What I have learned from steeping myself in scripture over forty years of preaching is that memory and hope are intertwined for the people of God. Whenever we gather for worship, we remember. As we move through the familiar cycle and rituals of the liturgical year, we remember. This is powerful communal memory, deeper than our own personal memories.
We remember the actions of God In history. In every “Service of the Word,” we recall what God has done:
Creating life out of chaos,
Rescuing slaves out of Egypt,
Sustaining exiles,
Preparing a smooth path home across rough rocky ground,
Giving the discouraged returned exiles stamina and vision for rebuilding.
Week after week we recite the resurrection: Week after week we rediscover Christ is alive in our midst when we gather to praise or eat or sing or serve the hungry. God brings life out of death, God feeds people in the desert, God gives water out of a rock, God renews strength.
God hears the cry of the suffering, protects the widow and orphan (those who are marginalized by the system and outside the protection of society), God brings release to the oppressed.
Along with the all the actions of God, we remember the character of God: the oft repeated creedal statement in Hebrew Scripture is that God is “full of compassion and mercy, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love, (loving-kindness, faithfulness). “God is full of grace, overflowing generosity and forgiveness. Forgiveness paves the way for something new.
Jesus was always telling or enacting stories of the kingdom – tiny seeds growing into huge trees, ridiculous abundance – a few loaves feeding thousands, a bent over woman walking tall, a blind beggar given sight.
Our collective memory of God stretches us to hope! We are not stuck in old patterns. We are not defined by the present reality, no matter how dark it seems.
Despair comes from believing the present is all that is; that we are helpless to change it; that God is powerless; that the current darkness is also our only future.
Remembering who God is opens us up. It awakens us to envision an alternative future. Remembering frees us from being immobilized. The trauma of a crisis keeps us focused on the present pain. Communal memory expands our spirits and shifts our eyes beyond the horizon.
The collective memory of God’s people helps us draw on deeper reservoirs of resources. Remembering strengthens our courage to resist amnesia and numbness.
As many of you may know, my favourite thing at Baptisms is Asperges, sprinkling Holy Water on the congregation, proclaiming to each person: “Remember you belong to Christ!” Remember we are not alone. Remember God is at work, unseen, to transform us and the world.
Remembering what God has done does not keep us focused on the past, but helps us live with expectancy for a renewed future.
Remember.
