Joshua 4:1-9, 19-24 – Memory Enhancers
I like the joke about the guy named John, who had a really horrible memory. One day John ran into a friend whom he had not seen in a long time. He greeted him and said, “Bill, do you remember what a bad memory I had?”
Bill answered, “Yes, I certainly do.”
“Well, it’s not bad any more. I went to a seminar that taught us how to remember things. It was a great seminar, and now I have a wonderful memory.”
Bill answered, “That’s great! What was the name of the seminar?”
“Well,” John said, “wait a minute, my wife went with me. I’ll ask her.”
He turned and saw his wife nearby. Then he turned back to Bill and said, “What’s the name of that flower with a long stem and thorns and a red bloom?”
“Do you mean a rose?” Bill answered.
“Yeah, thanks,” John said, “Hey, Rose, what’s the name of that seminar we attended?”
You know, God understands our memories. It’s part of our humanity. Part of what went wrong with people way back in the Garden of Eden was that our memories are not perfect. Some remember better than others, some listen better than others. Often, the older a person gets, the less they remember. Actually, the older a person gets, it’s the things way back that they remember best, but not what they had for breakfast.
So God likes to jog our memories. He deliberately gives us things to serve as reminders of incidents in our lives. Let’s read Joshua 4:1-9, and then v19-24 to understand an example of this.
So here’s the story. The Israelites are crossing the Jordan River. They are leaving behind the wandering days. The years of not belonging anywhere are gone. God has freed them from the bondage of slavery in Egypt. God has given them the know-how of pleasing Him. And God is finally giving them victory over their pettiness and selfishness. They are finally walking into maturity as a nation of faith.
This is a fairly significant time for them. And God wants them never to forget it. So they build an altar. Not an altar to make sacrifices on, but rather, a memorial. Pretty much like a town cenotaph, with the names of war vets written in stone. Much the same as a tombstone, for that matter. This altar of 12 stones, one for each tribe of Israel, would last for generation after generation, to remind the people of what God did for them.
And it wouldn’t just remind the people who crossed over, either. V6 says that the Israelites’ children will want to know what those stones mean. This pile of stones, called a cairn in more scholarly circles, would last for many years, reminding the people and their children and their children’s children that God had been good to them.
Actually, there were 2 memorials built that day. 1st, there was the altar built with the stones carried out of the river by the 12 representatives of the tribes. But, as well, v8-9 indicate that Joshua himself built an altar as well. It seems that Joshua took 12 stones from the middle of the river and built an altar right there, in the middle of the river. It may have been in a stream off to the side, but the altar was in the water.
So there we have it. The Israelites have crossed into the Promised Land, and have set up memorials in honor of the God who made it possible. Now, what’s significant about this is that it was not the Israelites’ idea, nor Joshua’s idea, to build a memorial. It was God’s idea – 4:1. God wanted them to remember, because He knew, they were likely going to forget. They would forget what God had done. God says these words several hundred years later, as written in Jeremiah 18:15: “Yet my people have forgotten me.”
But it was certainly not from lack of effort on God’s part. He wanted them to remember His goodness and His love. He wanted them to remember how His hand worked to provide a way out of bondage for them. It’s why God said His people should remember Passover. Once a year they should take time to remember how He had saved His people from the Egyptians. It’s why we have communion. When Jesus initiated the ritual, He said, “Do this in memory of me.”
Our memories are funny, though. We tend to remember things we should forget. OK, not really forget. Some things are too painful never to remember again. But you know what I mean. Too often our lives are defined by the painful times. That lost love, that hurt that goes beyond words, that failure, those words that cut so deep – these are the things that define us.
Look at the Israelites. They could have been stuck in the past. They could have said, “It’s not my fault, it’s my family’s fault.” And they would have been right. Some people like to blame the messes of their lives, or the hurts of their hearts, on their families. Parents, spouses, and children all get blamed for what’s wrong with us.
The Israelites could have said, “It’s not my fault. It’s because of the religious group I belong to.” That would have been right, too. You do realize that some people blame the church, or the pastor, or the teacher for the things wrong in their lives.
You know, maybe it’s time for you to move on. You need to get over what happened in the past. No matter what your family has done, no matter what your church has done, no matter what that other church attender has done, no matter what that pastor has done, get over it. We tend to remember things we should forget.
Robert E. Lee, the Southern general in the Civil war, was visiting a Kentucky lady. She took him to the remains of a grand old tree at the front of her formerly great mansion. The north and the south had fought a bitter battle right over her front porch, and the limbs and the trunk of that tree had been destroyed by Federal Artillery Fire.
She looked to Lee to speak some word of consolation, a word condemning the north or some word of sympathy for her loss. After a moment, Lee said, "Cut it down, my dear Madam, and forget it."
Folks, whatever memorial you have made to the hurts you’ve collected through your years, cut it down.
Well, in much the same way, we tend to forget things we should remember. The Exodus out of Egypt, being fed by heavenly food for 40 years, the crossing of the Jordan… these were all pivotal points in the Israelites’ journeys. Yet they were forgotten. Do whatever you have to, to remember God’s goodness to you.
My office contains many memorials. On my bulletin board are pictures and papers. One is a drawing by Taylor of his favorite Lord of the Rings character. Another is a full-page quote by missionary martyr Jim Eliot that says, “The world cannot hate us: we are too much like its own. Oh that God would make us dangerous.” I have pictures there too. I have a couple of my best friend Tim’s wedding. I have one of my own wedding, with 2 of my best friends from high school, one of whom has since died.
Looking around my room, I have a BBC college diploma from 1996 and an ordination certificate from 1998. I have pictures of whales and maps of Grand Manan, reminding me of salt air, which is in my blood. I have a movie poster from Lord of the Rings which says, “Power can be held in the smallest of things”, reminding me that God can use even me somehow someday. I have a whalebone, a 10-inch sun-bleached vertebrae on my shelf, reminding me of a quest I went on years ago to a hard-to-get-to beach on Grand Manan.
My office is full of memorials that remind me of major life changes, important people, victories that God has given me over the years. These memorials give testimony to God’s goodness in my life. I rarely know where I’m going or who I am becoming, but I know where I’ve been, who’s been with me, and how that works together inside me.
And you need memorials too. You need things to solidify your faith, and to remind you of God when things are difficult. Think back to when you were saved. Where were you? Who were you with? Who helped you? What led you to that place?
Remember a time that you knew God met you. What was your life like? What were you going through at the time? Had you faced a loss? Had you faced a challenge? A disappointment or discouragement? A death? Although the circumstances may be painful, you need a memorial testifying to the fact that God brought you through it.
Remember a victory, a time that you knew that you knew that you knew something was done or dealt with or taken care of. Remember that time that you had finally surrendered that thing to God, and it was over. Remember how good you felt? Remember you forgiven you felt?
Remember a time that you felt God speak to you. It wasn’t with thunder and lightning; it wasn’t loud and obnoxious. But it was real, just some still small words that gave you courage to go on. Those words made you know that God cares about you, not just everybody else. Then place a memorial. Do something to remember that time. Write down the Bible verse and stick it in your Bible or put it on your fridge. Your memory will play tricks on you, so create something to help you remember God’s work in your life.
