Do You Remember Where You Have Come?
Good Morning Friends,
Students leaving Immokalee on a trajectory of success, and perhaps college debt, are often told by the world to forget where they have come from, which unfortunately perpetuates the brain drain of this community for the best future results. That is why at One by One Leadership Foundation we invest in youth to become active leaders though early college internships in Immokalee that allow for them to remain connected to their home at the same time it promotes their vocational and financial development. This strategy brings greater dignity to the community as they are groomed for leadership. As such today’s devotional is especially for Immokalee youth just beginning their careers but is also for all who might glean insights in their faith as they face new endeavors.
When Jesus was tempted in the desert after 40 days of fasting, just before he was going into active ministry, he quotes part of today’s text from Deuteronomy and it is instructive because when one is being tempted it is always a good thing to remember the answer to today’s question. Before Israel entered the Promised Land after about forty years, Moses called a time out and wanted to make sure the people remained focused on God. He essentially asked everyone to answer today’s question in response to the grace they have received in their life. Do You Remember Where You Have Come?
Scripture: This entire commandment that I command you today you must diligently observe, so that you may live and increase, and go in and occupy the land that the Lord promised on oath to your ancestors. Remember the long way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, in order to humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commandments. He humbled you by letting you hunger, then by feeding you with manna, with which neither you nor your ancestors were acquainted, in order to make you understand that one does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. The clothes on your back did not wear out and your feet did not swell these forty years. Know then in your heart that as a parent disciplines a child so the Lord your God disciplines you. Therefore keep the commandments of the Lord your God, by walking in his ways and by fearing him. For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land with flowing streams, with springs and underground waters welling up in valleys and hills, a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey, a land where you may eat bread without scarcity, where you will lack nothing, a land whose stones are iron and from whose hills you may mine copper.
You shall eat your fill and bless the Lord your God for the good land that he has given you. Take care that you do not forget the Lord your God, by failing to keep his commandments, his ordinances, and his statutes, which I am commanding you today. When you have eaten your fill and have built fine houses and live in them, and when your herds and flocks have multiplied, and your silver and gold is multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied, then do not exalt yourself, forgetting the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, who led you through the great and terrible wilderness, an arid wasteland with poisonous snakes and scorpions. He made water flow for you from flint rock,
Deuteronomy 8:1-15 (NRSV)
Then Peter came and said to him, “Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times.” For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. When he began the reckoning, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him; and, as he could not pay, his lord ordered him to be sold, together with his wife and children and all his possessions, and payment to be made. So the slave fell on his knees before him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ And out of pity for him, the lord of that slave released him and forgave him the debt. But that same slave, as he went out, came upon one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and seizing him by the throat, he said, ‘Pay what you owe.’ Then his fellow slave fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ But he refused; then he went and threw him into prison until he would pay the debt. When his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their lord all that had taken place. Then his lord summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. Should you not have had mercy on your fellow slave, as I had mercy on you?’ And in anger his lord handed him over to be tortured until he would pay his entire debt. So my heavenly Father will also do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”
Matthew 18:21–35 (NRSV)
Message: In contrast to our lectionary passage from Deuteronomy, in Matthew 18:21–35, we hear of the story about an unforgiving servant who misused his privileges. It is a story about amnesia, of a servant who forgot from where he had come. But it also is about the Pharisees forgetting where they had come from. Jesus tells a parable in which a king calls a servant to account for a substantial debt that the latter owes to the king. Upon hearing the moving plea of the servant, the king agrees to forgive the debt so that the servant and his family are not bound to a life of servitude. The servant, however, does not learn his lesson. He forgets from where he had just come. He comes upon a neighbor who owes him a very small amount of money, and this servant mercilessly exacts every penny from his debtor, even treating his neighbor violently. It was not too long before that the same servant was begging for mercy from the king; but in an instant, this debtor turns into a harsh collector of debts. Loss of memory is a terrible thing. Without a memory of where we come from, we forget who we are and lose all compassion for the plight of our fellow human being. It is hard to stay connect to God and to be thankful when we forget what is important. What we remember and what we do with that memory are critical factors in living into the Kingdom to Come. As part of the Jewish culture a Mezuzah is put on door posts to remind people what is important at those transition point when we are most likely to forget. It contains scripture from Deuteronomy 6:4-9 and 11:13-21 as a reminder of what is important. I think this is what Moses and Jesus are telling us in today’s passages. It is a message for those going off to college but for each of us walking through new doors.
Pray we realize that in God’s Kingdom to come it will be important to remember where we have come from. Pray we not forget that the grace we have received is greater than the grace we will be asked to give. Pray we realize that grace is God making things right when we cannot. Pray we avoid complacency in our relationship with our God by remembering what is important throughout the day. Pray we remember scripture. Pray every time we walk through a door we remember where we have come from. Pray we always remember whose we are as a way of avoiding temptation.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 