SERMON OF THE WEEK First Presbyterian Church of Honolulu May 25, 2008 Hope in Remembering (Hope Sermon Series) Rev. Dr. Dan Chun Joshua 4:1 When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the LORD said to Joshua, Joshua 4:2 "Choose twelve men from among the people, one from each tribe, Joshua 4:3 and tell them to take up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan from right where the priests stood and to carry them over with you and put them down at the place where you stay tonight." Joshua 4: 4 So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, Joshua 4:5 and said to them, "Go over before the ark of the LORD your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, Joshua 4:6 to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, 'What do these stones mean?' Joshua 4:7 tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever." Joshua 4:8 So the Israelites did as Joshua commanded them. They took twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, as the LORD had told Joshua; and they carried them over with them to their camp, where they put them down. Joshua 4:9 Joshua set up the twelve stones that had been [ a ] in the middle of the Jordan at the spot where the priests who carried the ark of the covenant had stood. And they are there to this day. Traditionally, Memorial Day is a day when we remember those who gave their lives so that we could have freedom and liberty in this country, like the freedom to express ourselves, to govern ourselves and to worship freely, to name a few. Many veterans and active armed service personnel in our church are wearing their uniforms today. We are truly grateful for them and all the other men and women in the military. We are especially grateful for those who have paid the ultimate price with their lives. And since September 11, 2001, we have lit that candle on the organ to remind us to always be thankful. What I want to focus on today is memories. Memorial Day is a powerful day because it is a day of memories. Memories are powerful. They can bring sadness and despair, like when we remember loved ones we ve lost. But memories can also give us 1 courage, innovation, strength and hope. If we really want a healthy life, if we really want to live close to God, if we want lives that improve day by day, then we must harness the power of memories and put them in healthy context. Throughout its pages, the Bible talks about the importance of memories. In fact, in essence the Bible is the memory, the narrative and the history of the people chosen by God, the Israelites. We can read about them in the first part of the Bible, the Old Testament, and find out how God was involved in their lives and how He can act in our lives today. The story of the Israelites is told in narrative prose, in poetry like the Psalms, wise sayings expressed in Proverbs and prophetic words delivered by prophets. God preserved all of these in Scripture so that we will remember and learn from them in order to live fulfilled and extraordinary lives. Moses began his long prayer/song in Deuteronomy 32:7 with, Remember the days of old; Consider the generations long past Shortly before he died, Moses exhorted the people of Israel not to forget all that God had done for them while in the wilderness, and to not forget all the blessings He had poured out on them.
H e also called them to remember the times they had grumbled, complained and forgotten to be grateful to Him. He reminded the Israelites to hold God s Word close to their hearts, and to teach it to their children and grandchildren. Finally at the end of Moses prayer in Deuteronomy 32:7, he says, These are not just idle words for you, they are your life. Remembering was important to Moses, and it is important to God as well. There are many examples in the Old and New Testaments where God specifically tells us to set aside special times to remember. Since instituting it in 1500B.C. the Jews have observed Passover to remind them of how God freed them from slavery in Egypt. For nearly 2,000 years Christians have practiced sacraments, like Communion that recall Jesus words, Do this in remembrance of Me (Luke 22:19b). It is a sacrament to remind us of Jesus sacrifice on the cross through eating of the bread and the drinking of the cup. In the Bible, the book of Hebrews talks of the cloud of witnesses that has come before us. It lists people s names and their accomplishments so that in remembering them we can be encouraged. These are people like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Gideon and David. People s stories of faith are recorded throughout the Bible so we can read about them, learn from them and use them to shape our ethics, our morality and out faith. The stories of the Bible so important that starting in the Fall, we are going to lead the congregation in reading and studying the essential 100 passages or stories that Christians should know, like the story of creation, the Tower of Babel, David and Goliath and stories about Jesus as written in the Gospels. The essential 100 passages will be good for everyone, including those who can already quote Scripture chapter and verse and those who are new to Bible reading. The staff is working hard right now on writing devotionals and study questions about these 100 passages that our congregation can read for 100 days to go along with a sermon series in the Fall that will be based on them. The story in our Scripture verses today (Joshua 4:1-9) is not part of the 100 essential stories but it is still worth knowing. It s the story of Joshua leading the Israelites in crossing the Jordan River after Moses had died as they continue to move toward the Promised Land. Notice what the Israelites did. They erected a pile of 12 rocks. But they were not just rocks; they were stones of remembrance. Twelve rocks, one for each of the 12 tribes of Israel. Joshua wanted to make these stones of remembrance personal. Each tribe would need to remember that day. Joshua did this so that whenever people passed that stone monument, they would remember how God saved them and brought them into the Promised Land. And if they handled those memories in the right manner, then they would 2 know God was always with them even in future challenges. This story is not only for them but also for us. It should encourage and reassure us that if God saved His people from trouble once, He would save them again. Let me give you six ways of how memories can give us hope. 1) Memories are powerful. (They can inspire and encourage.) For good or for bad actually. Bad memories may be from that time we said something to someone and wish we could take it back. It can be something someone said to us years ago and it still hurts today. Bad memories of parents can cause one to not trust people in authority or seek love in wrong ways. Recurring bad memories can cause depression, fear, anxiety and poor self-esteem. Memories, however, also have the power to inspire and encourage. And some need to be etched in stone, like the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C. Here s a clip from the documentary, A Strong Clear Vision, an Academy Awardwinning film that traces the design process of architect Maya Lin who designed the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. We will see the positive and powerful impact of this memorial. (Play A Strong Clear Vision DVD) 2) Creating memory makers reminds us of God s presence and unconditional love.
I believe our mental health is determined by how we collate and frame the memories in our lives. How we interpret our memories will determine whether or not our years ahead will be fruitful and hopeful. In 1 Samuel 7:12, Samuel erected something called an Ebenezer stone to remind the Israelites of God s faithfulness. Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer (which means stone of help ), saying, Thus far has the Lord helped us. This stone was a memorial to remind the people that God had saved them in a battle against the Philistines. It was to remind the Israelites that if God was able to save them once, He could do it again and again and again. The next time they encountered a tough time, maybe even a lifethreatening situation, the Ebenezer would remind them of God s faithfulness. We need to create Ebenezers in our life. Ebenezers can be simple things, like Bible verses near your computer, a certain picture or photo, maybe a nametag from an inspiring conference you attended, or anything that will remind you of when God spoke to you or helped you. In my office, I have the stone I picked up on a beach when I decided to accept the offer to become senior pastor here. When offered the call, I asked for a week to think about it. And as I walked the beach on the North Shore, I prayed and picked up a stone to remind me of that day s decision that would change my life forever. I wanted to remember that God talked to me and to not doubt that day ever. In my office is another rock. This rock is from Israel, from the same river in the Valley of Elah where David, the shepherd boy, chose five smooth stones for his slingshot to fight Goliath. David s were rocks of this size and this symmetry so that when let loose from a sling shot it could bring down a lion or a bear or a giant Goliath. That trip to Israel was very inspirational for me as Pam and I walked the land where David, Abraham and Jesus walked. (By the way, our church will be doing a Holy Land Tour next year led by David Stoker, if you are interested.) In my office is another rock. It is the rock I picked up from an undeveloped lot that the church elders and staff visited after making the decision to be open to God s leading to move the church. God didn t lead us to that property where we were at but instead led us to this one here at Ko olau. Still, that rock remains symbolic of our church leadership s unity in God s call for us to move. Next to that rock is another piece of rock, which is from the Berlin Wall to remind me that no obstacle, especially those of evil, stands for eternity. These are my stones of remembrances in my office. They are visual aids to remind me of what God can do in this world, n my life and in this church. We all need stones of remembrances tools that will be our Ebenezers pointing us to God to remind us how He saved us. You see, stones can weigh us down or they can raise us up if we use them as remembrances of how God helps us. 3 When our memories are filled with thankfulness for what God has done in our lives, we will be strong, optimistic, upbeat and spiritually healthy. Based upon our experience of God coming through for us in the past, we can expect Him to come through for us again. Recalling God s past victories gives us confidence, strength perseverance and hope. Discouragement will not defeat us. 3) Bad memories can be re-framed. God can work in bad memories if we allow God s love to transcend them. Sometimes when I pray with people I try to help them imagine Jesus standing or sitting there right at the point of that bad memory and see Him loving them and saying it is not their fault. Or if it were to see Him forgiving them. It is always a powerful time of prayer when we can take the bad memories and enlarge the frame to show Jesus in the midst of that bad memory crying with us, lifting us up, and even hugging us. This is not just a psychological ploy. It is more about opening our eyes to remember that Jesus never leaves or forsakes us. In the Old Testament is a well-known story of a worldwide flood destroying most of the world. And there is Noah in his ark. It s in Genesis 9:15-16 where God says to Noah, I will remember my covenant between men and you and all living creatures. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures. (Gen. 9:15-16)
God puts a tremendously practical value to the practice of remembering. He can literally provides signs and symbols to prompt our recollection, just as He gave Noah the rainbow to remember His promise. Author Max Lucado says, We should write our failures in the sand but chisel God s victories in stone. If we chisel our failures in stone, it is like continually living a life of, Dumb me, dumb me, where we punch ourselves over and over. We must learn to write our failures in the sand, and let Jesus bring a wave of the Holy Spirit to wash them away and leave instead a more permanent reminder of God s loyalty and love for us. 4) Bad memories can encourage us NOT to make the same mistakes. When we had one too many drinks, or drove recklessly, or lost our temper, or said a cruel remark -- those bad memories can be used for good if we use them as learning experiences to move us towards more godly behavior. 5) Memories can drive us towards gratitude. I was in the Philippines in February and visited some of the poorest areas in the world. The level of poverty was horrible but Compassion International is helping alleviate the conditions in some areas. (First Prez, by the way, is planning a Compassion trip to the Philippines next May for anyone in our church wanting to see how Compassion ministers to the people there.) The trip I was on last February was specifically for pastors, 23 pastors whom I gathered from around Hawaii. Compassion, however, allowed one pastor to bring his 17-year old son, Hoku. Every night after dinner we shared what we had seen or learned that day. One night Hoku got up, which surprised me. He said, When I took a shower today there was no warm water. I was mad at my father. I yelled. The water was freezing. Didn t seem fair that my dad used up all of the warm water. But then, suddenly God spoke to me. I remembered that I can go back to Hawaii and have warm water any day I want; that I would be having dinner with you all and I can eat all I want; that I have clothes to wear -- a closet full of them But the children we saw today -- they don t have drinking water, let alone warm water to bathe in. They do not have an abundance of food. They do not have an abundance of clothes or medical help. And Hoku said, I hung my head in the shower, in the cold water, as I remembered all that and I asked God for forgiveness. Many of the pastors cried as they heard his story for we all needed to remember God s blessings goodness in our lives. Hoku s memory was both a bad memory and a good memory. And what Hoku shared helped all of us. Remembering where God is good is the antidote for our problems, like a struggling marriage, difficult parenting or failing health. 6) God remembers any good thing we do or think, no matter how small they may be. 4 God remembers everything we do. He is like a computer with a huge hard drive that remembers every e-mail we have written or every website we have visited. Now our first response might be, Oh, this is scary. He knows all my bad thoughts and deeds! Yes, that s true but there is good news in recognizing that God knows and remembers everything. First, if we have done or thought anything hurtful, God offers His forgiveness. God knows we are not perfect, and He truly will forgive our sins if we ask Him to and turn towards Him. He will erase the hard drives of all wrongdoing. It is even likely that He will give us a brand-new hard drive with all the bad completely gone. It is almost like we are born again! So yes, God does remember our bad, but He forgives. But God also remembers the good that we do, no matter how small, how seemingly insignificant they may be. Remember that we follow the Lord who really has great insight and remembers well. He appreciates every seemingly little thing. As He said, in Matthew 10:42, And whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward. It was Jesus who said that He would remember when we help the hungry, thirsty, the stranger or the sick and imprisoned. It was Jesus who said He would remember a thief on the cross. God has a really good memory for the good that we do, and He forgives the bad.
He indeed chisels the good we have done in the books of life, and writes in sand the bad we have done. For that is why He died -- to wash away our sins. Now that is good news. But that doesn t mean we can go out and rob banks or do other bad things because God will forgive us anyway. If we really follow Jesus, we will want to do good things to others and start creating scrapbooks of good memories; good things we did not because we have to but because we want to. For some who have been successful for much of their life, it is time to turn from success to significance. It is time to do something good that counts and one that will be a memory in God s name forever. And so I say, remember the good and remember God. Now that is something worth remembering! Amen? Amen! * * * * * * * * Sunday worship sermons can also be heard on Strength for the Journey, First Prez s weekly radio show. Sunday mornings at 10 on KGU 760 AM. 5