This week, our nation paused to remember the victims of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11. A memorial was dedicated at the Pentagon to all the loved ones who died there. Public speakers at dedication ceremonies often made the promise that, “We will never forget!” But often we do forget.
A number of years ago in a ninth-grade Hebrew class in a local Baltimore synagogue, Alvin Fisher’s students told him that they did not believe the Holocaust ever happened. That day, Fisher committed himself to the cause of having a memorial to the victims of the Holocaust constructed here in his hometown of Baltimore. The fruit of his efforts, located downtown on the campus of the Baltimore Community College, now serves as a solemn reminder of one of history’s darkest hours, just as the new memorial at the Pentagon reminds our nation of another day when thousands of innocent lives were cut short.
In my years as a pastor, I have found that we all are prone to forget life’s most important lessons. There are lessons that come from our suffering. We make mistakes that we vow not to repeat. Even more often, we forget the important lessons God shows us in our seasons of great joy. Perhaps that is why the verb “remember” appears 232 times in the Bible I keep on my desk. From Genesis to Revelation, God continually reminded his followers not to forget the important things he had done for them, and the lessons he taught them.
A few Sundays ago, we gave everyone in our congregation a present when they arrived for Sunday worship services. Our greeters handed each person a rock. Not a pet rock like was popular at Christmas many years ago — but just a plain old rock pulled from a river bed. On Sunday mornings, we had been studying through the book of Joshua. I had challenged our folks to count all the “piles of rocks” in the biblical text about Joshua’s life.
As the people of Israel entered the Promised Land, God was constantly telling them to erect a pile of rocks. Why? So that each time they passed by, they would see it and remember how God had delivered them.
Jesus picked up on this theme during the most important meal of his lifetime. On the night before he was crucified, he established a ceremonial meal that Christians call “communion,” the Lord’s Supper, or “the Eucharist” — from the Greek word for giving thanks.
Today, all around the world, his followers will gather around tables to eat and drink for a singular purpose. Jesus said to do this “in remembrance of me.” He had just explained to them that there was no greater love than if a man were to lay down his life for his friends — the very thing he was about to do — Jesus knew they would be quick to forget how much he had loved them. Instead of a pile of rocks, he invited them to a meal as a way to remember.
On our way to just such a table on the Sunday we talked about the piles of rocks, I asked my congregation to remember a time when God had shown them his amazing goodness — a day when they were recipients of grace, receiving what they didn’t deserve, rather than what they had earned. Then, we piled the rocks beside the table of remembrance in the hope that we would not quickly forget that God had been good to us.
On the first weekend after the 9/11 attacks, more than half of all Americans attended a religious service. We gathered to pray for the victims of the terrorist attacks, but also to thank God that we live in a nation that has been the beneficiary of so much of his grace.
Three weeks later, worship attendance was back to normal, and studies show that it has continually declined since then. Perhaps on this first Sunday after 9/11, we might renew our pledge to remember again what was on our minds in one of our nation’s most troubled times — that we need God to give us courage for today and hope for the challenging days to come.
Kevin McGhee is a senior pastor at Bethany Community Church in Laurel and a 1979 graduate of the United State Naval Academy. He can be reached at [email protected]
