Don't Forget

Please read Deuteronomy 8:10-18. Norman Rockwell’s painting, “Saying Grace” adorned the cover of the Saturday Evening Post on Thanksgiving in 1951.  “God is great, God is good, let us thank Him for our food.”  One of my fondest memories is going to breakfast at the diner after worship.  Every Sunday, we sat at the same table and before we ate, we would say grace.  Over the years we prayed with strangers, waitresses, and the regulars.  Wherever I am and whomever I am with, when I sit for a meal, I say grace.  It is something that occurs around many tables, and across a myriad of cultures and faiths.  Translated from the Latin, grace means “an act of thanks.”  It is said to God acknowledging our dependence on and appreciation for his provisions.  Being blessed, we should innately offer a blessing.  That is what we are instructed to do; that is what we should yearn to do.  Is that what we do?  

Church, everything good we have is from God.  Like the Israelites, we need to be reminded of that. We need to be careful, or we will find ourselves believing that success and prosperity come from our own doing.  God provided for the Israelites as they trekked in the desert and likewise God provides for each of us.  God sent manna (bread), every day.  Hesitant to trust at first, they collected extra manna, only to find that it soured overnight.  The exception was on every sixth day, when the Israelites were instructed to collect a double portion for the Sabbath.  Miraculously that portion never spoiled.  In the evening God sent a tremendous number of quail – easy to catch and right on time.  He made bitter water turn sweet and caused water to gush from a rock.  The Israelites were protected from their enemies; their shoes never wore out.  God provided for their every need.  He led them from slavery through the desert.  God demonstrated His care and foresight.  

What makes this story so relatable is that the next time Moses was asked for water, he did not listen to God, but instead he tried--in his own power to make water come from a stone, it did not.  As relatable, we learn that the Israelites grumbled, forgetting all that God provided.  Instead of gratitude, they had an attitude.  They complained, challenged God, and ignored His instructions.  They accused God of abandoning them.   Do we?  Trusting God when life is going well is not faith, faith is being confident in God and His promises when they have not yet come to pass. 

Friends, we turn to God and then because of our pride and self-reliance we wane, gradually pulling away from Him; and thinking we are managing life on our own.  The truth is, it is easy to forget that all we have --comes from God. It is easy to believe that we are self-sufficient.  One reason that happens is because we are not consistently thanking Him! 

We must not forget our powerful God, the One who leads us through our deserts - our times of despair, the One who sustains us during the famine, the One who carries us when we cannot walk alone.  Like the Israelites, we are blessed people.  Church, we need to remember our past – aware of our faithful God’s intervention.  I believe that one message from this text is that we tend to forget we are blessed.  As we enjoy the blessings, we cannot become so distracted that we forget the blesser.  

A Lutheran pastor, Gerhard Frost, wrote a meditation titled "Thank you, Lord" which frames the message given to us from the Israelites experience.  Listen carefully: Thank you, Lord, for always answering prayer, but not indulging my every petty, private give me. Thank you for winnowing and refining, vetoing and delaying, refusing and revising. Thank you for being God and never less, for freeing me for wide horizons, for protecting me from my limited vision and wayward will. Thank you for foiling my every effort to unseat you and make myself king. 

      With all God did for the Israelites, they forgot His faithfulness. They began to do things their way, ignoring God.  And at times we do, too.   Church, forgetting about God leads us down a troubled path.  We need to remain ever grateful for God’s provision.  How?  For me it is a small but noticeable ding on my driver’s side door (referencing The Brick story), I decided to keep it.  It reminds me to pay attention to God and what He is doing in my life.  What will help you to remember?  For some it is a bracelet, others a photo in their wallet, or a coin in their pocket or a stuffed animal on their desk.  Take time this week to find your reminder to remember God!  

Our God is good, never leaving us.  Jesus, The Bread of Life, the Manna from Heaven, gives us everything we need.  We have so much to be grateful for we have a Savior and life eternal.  And all God’s people say, amen.

Blessings,

Pastor Kerry

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