"Memory"

Scripture: Hebrews 12:1-2

Yesterday, we celebrated All Saint's Sunday. This celebration in the church has a long history and it has evolved over the centuries. In the United Methodist tradition, All Saint's Sunday is the day that we remember and celebrate the lives and the witness of all of the people that have passed on before us. We celebrate how these people have influenced our lives, how they have revealed Christ to us. There are two important things to know about this. First, remembering is important. In fact, it is essential to our Christian life. When Jesus shared the Last Supper with the disciples, he told them, and us, to "do this in remembrance of me." We remember so that we can know our story. We can know who we are and whose we are. But, memory is only meaningful if it motivates us to action. Pining for the "good old days" is not memory, it id nostalgia. Christian memory brings to mind God's actions through Jesus Christ so that we are motivated to work for God's kingdom, for God's new creation. The second this to know is that, when we remember, we acknowledge that God is a God of history. God was present before the world began and God will be present will there is a new heaven and a new earth. We, in the grand scheme of eternity, are but specks of time. We are not meaningless specks of time. But, we are not the pinnacle of all that God has done or is doing in the world. What this means is that, while we see how things effect our lives and the lives of our loved ones, God sees how these effect all things. History is moving in God's direction, even if we do not see it. That is important because it gives a reason to hope, and to celebrate.