There's Nothing Like Being Remembered Pt3 Series

There is NOTHING Like Being Remembered.

Text: Luke 23:32-33, 39-43

I grew up on a farm—and was the third of three boys and I quickly learned the importance of being at the meal table when food was served. Because if you didn’t get to the table when you were called, part of the lesson learned was momma turned loose those two other “ugly dogs” –much older and much hungrier ugly dogs, who didn’t mind helping themselves to YOUR portion of the food. So you learned that if you didn’t come and took your time—that’s all the excuse that was needed for those “ugly dogs” to burn through their first plate and engage in 2nd plate eating. So you learned that being at the table when you were called was important…to your SURVIVAL!

And my brothers could be mean too. Sometimes they’d tell jokes about me. “Hey Kent, do you know that when mom and dad brought home from the hospital the day you were born—that you were so ugly that momma said, “Look, what a treasure!” And dad said, “Yeah, let’s bury it!”

And I’d say something back to my ugly brothers like, “You just don’t know how FAT you are do yah—well the other day I saw it when you were walking down the sidewalk and the policeman blew his whistle at you and told you to BREAK IT UP!”

And they say something back like, “You are so ugly when YOU walk in public everyone points at you and shouts, “Terrorist attack!!”

And I, being the younger one would say something back like, “Yeah!? Well… same to ya!”

Anyways, my momma was a good momma and she’d save some back for you. Another thing momma always did was make your favorite meal when you came back home from college. She’d remember what your favorite meal was and if you were really blessed—your favorite dessert too! It feels good to be remembered doesn’t it.

I can remember being away from home for college and needing money and praying about that and wondering what I was going to do. I can’t tell you how many times I went to the mailbox and found a letter from home and wrapped in the note was a check—and no kidding, it was always the amount I needed…and sometimes more. There’s nothing like being remembered.

There’s nothing like NOT being remembered too. I was home from college on break and my mother and I went out to eat at Holiday Inn Restaurant in Napoleon, Ohio. When we were finished and I was paying I noticed the clerk had a been girl I went on a couple of dates with so I asked her how she was doing…and after a few interchanges and called her by name she gave me a strange look and asked, “Do I know you from somewhere?” And I said, “Yeah, we went out a couple of times.” She said, “Oh yeah! But I can’t remember your name.” Talk about eating a bite of humble pie.

Jesus knows it feels good to be remembered…and there’s just something RIGHT about it.

Perhaps that’s why He tells us at communion that as often as we eat the bread and drink the cup—to do it…in remembrance of Him. There’s nothing like being remembered.

And isn’t that our hope when we die and we come to those heavenly gates—don’t we want to be remembered? It reminds me of that children’s song: “Do Lord, Oh Do Lord, Oh DO remember me!”

“Jesus, remember me…” It is what the ONE criminal said on the cross. There was another criminal on the other side of Jesus who didn’t say those words, do you remember what HE said?

LUKE says one of the criminals HURLED INSULTS at Jesus and said, “Aren’t you the MESSIAH? Well? DO something! Get to SAVING! Now would be a pret-ty good time Jesus to do some SAVING! Save yourSELF! And US TOO while you’re at it! Ah-HAHAHAhahahahaaaaa!”

He probably wasn’t a very good joke teller. Most thieves aren’t very intelligent. Did you hear about the guy who ran away from the police after robbing a 7/11 one night. The police chased him and caught him rather easily. The robber asked them how they did it. It wasn’t very hard. The thief had tennis shoes with heels that lit up when you ran. The police just followed the lights.

People are just like that today about our Lord. With all of their questions and doubts it leads them to become moronic about their comments about Jesus. They accuse him of being a fraud, of being untrue, of being illegitimate and a fairytale. They ask his followers to PROVE that God exists and say that if God really cared HE wouldn’t have let the evil happen to them that did. Therefore NO God, NO Jesus and NO SALVATION—end of story.