Remember Us
Good Morning Friends,
Have you heard the Tony Bennett duets with Lady Gaga? There is a back story that makes them powerful. You see Tony Bennett at one point was a cocaine addict but also is a man with a heart he did not leave in San Francisco. He was saved for a purpose I think. You see singing is a kind of prayer and when it is tied up with duets he sings with Amy Winehouse and Lady Gaga singing Cole Porter there is an intimacy revealed that can pass on wisdom from one generation to another. Can. The key is waiting for grace. The key is not letting fame kill you as it did Amy Winehouse. You do not hear it publically acknowledged much but I see it evidenced in the life of this Tony Bennett who was not killed by fame. Still performing with hits at 88 years of age. Really I do not know if he is a Christian but I think Christ is working in him. I see it in how grace has been part of his story…from Bob Hope singing Thanks for the Memories to today. Friends, prayer and acts of service converge with our experiences of grace as well. So this morning my prayer for you is that God helps you, in fact helps all of us, to remember how God has creatively molded our history into His Story of redemption. Today in prayer with thanksgiving and praise as we remember Jesus and the duet he sings into our life, we also humbly ask Christ to Remember Us.
Scripture:
I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart; before the gods I sing your praise; I bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness; for you have exalted your name and your word
above everything. On the day I called, you answered me, you increased my strength of soul. All the kings of the earth shall praise you, O Lord, for they have heard the words of your mouth. They shall sing of the ways of the Lord, for great is the glory of the Lord. For though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly; but the haughty he perceives from far away. Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve me against the wrath of my enemies; you stretch out your hand, and your right hand delivers me. The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands.
Psalm 138 (NRSV)
You have heard, no doubt, of my earlier life in Judaism. I was violently persecuting the church of God and was trying to destroy it. I advanced in Judaism beyond many among my people of the same age, for I was far more zealous for the traditions of my ancestors. But when God, who had set me apart before I was born and called me through his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, so that I might proclaim him among the Gentiles, I did not confer with any human being, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were already apostles before me, but I went away at once into Arabia, and afterwards I returned to Damascus. Then after three years I did go up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and stayed with him fifteen days; but I did not see any other apostle except James the Lord’s brother. In what I am writing to you, before God, I do not lie! Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia, and I was still unknown by sight to the churches of Judea that are in Christ; they only heard it said, “The one who formerly was persecuting us is now proclaiming the faith he once tried to destroy.” And they glorified God because of me.
Galatians 1:13-24 (NRSV)
Message: The Bible recalls so many times the importance of remembering how God has accompanied His people on the journey…how God choose us before we choose Him. It is caught up in the feast days and covenants…it is in the Eucharist and it is God in the desert and on the sea with us…leading us. The amazing thing here is that out of our past is formed a new life in Christ. We get a chance to choose the good portion at the feet of Jesus hearing the stories of His love. Here there is a passion that forms us…the presence of God’s power pure and perfect with unshackled grace. Here we have a witness of how God has influenced our choices even as we are led to praise God in our heart, in the world, in song, and in times of trouble and even humility…for God is in it all…molding us into a story worth remembering. Friends, God knows us and chooses us anyway…and that is something worth rejoicing about at prayer in God’s presence.
Pray remembering we are given gifts that are not for ourselves but for others… for the common good. Pray we follow God’s vision remembering that God specializes in things once thought impossible. Pray we realize the prophetic importance of remembering Jesus and his History. Pray we remember the grace we have received in our lives. Pray we embrace the power of remembering our heritage. Pray we realize that God is as close as the next prayer. Pray we remember our history before we met God and after His love for us changed our lives. Pray we set aside time for remembering what is important. Pray we practice the art of prompting our very soul to remember. Pray we remember the love of God reaching out to warm us with an acceptance that brings joy into our being. Pray we have a warm smile worth remembering. Pray we remember the face of Christ in those we serve.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 