“Remember God” by Pastor Nate

Growing up in Confirmation Class I was always taught that sinfulness means “missing the mark”.  I remember weird Bible studies at Church Camp where we would go to the archery range and talk about trying to hit the bullseyes (or at least the target) and there would be some sort of strange connection to God’s desire for us to live a perfect “bullseye” life.  We were told that when we missed the mark- that was sin.

But much later in life, I learned that there is another way to talk about sinfulness.  Apparently, a much more Biblical way to understand our sin is as forgetfulness.

For example, when the Israelites had been in Jerusalem for a little while, all of their success started to distract them from all the things God had done.  They became so focused on getting more land and more power and more shiny new things that they began to forget about God.  And this forgetfulness caused the Israelites to lose their connection with God.

I really like talking about sin as forgetfulness because I believe that God is loving, and gracious, and therefore sin as forgetfulness just seems like so much less pressure than having to always “hit the bullseye”.

But I also think it’s important to speak of sin as forgetfulness because it gives us a much better path forward.

When we speak of sin as “missing the mark” the only solution is to just do better.  But when we speak about sin as forgetfulness then the path forward is to remember.  And isn’t that what our faith is built on in the first place?

When we gather for worship, when we read our Bible, when we pause to say a prayer or read a devotional, we are deliberately remembering that God is a part of our life and our world.  When we remember who God is and who God has called us to be, there is healing and power and grace in that moment.