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As human beings, we're good (or bad) about remembering important dates. Whether it's an anniversary, a birthday, Bastille Day, Boxer Day, we seem to always find a reason or an excuse for having a party, celebrating a victory or commemorating another special occasion.
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Even sad ones.
We Christians are no different. On Christmas, we remember the birth of our Lord Jesus. On Good Friday, millions and millions remember His horrible crucifixion. On Easter, we remember the glorious resurrection of our Lord.
THE FORGIVENESS TAPE
Many years ago, I was given a wonderful cassette tape on forgiveness. After listening to this tape, I was compelled to begin a list of all of those people - as far back as I could recall - who had hurt me, even in the most seemingly insignificant ways. Now, most of us are inclined to say, "Oh, that was no big deal" whenever we are offended throughout our daily routines. The thing we're forgetting by reacting this way is that we are all receptacles and, therefore, will retain every good AND bad thing that happens to us in our lives. To respond by saying "no big thing" is to deny ourselves the opportunity to grow spiritually.
So, there I was, having just finished listening to this incredible tape on forgiveness, and I knew I needed a plan of action. So, I began by praying, asking that the Holy Spirit would bring to my memory every situation, every individual who had EVER hurt me.
What transpired was a glorious exercise that I have entitled "Building a Monument to the Moment." In other words, as these images were unearthed like some sort of an archeological find, being brought to light after, in many cases, decades without seeing the light of day - or the light of truth - I took the opportunity to pray. It went something like this: "Dear Lord, I bring to your remembrance Coach So-n-So. Father, forgive Him. He didn't know what he was doing when he embarrassed and humiliated me in front of so many people on that cool, autumn day when I was 16. Father, right now, in the name of Jesus, I release him from the bondage of unforgiveness and I release myself as well. I bless that man, his life, his health, his family. And if he hasn't taken the time to establish a relationship with you throughout the many years since that occurrence, I pray that he will come to know you in the deepest, most intimate way. And I pray that he, too, would discover the joy of forgiving and blessing those who have trespassed against him. I pray these things and I thank you for the release that this moment has given me, in the mighty Name of Jesus. Amen!"
How many people did I do this with? Over 300. I listed them and faithfully prayed for each and every one of them. Some of these sins were greater than others and brought great shame and humiliation to me on a very grand scale. "Grand" in my mind, at least. In those instances, I made an even larger "Monument" by doing something that I felt would help me to remember - should the enemy ever try and REMIND me of my past - the very instant that I forgave and released and blessed that individual. For example, I'd write the situation or person's name on a slip of paper and pray over it and bury it, burn it or flush it down the commode.
I remember teaching this from the pulpit of a Baptist Church when, after the sermon, a young lady sat staring at me with a confused look upon her face. Her friend, a young lady I had known several years, introduced us. We'll call her "Christa." With tears in her eyes, "Christa" told me, "For starters, I'm NOT a Christian. But how can we be expected to forgive somebody who has REALLY hurt us bad? How can I forgive my brother? He doesn't deserve it!" She went on to describe the details of the terrible sins of her younger brother.
I reminded her of the extreme purity of God and how ANY sin - from a bad thought to brutal murder - separates us from Him. I explained that God chose to send Jesus as the perfect sacrifice and that the shedding of His blood paid the price for ALL of our sins. All we had to do was believe. "None of us," I told her "deserves the forgiveness of God." In a few minutes, she began sobbing and fell into my arms as her girl friends laid hands upon her and silently prayed. In time, Christa DID become a Christian, attending my Coffee House Bible studies regularly and, more importantly, exhibiting the fruit of a lover of Jesus throughout her daily life at the nearby college. The forgiveness she found in Christ she began, with difficulty, to express to her family. In time, however, several key members also turned to Christ to do what they alone could not do; forgive a young man who didn't know what he was doing and how badly it hurt those who loved him most.
HOW SCRIPTURAL IS THIS "MONUMENT" STUFF?
It's wise to ask how Scriptural it is whenever a seemingly new concept is being taught. But the Building of a Monument to the Moment is really not new at all.
The Old Testament refers to at least two types of monuments: an altar of sacrifice and a monument of remembrance. The altar of sacrifice was established by God's command when Abraham was told by God to worship Him by the sacrifice of the promised child, Isaac.
The other type of monument was a monument of remembrance.
This monument was built as a reminder of God's goodness and providence. Jacob's altar at Bethel was a monument of remembrance of the vision he had of the ladder between heaven and earth with angels ascending and descending. In the morning Jacob took his stone pillow and used it as a pillar, a reminder that God had met with him. God said to Jacob, "I am the God of Bethel, where thou anointedst the pillar, and where thou vowedst a vow unto me" (Genesis 28:11-22; 31:13).
The Israelites built a monument of remembrance after they crossed the Jordan into the promised land of Canaan. The Lord told Joshua to have twelve men take twelve stones from the Jordan, where the priests were standing upon dry ground, and to make a monument with those stones from the middle of the riverbed. Joshua took these stones and pitched them in Gilgal. He then spoke to the children of Israel and told them, "When your children shall ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean these stones? Then ye shall let your children know, saying, Israel came over this Jordan on dry land. For the Lord your God dried up the waters of Jordan from before you, until ye were passed over, as the Lord your God did to the Red sea, which he dried up from before us, until we were gone over: That all the people of the earth might know the hand of the Lord, that it is mighty: that ye might fear the Lord your God for ever," (Joshua 4:21-23).
Another monument of remembrance was erected on the opposite side of the Jordan. The Reubenites, the Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh were the only people not to possess the Promised Land but instead they took the land on the opposite side of the Jordan by Moses' blessings. Upon their return to the opposite side of the Jordan, the two and one-half tribes built an altar so that they might say to their future generations, "Behold the pattern of the altar of the LORD, which our fathers made, not for burnt offerings, nor for sacrifices; but it [this altar] is a witness between us and you," (Joshua 22:28).
The last monument of remembrance was not one built upon a commandment of God or built out of a desire to remember the goodness of God. No, this monument was used to strike fear into the heart of Israel. This monument was first used to detain Israel and limit them from advancing into the land of the Philistines. This monument was that of a tool of execution. You might ask, "What is this monument?" The answer is simple: "It is the sword of Goliath."
You can read about this in 2 Samuel 21:1, 3-4, 6, 8-9: "Then came David to Nob to Ahimelech the priest [saying] Now therefore what is under thine hand? give me five loaves of bread in mine hand, or what there is present. And the priest answered David, and said, There is no common bread under mine hand, but there is hallowed bread. So the priest gave him hallowed bread: for there was no bread there but the shewbread. And David said unto Ahimelech, and is there not here under thine hand spear or sword? for I have neither brought my sword nor my weapons with me. And the priest said, The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom thou slewest in the valley of Elah, behold, it is here wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod: if thou wilt take that, take it: for there is no other save that here. And David said, there is none like that; give it me."
When David was running for his life as King Saul tracked him down, David ran to the only place he could find refreshment, help, and solice, the Tabernacle of the Lord, located in a place called Nob. David knew he could find nourishment at the Tabernacle, for the priesthood operated under the Mosaic law of charity: love thy neighbour as thyself (Leviticus 19:18).
It was at Nob, on the morning of the Sabbath, when David arrived - unarmed, weary, and faint with hunger - before Ahimelech the priest. David needed two things: food and a sword. He asked Ahimelech for five loaves of bread. The priest sorrowfully had no bread to except the hallowed shewbread - the bread, which sat upon the golden table in the sanctuary used as sustenance for the priests and their families. Though it was unlawful for David to eat this bread, Ahimelech gave David five loaves anyway.
The people of Israel did not wear swords constantly, unlike today where a soldier carries a firearm. The priests had no swords, but in the Tabernacle was the sword of Goliath, which was kept behind the ephod wrapped in a cloth. This sword was kept as a monument of the glorious victory David had achieved in the defeat of Goliath. This sword was given to David, and was a reminder to him and Israel of the miraculous victory won by him and the people of Israel through God's divine intervention. Just seeing the sword must have taken him back to that glorious day when he said to the giant, "Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the LORD" (I Samuel 17:45).
MAKING APPLICATION
Please remember, dear friends, that those terrible things that you feel have happened TO YOU are actually happening FOR YOU and for the advancement of God's Kingdom on Earth. We can embrace them as such or allow them to destroy us. As the saying goes, "we can get bitter or we can get better."
Years ago, I was walking with a cane, virtually crippled by a debilitating spinal disease. On two occasions, I almost gave up on asking for prayer and trusting God for a miracle and started filling out government assistance papers. In contrast to those days recently, I carried a small refrigerator up a flight of stairs by myself and I'm currently involved in the remodeling of my house, carrying lumber and swinging a hammer repeatedly from atop a ladder. The cane? I still have it and cannot look at it without remembering how God strengthened me during those dark and miserable hours. Have I made an idol of that monument? No! In 2 Kings 18:4, King Hezekiah not only forbade the people to worship the brazen serpent made by Moses in the wilderness to keep those who looked upon it from being bitten by snakes (Numbers 21:4-9) - a piece that survived for about 825 years - but Hezekiah also broke that brazen serpent into pieces to show the people that it was Nehushtan - nothing more but a piece of brass. Do not allow your monument to become your idol.
God has a lofty goal in mind for each of us, i.e., to conform us to the image of His Son. We MUST be tested and strengthened for Kingdom work. Just as Jesus was, we, too, will be tempted in the wilderness, have our beards plucked, be spit upon and mocked and will feel the sting of betrayal by our friends. If not literally, figuratively. We can pass these tests as they come, or fail and try to pass them later.
Why not begin building YOUR "Monument" today? In each Old Testament example, it was the priests who were responsible for maintaining the memory of the miraculous. As a Christian, YOU are a priest (Yes, all you non-Catholics..you, too!). Not only does God say that "...you shall be unto me a Kingdom of priests, and a holy nation..., (Ex 19:6)" but 1 Peter 2:9 also declares, "that we are "...a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light."
There. It's settled. We are all priests and, as such, we must never let the memory die of the wonderful things our God has done, not only in our own lives, but in the lives of others, including those between the pages of Scripture.
Now, go!
Start building those monuments!
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