together.

God’s Holy Word is to be continually in front of us, so that we do not forget it. We need to start each day and end each day with God’s Word. We can put the words of God on our refrigerator and our car’s dashboard. There is always an opportunity refer to God’s Word and incessantly chatter about it with others.

Someone may say, “That’s pretty radical – I don’t need to do all that!” Then I would say that you are missing out on living a blessed life because people are blessed when they walk according to God’s Word and keep God’s Law in front of them and seek God through God’s Word with all their heart. 

Let us not be so busy, pre-occupied, nor worried, that we end up pushing God’s Word to the margins of our lives as only a Sunday activity – or something for our discretionary time (which doesn’t actually exist). 

Let’s take the time to carefully look at God’s Word and let God speak to us through it.

Let us be intentional about connecting with the God who has so graciously given us a guide for grateful living. 

And let us lay solid plans to catechize people into the basics of faith and holy living in the church. Amen.

Remember and Learn (Psalm 78:1-4, 12-16)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment

My people, hear my teaching;
    listen to the words of my mouth.
I will open my mouth with a parable;
    I will utter hidden things, things from of old—
things we have heard and known,
    things our ancestors have told us.
We will not hide them from their descendants;
    we will tell the next generation
the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord,
    his power, and the wonders he has done….

He did miracles in the sight of their ancestors
    in the land of Egypt, in the region of Zoan.
He divided the sea and led them through;
    he made the water stand up like a wall.
He guided them with the cloud by day
    and with light from the fire all night.
He split the rocks in the wilderness
    and gave them water as abundant as the seas;
he brought streams out of a rocky crag
    and made water flow down like rivers. (New International Version)

Every day I read in the biblical psalms. There are two reasons I do this. First, the psalms are the church’s prayer book. They are more than reading material; the psalms are designed to be owned by us as prayers. And second, I need their reminders – a lot!

Remembering is a major theme throughout the entirety of Holy Scripture. It’s just part of the human condition, fallen and forgetful as we are, to lose sight of what has taken place in the past. Today’s psalm invites us to seek the Lord through remembering all the good and wonderful works he has done.

For Israel, remembering meant continually having the events of Passover in front of them. God redeemed the ancient Israelites out of Egyptian slavery and into a good Promised Land. They were to never forget God’s miracle through the Red Sea, God’s protection over them from other nations, and God’s provision of food and necessities in the desert.

We are to remember because we are made in God’s image and likeness. God remembers. God has an ongoing reminder in a divine day timer – Fulfill the promises I made and keep the covenant I initiated with the people, even when they’re stinkers and forget who I am and what they are supposed to be about.

As old as God is, there is no danger of the Lord getting some sort of divine dementia. God doesn’t forget. The Lord always keeps promises made to people.

For the Christian, all God’s promises are remembered and fulfilled in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Deliverance from sin, death, and hell; the gift of the Holy Spirit; and ongoing presence and provision are given to us graciously and freely by the God who loves and cares for people.

For Christians, remembering means coming to the Lord’s Table, entering the once for all loving sacrifice of Christ on our behalf.

We remember the past action of the cross – the once for all sacrifice of Jesus for all the world.

We are mindful of Christ’s continuing presence now in the person of the Holy Spirit.

And remembering these things helps us to look forward with confidence when the Lord shall return and we will eat with him at a grand heavenly banquet table.

One of the reasons I write and journal about my life and Scripture is to remember. Sometimes I forget. There are times when I’m overwhelmed with life and it feels as if God has forgotten me. In such times, I look back into my journal and see what God has done.

And I peer into the psalms and see that the Creator God is active in the big, created world, always attentive to working what is just, right, and good – bending twisted circumstances and evil machinations back toward the great arc of love.

Psalm 78 is designed to recall historical events for the theological education of ourselves and the next generation. Through passing on eventful stories from the past to future generations, God’s people continue to remember and realize the incredible action of God in the world.

In recalling stories of care and deliverance, God’s commandments are kept. Putting trust in the powerful and benevolent God of all brings assurance and encouragement.

Using the psalms as a means of recollecting past events is a wise way of edifying God’s people and living into the command of the Law. As the Israelites were about to enter the Promised Land, Moses restated the Law for them, and then said:

These are the commands, decrees and laws the Lord your God directed me to teach you to observe in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess, so that you, your children and their children after them may fear the Lord your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life. Hear, Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, promised you.

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

When the Lord your God brings you into the land he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you—a land with large, flourishing cities you did not build, houses filled with all kinds of good things you did not provide, wells you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant—then when you eat and are satisfied, be careful that you do not forget the Lord, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. (Deuteronomy 6:1-12, NIV)

Since psalms are meant to be recited repeatedly throughout one’s spiritual life, doing so inoculates worshipers from faithless rebellion; and it counteracts the temptation toward trusting in idols. It’s a preservative which gives life, purpose, and wholeness.

Regular spiritual consumption of the psalms provides a pattern of instruction which molds and maintains the soul so that, when hard situations arise, the supports are there to hold us up under the adversity.

The life that is truly life – and the life of those who will come after us – happens through intentional remembrance and learning. Today’s psalm is a fitting invitation to set our hope in God, remember God’s wonderful works, and keep God’s commands.

O God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ:
Give me strength to live another day;
Let me not turn coward before its difficulties or prove recreant to its duties;
Let me not lose faith in other people;
Keep me sweet and sound of heart, in spite of ingratitude, treachery, or meanness;
Preserve me from minding little stings or giving them;
Help me to keep my heart clean, and to live so honestly and fearlessly that no outward failure can dishearten me or take away the joy of conscious integrity;
Open wide the eyes of my soul that I may see good in all things;
Grant me this day some new vision of your truth;
Inspire me with the spirit of joy and gladness;
and make me the cup of strength to suffering souls;
in the name of our Deliverer, Jesus Christ, in the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Distressed (Psalm 77)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment

I cry aloud to God;
    I cry aloud, and he hears me.
In times of trouble I pray to the Lord;
    all night long I lift my hands in prayer,
    but I cannot find comfort.
When I think of God, I sigh;
    when I meditate, I feel discouraged.

He keeps me awake all night;
    I am so worried that I cannot speak.
I think of days gone by
    and remember years of long ago.
I spend the night in deep thought;
    I meditate, and this is what I ask myself:
“Will the Lord always reject us?
    Will he never again be pleased with us?
Has he stopped loving us?
    Does his promise no longer stand?
Has God forgotten to be merciful?
    Has anger taken the place of his compassion?”
Then I said, “What hurts me most is this—
    that God is no longer powerful.”

I will remember your great deeds, Lord;
    I will recall the wonders you did in the past.
I will think about all that you have done;
    I will meditate on all your mighty acts.

Everything you do, O God, is holy.
    No god is as great as you.
You are the God who works miracles;
    you showed your might among the nations.
By your power you saved your people,
    the descendants of Jacob and of Joseph.

When the waters saw you, O God, they were afraid,
    and the depths of the sea trembled.
The clouds poured down rain;
    thunder crashed from the sky,
    and lightning flashed in all directions.
The crash of your thunder rolled out,
    and flashes of lightning lit up the world;
    the earth trembled and shook.
You walked through the waves;
    you crossed the deep sea,
    but your footprints could not be seen.
You led your people like a shepherd,
    with Moses and Aaron in charge. (Good News Translation)

Psalm 77, by Jeremy Grant

I Worry

You and I know what it feels like to be in trouble. We understand the sense, at times, of having our prayers bounce off the ceiling, as if our cries are not heard by heaven. Loneliness and discouragement are palpable. Sleep is elusive. Worries and racing thoughts go round and round in our heads, like some sort of demented NASCAR event.

Swirling around us like a black cloud are all the questions asked without any answers:

  • Has God walked off the job? Is the Lord ever coming back? Is God even there? Did the Lord retire from being God?
  • Is God angry at me? What have I done to piss him off? Is the Lord fed up with us?
  • Is the Lord really a God of love? Did grace run out of steam? Does God hate me?

Then, when the questions go unanswered without any replies, we begin to remember the good old days… when God was a mover and shaker in this messed up world… when the Lord delivered the people from Egyptian bondage… when God pulled people out of the worst kind of troubles….

We continue to reminisce, even recalling that the very elements of the earth were moved by the command of an almighty God: setting aside the Red Sea so that the people were delivered from impending doom… congealing the Jordan River so that the people could cross over into the Promised Land… causing clouds to form and belch out buckets of rain to end droughts in the land… and so much more….

Like a concerned and compassionate shepherd, protecting the sheep and caring for them, God had led the people out of slavery and into freedom, speaking to Moses, delivering people, moving mountains…. Yet, here I lay, hearing and experiencing bupkis from God. *Sigh*

So, what’s a spiritually sensitive person to do?

I and Thou

In 1937, the Jewish philosopher, Martin Buber wrote an insightful book entitled “I and Thou.” Buber postulated how people exist in the world and how they actualize that existence. We engage the world through both monologue and dialogue. For Buber, “all real living is meeting.” In other words, to exist, to live, is to encounter another and relate to a “Thou.” We only have meaning in relationships. We only have our being in God.

The psalmist acknowledges there is a “Thou” besides his distressed “I” – that this Thou will hear, make a difference, and open a way of deliverance… even if it might not happen right away. There are four actions the psalmist decides to do in his distress, actions which put him in a vital dialogue with the divine “Thou”… even if it seems like nothing is happening.

I Pray

Prayer, at its heart, is a dialogue with God. From the place of our spiritual poverty and bankruptcy, we beg; and God gives us the kingdom. To be a spiritual beggar, pleading for our needs to be met, knowing we have no way to repay, is a posture which God delights in.

You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule. (Matthew 5:3, MSG)

I Search

In the I and Thou relationship, the search works both ways.

You have searched me, Lord,
    and you know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise;
    you perceive my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out and my lying down;
    you are familiar with all my ways….

Search me, God, and know my heart;
    test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me,
    and lead me in the way everlasting. (Psalm 139:1-2, 23-24, NIV)

I Remember

The psalmist intentionally sought to recall the mighty works of God, especially in delivering the people from slavery and bringing them to the Promised Land. In our forgetfulness, we get lost in our troubles and our perspective becomes skewed. We cannot see beyond the end of our nose. Remembering, however, grants us a fuller picture of what is happening in light of the past. It brings us out of the lonely “I” and into the relationship of “I and Thou.”

Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you endured in a great conflict full of suffering. 

Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated. You suffered along with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions. 

So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. (Hebrews 10:32-36, NIV)

I Meditate

Pondering and thinking upon God’s deeds enables praise to arise from us. It fosters the I and Thou relationship, bolstering and buoying our faith through life-events which produce our distress.

I lie awake thinking of you,
    meditating on you through the night.
Because you are my helper,
    I sing for joy in the shadow of your wings. (Psalm 63:6-7, NLT)

Thou Art Worthy

The psalm ends with no resolution to the personal distress of the psalmist. Whether there is a happy ending, or not, isn’t the point. It’s about the process.

The journey of moving through our troubles causes us to learn as much (or more) from God’s absence than of God’s presence. We learn how to pray, search, remember, and meditate because of and despite our troubles. We learn to relate to God and eventually proclaim that Thou art worthy.

Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created. (Revelation 4:11, KJV)

Amen.