2 Peter 1:12-15: Lest We Forget...

Anyone who has read the Bible a few times can testify to its power to surprise. There is always a twist, a nuance, a discovery or even a forceful insight that God drives home each time. I was reminded of this again this week when someone told me how the impact of the word "and" (and not "but"), in a powerful verse, had stuck with him for many years.

So I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have. I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of this body,  - 2 Peter 1:12-13

My fried used to complain that he had a one-bit brain, because it could only hold one bit of information at a time. As soon as a new bit came along, the old was lost. I think we are like that. Life happens. I have enough trouble just keeping up with what is happening now. The present emergencry crowds out the lessons of a previous hard-fought victory. So we need to be reminded, because we tend to forget.

Yes, we have heard them before. There is no parable, no teaching of Jesus, no exposition of Paul, no story of the Old Testament and New Testament heroes of the faith that hasn't been the subject of sermon or Sunday school lesson. We have heard them before, but we were different people then, in different circumstances.  We have heard them before, but God has re-worked our heart since then.  We have heard them before, but the season has changed to God's appointed time (Titus 1:3).

Peter said: "And I will make every effort to see that after my departure you will always be able to remember these things." (2 Peter 1:15). Don't forget.

I find Peter's words challenging, as a teacher in a church. It is not enough to teach the truth. It is not enough that the teaching is clear. Teachers are challenged to make the truth memorable. He said, "I make every effort..." The burden of the lesson learned is placed on the shoulders of the teacher.

Sometimes memorable is wrestling with words. Try and translate the great truths of God so that a 2nd grader can grasp them. Kosuke Koyama challenged himself, as a missionary, to formulate his gospel message to speak the "language" the farmer plowing his field behind a water buffalo.

Sometimes memorable is retelling our story. The best taught lessons are those most deeply learned. Sometimes God's lessons need soak time. Your story is a story God designed to tell of his glory.

Sometimes memorable is keeping our eyes open. God's lessons are written large and small in the world around us. Jesus didn't have to look far to find subjects for the great themes of the gospel. They were ready at hand: the field, the widow, the rich man, the beggar, the mustard plant and the loaf of bread and cup of wine. Jesus said: "Do this in remembrance of me."

We forget. Tell the old, old story anew. Hear the old, old story anew.  Lest we forget...