Sometimes It's Okay To Be Absentminded
Sermon
Sermons On The First Readings
Series I, Cycle B
All of us have heard of the absent-minded professor. I have a friend who is the full embodiment of the absent-minded professor. On one occasion he became so absorbed in a chess game that he failed to show up for his Contemporary Theology class. This professor's wife told of asking him to get her a couple of aspirin because of a splitting headache. He left to go retrieve the aspirin and water so she could find relief. When he returned a few minutes later, she inquired as to the aspirin and water. According to the story, the professor took the aspirin and drank the water. Story after story has been told about my friend's absentmindedness.
All of us at some time or another find ourselves bearing the burden of absentmindedness.
Isaiah, in our lesson for today, gives us a picture of God which at first glance is not flattering. God is asking his people to be absentminded. This memory lapse was to take place in the midst of international uncertainty which threatened to obliterate the people of God.
Suddenly, God seems to contradict himself and in the midst of asking his people to forget, God suddenly wants them to ...
Remember
The story is told of a man who had experienced horrible tragedies in his life. One night when he was alone in his room, he prayed that God would completely erase his memory. When the man's prayer was finished, an angel appeared and informed the man that God had heard his prayer and was granting his request. There was, however, a downside to the granting of the request. It was that the man would have the power to destroy every person's memory that he contacted. After a while the man realized that for some odd reason he was creating distress and unhappiness in the lives of people. One day it dawned upon the man that he was miserable and making everyone he came into contact with miserable. The man began to pray and asked God to restore him to his original state. The story concludes with the man's memory, as well as the memory of all the people he had contacted, being restored. The story simply ends with the man praying this prayer, "Oh, God, keep my memory green!"
God wants the memory of his people to be kept green. God asks the people to remember God's mighty acts in their past. This was a call to relive the Exodus. They were to remind themselves of God bringing them out of Egypt, his destruction of Pharaoh's army, and his faithfulness in leading them through the wilderness and making of them a community. They were to remember, for memory would remind them in the midst of their decades of despair that "God was there."
We, too, are called by God to remember: to remember our Exodus from the far country of disobedience and rebellion. God wants us to remember that in the midst of our loneliness, rootlessness, and sin, he is there. It is God's purpose to remind us that he experienced God-forsakenness, and for us he died. Like ancient Israel, we are to remember and believe.
God speaks again and informs the people that they are to ...
Remember To Forget
It is as if God contradicts himself. God has told his people to remember his mighty acts, and now in the next breath God informs the people that he wants them to forget what he told them to remember.
What are they to forget? Forget God's creative acts? Forget God's redemptive acts, like the Exodus? Forget the rebellion and waywardness which brought destruction to Israel? Isaiah is simply saying, "Forget all of what's past."
In order for the people to be open to God, they must experience forgetfulness. The forgetfulness that God called for was a forgetfulness of things past, both the good and the bad.
The Apostle Paul had a sense of the meaning of Isaiah 43:18 when he wrote: "Forgetting what lies behind and striving forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal" (Philippians 3:13b-14a).
God is saying the same thing to us today: "Forget those things that are behind you. Do not let the sins of yesterday haunt you. Also, forget your good deeds as well." What God wants us to do is not to brood over past victories or recent failures. He does not want our past to control the present or diminish the future.
God's greatest act was the new Exodus which he brought forth in Jesus Christ. Those who receive the new Exodus are those who have fallen out of love with their own history. In Christ's day those who were caught up with their own history and the business of remembering were the scribes and chief priests. Because of this, they were not able to discern what God in Christ was doing before their very eyes.
Isaiah is not calling us to absentmindedness, but he is warning us not to tie God down to the past. The Jesus who walked on to the pages of history 2,000 years ago was resurrected from the dead. The tomb is empty. Christ is risen. We must look and see what God in Christ is doing right now, this very moment.
In one of the late Charles Schulz' Peanuts comic strips, Lucy and Linus are getting ready to go to church for the annual Christmas program. This conversation ensues:
Lucy: "Linus, are you sure you know your piece for the Christmas program?"
Linus: "I know it backwards and forwards and sideways and upside down! I could say it in my sleep!"
Lucy: "Yeah, well, I remember last year, how you forgot and how you almost goofed the whole program."
Linus: "Well, this is this year, and this year, I won't forget. Listen to this: And the angel said unto them, 'Fear not -- for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people ...' "
Lucy: "Say, that's pretty good."
Linus: "I told you I know it. I've got it nailed this year. I now have a memory like the proverbial elephant! Well, I'm going ahead to the church. I'll see you there."
Linus walks along the sidewalk in the snow rehearsing his part over and over again! " 'For behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people ...' Perfect. What a memory I have!"
The scene changes, and it shows Linus coming in the front door of his home. Lucy says, "Linus? What in the world? I thought you just left!"
Linus responds, "I did, but I came back. I forgot where the church is."1
Like Linus, the Church and God's people in all ages have remembered what they deemed essential. In the process of remembering, the tendency has been to forget God's presence. When this happens, the Church forgets that it is located in a world that desperately needs to see God's presence. Instead of focusing on the God who is present and active in the now, the emphasis has been on God's activity in the past. There are some things we need to remember to forget, but there is one thing the Church must continually guard against and that is of remembering the past to the neglect of locating God in the present. God's presence is never limited to the past. God is active in the everyday events that shape our lives. Let us not overlay our faith with non-essentials, but let us remember those things that are essential.
God has told his people to "remember to forget" and now God gives to them ...
A Faithful Reminder
God informs the people by way of a wonderful reminder that he is "about to do a new thing." God is going to make a way through the desert. God is going to send the exiles home -- back home to Jerusalem. They are not to worry about the journey even though they will have to cross the desert, for God will provide water, a veritable river in the desert.
Isaiah sees God providing a new exodus, a way out, a new salvation, a homecoming, freedom from the bondage of the Babylonians.
In a sense, the whole world was in exile wrapped in the grip of sin, death, and hell. Jesus our Savior came in the fullness of time to set God's captives free. God has done his new thing in Jesus Christ, and it never grows old and is always springing forth anew.
What do you need? Do you need to be set free from a past that haunts you with memories of your sin and failures? God has provided a way out in Jesus Christ. God wants to release you today from those things that have hindered you in order to release you for his service.
What do you need for God to do for you? Are you afraid of death? Jesus Christ died for you so that you may live. God in Christ has provided life for you now and forever more.
What do you need? Do you want God to set you free from the spectrum of hell which haunts you and causes you to walk in darkness? God is victor over all darkness which threatens to destroy you. He triumphed over all evil to give you victory.
What is the need of the Church? The greatest need of the Church is to be set free from crusty, worn-out, unworkable tradition. When this happens, the Church will return to its first love and God will do new and wonderful things greater than we can perceive.
What is the need of our world? The greatest need of the world is to remember that God has created us and that God wants to recreate us in his image. When God does his "new thing," all will sing his praises. Birds and animals, humankind, all creation will praise God for his greatness and goodness. Creation will someday recognize the new thing that God has done in Christ.
Right now you can begin to praise God for his "new thing"! Forget about past praises and be reminded of what God is doing now, right at this moment. Praise God anew and keep on praising him as he extends his forgiving grace to all of us. In order for us to see God's "new thing," we must remember that all absentmindedness isn't a bad thing. Sometimes it's okay to be absentminded.
____________
1. Charles Schulz, You Don't Look 35, Charlie Brown (New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1985).
All of us at some time or another find ourselves bearing the burden of absentmindedness.
Isaiah, in our lesson for today, gives us a picture of God which at first glance is not flattering. God is asking his people to be absentminded. This memory lapse was to take place in the midst of international uncertainty which threatened to obliterate the people of God.
Suddenly, God seems to contradict himself and in the midst of asking his people to forget, God suddenly wants them to ...
Remember
The story is told of a man who had experienced horrible tragedies in his life. One night when he was alone in his room, he prayed that God would completely erase his memory. When the man's prayer was finished, an angel appeared and informed the man that God had heard his prayer and was granting his request. There was, however, a downside to the granting of the request. It was that the man would have the power to destroy every person's memory that he contacted. After a while the man realized that for some odd reason he was creating distress and unhappiness in the lives of people. One day it dawned upon the man that he was miserable and making everyone he came into contact with miserable. The man began to pray and asked God to restore him to his original state. The story concludes with the man's memory, as well as the memory of all the people he had contacted, being restored. The story simply ends with the man praying this prayer, "Oh, God, keep my memory green!"
God wants the memory of his people to be kept green. God asks the people to remember God's mighty acts in their past. This was a call to relive the Exodus. They were to remind themselves of God bringing them out of Egypt, his destruction of Pharaoh's army, and his faithfulness in leading them through the wilderness and making of them a community. They were to remember, for memory would remind them in the midst of their decades of despair that "God was there."
We, too, are called by God to remember: to remember our Exodus from the far country of disobedience and rebellion. God wants us to remember that in the midst of our loneliness, rootlessness, and sin, he is there. It is God's purpose to remind us that he experienced God-forsakenness, and for us he died. Like ancient Israel, we are to remember and believe.
God speaks again and informs the people that they are to ...
Remember To Forget
It is as if God contradicts himself. God has told his people to remember his mighty acts, and now in the next breath God informs the people that he wants them to forget what he told them to remember.
What are they to forget? Forget God's creative acts? Forget God's redemptive acts, like the Exodus? Forget the rebellion and waywardness which brought destruction to Israel? Isaiah is simply saying, "Forget all of what's past."
In order for the people to be open to God, they must experience forgetfulness. The forgetfulness that God called for was a forgetfulness of things past, both the good and the bad.
The Apostle Paul had a sense of the meaning of Isaiah 43:18 when he wrote: "Forgetting what lies behind and striving forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal" (Philippians 3:13b-14a).
God is saying the same thing to us today: "Forget those things that are behind you. Do not let the sins of yesterday haunt you. Also, forget your good deeds as well." What God wants us to do is not to brood over past victories or recent failures. He does not want our past to control the present or diminish the future.
God's greatest act was the new Exodus which he brought forth in Jesus Christ. Those who receive the new Exodus are those who have fallen out of love with their own history. In Christ's day those who were caught up with their own history and the business of remembering were the scribes and chief priests. Because of this, they were not able to discern what God in Christ was doing before their very eyes.
Isaiah is not calling us to absentmindedness, but he is warning us not to tie God down to the past. The Jesus who walked on to the pages of history 2,000 years ago was resurrected from the dead. The tomb is empty. Christ is risen. We must look and see what God in Christ is doing right now, this very moment.
In one of the late Charles Schulz' Peanuts comic strips, Lucy and Linus are getting ready to go to church for the annual Christmas program. This conversation ensues:
Lucy: "Linus, are you sure you know your piece for the Christmas program?"
Linus: "I know it backwards and forwards and sideways and upside down! I could say it in my sleep!"
Lucy: "Yeah, well, I remember last year, how you forgot and how you almost goofed the whole program."
Linus: "Well, this is this year, and this year, I won't forget. Listen to this: And the angel said unto them, 'Fear not -- for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people ...' "
Lucy: "Say, that's pretty good."
Linus: "I told you I know it. I've got it nailed this year. I now have a memory like the proverbial elephant! Well, I'm going ahead to the church. I'll see you there."
Linus walks along the sidewalk in the snow rehearsing his part over and over again! " 'For behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people ...' Perfect. What a memory I have!"
The scene changes, and it shows Linus coming in the front door of his home. Lucy says, "Linus? What in the world? I thought you just left!"
Linus responds, "I did, but I came back. I forgot where the church is."1
Like Linus, the Church and God's people in all ages have remembered what they deemed essential. In the process of remembering, the tendency has been to forget God's presence. When this happens, the Church forgets that it is located in a world that desperately needs to see God's presence. Instead of focusing on the God who is present and active in the now, the emphasis has been on God's activity in the past. There are some things we need to remember to forget, but there is one thing the Church must continually guard against and that is of remembering the past to the neglect of locating God in the present. God's presence is never limited to the past. God is active in the everyday events that shape our lives. Let us not overlay our faith with non-essentials, but let us remember those things that are essential.
God has told his people to "remember to forget" and now God gives to them ...
A Faithful Reminder
God informs the people by way of a wonderful reminder that he is "about to do a new thing." God is going to make a way through the desert. God is going to send the exiles home -- back home to Jerusalem. They are not to worry about the journey even though they will have to cross the desert, for God will provide water, a veritable river in the desert.
Isaiah sees God providing a new exodus, a way out, a new salvation, a homecoming, freedom from the bondage of the Babylonians.
In a sense, the whole world was in exile wrapped in the grip of sin, death, and hell. Jesus our Savior came in the fullness of time to set God's captives free. God has done his new thing in Jesus Christ, and it never grows old and is always springing forth anew.
What do you need? Do you need to be set free from a past that haunts you with memories of your sin and failures? God has provided a way out in Jesus Christ. God wants to release you today from those things that have hindered you in order to release you for his service.
What do you need for God to do for you? Are you afraid of death? Jesus Christ died for you so that you may live. God in Christ has provided life for you now and forever more.
What do you need? Do you want God to set you free from the spectrum of hell which haunts you and causes you to walk in darkness? God is victor over all darkness which threatens to destroy you. He triumphed over all evil to give you victory.
What is the need of the Church? The greatest need of the Church is to be set free from crusty, worn-out, unworkable tradition. When this happens, the Church will return to its first love and God will do new and wonderful things greater than we can perceive.
What is the need of our world? The greatest need of the world is to remember that God has created us and that God wants to recreate us in his image. When God does his "new thing," all will sing his praises. Birds and animals, humankind, all creation will praise God for his greatness and goodness. Creation will someday recognize the new thing that God has done in Christ.
Right now you can begin to praise God for his "new thing"! Forget about past praises and be reminded of what God is doing now, right at this moment. Praise God anew and keep on praising him as he extends his forgiving grace to all of us. In order for us to see God's "new thing," we must remember that all absentmindedness isn't a bad thing. Sometimes it's okay to be absentminded.
____________
1. Charles Schulz, You Don't Look 35, Charlie Brown (New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1985).
