Deut. 6: 1-12  Remember Not to Forget:  Filled to Forgetfulness May 24, 09
As I get older, I struggle to remember basic things:  Mona thinks maybe it’s early Alzheimers?
Big struggle: remembering names: verify, picture forehead, repeat it, use it often, creative association

Deuteronomy means:  repetition of the law, the book repeats the basics over again so we wont forget.  Deut. 6: 
1-9:  Emphasis on our children learning and remembering the great things God has done.  Obedience leads to life and blessing.  Love the Lord w all your heart & teach your children well, live your faith.
10-12:  When you get into the Promised Land which God promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and your houses are filled with good things, abundant water, vineyards & olive groves, don’t forget God who set you free.
13-19:  Don’t follow other gods;  you must serve God and worship him only.  Be holy. Don’t forget.
20-25:  When your children ask the reason for God’s laws, remind them of how God set you free.

Two things we are to remember based on Deut 6:
-that God is a great God who brought you out of slavery in Egypt and gave you a wonderful land…
-that all of life is gift- cities didn’t build, houses w good things you did not provide, wells, vineyards
How are we to remember these things? By repeating the story & our testimonies over & over- hymn:
v.7ff:  Impress God’s greatness and his commands on your children.  Talk about them when you sit at home, when you walk along the road, when you lie down, when you get up.  Surround yourself w reminders on your foreheads, your hands, doorframes of your houses… Monthly Communion/ water baptism
v. 20ff: children ask about your faith, tell them all about what God has done for you, set you free. 
God wants us to think about Him & remember Him every moment of every day but we get distracted

* When you’re full and settled, don’t forget.   As Americans most of us are filled up, forgetful of God.
10-12, “When the Lord your God brings you into the land he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give-  you a land with large, flourishing cities you did not build, houses filled with all kinds of good things you did not provide, wells you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant- then when you eat and are satisfied, be careful that you do not forget the Lord, who brought you out of the Egypt, out of the land of slavery.”  When filled up our tendency is to forget.

* Things that fill our lives and cause us to forget:
-Too much stimulus… distractions everywhere, over 300 ads/ commercials a day,  In our cars: radios, cell phones, receiving & sending e-mails, watching tv/dvds.  We’re overloaded… Email Spam.  My  home: most of us are on line on a website, watching TV, ipod headphones listening to music or?

-Too much speed… when I’m in a hurry, busy, moving too fast, I forget important things.  When I’m running: forget my glasses, leave my wallet, my cell phone, careful not to leave anything on my car…

-Too much stuff:  Twain:  “Civilization is the limitless multiplication of unnecessary necessities.” There’some things money can’t buy and for the rest there’s Mastercard:  Americans are people who spend money they don't have, to buy things they don't need, to impress people they don't like.
Storage units have become big business.   As we accumulate more and move more, we need storage. Hoarding has become a problem.  People become emotionally attached to their stuff and it piles up.  People have been found buried under piles of their own trash. One lady said of her stuff: “It’s my whole life.” 
When we’re surround by clutter we can forget the important things we need to be about.  To fill up our lives with stuff, we have lost the Sabbath, we are a 24/7 culture.  Sabbath: rest & remember God.

-Too much stress: how many of you get home after a stressful day and remember you forgot something?  Actors on stage or students taking an exam can forget lines and answers, new studies find that stressful situations activate an enzyme that impairs short term memory.  The extra stimulus, speed and stuff combines to cause stress in our lives.  Old saying, “Stop the world, I want to get off…”

-Too much success…  story of man who hit the lottery and his life/world fell apart… when we begin to do well, achieve our goals, climb the ladder, we can forget both the God who made us and the people who helped us. In a recent survey over half of all Christians said they believed that the purpose of life is enjoyment and personal fulfillment- success.  Worship celebrities, but their personal lives are empty. Few people can handle success:  King Saul was blessed by God but forgot God.   David was a great King who forgot, Adam and Eve in a garden but forgot.  Jesus: "What does it profit a person if he gains the world but loses his soul.” True success is learning to slow down pace, scale back your wants, simplify your life- reduce clutter  Seek first God- filled w Spirit

-Too much suffering… when we struggled and been in pain for a time, either our own struggle or that of a loved one, we become discouraged, see no change, feel lost, forgotten and we forget that God is good.   Psalm 13-  How long: will you forget me, hide your face, wrestle with my anxious thoughts, will my enemy triumph, my health is failing, death feels near, answer me!… “But I will trust in your unfailing love and my heart rejoices in your salvation.  I will sing to the Lord, for he has been good to me.”

The more we multi-task, do multiple things at once, the more likely we are to forget something important.   On a busy day I’ll forget the most important thing I have to do.  101 things to do: work, shopping, prescriptions, cars fixed, bank deposit;  Mona says, “You remember you have to pick up  Becca today…”  Oooh yeah.  Relate?  We get busy and forget the most important thing.  “Seek first”

How many have been going through the day and you get up and go to the next room and forget why you got up?  Why am I here?  What do you do?  You go back to the other room where you made the decision to get up and hope something will clue you in.  I did that this week and now I can’t remember what I remembered when I went back because I forgot.  Sometimes the only way to remember is to go back where you started from and look around.  Back to the beginning.  Back to basics.  Jesus: remember your first love. Go back to the simple faith.  Go back and become a child and remember how real God is.

Religious survey found that number of people who register as “None” or “No religion” has grown from 8% in ’90 to 15% today. Negative? Maybe people are finally being honest/ open to real faith?  Point: we need to live out Deut. 6:  talk about God, every moment, tells of his greatness, all the time:

Most of you have heard the story of Carrie Prejean, Miss California, the runner up in the the Miss USA paegent.  She was asked by a judge if she believed that all the states in the US should legalize gay marriage.   Her answer: "We live in a land where you can choose same-sex marriage or opposite. And you know what, I think in my country, in my family, I think that I believe that a marriage should be between a man and a woman. No offense to anybody out there, but that's how I was raised."  A major firestorm erupted.  She was harassed for her answer.  Donald Trump was asked to remove her crown but he finally refused saying, “She gave the same answer that our president has given.”    In an interview later, she said:  "The Lord was in my heart and in my head just saying, `Carrie, how bad do you want this? Are you willing to deny me?  I answered honestly.  I refused to compromise my values… My grandfather never spoke of the Battle of the Bulge that he participated in as a rifleman under General Patton, or the honorary medals he received because of his bravery. But he did speak about the freedoms he fought for, and taught me to never back down, and never let anyone take those freedoms away from me.” 

Here on Memorial Day weekend, we remember all those who fought and died, so we can all stand up today and speak honestly from our heart.  We remember those that sacrificed their life, so that we can be free.  Every Memorial Day, I remember my uncle Kurt, fought and died in WWII, for me, only 20 year old when he died.

We are by nature forgetful: notice this as I get older but especially in this day and age when we prize the present and future so much, we have to fight to remember those things that last, the legacies events in our past that give meaning to the present.  Bombarded with so many images/ messages: funerals help us remember.
* Deut. 8: 10 “Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God by failing to observe his commands.  Otherwise when you eat and are satisfied, build houses and your money increases, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of slavery” When we get comfortable, we tend to forget God, move out on our own & forsake our first love-death.

Ps. 106 begins as a song of praise for all that God did for Israel.  But then Israel complains:
* Ps. 106: 13, “But they soon forgot what God had done and did not wait for his counsel.”
v. 21:  They forgot the God who saved them, who had done great things in Egypt…”
How could Israel forget all the great things God did?  saw God part the red sea, manna/ quail/ cloud/fire
How could the disciples be so slow to understand/ remember all the things Jesus did?:   sinful men?
God’s Spirit in John 14: 26:  will “teach you and remind you of everything I have said to you…”
Because we are so forgetful, God calls us to remember-Spirit.  Obedience requires remembering.

Don’t forget to remember.  Not easy.  How?  * To remember, we need to take some practical steps:
* We need to set aside time to reflect on God.  Ex. 20:  Remember to keep the Sabbath day holy…  The reason we forget is that we are to busy to stop and think.  How many times I have stopped myself in the middle of a busy day and hit my head- I forgot. Sunday is a day we remember to remember together. People who get out of church or who never take a Sabbath are doomed to a spiritual forgetfulness…

* We need to hear the story & have the story to be repeated over and over: when your kids ask you:
Deut. 6: 6: “These commands that I give you today are to be upon your hearts.  Impress them on your children.  Talk about them when you sit at home, when you walk along the road, when you lie down and get up….Write them on the doorframes of your houses…” We need to share the same stories over again.

* We need visual aides to help us remember: 
Ancient Jews wore boxes on their foreheads and put Scripture in medal plates on their doorframes.
Joshua set up 12 stones as a visual reminder / Jesus told stories seeds, held a child or a coin.
In 1 Cor. 11:  Jesus held up a bread and a cup of wine and said:  “Do this in remembrance of me”
Our City Park is full of Memorial Day visual aides, monuments & memorials to help us remember.
Washington monument:  capstone of the 555 foot Washington monument reads, “Praise be to God.”   The highest point in our nation’s capital contains a reminder:  God is over all & is Lord of all-praise.
 (Back to original pp)

* We always remember best when we’re personally involved:   Offering Life:  the E is for everyone involved in ministry.
We remember 10% of what we hear, 50% of what we see and hear, 90% of see, hear & do. 
Old saying:  “I hear, I forget.  I see, I remember.  I do and I understand.”  We forget uninvolved.
Jesus showed his disciples images but he also spend three years living with them, experiencing daily life

* Find a friend- we need accountable relationships.  People who will help us remember God in our daily lives.  Left to ourselves we get busy living life and it is easy to just forget about God.  That’s why we need other Christians to challenge & question us, encourage us, spur us on to love/ good deeds
If we are not involved in some kind of Christian support group, we will struggle to follow J: LIFE- F
    
My generation has known only good economic times.  We’ve never experienced the great depression like my dad & those who lived during the 1930s.  Life was hard.  Jobs were scarce.  Everyone struggled.  Many like me have only experienced a life full of financial blessings & success.   But a generation filled with material things has begun to forget God- the Giver of all good gifts.  One lady said re depression:  “We had everything but money.”  Another, “We have more depression now in our prosperity than they had during the Depression in their poverty.”  Hard times brought us together.  Will it be the same today?
Our financial crisis is not yet at the level of the 30s, the pain is real/ widespread. We will come together?

Remember Elementary: prayed before lunch, said the pledge every day, got real spankings… memories.

It occurred to me this generation in America may be the first w/out any spiritual memories… no church or Sunday School as kids, no knowledge of the Bible at all.  I know there has been much discussion over having a Bible class:

Donna Frisinger tells the story of when she found out her mother had Alzheimers.  They were out shopping at garage sales on a Saturday morning and her mother found a great purse for a $1.  She was so happy but when her daughter brought her home, she said, “Mom, don’t forget your new purse.”  “That’s not my purse, it must be yours.”   Donna said she went home and cried.  She knew.  Over the next few years, she cared for her mother as best could.  The one question her mother would ask over and over again was: “Is my mother dead?”  Her mother had been dead for 40 years, each time Donna would say, “Oh mom, grandma’s in heaven.”  Donna did two things as your mother’s memory slowly faded.  She started a family scrapbook filled with pictures and brief stories so she'd always remember.  And Donna kept taking her mother to church every Sunday.  Quote: “I've watched her more recent memories fall away like fragile petals off a dying rose, dropping to the ground, one by one. But on Sunday mornings, my real mother comes out to play again. The rose is in full bloom, lovelier than ever, with an aroma of new life that must be envied by the angels. For as she sings, with the joyful abandon of a little child, every word of every song is a heartfelt offering to her King. She raises her hands, asking her Heavenly Father to pick her up, to carry her through one more week. In worship, her hazel eyes once again sparkle like diamonds.   On the way home, she'll ask "the question" again. I believe that her mind knows it's dying and seeks reassurance.  "Yes, Mom. Grandma is with Jesus now," I'll say. "She went home 40 years ago, and she's waiting there for us."   "I hope so, Donna. I want to see her again."   "You will, Mom. You can count on it."   "Because of Jesus," she says. "What do people do without Jesus?"   These days, Mom no longer carries a purse. She wouldn't know what to do with one. * She doesn't remember what happened two minutes ago. Oh, but she remembers Jesus. She remembers he loves her. And she remembers she loves him.  That's a miracle I experience each week. And it makes my heart sing in the midst of my sorrow."

Hymn of Commitment:  “My Country Tis of Thee”