Today our country celebrates Presidents Day, to remember the deeds of United States’ forefathers George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. While this day might just be an excuse for many in the U.S. to shop and have a day off, this day’s intention is remembrance. Yet, I wonder if remembering is something that we have forgotten how to do?
In the Christian faith remembrance is something that walks somewhat of a fine line, because of the redemption of Christ, who takes away our sins. For that reason, Christians are encouraged not to remember the “sins” of their past because they have been forgiven and transformed, yet we aren’t suppose to forsake the practice of remembrance.
In the Old Testament Jacob has this encounter with a man. Now some believe this man to be just a man, while others believe this man to be an angel or Christ himself. Who the man is, isn’t the point. The point is that within this experience, Jacob has an encounter with God that changes his life; seen by the fact that the man changes Jacob’s name to Israel.
Jacob was a man that had a hard time remembering God’s promises, has seen throughout Jacob’s life. So what happens in the process of Jacob’s encounter with God? He is hurt by the man and left with a limp for the rest of his life. It is as if God is saying to Jacob, I will make sure you never forget this event, because within this event I have redefined you, I have given you a new name.
In the Lutheran Church, and in most Reformed churches, people are baptized as infants. During the baptism parents, sponsors, and the church body confess that they will help raise this child “in the faith.” The beauty of this event is that within it is the confession that we cannot save ourselves; God is the one who saves us. The hard reality of this event is that one cannot personally remember it. In my church, we have instituted milestones to help children remember God saves them in their baptism, but there is something to be said for remembering your own rebirth and encounters with God.
I have been thinking about his a lot lately, partly because I think it affects the theology of Confirmation, and partly because I have noticed that many of my own students and families have a hard time remembering their own baptism or the confessions they made on their child’s baptism Sunday.
Today I went to a local mall to purchase some running shoes, which were on sale because of the President’s Day holiday. As I checked out, the man behind the register and I started talking. Within our conversation I stated, “It is really busy today.”
He replied, “Man it has been busy all weekend.”
As I left the store I had a thought, even a national day of remembering has been made into a day of consumption and busyness (like some other famous holidays, ie. Christmas). I wondered to myself, how have we as a nation forgotten how to remember? Has the practice of remembering become totally forgotten?
Honestly, I think it has, and I think the scary thing is that it has affected our church more than we would like to admit.
When I talk to any youth pastor in Orange they tell me that one of the main reasons that students do not attend their youth groups is because of busyness. Even in my own church, we have full attendance in our Jr. High program, because it is tied to Confirmation. Yet, what I have noticed is that as soon as students are confirmed, church and youth group take a back seat to everything else (school, sports, hanging out with friends, or TV). What is ironic about this, is that confirmation is suppose to be a way for a child to “remember” and “confess” faith in a God who came to them as an infant, but as soon as they are confirmed they and their families seem to “forget” and go on with their lives.
So in conclusion I ask, how might we take back the practice of remembering what God has done for us? Because as we can see from the story of Jacob, when we encounter God he changes us, affects us, and calls us to remember; even if he has to force us too.
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