“ON REMEMBERING”
We are often called a ‘remembering’ people! We like history. We like having heroes and role models. The Christian community always remembers the importance of Easter! We let it stir in us and around us for 50 days and even longer. We do that because we remember there was a ‘Christmas!’ And the only reason we take time to remember Christmas is because of Easter! We are a remembering people!
The Bible is full of stories about remembering… in the book of Genesis we remember a promise from God… “I’m putting my rainbow in the clouds, a sign of the covenant between me and the Earth.
From now on, when I form a cloud over the Earth and the rainbow appears in the cloud, I’ll remember my covenant between me and you and everything living, that never again will floodwaters destroy all life. When the rainbow appears in the cloud, I’ll see it and remember the eternal covenant between God and everything living, every last living creature on Earth.” (Genesis 6:12-15).
And at the time of the ‘exodus’… we read this… God listened to their groanings. God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.” (Exodus 2:14) and when Moses came down from the mountain with the ’10 Words’… we now call ‘commandments’… we look at the 3rd one so that we ‘remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.’
And in the Book of Leviticus we see the importance of our remembering is directly connected to God’s remembering when he told the Israelite people… “I’ll remember my covenant with Jacob, I’ll remember my covenant with Isaac, and, yes, I’ll remember my covenant with Abraham.”… while the prophet Jeremiah got a taste of God’s grace remembering God doing some reminding… “No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the Lord. “For I will forgive their wickedness and I’ll remember their sins not more…” And I suppose that means God has the power and will to forget. We can take a lesson… Faith matters!
And the ‘remembering’ continues on in the New Testament as well… when the disciples remembered Jesus fed the 5000 and when they walked by the fig tree outside the temple and saw it shriveled from Jesus’ curse the day before and especially when Peter remembered Jesus saying a rooster would crow after Peter denied knowing Jesus while Jesus was arrested and brought before the Temple leaders… as well as the words of Jesus which have echoed across the nations for 2000 years when Jesus broke the bread and lifted the cup saying “do this for the remembrance of me” and in our gathering from Sunday to Sunday we remember he said… “All power in heaven and on earth is mine and I shall return to judge the living and the dead to fulfill the kingdom in which we live…”
And as we wait… we follow Jesus’ teachings… from St. Paul to the Galatians… “The only additional thing they asked was that we remember the poor, and I was already eager to do that.”
So this month of May we remember the eternal love and grace of Jesus these remaining Easter days… and we’ve remembered our mothers who love us and who have loved us to death… and on the last Monday of May we will be remembering those who gave their lives for the sake of freedom… at home here in the USA and abroad…
We are a remembering people. We like our history. We like having heroes and role models to mimic. The Greek word ‘anamnesis’ is the term Jesus used to remind us to ‘remember’ and yet word we’re more familiar with is ‘amnesia’… the opposite … to forget! Remembering is better!
The Rev. Dr. Brian K. Gigee is a long-time resident of Pearland, having pastored four churches over the last four decades in Texas and Louisiana. Read more following Brian’s blog ‘murmurings’ at https://briangigee.wordpress.com/. Send comments and/or questions to godworks247365@gmail.com.
