WEEKLY FOCUS ARCHIVE

Memorials and Monuments

June 1, 2005

Our nation is filled with important monuments. The Lincoln Memorial, the Vietnam Memorial, Mt. Rushmore, the Statue of Liberty, and many more. The significance of these monuments lies in the critical "moment" in American history which they represent or the American values they point toward. I have had the privilege to view many of these monuments and each one has inspired me in a different way. One of the most emotional for me is the Lincoln Memorial and the marble slab just in front of its entrance, a testimony to Martin Luther King Jr. and his famous "I have a dream" speech.

Just as our nation has many memorials of great significance each of us has important moments in our lives which we ought to memorialize. The work of God on our behalf in critical moments should not be taken lightly or forgotten. Throughout scripture the people of God named places and set monuments in places where God "showed up". Each name, each place became an important landmark in the life of God's people for generations to come. As the stories were told around these landmarks new generations came to understand the intimate nature of God's involvement with His people. The same should be true of us today.

Where has God showed up for you? When, where, and how did He impart His grace, strength, compassion, provision, or mercy when you desperately needed it? Have you memorialized it? We all like to "collect" certain memorabilia. For some its photos, for others its sports cards, autographed balls or the like. I love sports memorabilia and have a number of items of some value each pointing toward a particular moment in sports history or the character of a great athlete. But my most important "monuments" are those items I keep around which point toward God's active involvement in my life. One of those monuments to God's grace that I keep on my desk at the office is a softball given to me years ago by an older mentor who pitched on our church softball team. I keep that ball because as a teenager I came to faith after watching this man's life and the lives of many others in my church over a long period of time much of it spent on the softball field. I played shortstop and the pitcher would regularly give out an MVP ball for defense after games. The balls were embossed with the initials S.T.O.P. (Saved The Old Pitcher), and yes, I collected quite a few! The point is God showed up for me as a teenager and won me over on those softball fields as I watched the life of God lived out in the hearts of this man and others on the field. The ball is a monument to God's hand in my life.

Here's the crucial point for us as believers. God is indeed intimately aware of our difficulties, accomplishments, failures, and successes. He moves on our behalf. He has our good in mind. He is designing our lives. He will not allow anything to separate us from His love. Just as in the case of Joseph, though many "pits" come our way and though many conspire against us for our demise, God has our good in mind. Just as in the life of David, though our own strength may not match that of our oppressors, God's strength is enough to defeat the giants in our lives. Just as He did with the woman at the well, He breaks through those barriers that keep us from abundant life and He offers us living water. Just as He did for the woman caught in adultery, He silences our would be prosecutors and extends us grace where we do not deserve it. The very stones others intend for our destruction he uses to establish and build monuments of beauty in our lives. How many times must Peter have gone back to those shores next to the very waters where God allowed him to walk where no other human had ever walked? How many times must the woman caught in adultery have gone back to that courtyard of grace where her life was spared? I have a hunch she may have kept one of those rocks for the rest of her life.

When God extends His hand on our behalf we ought to memorialize it in our hearts. We ought, also, to memorialize those moments in some way physically as well. Write it down, keep that photo, place that memento somewhere prominent, and by all means, tell the story to others. Just as our national monuments are physical calls to the story so we as Christians ought to have benchmarks visible to us and to others in order that we might tell the stories of His grace! Cherish the work God has done in you and for you, and mark it in some way. These monuments are the glue that adhere us to His purposes when the going gets tough. These monuments call us and others to taste and see that the Lord is good-He is truly good.

Bruce Smith (Rev.)
Director of Development, Teaching Pastor
bruce@uptownchurch.net

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