Dear Rose Park
“Christians, of all people, understand the crucial importance of remembering. Christians are “memorial people” because the whole of our faith depends upon remembering. Those who persevere into the glorious future are those who remember the gracious past.”
The above words are written by Jon Bloom from an article he wrote for Desiring God. To read the entire article click here. It’s my hope to be “a memorial people,” to remember the past in order to persevere in the future. This should happen on various levels.
For example, we should remember the history of Rose Park. We should remember and praise God for the work of ministers and congregations that came before us. We should remember the history of Holland, the history of our nation, and the history of the world. We should remember both the times of great triumph and even those times where mistakes were made and evil seemed to prevail. We should be a memorial people in order to praise God for His faithfulness, to learn from our mistakes, and to better follow Christ for the future.
We know this because of the Word of God written the bible. Bloom writes:
The entire Bible itself is a memorial. We meditate on it daily to remember. The Sabbath was a memorial to Israel’s freedom from Egyptian slavery (Deuteronomy 5:15), and the church switched it to Sundays as a memorial to Christ’s resurrection and our freedom from sin. Israel’s great gathering feast days were memorials (Exodus 13:3). And now each time a local church gathers, each Lord’s Supper celebration (1 Corinthians 11:24–26), each baptism, each Christmas celebration, and each Easter celebration is a memorial. Remembering God’s past grace is necessary to fuel our faith in God’s future grace for us.
As Christians, it is vital that we remember just as it is vital that we keep moving forward. Remembering the past is not synonymous with being stuck in the past. Here at Rose Park, we desire to connect, empower, and reconcile. We do that best when we hold our history and our future in delicate tension. By doing so, we remember how God has faithfully brought us this far and we are encouraged for God’s continued grace for where He is leading us.
Immediately following the powerful and foundational Jewish prayer in Deuteronomy 6: 4-9, known as the Shema, we hear these words: be careful that you do not forget the Lord. On this Wednesday after Memorial Day, let us continue to be a memorial people as we remember the Lord giving thanks for all that He’s done, is doing, and will do in the days to come.
Grace & Peace,
Pastor Mark
Photo by Laurentiu Iordache on Unsplash