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There’s a story about a city dweller who was visiting relatives on a farm. They were gathered on the porch when the farmer gave a whistle and his dog herded the cattle into the corral, then latched the gate with her paw. The city dweller remarked, "Wow, that’s some dog. What’s her name?" The forgetful farmer thought a minute, then asked, "What do you call that red flower that smells good and has thorns on the stem?" "A rose?" "That’s it!" The farmer turned to his wife. "Hey Rose, what do we call this dog?" We all know what it is like to forget things like a dog’s name. And most of us know what it’s like to forget something important. Last Sunday I could not remember my daughter’s age. Today we will center our thoughts on memory or the lack of it. We will focus on how our memory shapes our future. Never in my ministry have I ever preached from the book of Haggai, until now. Have you ever heard a sermon from Haggai? It is a short book, only two chapters sandwiched between the two Z books…Zephaniah and Zechariah. It is named after the prophet, Haggai, who was passionate about rebuilding the temple. In 538 B.C. after Cyrus conquered Babylon he freed the captive Jews and encouraged them to return to Jerusalem and rebuild their temple. After fifty years of captivity the Jews faced a monumental task of rebuilding their nation and their religion. Haggai encouraged the governor of Judea and the high priest to assume official leadership in the reconstruction of the temple. The word of the Lord came to Haggai who spoke to these two leaders, Zerubbabel and Joshua and the people, "Who is left among you that saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now?" It was entirely possible that some of those Jews were old enough to remember the former glory of the temple of God. Here they were…facing the ruins of the temple. Faced with such destruction and rubble could they remember what it used to be? Of course we can’t help but think of the World Trade towers. Those who have been to Ground Zero say that pictures do not do the scene justice. They report an unfathomable sense of despair as their eyes behold the massive destruction. Haggai’s words echo in our minds, "Who is left among you that saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now?" Is there anyone here who remembers what life was like before December 7, 1941? Is there anyone here who recalls our way of life before 1950 and the Korean War? Is there anyone here who can remember life before Viet Nam, Desert Storm, and now Operation Enduring Freedom? When facing the lifeless form of a loved one in a casket can you remember the life and love you used to share? Haggai’s point is that our memory of the past can shape the future. He also spoke to the people these words, "Take courage, all you people of the land, for the Lord is with you. Remember how I led you out of Egypt. My spirit abides among you; do not fear." When we remember how we as a nation or a family faced war, depression, and death, we are not simply remembering history. We are remembering how God acted in our lives! Therein lies the power of memory. In memory is life and love! When we remember we are not simply remembering events. We are reliving the powerful meaning behind those events. And sometimes the memories are not good. There are times when life is shattered with violence. How can we go on? We go on because we remember how it used to be. And this memory helps us forge a new future. Our memories give us a vision, not only for our future, but for the future of our children and grandchildren. Haggai was not going to let his people forget and watch as their nation drifted away without its spiritual anchor. Our nation will not forget those whose lives were taken on September 11. Those of you who have lost loved ones will not let others forget. For in their lives there is love and power and life! Later in our service we will come forward to light a candle as a sign of remembering loved ones who are our saints. It is very important that we remember these saints because they help us stay connected. They help us feel that we are not alone. They help us face an uncertain future. This is why it is important that we hear the history of St. John United Methodist Church as we contemplate our future. We were chartered in 1962. By 1967 80 members with 36 in worship built the St. Mark educational wing. In 1982 276 members with 137 in worship built this sanctuary. In 1992 500 members with 246 in worship built the Bayshore Wing. This past Tuesday our church conference voted unanimously to move forward with preliminary plans to build a new 14,000 sq. foot addition. We don’t know if we can do this. But neither did St. John members in 1967, 1982, or 1992. Their faith, their dedication, their commitment can inspire us as we chart a new future. Remembering. It is very important that we remember. Tennessee Williams tells a story of someone who forgot -- the story of Jacob Brodzky, a shy Russian Jew whose father owned a bookstore. The older Brodzky wanted his son to go to college. The boy, on the other hand, desired nothing but to marry Lila, his childhood sweetheart -- a French girl as vital and ambitious as he was contemplative and retiring. A couple of months after young Brodzky went to college, his father fell ill and died. The son returned home, buried his father, and married his love. Then the couple moved into the apartment above the bookstore, and Brodzky took over its management. The life of books fit him perfectly, but it cramped her. She wanted more adventure -- and she found it, she thought, when she met an agent who praised her beautiful singing voice and enticed her to tour Europe with a vaudeville company. Brodzky was devastated. At their parting, he reached into his pocket and handed her the key to the front door of the bookstore. "You had better keep this," he told her, "because you will want it some day. Your love is not so much less than mine that you can get away from it. You will come back sometime, and I will be waiting." She kissed him and left. To escape the pain he felt, Brodzky withdrew deep into his bookstore and took to reading as someone else might have taken to drink. He spoke little, did little, and could most times be found at the large desk near the rear of the shop, immersed in his books while he waited for his love to return. Nearly 15 years after they parted, at Christmastime, she did return. But when Brodzky rose from the reading desk that had been his place of escape for all that time, he did not take the love of his life for more than an ordinary customer. "Do you want a book?" he asked. That he didn't recognize her startled her. But she gained possession of herself and replied, "I want a book, but I've forgotten the name of it." Then she told him a story of childhood sweethearts. A story of a newly married couple who lived in an apartment above a bookstore. A story of a young, ambitious wife who left to seek a career, who enjoyed great success but could never relinquish the key her husband gave her when they parted. She told him the story she thought would bring him to himself. But his face showed no recognition. Gradually she realized that he had lost touch with his heart's desire, that he no longer knew the purpose of his waiting and grieving, that now all he remembered was the waiting and grieving itself. "You remember it; you must remember it -- the story of Lila and Jacob?" After a long, bewildered pause, he said, "There is something familiar about the story, I think I have read it somewhere. It comes to me that it is something by Tolstoi." Dropping the key, she fled the shop. And Brodzky returned to his desk, to his reading, unaware that the love he waited for had come and gone. It can be so easy to miss love when it comes into our lives. Either something distracts us or we have so completely lost touch with who we are and what we care about that we cannot recognize our heart’s desire. You and I may find ourselves standing before the ruins of the temple, or the Pentagon, or the World Trade Center. We may discover one day that we are facing the deterioration of our family, our health, even our lives. We need to remember how it used to be, not in a vain effort to recapture the past. We need to stay in touch with our memories so that the resurrection power of Jesus Christ, who acted in the past, and will lead us into a new future, a future with hope, healing, and light. |
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11/04/01 - Memories That Shape Our Future (Haggai 1:15b-2:9)
