For Grandma

This is a sketch of a devotional I did at our family reunion last weekend. My grandma asked me at that reunion to post more on my blog and specifically to post this. It is to be read with Deuteronomy 6:1-9.

Two of my fellow classmates at ACU took it upon themselves (as part of their formation into Christian servants and leaders, living out ACU's mission to "Change the World") to learn how to do impersonations of everyone of our major professors. They were quite good at it - the voice, the mannerisms and gestures... I had the good fortune of being in preaching class with these two fine, upstanding gentlemen. As a part of their continued pursuit of mimicry greatness, they extended their repertoire to include each of the students in our preaching class. In my case, I think they really nailed me. They got all of my ticks at the time - scratching my arm, gripping the podium. They even got my voice pretty well.

But what they really nailed me on was my family. You see, it seemed that every text that I preached in that class reminded me in some way of my family - memories, stories, legends, etc... Whether it was the Psalms of Ascent (songs sung by pilgrims making trips to Jerusalem to worship in the temple) - sounding much like the songs that I sing as I road trip back and forth from Houston to Abilene. Or Moses at the base of Mt. Sinai being reunited with wife and sons and visited by his Father-in-Law - it felt much like family reunions from my own memory. Or perhaps most of all, Caleb - 85 years old, going to Joshua and asking for his inheritance of the land, saying I still feel as strong as I did 45 years ago - he reminded me a lot of my great-grandfather - even in his old age coming to his great-grandchildren and holding up his cane - asking us to try to hold it up as he pulled it down - showing us that he still had it. Yes, they really nailed me on my family. It was almost like I couldn't help the memories from flooding in as I sat down to move from text to sermon.

Although it did get me thinking about correcting some of my distracting behaviors that they mocked so well, it also got me thinking - talking about my family is not a bad way to be remembered, is it? When I think back on my journey of faith so far, I don't know how it could be divorced from my family. They've been so integrally tied to it. This family has been such a tremendous blessing in my life. It's been such a blessing to be tied to such a rich tradition of faith, spanning back years and years. It's been such a blessing to be connected to something, and to "someones" all over the country - always having a place to stay, a friendly and loving face always seems within driving distance. It's been such a blessing to have support and love from all of you.

And it's also been such a tremendous blessing to hear all the stories...wonderful stories, funny stories, sad heartbreaking stories. Stories that over time become legends and myths - too good to be true. Old stories, new stories - but most importantly the stories of God's faithfulness to this sometimes wandering and sometimes lost tribe, always striving to be faithful and always growing and being disciplined in God's faithfulness.

Our family finds ourselves in a place that is not unlike Israel during the time of Deuteronomy. After the Exodus, being released from slavery under Pharaoh's cruel and oppressive reign, Israel found themselves standing on the bank of the Jordan River, looking towards the Promised Land. But she got scared, there were giants in the land, surely God had led them out in the desert to die. And so God led them back into the desert, wandering for forty years, becoming disciplined to become better His covenant people - the people of the promise. And forty years later, they found themselves yet again on the bank of the Jordan, looking towards their future in the Promised Land as Moses addressed them one last time.

They were plagued then with the question that has plagued every generation of God's people since then and plagues us still - will the future generation keep the faith? And that's the question that drives Deuteronomy. Will Israel choose faithfulness or disobedience? Will she choose the one true God or the gods of the nations? Will she choose life or death? These are the same questions we ask of ourselves today. Will we be defined by the failures of our family's past or by God's gracious action on all of our behalf? God has chosen to be in relationship with us, will we choose him? And so here we stand, with the generations of God's faithful from all time - feet muddy in the Jordan's bank wondering which way we will go.

Our family is on the cusp of a new generation. One only has to look around to see that Jeremy and I are no longer wearing matching tank tops and matching shorts, scampering along the dirt on Ball Road, trying to stay out of the ant beds. There are new faces coming into the family. New lives and careers and paths are emerging from us. And as we find ourselves yet again on Jordan's banks this new generation is looking towards the future - towards our own giants, our own paths and own ways. We know that some of it will look the same as those who have gone before us, and we thank God for the trails that have already been blazed on our behalf. But we know some of it will look quite different.

But as we gaze and dream of what is ahead, I would like to say, on behalf of this new generation coming into adulthood - Thank You. Thank you for the stories, the memories, the conversations we've shared while travelling on the road, or at night being tucked into bed. Thank you for things said in the day time and in the night time. Anytime that you who have gone before us and loved us since we were young have told us and showed us God's good and faithful deeds on behalf of our family.

And as for my generation, as we find ourselves looking ahead, I'd like to charge you as Moses charged Israel. There are two ways before us, two roads. One leads to death and destruction, the other leads to life and faithfulness. Choose life. Choose to remember the stories of old. Choose to be defined by the faithfulness of God and not marked by the sins of those who have gone before us. Choose to live into the story of a God who chose us, who rescued us from bondage and who is leading us to a new land of promise. Choose to follow him. And if history proves true, then we will one day find ourselves here again on the bank of the Jordan with our children and our children's children and we will once again face a point of decision. And I'd like to think that they too would choose life.