"Forgetting to Remember”

A sermon by the Rev. Dr. Hilary J. Barrett

Preached at Pleasantville United Church of Christ, October 12, 2008

Exodus 32:1-6 & Philippians 4:1-13

^“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.  Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near.  Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”
(Philippians 4:4-7)

Every Thursday night the choir gathers to sing.  They practice the hymns and the anthem for the upcoming Sunday and soon they will begin to work on the music for Christmas.  In addition to practicing music they also receive a copy of the bulletin and someone in the choir told me that when they got a look at the title of my sermon for this morning there was a little chuckle in the choir.  Apparently some folks seem to think that “Forgetting to Remember” was a good title for those of us experiencing memory loss issues.  I’m not sure if that chuckle was for meant for me or for them, but as my son will attest, I am often found searching for words that seem to slip through the fingers of my mind and his only response to that phenomenon is, “Whoa, Mom, it’s getting worse.”

However much the title of today’s sermon sounds like it might relate to my ever increasing memory loss issues, it actually relates to the first scripture lesson we heard this morning from the book of Exodus. 

The word Exodus means “the going out” and the entire book of the Exodus is devoted to the story of the Israelites “going out” of Egypt; going out of slavery and bondage.  It tells the story of how the people were oppressed and God heard their cry of oppression.  It tells how God raised up a mighty leader to bring them out of their misery.  How that leader was Moses, and how Moses took on the Pharaoh of Egypt and led the people through the Red Sea, into the desert, and began their sojourn across the wilderness towards the land that God had promised to Abraham and Sarah, generations ago, the Promised Land.

Last fall we spent a whole month studying the book of the Exodus.  Those of you who remember that study may remember that the people whom God had rescued spent a whole lot of time whining.  They complained about everything: the food, the accommodations.  They even began to long for Egypt because liberation was so difficult.

The book of the Exodus is a great story about how hard it is to embrace our freedom.

After leading the people out of Egypt and into the wilderness, God leads them to the Mountain of God.  In Exodus this mountain is called Mount Sinai.  In Deuteronomy it is called Mount Horeb.  And there on that mountain, God authors two stone tablets containing 10 Commandments; 10 moral imperatives that Israel must adhere to if it is to uphold the covenant with God.

Last week Pastor Amelie preached about the 10 Commandments and one of the things she said about them is that they are rules that are fairly easy to break.  This morning’s story from the book of the Exodus proves her point because it wasn’t long after the people of Israel agreed to the terms of the covenant with God that the people of God broke the very first commandment: the commandment prohibiting idolatry.

"I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and fourth generation of those who reject me, but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments."  (Exodus 20:2-6)

Remember this morning’s story: Moses had gone back up the mountain for a little more face-time with God and he happened to be gone longer than the people expected and so, all of sudden the people freaked out.  They let their fears get the better of them.

Their solution to their anxiety was to melt down all the gold they had on hand in order to fashion for themselves a golden calf that they could worship. 

This is the story of The Golden Calf and it’s one of those core faith stories that we have to know in order to be able to talk about other core faith stories.  It’s part of the vocabulary of faith.

Trust in God can be hard when times are tough.  When our children are in danger, when we feel our future is at risk, when we can’t stand the waiting any longer and we’re looking for something to cling to, trusting it God can be very difficult.

No sooner had Moses gone up the mountain and stayed there a little too long that the people got so freaked they forgot to remember that God had been faithful to them. 

That’s what idolatry is: it’s forgetting to remember God’s faithfulness to us.  Idolatry believes that God is not present unless we see God physically.  Idolatry gets spooked and starts turning to other things instead of God for comfort and salvation.  These last few weeks are certainly days in which it would be easy to get anxious.

A few years ago I was blessed to receive some extra time off as part of a sabbatical and ever since that time I have thought more and more about the importance of Sabbath --- and I’ve been inviting you to think about it with me.

Remembering the Sabbath and keeping it holy is the fourth commandment.  The purpose of the Sabbath is to remember what’s important.

Taking time to remember what’s important is really the sole purpose of Sabbath keeping.  It is so easy for us to get steered off course.  The celebration of Sabbath is one of only two commandments to do something.  All the other commandments are “Thou shalt not” commandments.  Only two command us to do something: keep the Sabbath holy, and honor thy father and mother.  In the case of the Sabbath, the commandment to “do” something commands us to do this thing every 7 days.  That’s how important it is.  That’s how easy it is to forget unless we do it on a regular basis.

The story of the Golden Calf is a story that reminds us of how easy it is for people – well meaning people – to lose track of what’s important and to find ourselves off course.  Keeping the Sabbath invites us to remember what’s most important.

Keeping the Sabbath is a weekly reminder of whose in charge and who is isn’t; of who is God and who isn’t; of what’s really important and what isn’t.  Keeping the Sabbath is like keeping a regular appoint to remember the faithfulness of God.

One of the things I have discovered about Sabbath keeping is that it naturally, automatically produces thankfulness.  You need to try this as an experiment.  Give yourself 24 hours off and see what happens.  Give yourself 24 hours away from work, away from e-mail – if you can, away from shopping and even those tasks around the house that you do not particularly enjoy.

Spend the time with friends.  Spend the time savoring a meal.  Spend the time resting and reading, napping and being with those you love.  Give yourself the gift of down time and see what happens.  Ordinarily I’m not a betting pastor, but I’d be willing to wager a nickel that you will find a wellspring of thankfulness rise up within your spirit as a result of practicing the Sabbath.

Giving thanks is something we can do a lot of when we remember how faithful God has been to us.  And remembering takes time.

Paul’s letter to the church at Philippi is filled with beautiful words of thanksgiving.

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.  Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near.  Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.  And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.  (Philippians 4:4-7)

Paul invites us to rejoice in the Lord always; to trust that the Lord is near.  Paul says, “Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”  Now, we might want to say – sure, that was then, but this is now.  But the truth is: back then, it wasn’t even legal to be a Christian.  Back then, they were feeding Christians to the lions as sport.  Paul is speaking a word of encouragement to people who have a whole lot to worry about, and he is speaking of “the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding” – that very peace which “will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

That’s a bit of peace we could use right now.

 Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.  (Philippians 4:8-9)

Keeping Sabbath gives us time to “think on these things.”  It’s a discipline we are commanded to observe with regularity – because it is ever so easy for God’s people, however well-meaning we are, to get steered off course.

In times of fear, struggle, in times of hardship, think on these things; focus upon the higher things; and remember: “[We] can do all things through him who strengthens [us]" (Philippians 4:13).

May it be so.  Amen.