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REMEMBER
GOSPEL SCRIPTURE TEXT:
MATTHEW 1:1-17

LOS ALAMOS FIRST UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
DAVE RING, PASTOR
MEMORIAL SUNDAY MORNING, MAY 25, 2008

SCRIPTURE TEXT: 1A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David, the son of Abraham: 2Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, 3Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar, Perez the father of Hezron, Hezron the father of Ram, 4Ram the father of Amminadab, Amminadab the father of Nahshon, Nahshon the father of Salmon, 5Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab, Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth, Obed the father of Jesse, 6and Jesse the father of King David. David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah's wife,7Solomon the father of Rehoboam,
Rehoboam the father of Abijah, Abijah the father of Asa, 8Asa the father of Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat the father of Jehoram, Jehoram the father of Uzziah, 9Uzziah the father of Jotham, Jotham the father of Ahaz, Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, 10Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, Manasseh the father of Amon, Amon the father of Josiah,11and Josiah the father of Jeconiah and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon. 12After the exile to Babylon: Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel, Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, 13Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, Abiud the father of Eliakim, Eliakim the father of Azor,14 Azor the father of Zadok, Zadok the father of Akim, Akim the father of Eliud,
15Eliud the father of Eleazar, Eleazar the father of Matthan,
Matthan the father of Jacob, 16and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ. 17Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Christ.

MESSAGE:
This weekend is Memorial Day weekend. Memorial Day began more than a century ago as "Decoration Day" shortly after the U. S. Civil War. It was set as a time of remembrance in which to decorate the graves of the tens of thousands, on both sides of the conflict, who had died in that terrible internecine struggle. Later it was expanded to include remembrance of those who had died in any war and, still later, as a holiday simply to remember all those who have gone before us, in times both of war and of peace.

. I have an odd personal memory defect. Many in our world today suffer from dementia or Alzheimer's Disease, both of which take away short term memory. All my life I have had problems with long term memory. Only with great difficulty can I recall anything specific that happened to me more than seven or eight years ago. My wife can tell you that, as far as I'm regularly aware, I was born married with children. On the positive side, my memory defect effectively prevents me from holding grudges for very long.

. As God readied Himself to enter our world as a human being, He reminded His people of the long-term design of His plan for saving the world. At God's inspiration the gospel writer Matthew thus began the New Testament with a lengthy remembrance of the ancestry of Jesus the Christ. Although in His sovereignty God could have had Jesus spring forth from nothingness, He chose to make the Savior part of a lengthy lineage of His prior chosen people.

. The Scripture text which we just read is one that is often passed over without thought, for it appears to be a virtually endless list of names, only a few of which we can pronounce. But each of those names represents a unique human being, each of them a link in God's chain of chosen people - leading to the Christ.

. In this genealogy of Jesus we find a handful of folks whom at least some of us remember well. Abraham, the first of the faithful - the great progenitor of three of our world's major religions. Jacob, the crafty deceiver whom God transformed into Israel, the namesake for all God's original chosen people. Rahab, the prostitute whose timely provision of refuge facilitated the entry of God's people into the Promised Land. Ruth, the foreigner who chose to cast her lot, for better or worse, with the people of God. David, the shepherd turned warrior who, in his spare time, composed marvelous songs of praise and honor to God. Splendid Solomon, the wise but sometimes not-too-wise king of Israel. Hezekiah, whose earnest prayers to God lengthened not only his life, but the lifespan of the entire kingdom of Judah.

. In Matthew's genealogy of Jesus there are more names that are unfamiliar to most of us than are those we recognize. Who knows anything about Amminadab? What about Amon? Eliakim? And some of those we do know about are very unsavory characters. Ahaz was a singularly evil man who committed human sacrifice, burning his own son as an offering to pagan gods. Manasseh worshipped all manner of idols and practiced witchcraft.

. Generations of persons good, unknown, and bad - God employed all of them to accomplish His purpose. Each of these named by Matthew willingly or unwittingly served as a connection, a nexus in our Lord's carefully crafted plan for the redemption of the world through Jesus Christ.

. Frankly, I'm not one who spends a lot of time dwelling on the past. And I most certainly hope I never become one of those stereotypical "old fogies" whose primary preoccupation is rehashing the same six tales of the past over and over again. But the God whom I serve is God of all time -- the past, the present, and the future. And He often calls upon His people to remember.

, people of God, who you are. You are the chosen children of the Father, the adopted sons and daughters of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Through Jesus, God's firstborn Son, you are privileged to share in the redemption of humanity. You know the good news that, despite our prodigal nature, the sovereign purpose of God is to save, rather than condemn, the world of humanity. You know who you are - so remember your royal heritage.

, people of God, whose you are. You are the ransomed - you were bought with a price. God's plan for human redemption was his free gift to us - but it cost Him a great deal. The life of the Savior was the price paid to redeem us. Jesus did it willingly, because of the depth of His love for us. We now belong to God because His Son purchased us from slavery to sin and death. You are God's chosen - remember that well.

, people of God, upon whose shoulders you stand today. There are few, if any, "lone ranger" Christians in today's world. You were not moved to seek God on your own initiative. You did not come to saving faith in Jesus Christ because you looked up at the heavens and saw His name clearly written in the stars. No, other faithful followers of Christ shared their beliefs with you. Others loved you, nurtured you, smoothed the way for you - until you realized the value of the gift of God and seized it unto yourself. A saintly grandmother. A determined best friend. A long- suffering spouse. A fervently praying neighbor.

As pastor, when I look out at this congregation, I realize that most of you are not the fruit of my labors. No, you are here today because of Barry Dickens, Jim Hawk, David Shaw, John Klassen - and a dozen others like them. I stand on their shoulders, just as you stand upon the shoulders of those who helped bring you to Christ. Remember, people of God, you are part of that endless line of splendor which extends back all the way to Christ Himself - and even beyond, to Miriam, to Joseph, to Abraham.

Today is Memorial Sunday. Remember your faithful forebears. Remember your godly heritage. Amen.

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