Reminders: Meditations in Jude

"Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe."  -Jude 5

“I told my wife I loved her when we got married.  I meant it then, so there’s no reason I should have to say it again!”  So goes the reasoning of a man that has little understanding of the human condition…or women.  As any still-married and reasonably intelligent husband will tell you, you can’t simply let your original “I love you” be the last word on the matter.  Wives need to be reminded.

I’ve started countless workout programs through the years.  I love the first few days of a good regiment.  I pay attention to detail, make sure my arms are located in the right spots when doing my upper-body and keep my back straight for those exercises that could strain my muscles unnecessarily.  A trainer would be proud…but not so much several weeks later.  As time moves on, I tend to pay less attention to detail as I get into a groove.  Before I know it, I’ve drifted into bad habits, risking injury to my body.  To maintain good habits and attention to detail, I need to be reminded.

I have fond memories of my earliest days reading the Bible.  I remember how fresh it all seemed.  I remember paying close attention to the little stuff and noticing things that my “more mature” peers might consider child’s play.  As time moved on, I became more confident in my understanding of the Scriptures and eventually concluded that the only way I could continue progressing was to learn the original language, the culture and the historical background.  I was off to Bible college!

But all my eventual new-found knowledge didn’t seem to matter when my world crashed prior to my sophomore year of college.  All the “deep” understanding I had gained failed me when I had forgotten some of the most basic…simple lessons I learned early on as a Christian reading the Bible for the first time.  Fortunately, a kind and compassionate professor jogged my memory to recall such lessons.  People that know a lot about the Bible and really “deep stuff” need to be reminded.

“I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it…”  

This is life.  This is how it is.  We need reminders.  I see three key truths in Jude’s statement.  First, we are capable of “fully” knowing the most important things about God, ourselves and life.  We have an amazing capacity!  We are not inept or stupid.  We CAN understand truth and live according to truth.  This is good news!  This is the truth that counter-acts the lies that we can never really know anything about God, ourselves or life.  God has revealed all that we need to know so as to enjoy the grace of living under his Gospel.

Here’s the problem.  While our capacity is great, we’re like a really high-capacity leaky bucket.  We forget.  But we don’t just forget.  We forget really important things.  For those of you that are young parents, have you thought about the day your kid comes up to you and asks for your help with Algebra?  How about Geometry?  Just thinking about it gives me cold sweats.  Maybe you’re smarter than me.  Or maybe you just married a math major…which is what I did!  In a way, I guess I married my reminder!

But what about living the Christian life?  The truth is that we forget.  We forget really, basic stuff.  We forget that we are made in the image of God and that our worth is found in Christ and not in status, job titles and lifestyle.  Did you notice the illustration Jude used concerning God’s people?  He used the Exodus where God saved His people out of slavery in the land of Egypt.  Can you imagine anyone actually forgetting such a thing?  I somehow doubt that they forgot the FACTS of the Exodus.  What they forgot was the weight of what occurred…the grace of our God…the power our God has over our enemies.  They needed reminders.

There’s something else being said in Jude’s statement.  SOMEBODY needs to remind us of things we once fully knew.  In this case, Jude is doing the reminding.  In our lives, the reminding is something of a shared responsibility, with a heavy part of the responsibility given to those that lead in the church and in the home.  Beyond that, we are called to remind each other daily in our personal relationships and weekly in our worship gatherings.

Think about it.  When we sing songs on Sunday morning, we’re singing AND reminding ourselves of what’s true.  When we hear the preaching from the Bible on Sunday mornings, we’re being reminded of what’s true through what God has revealed to us.  When we take Communion, we are reminding ourselves of what God has done in Christ.  When we give of our time, talents and resources, we are reminding ourselves that all gifts are from God and for God--meant to be stewarded for His glory.  We need these reminders.

I wasn’t planning to end like this, but as I write this, I can’t help but be astonished and grieved at how lightly we sometimes take the weekly gathering for corporate worship.  This is not simply a CityView problem—this is an American evangelical problem.  It’s hard for me to go two weeks without worshipping with God’s people!  I need to be reminded!  

Maybe some of you are just less leaky than I am, but I’m prone to forget and I need the truth of our Scriptures, our songs and our ordinances to remind me.  The weekly worship gathering has always been a time to remind Christians of the things we already fully know, but so easily forget.  As a bonus, our worship gatherings are also a place where non-believers can fully know for the first time.  Reminders are a grace!

So what about it?  Do you need to be reminded?  What do you forget most?  Will you join me in pleading with God to remind us of His goodness and grace daily?  Will you join me in reminding ourselves of what he has done for us when we gather for corporate worship?  If not…consider the fate of those that “forgot” in Jude’s illustration.  They were “destroyed”.  The man that forgets and refuses needed reminders is choosing his own fate.  May this not be true of us!

Father God…thank you for the grace you show in reminding your sons and daughters of who you are.  Give us grateful hearts when we hear things, sing things and experience things we have fully known before.  Grant us the mercy to be thankful for such reminders and to allow recalled truth to inform our hearts and actions.  We pray this in Jesus’ great and powerful name.  Amen.