Don't Forget to Remember

Don’t Forget to Remember

Sunday next before Advent (Or, "Stir Up Sunday")

Collect: Stir up, we beseech thee, O Lord, the wills of thy faithful people; that they, plenteously bringing forth the fruit of good works, may by thee be plenteously rewarded; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Homily Text: Psalm 103:1,2,22 Praise the LORD, O my soul; and all that is within me, praise his holy Name. 2 Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits...praise thou the LORD, O my soul.

There are things you better be sure to remember. If you’ve got a an interview for a job or a place in graduate school, you better not forget the place, day, and time. If you’re married you better figure out a way to remember the anniversary of your marriage. If you’re a teengager and desparately want your driver’s license, you better remember enough of what’s in the driver’s manual to pass the test. If you’re as old as I am,  you are constantly being asked to remember your birthdate and Social Security number.

• Do you ever engage in “self-talk”? Some people almost compulsively engage in self-condemning talk to themselves. They make a mistake at work, and in their head they hear the voice of a parent saying, “See, you always mess  up. You’re a failure.” They do something dumb, and they berate themselves saying, “You’re so stupid; you can’t do anything right.” Cognitive-behavioral therapists think that they can help people by changing the way they think, and part of changing the way people think is by changing their self-talk. When they make a mistake, instead of saying to themselves, “See,  you’re a failure,” they should say, “You made a mistake; everybody makes mistakes. See if you can fix it; if not, move on.” There’s a big difference between “I’m a failure” and “I made a mistakes.”

• In Psalm 103 David engages in a healthy kind of self-talk. He urges himself to do something that is both a duty and a blessing. It’s the kind of thing a husband does, when he reminds himself, “Tell you wife how much you love and appreciate her.” It’s the kind of thing husbands tend to forget to day. If you ask him, “Do you love your wife?” he will answer, “Of course, I do.” If you ask him, “When did you last tell her?” He may have to say, “I don’t remember.” It’s a good thing to express your love for and admiration of  your wife. It’s good for her. Good for you. Good for the marriage. So the husband records on the disc of his brain, “Tell your wife you love and appreciate her.    

• David talks to himself to remind and urges himself to praise the Lord. He begins the Psalm, “Praise the LORD, O my soul,” and in verse two repeats to himself, “Praise the LORD, O my soul.” He ends the whole Psalm the same way he began, “Praise thou the LORD, O my soul.” It is both a duty we owe to God and a blessing to ourselves to praise the LORD, so David reminds himself and to “praise the LORD.”

• David knows that perfunctory praise is neither accurate nor adequate. People can tell when you express your appreciation and affection toward them whether what you say is empty recitation or heartfelt praise. Sometimes managers go to seminars where they learn how important it is to encourage your employees by telling them you appreciate them. So they learn a new “management technique.” They come back and say things like, “Great job you’re doing!” or, “We appreciate you around here.” And the employee sees right through it. The employee understands that he is being “managed” and manipulated with words his boss doesn’t mean. It can be that way for us believers. We praise the Lord by saying the right words, but we say them coldly. So David reminds himself, “All that is within my praise his holy name.” He wants to praise the Lord sincerely and enthusiastically with all that is within him - with all his heart, soul, mind, and strength.

• David goes on to urge himself, “Forget not all his benefits.” Don’t forget the things the Lord has done for us, It might be more accurate for us to change the words from , “Come, ye thankful people, come,” than, “Come, ye forgetful people, come.” I have known ministers who have stayed with families for hour upon hour ministering to them and their dying loved one, and then conducted the funeral with real empathy for the family members. But then little Johnny gets the basket weaving award in 5th grade and the next Sunday a member of the family says, “How dare you not to have encouraged Johnny by being there when he got this year’s basket weaving award?” We believers can be that way toward God. We forget all that he has done for us, and we complain about what he has not done that we expected him to do.

• One of the greatest dangers with forgetfulness of God’s blessings is that it is the first step on the road to unbelief and forsaking God. In the book of Deuteronomy which is something like the last will and testament of Moses, Moses warns the people against forgetting what God has done for them.

Take care lest you forget the Lord your God by not keeping his commandments and his rules and his statutes, which I command you today, lest, when you have eaten and are full and have built good houses and live in them, and when your herds and flocks multiply and your silver and gold is multiplied and all that you have is multiplied, then your heart be lifted up, and you forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, who led you through the great and terrifying wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water, who brought you water out of the flinty rock, who fed you in the wilderness with manna that your fathers did not know, that he might humble you and test you, to do you good in the end.  Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’  You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day.  And if you forget the Lord your God and go after other gods and serve them and worship them, I solemnly warn you today that you shall surely perish. Like the nations that the Lord makes to perish before you, so shall you perish, because you would not obey the voice of the Lord your God (Deuteronomy 8:11-20).

• I expect that, when you were little, and you got an invitation to a birthday party, your mother said, “Now don’t forget to say thank you. Not saying, ‘Thank you,’ is bad manners. So, if Mrs. Jones gives you a piece of cake or a cup of Koolaide, you say, ‘Thank you.’ And, when it’s time to leave, you go find Mrs. Jones and say, ‘Thank  you very much for inviting me. I had a very good time.’ ” When it comes to God, not saying thank you is not only bad manners; it is an indication of spiritual pride and decline. We end up praising ourselves that we are self-make, hard-working people, our own god who has provided the good things we have. In Deuteronomy, Moses reminded the people to thank the Lord. If you don’t remember and praise the Lord, you will remember and praise yourself. You will forget the commandments God has gave you to guide your life and to show you what a life of gratitude means.

• So David called on himself and on all God’s people, including us, to praise the Lord with our whole beings and not to forget that all that he has done for us.

• What David called on himself to do - what he called his people to do, what he calls us to do - he models for us in the Psalm. Let me highlight two things that David calls attention to - things that we can praise the Lord for as much, no, even more than David.

• The Lord’s gracious forgiveness.

The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger

and plenteous in mercy. He will not always

chide, neither will He keep His anger for ever. He

hath not dealt with us according to our sins, nor

rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as

the heaven is high above the earth, so great is

His mercy toward them that fear Him. As far as

the east is from the west, so far hath He

removed our transgressions from us (103:6-12)

God may discipline us for our sins, but his nature is always merciful and gracious. If he were a human parent we would say that is extremely patient with us as his children, and rather than being full of anger he is full of mercy. He does not continue to scold us or withdraw his fellowship because we have sinned. His dealings with us are not based on our wrongdoings.   God gives us what we deserve. His mercy is high as the heavens and he removes the guilt and condemnation of our sins as far as east is from west.

• The Lord’s fatherly mercy.

As a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth

them that fear Him. For He knoweth our frame; He remembereth that we are dust. As for man, his days are as grass; as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth. For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more. But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear Him, and His righteousness unto children’s children, to such as keep His covenant, and to those that remember His commandments to do them (103:13-18).

Some fathers have unrealistic expectations of their

children. They get angry when the one year old drops his cup of milk from the high chair. They expect the eight year old boy playing second base to be able to turn the double play or the eight year old girl to prepare a meal for the family. But God knows us. We are  made from dust - dust we are and to dust we must return. We are frail and weak creatures. We are here for while and then like the summertime grass we are gone. But God looks on us with compassion and understanding. He shows us his steadfast, unchanging, committed mercy all our days and even extends that to our children as we bring them up in the faith.

We are coming to partake of the  Eucharist. Do you know what “Eucharist” means? It means “Thanksgiving.” One of the meanings of the Eucharist is that we give thanks to God as we “do this in remembrance” of our Savior and all he did for our salvation. So, as you receive the bread and wine today, remember that Jesus gave thanks for both when he instituted this Holy Supper. As you take the bread, feed on him by faith in your heart with thanksgiving. As you take the cup, remember that Christ’s blood was shed for you, and be thankful.