Remembering

The following video transcript has been lightly edited

What we choose to remember shapes how we live. I was chatting recently with a friend, a colleague that I'm working with, down in one of the offices that I cover in my territory, and we were chatting about leadership and growth and development, and he was saying to me that there's some feedback that his father had given him a long time ago, and that feedback stuck with him. It shaped him.

And so his father said, hey, you have a great way with people. You're calm, and you're kind, and you connect with them. And so he went on to tell me that having that pointed out, having his father affirm that in him, has become a defining memory. And he remembers that memory, and remembers that reality, and that shapes how he manages, how he connects with others, how he leads.

And it's this reminder to us that what we choose to remember shapes the way we live. Hopefully you had an enjoyable Memorial Day weekend. And that's what Memorial Day is about. It's about stopping and choosing to remember the sacrifice of others that has resulted in our freedom. Our lives would look very different if that sacrifice hadn't made.

And so as a country, as a people, we stop and choose to remember that. And by remembering it, remembering the sacrifice of others, hopefully it creates within us, as a people, a sense of our own identity. That we are a people who are grateful and want to engage and serve the world. What I want to talk to you about today is how we remember to shape how we live in Christ.

John chapter 3, Jesus is talking to Nicodemus and he says that the Son of Man must be lifted up. And that God loves the world and God has given his only son to the world. Not to condemn the world, but to save the world. And so that passage creates a certain kind of memory for us, and I want to point out three things.

First, it challenges us to remember that God loves the world, and so we are to love the world that God loves. You know, as I confessed on Sunday, as I get older, I find it harder and harder to always love and have empathy for the greater sense of humanity. It feels more confusing, more difficult. And I'm sure that that was true about generations before. But when I'm reminded that God has come, not to condemn the world, but to save the world, then it challenges me.

It shapes my memory and shapes how I live so that I'm a person who wants to love the world, too. When Christ came, He didn't condemn the world. He didn't declare it to be worthless. He didn't declare it to have to be destroyed and knocked down, but rather to be saved. And so there's an affirming value in that.

And it reminds us that each human being we engage, they're loved by God. And in turn, we are to be a kind of people that love them. So let me ask you, when you remember people, do you remember that God loves them? And who is maybe a people group that you struggle to love? What are some steps you could take? To love them. Because that's what God came to do. To love the world, not condemn it.

Secondly, something that's helpful for us to remember, is that servanthood and sacrifice is what overcomes brokenness in this world. No question there's brokenness. We all experience it. Now, often we try to overcome it in a variety of ways, sometimes through control, sometimes through incentives, sometimes, by getting our way or manipulating, sometimes by being overly nice.

But all of these things, while they might get you a short term result, won't achieve the long term result. Because what we see from God is that Christ comes. To a broken world that needs victory over sin and death and evil. And the way God brings that about is not through control. It's not through a magic wand, but rather it's through servanthood and sacrifice.

In Christ's life, death and resurrection, he submits to death. In order to conquer death. He submits to sin. In order to conquer sin. He submits to evil, to conquer evil. And so we are reminded to do the same. That we are to be a people that serve. And so, how might you serve? And maybe take a moment and think about all the ways that people have served you. How God has served you in your life. And find joy and peace in that.

Lastly, I think this passage reminds us To remember to be grateful. The practice of gratitude is essentially remembering in a thankful and humble way. Thankful and humble. Thankful because we recognize that so many things in our life are a gift and they come because others have done something.

We like to think that we're self made people. We like to say things like, oh, I did this all by myself. But we don't ever do anything by ourself. The lives we have are tied to the lives of others. The existence we have is tied to the life of God. And so the practice of gratitude helps us to connect with others.

And as we begin to remember all the different people and the way that they've shaped our lives, we get to connect to joy because we recognize that in humility and thankfulness, that we can be grateful for the life we have.

Hope this week as you go about remembering that you would remember that God loves you and that God is at work in your life. Have a great week. Take care.