Wednesday, October 30, 2024
“Do not
remember the rebellious sins of my youth. Remember me in the light of your
unfailing love, for you are merciful, O Lord.” (Psalm 25:7, New Living
Translation)
One of the things that bugs me
as I watch is the plethora of instant replays. Sure, show it again for the big plays
like homeruns, defensive gems, exciting moments in the game, errors, challenges
of a play – those memorable moments during that game which make a difference in
the outcome. But what I don’t need to
see more than once is someone striking out or fouling out or taking strike
three or any mundane, ordinary, baseball occurrence. Yet the network will show
all of everything umpteen times and more it seems. It’s overkill. They also like meaningless shots of players in
the dugouts, spitting sunflowers seeds, chewing gum and scratching their heads.
It’s a wonder we don’t get several replays of that, too.
Then, with horror, the thought occurred
to me what it would be like if we had instant replays of situations in our
everyday lives. Just think if the world could see again and again those mistakes,
errors, sins, bad moments, poor decisions, gaffs, rudeness, selfishness, etc.-
all those things that you or I would like to forget and hope that others have
as well. Oh sure, it might be grand to remember the highlights and victories, but
who needs to see again and be reminded
of our mistakes and worst moments. It is easy enough to get stuck in the past; I
don’t need many reminders of my flubs and blunders. “Lord, if you kept a
record of our sins, who, O Lord, could ever survive?” (Psalm 130:3)
There is a lot in scriptures about
what we wish God would remember and what we would prefer God to forget. Forget
the past, God; shut down your TIVO. Throw away or erase the tapes. “Have
mercy on me, O God, because of your unfailing love. Because of your great
compassion, blot out the stain of my sins.” (Psalm 51:1) Please forget
whatever has come out of my mouth that was unworthy of you. Disremember my
foolishness, my sinfulness, my rebelliousness, my unrighteousness. Remember
what you said in Isaiah: “I—yes, I alone—will blot out your sins for my own
sake and will never think of them again.” (Isaiah 43:25) Hallelujah!
But there are things we wish to
see again and again of God’s Love for us. “Remember, O Lord, your compassion
and unfailing love, which you have shown from long ages past.” (Psalm 25:6)
We can never get enough of that repetitious and unforgettable Love. “But
then I recall all you have done, O Lord; I remember your wonderful deeds of
long ago.” (Psalm 77:11) Our scriptures are a replay of the works of God which
helps to remember that God is on our side. “For he knows how weak we are; he
remembers we are only dust.” (Psalm 103:14) As we repeat the works of God in our scripture
reading, we are given assurances about the ongoing work of God in our present
times. “Remember your promise to me; it is my only hope.” (Psalm 119:49)
There is a tension between our
past and God’s Love. There is a strain between our sin and God’s grace. There
is a difference between our humanity and God’s mercy. There is tension between the weariness of the
old and the creation of the new. “Do
not remember the former things or consider the things of old. I am about to do
a new thing; now it springs forth; do you not perceive it? I will make a way in
the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” (Isaiah 43: 18 - 19)
We are to remember and replay
the commandments of God in our lives, especially the commandment to love others
as we love ourselves. There are times
when we need to apologize and seek reconciliation. But we also need to let go
of our pasts and seek the renewal of our lives in Jesus Christ. Let go of all the
grudges, assumptions, anger, prejudices,
judgments which we keep replaying over and over again and instead “forgetting
what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward
the goal, toward the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.”
(Philippians 3: 13 -14)
Dale
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