03/30/2008 - Short Memory
After three & a half years, Pastor Nancy & I had our first big argument this week. We disagreed about who was most qualified to preach a sermon about short memory! Things became so busy, however, that we got distracted & forgot all about the issue. That seems to be the norm for us. It’s not that we suffer from defective brains, as much as labor under the daily demands of the pastorate, tasks that take us away from matters like establishing who is more forgetful.
Forgetfulness is not a problem unique to the two of us. Sometimes I think that we, Christians as a group, are forgetful. We forget, even a week after Easter: that Christ arose, that evil is defeated, that God’s promises reign, that the ultimate gift of love & grace is ours to claim, that Christ welcomes us to the abundant life on this side of heaven & grants us the ability to spend a blest eternity in Christ’s full presence in heaven. We forget.
I think I know why we forget. When life is good, when we make our own way quite satisfactorily, we tend to forget God’s role in blessing us. Conversely, when the sad & bad events of life, the sin, the evil – whatever you call it -- sap all that the good life is about, the evil looms so large many days that we are overwhelmed. All of that which is less-than-perfect overtakes those of us who are less than perfect, & we cave (in). We may not totally forget that God has the final say, but, admit it, our actions make it look like we’ve forgotten the resurrection victory.
The wife of one of my colleagues is a 12th-generation Methodist. Imagine that. Twelve generations! Five, six, seven is astoundingly impressive, but twelve! What this believer is saying is that she cannot remember a time when she wasn’t a Methodist, & more importantly, when she wasn’t a believer in Jesus. It’s always been for her.
Many of us, though without the generational heritage of this unique sister in the faith, cannot remember a time when we weren’t in church, when we didn’t know the name of Jesus, when faith wasn’t a part of our lives. Oh, yes, there were those teenage or college years when we forgot about Jesus, or even a time when we were angry at God or questioned God about some particular matter, but we never really stopped believing. And if we did, we came back soon enough.
Often, though, we have taken faith for granted, to some extent, anyway. Many of us don’t claim to have had some supernatural spiritual encounter, like a lot of Christians. Jesus was just always there for us, whether we were there for Jesus, or not. Some folks don’t quite “get” this born-again stuff, feel left out by it, & maybe a little guilty, if they can’t embrace that brand of theology. When someone asks us to give our rebirth date, we either have no idea what that individual is talking about, or get upset by the whole prospect.
When folks ask me when I was born-again, I tell them December 10, 1961. That satisfies most of them. Some folks will ask me what it was like, & when I tell them I don’t remember the actual experience, but do recall the date, they become suspicious. You see, December 10, 1961 was the day I was baptized. I was just shy of being four months old. That’s why I can’t remember the event, but do know the date. I have my baptismal certificate setting on the bookshelf in my study. I don’t have much of a memory for it, but that encounter with Christ’s grace means the world to me.
I don’t have problems claiming 12/10/61 as my rebirth date, because the Calvinist in me – that would be my training at a Presbyterian seminary - recognizes my utter powerlessness before God. Reformed theology emphasizes our helplnessness & powerless in the face of Almighty God’s omnipotence & sovereignty. The fact is: God is omnipotent in choosing me, & all of us. An infant, then, is the perfect example of powerlessness. That’s why we baptize infants: Baptism is an act of God, not something we humans do. We certainly can’t give ourselves this gift of grace, just like we can’t give ourselves eternal salvation. That’s God’s domain. We do have a role to play, though. I’ll get to that role later.
Of course, some folks suggest that what I’m doing by announcing Decem-ber 10 as my Happy Rebirthday is engaging in theological jujitsu. One needs to consciously profess Christ & consciously claim Jesus as Lord of my life, they tell me. So when did I do that? When did I consciously claim Jesus as my Lord?
You want the straight answer?
Every day! I choose Christ & his resurrection every day. Oh, yes, I can tell you when I first took Jesus seriously & sincerely, when I opened my heart to pray to him a child’s version of “The Sinner’s Prayer.” I remember that event like it was yesterday, although I cannot tell you the actual day in September of 1971.*
It wasn’t just that day alone. I’ve had other days at an upper room communion experience in my junior high youth group, at church camp, when I was confirmed, at my ordination & at a host of altar rails & other times when I recommitted & rededicated my life to Christ. The one day isn’t key. Neither is any one of all of the other experiences essential. They’re all important & necessary.
Every day is what matters. Every night when I go to sleep & wake up the next morning is another opportunity to choose Christ & remember what he did & what he was about. I “die & rise with Christ,” as the scriptures say. So, God chooses us first, but we have the opportunity to choose God in return. What I’m saying is that we, United Methodists, respect God’s sovereignty, but we value the free will God gives us. Yes, ultimately, free will comes from God, but it comes from God for us to use as we choose. A God who chooses us lets us know how special & unique we are, but a God who lets us choose Jesus knows how special & unique He is in our lives, too.
UM’s believe that Christ is “the way, the truth & the life,” as he says in John 14:6, but we are less concerned about the exclusivity of that claim, than we are about the inclusivity of it. We choose to be included because God chooses to include us. In other words, we choose Christ. It’s a choice. We don’t believe God forces salvation on us. Some Christians do. I choose Christ everyday. I need to. I have a short memory. Remember? **
Believe me, there are bad days. There are doubts. There are days when my heart bleeds for the world when I witness the news. There are the sadnesses from you which I am privileged to carry & pray about with you – stuff that sometimes brings profound wounds of anger or sadness to each of us. There are my personal hurts. I own fears, disappointments, & persecutions (that are more harassing than systemic) that bring discouragement. There are days when these feelings & events & thoughts temporarily get ahold of me & cause me to forget that the rottenness of life was forever defeated, that from the most sadistic of deaths & a trip to hell & back (& back! & back!) that Jesus did arise & return from the dead to be victorious.
Sin & evil still have their influential say in this life, but not forever. You have tough days. I have tough days. That’s why I need to choose Christ on a daily basis, not just once & forget it. He chose me once, but I’m not that good. I can’t just choose him once. This human, this Christian needs the reminder to choose him everyday. Just like I choose to love Deb & the girls everyday. Christ is a choice I make daily.
I will say this: if you catch me in a more pensive theological mood, I think evil is what/who forgets that it was defeated on Easter. Every day evil acts like it rules. What arrogance & deceit! Sometimes, though, we choose to believe in the power of evil & surrender to it, not that we necessarily engage in deliberately evil actions, but we certainly join evil in forgetting that it can no longer claim victory. The problems & losses of this life – the personal ones & the global ones -- do not have the final say for eternity. We may suffer today, but not forever. That’s the Christian reality. That’s God’s promise. That’s the new life Christ brings & makes possible for us. That’s the message we choose. That’s the faith life we live. We embrace the resurrection that God alone imparts as the most supreme reality for me & all of us.
But, you know, even our worst days of pain & suffering are transformed by the resurrection. Not only do our hurts & sacrifices allow us to participate in the wounds that Jesus endured (what a privilege!), but they too will be transformed into their own mini-resurrections & blessings. The worst things turn around in glorious ways. They are blessings (in disguise) themselves, as well as blessings when they’re transformed by the resurrection.
How do I know that? How can I be assured? Because I believe in Christ & his resurrection. It’s not just a head thing, although my mind is convinced. It’s not just an emotional thing, although my heart is assured. It’s not just a mystical event, though my spirit is engaged. My heart, soul, mind, & strength unite to believe. The Holy Spirit makes belief possible, to be sure, but does not force me to believe. I/you/we choose to believe. I/you choose to be Christian. I choose Christ & his resurrection … every day.
In the Name…. Copyright by G.D.Knerr at Lansdale, Pa. All rights reserved.
* -- I can testify to my utter reliance on God at the time. What was going on in my life was a scary & painful place to be for a 10-year-old, but as the events of Holy Week reveal, the place of powerlessness is the best place to be. Only a follower of Christ would profess how good it is to be powerless. It’s a crazy assertion as far as the world considers it.
** -- As Lutheran theologian, Paul Tillich, advises: We are to accept the fact that God accepts us by accepting our acceptance.