If remembering is a box of Cracker Jack (remember those?!), then what is the prize hidden deep within? Scripture is filled with examples of remembering. A BibleGateway website search yields over 286 scriptures containing “remember.” Remember you are dust. Remember you were once strangers and aliens. Remember me.
First, God remembers! The Old Testament shows God remembering his covenants with creation and with his people, over and over again. So, God’s people also must remember. We remember who God is, what God has done, who God says God is and who God says God’s people are, and how God describes our world.
Right now our world is in crisis, so what can we remember that will help us? When we are in the midst of struggle, pilgrimage, even crisis, our primary concern isn’t to find things to remember. Why does God speak “remember” throughout his history with God’s people? Because there is hope and encouragement, reality and wisdom, and so much more in remembering.
We remember God became like us. Jesus spent time with sick people, so Jesus probably coughed, had fevers, and was short of breath with chest pain. Jesus was mortal, and so he suffered and died, but Jesus didn’t stay dead. We remember we are dust — so important to remember! We remember God travels with God’s people. Nothing can separate us from God’s love found in Jesus Christ. Jesus promised: “Remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” We remember God is transforming our world, that God is in control, that God is faithful, that God will never stop remembering God’s people and God’s creation.
What will you remember about this coronavirus season when it is no longer a prison for our lives? God calls us to remember as spiritual practice. I am writing remembrances in a journal to my unborn grandchild. I know I might forget many importance lessons of this season (particularly at my age!) unless I write them down. I want to be able to respond if this child asks, “Tell me about that time.” I want to be able to weave my story of weathering this season with the greater story of God.
Remembering is a communal responsibility. My memories of God’s faithfulness combine with all your memories until we have a richer picture of God’s presence in difficult times. This process can produce a grateful hope, the prize at the bottom of the Cracker Jack box. As a child, sometimes I would first dump out all the Cracker Jack candy just to get to the prize at the bottom, then gobble up the candy. We need both the remembering and the grateful hope it can produce. The Cracker Jack slogan was, “The more you eat, the more you want.” May we remember everything about this season and want to keep remembering going forward. Scripture helps us remember. God helps us remember. We help us remember.
Pastor Margo, May 2020