The
Journey Forward Requires Looking Backwards
The importance of remembrance is a
theme found in the earliest pages of Holy Scripture. In Exodus when God frees
the Israelites from captivity in Egypt, he doesn’t tell them to simply get up
and go. He commands them to celebrate a ritual meal which is to be continued
annually as a remembrance of not only their freedom from captivity, but also of
the God who liberates. One of the purposes of this call to remembrance is to
pass on the story of God’s faithfulness to future generations. It reminds God’s
people to whom they belong. The Israelites are told that when their children
ask about Passover’s meaning, they are to use the opportunity to explain how
God liberated their people from slavery in Egypt (Exodus 12:26-27). Even now
the purpose of remembering is to celebrate the
ever-present
reality of God’s goodness and action in our lives. Central to the Christian
life is the sacrament of Holy Eucharist in which we remember our own liberation
from sin and death through the sacrifice of Christ. This communion sacrament which is
mysteriously and mystically made is celebrated every Sunday morning on altars
around the world.
As a Christian, it is my duty to
remember God’s activity in my own life. As a teenager, I rejected my parents’
Christian faith and sought to live after my own sinful desires. On my 18th birthday
in January, I was with some friends one evening on my way to a party in
Michigan when my car hit some ice on an on-ramp and spun out of control,
smashing into the median twice. The car was totaled - wheels were broken off
the axle, airbags burst out from the steering wheel and the glovebox. Miraculously, none of us was seriously
injured. A car stopped on the other side of the freeway and out stepped a young
gentleman who came over to check on us. I will never forget the first words out
of his mouth. “I have to tell you guys, I am a Christian. I just watched your
accident happen,
and I believe
God saved your life. It is a miracle that you are walking away from this.”
At the time, it meant little to me.
I was shaken up and wasn’t paying close attention. But those words stuck with
me. Later, I found out that my mother had awoken about the time of my accident,
feeling compelled to pray for me.
Not until years later did I make a
decision to follow Jesus. It was only then that I could look back and remember
how God had miraculously intervened to spare my life. He could have let me die
that night in a state of unbelief. But the Lord had other plans. Who would’ve
thought that such a young hooligan would ever become a priest?! It is almost laughable!
I try to make a practice of
occasionally remembering that night, of reflecting on God’s mercy towards a
sinner like me. I was rejecting him, but the Hound of Heaven was on my
trail. Just as God chose to free the Israelites
not because of anything they had accomplished, but because he loved them
faithfully (Deuteronomy 7:6-8), He also chose to keep me around for his own
sovereign purposes.
Now, when I struggle to feel God’s
presence or to sense his purpose for my life, I remember that cold, dark night
in which the light of Christ burst out from heaven and
liberated me
from death. In this act of remembrance, I take heart that God is guiding every
step of my journey. Now that I am a father as well as an ordained priest, I
know that this is a story I will tell to future generations.
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