Why do you really want to remember something? Why make the effort to recall?
• If you are studying, your answer may be: I want to pass the exam. I need to remember what the teacher says and what the right answer is.
• After that, it doesn’t matter that much. Most of us forget what the teachers say.
And it depends on what you are you remembering. Some things are important and helpful, like someone’s telephone number, or ATM passwords.
I have this weakness. I don’t remember things well, especially dates.
• Like birthdays, when did I passed by driving test, started work at KT, etc.
• I can have a nice shirt and if you ask me after some time, where did buy it, what’s the brand, or even who gave it to you, I would have a problem.
• I just know it is a nice shirt. I am not proud of this. I am still learning.
Some things need to be remembered. When we hold a memorial service, that’s what we want to do - to remember the life of someone who has blessed us.
• It is not about the REMEMBERING. It is the PURPOSE behind the remembering. It is what this remembering DO TO US that is important.
• We are thankful. We are grateful. We are blessed. We want to continue their legacy. That’s why we want to remember.
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After crossing the River Jordan, God instructed Joshua to choose 12 men from among the people, one from each tribe.
• They are to take up 12 stones from the middle of the Jordan where the priests stood with the Ark of the Covenant.
• Why the stones? So that they can set up a memorial. The stones will become a sign that triggers their memory.
• FOR the people who crossed the Jordan, as well as (and more importantly) FOR THE GENERATIONS that come after them.
When Joshua set up the stones at Gilgal, this is what he said:
• Josh 4:21-24 He said to the Israelites, "In the future when your descendants ask their fathers, `What do these stones mean?' 22tell them, `Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.' 23For the LORD your God dried up the Jordan before you until you had crossed over. The LORD your God did to the Jordan just what he had done to the Red Sea when he dried it up before us until we had crossed over. 24He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the LORD is powerful and so that you might always fear the LORD your God."
The knowledge of God can only come from our TELLING of what he said and what He did. And these recollections comes through memorials.
• Either physical memorials like these stones, or monuments, or events like the various Jewish festivals, such as the Passover, or Feast of the Tabernacles.
At the Last Supper with His disciples, while celebrating the Feast of the Passover, Jesus instituted something perpetual.
• Paul says it this way (1 Cor 11:23) “For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you…”
• Jesus took the bread and cup and said, “This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” And “this cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this in remembrance of me.” (1 Cor 11:24-25)
But memorials are more than just signs to jog our memory (although that’s what they do). They do more than that.
• Paul says do not eat and drink in an unworthy manner. We are call to examine ourselves before we eat and drink.
• What exactly are we called to EXAMINE? Our hearts, or our attitudes. And that you can only do yourself, nobody can help you.
• If we have sinned, we are to repent. If we have lose faith, we are to acknowledge our need of His help.
Memorials address a greater need – a spiritual need. We are called to RECONNECT with God.
• They are not meant to address an amnesia problem (memory loss). That’s physical.
• Memorials ask questions: Did you know that God did all these for you? He saved you, He provided for you, He gave you all that you have today? Do you know that?
When the Israelites see these stones, these are the questions they have to answer.
• We are called to be GRATEFUL. We are called to recognise Him as our benefactor and stay FAITHFUL to Him.
• Remembering Him this way changes us. Are you GRATEFUL?
Over the past months I’ve heard many gossips (probably one of the occupational hazards for a pastor) and unhappiness over people who are seemingly unfairly blessed. They don’t deserve it but they are getting all the benefits. People are angry, jealous, envious, and bitter and they complained.
There is no end to this. This world is unfair. There will be some who gets the better deal. The grass will look greener on the other side. It doesn’t matter.
Don’t live life with a spirit of entitlement. I am entitled to this, I am entitled to that. Rather, be grateful for what God has given you. Be contented for the lot that God has assigned you. Be thankful that heaven is yours and you have an abundant life in Christ that no money can buy.
Practice gratitude. That’s how I entitled my sermon today, because the Lord kept bringing this word back to me.
• “Let the stones remind you of me and be grateful. You are as blessed as I want you to be. Remember that and be faithful.”
GRATITUDE BRINGS GOD’S BLESSINGS INTO LIFE’S STRUGGLES
That’s why some scholars prefer to see the Holy Communion more than just an ordinance but a sacrament, a means of grace.
• God blesses us when we remember Him with grateful hearts.
• We receive His healing and restoration when we remember Him (taking the bread and cup) with the right heart.
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Do you know the possible dire consequences for ‘NOT REMEMBERING’ right?
• God said in Deut 8:11-18 (to Moses):
11Be careful that you do not forget the LORD your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. 12Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, 13and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, 14then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 15He led you through the vast and dreadful desert, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock. 16He gave you manna to eat in the desert, something your fathers had never known, to humble and to test you so that in the end it might go well with you. 17You may say to yourself, "My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me." 18But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today.
This neglect – not remembering God – can lead to spiritual apathy. The people become proud, they disobey God and eventually reject God.
• Now we know why God asked Joshua to set up the 12 stones. He knows man’s weakness. We are, by our old, sinful nature, ungrateful people.
• We need to be taught to say THANK YOU, to appreciate the things we have, to count our blessings.
• I remembered what Bro Benny Prasad said: We are living in one of the best country in the world, with the best environment, and yet we are complainers. If we cannot be thankful here, we will never be thankful anywhere else in the world.
The real problem is not amnesia but ingratitude. The thankless heart spurns God. The ungrateful heart ignores Him. Ingratitude dumps God.
GRATITUDE MAGNIFIES GOD’S GOODNESS IN THE MIDST OF LIFE’S PROBLEMS
Jesus was having dinner at Simon the Pharisee’s house (Luke 7:36-50; also in Matt 26:6ff. and Mark 14:3ff.) when a sinful woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume (worth a year’s wages), broke it and anointed Jesus.
• Simon and the guests reprimanded her harshly. It wasn’t right. It was a waste.
• Jesus came to her defence. She loves much because she has been forgiven much. She was not worthy but she was loved and accepted by Christ.
• Gratitude moved her. Gratitude caused her to give sacrificially.
Simon? He was previously a leper (Matthew and Mark noted), and most certainly healed by Jesus, since leprosy was incurable then.
• But he wasn’t grateful. As a Pharisee, he was trained to keep the Law. He has to earn it. He felt righteous and deserving.
• Do you feel that way sometimes? That God owes you a living? That you deserved to be blessed?
Look at the stones and remember where you come from.
• Be grateful. Count your blessings. Let gratitude moves you.
• Before we learn to be grateful in difficult times, learn to be grateful now in good times. Complain less, and thank God more.
I just heard Pastor Erwin McManus shared about his ministry to the needy in his town. Some of them really drains him – of his time, his money, his energy, his “everything”! He helps them in whatever way he can, thinking that with abundance of helps, their lives will change.
But for some, they are only out to get from you. When everything dries up… (POP!) they detach themselves from him and prey on someone else. Like bloodsucking leech, they cling to the new chap and start drawing from him. And they can turn around and criticise you for not being compassionate.
The pastor observed this – their lives did not change, NOT because of a lack of help (there was abundance of helps) but for a lack of gratitude. They were ungrateful people, they were out only to get and get and get.
Ingratitude hardens one’s heart towards God.
Practice gratitude always. Look at the stones and be thankful for what God has done. Gratitude brings God’s blessings and it magnifies His goodness.
