What do you need to remember today?

“Hey, do you remember when…?”

               Some of the greatest stories begin with this question. Remembering is how we identify who we are in this great big world, and it places our story in context with others who know and love. Maybe it was a memory of an afternoon of play spent with a child or grandchild. Or maybe it was a romantic evening spent with a spouse. Good memories are treasures that we keep locked away, treasures that can be opened up whenever we want, and handled carefully and at leisure, and then gently put back in their place until we want to recall them again later on.

               Remembering is a good thing. Remembering is important to us. And remembering is important to God also. Throughout the Old Testament when God would move in a mighty way on behalf of his people, he would instruct them to build an alter, or erect some stones, or do something so that they would remember what it was that he had done. Joshua Chapter 4 is a great illustration of this, where a stack of twelve stones was used to help generations remember a specific event.

               But we don’t always remember good things, do we?

               Sometimes the events that we remember brings back feelings of pain and hurt. These memories are not beautiful treasures, they are poison of the heart and soul. And every time we recall them from their dark place of dwelling they come all too quickly, and with ever increasing ease.  Maybe it was a memory of a past betrayal, perhaps one you thought you had forgiven, but the thought of it makes your stomach twinge in pain and your heart race faster. Maybe it was the death of a loved one, even with everyone telling you how she was in a better place now and not in pain anymore, but the memory of standing under the funeral home tent with the cold metal coffin in front of you wasn’t comforting. And that memory still hurts. Maybe it was the day you sat in the doctor’s office with a numbing sensation stretching over your body as you tried to focus in on his words…”terminal”…”inoperable”…

               Sometimes just a pleasant smell reminds me of a wonderful memory. But sometimes just the way the wind is blowing might remind me of something painful.

               Deuteronomy Chapter 7 is a great place to focus on for my memories. In this chapter of the Bible, the Israelite people are getting ready to take the “Promised Land” that God had promised to them. But there were a couple of problems for them. First, Moses, the man who had been leading them for the past 40 years, the man who had been in direct conversation with God for them, the man they trusted and revered, wasn’t going to live much longer. And second, the land God had brought them to wasn’t vacant, it was occupied by some really big and powerful armies.

               So, as the people started to stress out a little bit, Moses said “do not be afraid…remember well what the Lord your God did…you saw with your own eyes the signs and wonders, the mighty hand and outstretched arm (of the Lord)…the Lord your God, who is among you, I a great and awesome God.”  (Deuteronomy 7:17-21 excerpts)

               God wants us to remember. Remember what he has done in the past. Because remembering God’s mighty acts and faithfulness of yesterday will help us to rely and trust God today.

               Asaph, the possible writer of the 77^th Psalm, wrote during a time of great personal distress, wondering if God had forgotten all about him.

               “Will God never show his favor again? Has his unfailing love vanished forever? Has his promise failed? Has God forgotten me?” (Psalm 77:7-9 excerpts)

               But then Asaph remembered.

               “I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes I will remember the miracles of long ago. I will consider all your works and meditate on your mighty deeds. You are the God who performs miracles!” (Psalm 77:11-14 excerpts)

               God has been with you before, in the good times and in the bad. In the times where your heart was so overflowing with joy you felt like it would just burst from it all. And in the times where your heart felt so broken and shattered that seemingly nothing could offer solace or comfort. But God was there, he brought you through this before, and he is faithful to do it again.

               What is it that you need to remember today?

"Love Wins"- A Communion Meditation

Once again we find ourselves invited to the Lord’s Table.

This happens each month in most of our United Methodist churches, regardless of where we have been, what we have done, what we have left undone, whether we have won great battles or suffered a great defeat. 

There is an invitation to the Table.

Some Communion Sunday’s we can reflect back on a great month. A month of blessings and goodness. A month of joy. Promotions, financial success, food to eat and clothes to wear, peaceful relationships, well behaved children, a well behaved spouse, no arguments, just bliss.

 And we are invited to the Table.

Some Communion Sunday’s we can reflect back on a month we would rather forget. A month that has been plagued with death, loss of loved ones, financial struggles, holes in shoes and no money to buy new ones, fights and dissention among family members and friends, relationships perhaps broken beyond repair, sleepness nights and restless days. A month of more questions than answers, a month of change when we need stability. 

And we are invited to the Table.

Some today have felt the painful sting of death in their family through loss and separation this week. Some today have lost loved ones months, or year ago, and that lonliness is still as sharp today as it was on that first day.

Over the last two weeks we have seen a young man walk into a SC church and open fire taking the lives of 9 of our brothers and sisters. Churches have been burned, both here in the US and abroad. People have fought over flags and if the roof of the General Lee is a sign of bigotry and hate. Same sex marriages have been legalized in every state in the country. Some people are scared, some people are celebrating, some people are mad, and some people are indifferent.

And the courts “definition” of marriage seems to have stirred more people  than anything I have seen in my lifetime. People are fired up on both sides, the lines have been drawn by some, some say there is no middle ground. This one focus is the primary agenda. 

And this is a big deal, and a big concern for people of faith.

21,000 children die each day around the world, many from preventable diseases and unnecessary wars. That’s about 1 child every 4 seconds. 

This is a big deal for people of faith.

1.2 million abortions per year, about 120 per hour. 

This is a big deal for people of faith.

700,000 people from the United States will be taken and sold in the sex trafficking industry this year. 50% of them will be children, with the average age 11-14 years old. Internationally the total of victims will be somewhere about 3 million people. 

This is a big deal for people of faith.

Last year 41,000 took their own lives in suicide. That’s about 112 people per day. 

This is a big deal for people of faith.

45 million people in the United States live below the poverty line, with TN having the 4^th highest poverty rate in the nation. 

This is a big deal for people of faith.

And, yet, we are still invited to the Table.

An invitation that provides unity, if we will allow it. An invitation that provides peace, if we will allow it. An invitation that offers grace and forgiveness, if we will accept it.

This month we celebrated the freedom of our nation. And many people celebrated this freedom with fireworks, funnel cake, BBQ, and beer. It has been a national holiday to remember our freedom. In this country, it seems, we can do what we want to do, and be who we want to be. 

One nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. 

But we don’t really feel like one nation. We don’t really feel like we can’t be divided. In truth, we are a divided people. Divided by opinions, divided by beliefs, divided by status and economics, divided by right and wrong, divided by holy and sin.

Every single one of us is a mix of sinner and saint, of struggle and victory, of lost and found, of broken and redeemed.  

And so there is an invitation to the Table.

Micah 6:8 says "He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."

God has shown us what is good. 

In the grandor of a sunrise, and the artistic paintbrush effect of a sunset. In the touch of a loved one, in the tranquility of a sleeping child. In food on the table and clothes in the closet. When we have much, and we have little, God has shown us what is good. In his perfect goodness he walked this earth, taught us how to live and love, healed diseases, mended relationships, offered freedom, and gave us life. God showed us goodness through Jesus.

And so there is an invitation to the Table. 

An invitation to seek justice.

An invitation to love mercy. 

An invitation to walk humbly with our God.

I didn’t tell you global and national statistics to bring more fear into our lives. I didn’t tell you those statistics so that we are filled with doom and gloom. I didn’t tell you those statistics so that we have a Chicken Little attitude that the Sky is falling and the end is near. 

I told you those so that we have in perspective there is much work to do. I told you those statistics so that we understand the workers are few. I told you those statistics so that we can begin moving from hearing these statistics as just numbers and begin seeing these statistics as people, as people that Jesus came for, as people that Jesus died for, and as people that Jesus is calling. Just like he called me, and just like he called you.

I have seen some people proudly display “Love Wins” logos, and I have seen some people disgusted by the implication they think that portrays. But let me tell you something. Regardless of the sentiment behind the statement, there is no statement more true. 

Yes, love wins. 

Yes, love has won.

Love won when Jesus hung on the cross and said “Father forgive them, they don’t know what they’re doing.”

Love won when we Jesus looked at a man on another cross, receiving the judgement and penalty for his actions that he deserved and Jesus said “today, you will be with me in paradise”.

Love won when, on the 3^rd day, Jesus rose from the dead as he had promised so that we would never experience death as separation, but so that we as his disciples, as his children, will experience everlasting life.

Love won when the gift of the Holy Spirit descended upon early believers on the Day of Pentecost, and that same Spirit is given to dwell in each of us.

Love won when we were baptized and the seal of God was placed on our lives.

And love had already won when Jesus spoke about bread as his body, and spoke about wine as his blood, that would be offered in the greatest single act of love in all history. 

So yes, love has won.

And so there is an invitation to the Table.

An invitation to each us to live a life worthy of the calling we have received, to be completely humble and gentle, to be patient, bearing with one another in love, to make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace, because there is 1 body and 1 Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called, 1 Lord, 1 faith, 1 baptism, 1 God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

And through this invitation we can receive the faith, hope, and love that is offered, and the greatest of these is Love. 

So, yes, Love has won. 

But not human love. Rather, the lavish and fierce and unrelenting pursuing holy and perfect love of God for each and every one of us, here and everywhere, now and forever. And that's possible because Love Won.