Independence Day 2024 - Do Not Forget
Message Description
Butler Campus Pastor Brady Randall encourages us to remember God's good promises and good character this Independence Day weekend.
Message Transcript
Well, good morning. It's great to be together at all our campuses and online at Orchard Hill. As we get ready to dive into God's Word, would you join me in a word of prayer? And as we pray, I'm going to ask that you would pray for me this morning, wherever you find yourself, that God would speak in and through me, and that God would fill me with this Holy Spirit. Would you also pray for yourself in these moments that we would not be distracted, but we would hear clearly from Jesus this morning, and that all of us might be drawn to him.
So, would you join me in a word of prayer? Father God, I pray that wherever we're gathered here this morning at Orchard Hill, that you would speak to each one of us. Father God, I pray that you would fill me with your Holy Spirit, that you would give us words that we need to hear, that you would remove any distractions, and that God, each of us might see and be drawn to Jesus either for the first time or again. God take off blinders of our eyes that we might see you clearly. I pray this all in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Has anyone ever given you the ultimatum “do not forget?” Don't forget to take the meat out of the freezer. Don't forget to turn on the crockpot. Don't forget to pick up the child. Have you ever had one of those blunders? I saw two recent studies, because there's a wide range here, but in both of these studies, it says the average American has 332 to 1400 forgetful moments per year. So, if you average that out, that's at least one a day. And here's the top ten things that Americans forget. The number one thing is passwords. Okay, can I just go on a mini rant about passwords? If I don't choose to have a 20 character with capitalization, numbers, letters, and all of that, and I choose to have a five-character password and I get hacked, isn't that my own problem? Like, why do they have to make me have all of this? But I digress. We forget passwords, and I can see why.
Number two, we forget what we need at the grocery store. We forget our keys. We walk into a room, and we forget what it is that we walked into the room for. We forget people's names. We forget that we have a word on the tip of our tongue, and we forget what it is. We forget where we put our pen. We forget what day it is. We forget to take something out of the freezer. And we forget where we put our cell phones.
And the top three most embarrassing things that people forget are someone's name, a significant person's birthday, and your anniversary. Now, that's tough if you've ever been there, if you ever made that blunder. I don't know about you, but one of the things I tend to forget in the moment is how old I am. Isn't that kind of sad? Like, I got to go, okay, I was born in 80, whatever.
But we forget. I have terrible anxiety about forgetfulness. In fact, I know this is a really bad habit, but you're not supposed to sleep by your cell phone. But in the middle of the night, if I can't remember something, or I think I'm going to forget the next day, I write myself an email in the middle of the night. If not, I'll be thinking about it and be anxious about it all night because we have this tendency to forget.
In fact, 56% of information that you receive in an hour is forgotten. 66% of new information that you receive is forgotten within a day, and 75% of new information is forgotten after six days. So, what are the chances you're going to remember anything that I say this morning, apart from the work of the Holy Spirit? And that's a big apart from the work of the Holy Spirit.
Well, this weekend we're celebrating Independence Day all across America. And one of the things that many of us have a tendency to forget is why it is we celebrate Independence Day. Many of us have a tendency to forget the incredible liberties and freedom that we have as Americans, that we are sitting wherever we're gathered here this weekend at Orchard Hill to have the freedom to do what we're doing right now.
We forget, many of us, the sacrifice of men and women who made it possible that in 1776, the signing of the Declaration of Independence, that we are the freest country in the history of the world. And Lee Greenwood's famous song comes to mind, “God Bless the USA.” He said, I'm proud to be an American where at least I know I'm free, and I won't forget those who died, who gave that right to me. And I'll gladly stand up next to her and defend her still today, for there ain't no doubt I love this land. God bless the USA. And so, this weekend I want to encourage you to remember, reflect, pray, and thank God for the men and women who gave their lives, the men and women across the world who make it possible to do what it is we're doing here this morning.
But, you know, there's something even more significant than even forgetting the significance of Independence Day. There's something more significant, as embarrassing as it is, than not remembering someone's name or not remembering an anniversary. I would say the most substantial and significant thing that you and I can forget and often do forget is God himself. And I would say that's true.
If you're someone who's not a person of faith and someone who's been walking with Jesus maybe for many decades. You say, Brady, how does someone who is not a person of faith forget God? And here's how this often works. Maybe the very thought of God as you look around the world or you look at your own life and you say, if there is a God and he is good, why would he allow what he's allowing in my life and around the world right now? And so, your very first thought, when you think about God is forget God. But this is also true for many of us maybe who've been walking with Jesus for a long, long time. It can be easy to get in a rhythm and to forget that God's hand gave all of what we have today. Or it's easy to forget where we were apart from God's grace over and over and over.
And so, you're not alone because God's people have consistently forgotten about God all throughout the pages of Scriptures. And in the book of Deuteronomy, Moses is writing, and he's basically recounting the first several chapters of God's gracious and mighty hand, who brought them out of Egypt with an outstretched arm. He parted the sea, they walked on dry land, and then he gets into giving of the Ten Commandments, chapter five. And in chapter six, he's recounting the importance of sharing with the next generation and obeying all of the commands of God.
This morning, I want to help us to remember, to not forget. Don't forget to remember. There's three ways, three things that I believe that you and I need to do so that we do not forget God, and that is remember to listen, remember to love, and remember what God has done. And we see these in Deuteronomy chapter six. And here's what we read in verses 10-12. “When the Lord your God brings you into the land he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you—a land with large, flourishing cities you did not build, houses filled with all kinds of good things you did not provide, wells you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant—then when you eat and are satisfied, be careful that you do not forget the Lord, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.”
Notice when it's most easiest to forget about God, not when things are tough, but when things are going well. When it's the middle of summer, when everybody's healthy, when you've got a good job, when you're on vacation, when all of the bills are paid, when everything is going swimmingly, it can be very easy, especially in those moments, to forget about God.
Maybe you've been in that place and maybe you're in that season now and it's like, well, look at what my hands have accomplished. Look at what my hard work has brought. I went to school, I took the tests, or I got the interview. I made it, and now look at what my hands have done. And it can be very easy to remember how God set us up, how God was in the midst of all of the details that gave us the position that we are in today.
Those of us who have children maybe know how this goes. It's very easy for kids to forget how they got to where they were, how they had a roof over their homes, or how that they were kept alive. That very first year of life, the fact that they were kept alive, like that's a big deal. They had food to eat and clothes on and shoes on their feet. It can be very easy to take for granted. It can be very easy to do life in your own strength. I just think even as a pastor, it can be very easy to do life in ministry on my own strength and forget that it's God who has called us and brought us here to this place.
It's often very subtle and God doesn't want you and I to forget. And so again, there's three ways that God wants to help us to not forget about him. Remember to listen, remember to love, and remember what God has done for us. Here's the first thing that we see in Deuteronomy six to not forget God. I'm going to call this remembering to listen, verses three and four and six through nine.
Here's what we read in verse three. “Hear, Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, promised you. Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.“ This is the Book of Deuteronomy, and in this part of the Book of Deuteronomy, it is often referred to as the “shama,” which is the Hebrew word, which means to listen. And not just listen and hear. There's a difference between, yeah, I hear what you're saying, but are you actually listening? And here, the word means to listen with the intent and desire to obey. God is saying, listen closely. I don't want you to miss this. This is also for your good. All of the commands of God are to keep you ultimately from harm, and they're actually for your good.
And it says the Lord, our God, the Lord is one. Now the word one, catch this, can mean one or it can also mean the Lord, our God, the Lord alone. I think that both are intended here, that in the culture that Moses is writing, there are many other gods and deities. But he says there is only one God, but it is only God alone. And any time in your English Bible, in the Old Testament where you see the word Lord in all capitalization, that's God's personal covenantal name, Yahweh. God's name Yahweh means I am who I am, or I will be who I will be. In other words, I am the uncreated one. I was before all things and in God, in Yahweh, all things hold together.
So, if you're going to listen to any voice out there in the culture in your own world, God says I want it to be me, listen to me Yahweh, but listen with the intent to obey. In verses six through nine, he shares how to listen and get his word inside of us. This is what we read. “These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.”
If you have children, I think this is especially true for families, but I think God's instruction here in verses six through nine can really be for any person that you have a mentoring relationship with. Anyone that you have a relationship with, how do you get the Word of God, the commands of God not just in our heads that we might forget again, if we're forgetting 50 plus percent of what we hear in a given day, but how do you get it inside of us? Many of the Jews in this day and in Jesus’ day, when they read this passage, they took it literally. So many of them had the Word of God, the commands of God on their foreheads and on their door posts. But I think what God is really saying here is keep them in the front of your mind. Do whatever it takes to make sure my word gets inside. What did he say? Inside of your heart.
The word “impress” here means to teach them repeatedly. And God's design, very simply is that his ways, his Word, his commands would ultimately be on our hearts. I've talked to a number of parents, particularly fathers, about passages like this. Sometimes there's an intimidation factor about how do you lead your family in this way? Some people think you have to have devotions, family devotions, which can be very good, sitting around a circle and talking about the word of God, maybe singing a song together. But for many people, that's intimidating. And I don't know about that, but I think it's much more natural in this passage. Notice it's as you go about everyday life, talk about the things and the commands of God and press them on your children. And if you're a parent, let me say this. If God is not the number one priority in your life, it's going to be very difficult to expect that from your children as well, because it's very hard to give away, what you don't have yourself.
And so, God says, I want you to remember. And how do you go about doing those? When you're at home as a part of your everyday routine. Maybe as you're on your devices, or you're watching a show together, how does God's word and God's worldview speak into that? As you are at the dinner table, as you rise and get up in the morning, as you talk about your day, as you are talking at the end of your day about what happened in your day, or what does God's Word say about what happened in your day? What are the struggles and heartaches where God's word speaks into that? When you rise and when you go to bed at night, as you pray, as you think about God, what does he have to say about what has happened in your day?
It also says when you walk along the road, and many of us, that's kind of a foreign concept. We're not walking along the road, but I think what that can mean is when you're in your car. I know many parents these days think they're no more than a taxi service, but what an opportunity that you have a captive audience in your car as you listen to the radio or Bluetooth and hear lyrics to a song as you talk about your day. As you're on your way to a sporting event, as you're on your way home from a loss, a major loss in a sporting event, how does God's words speak to the everyday part of your life? Again, it's as you go. God says, I want you to be very intentional, because if we're not intentional, it's easy to come in one ear and out the other.
God's commands are actually for our good. They're for thriving. The first church that I served at, I was in seminary, and I was at a pulpit supply, which meant that many Sunday mornings I was preaching the word of God. I met a dear lady. Her name was Diane. She's probably not still with us. And it was after I gave a message and there was a couple of kids and she said, Pastor, let me take you aside here. Here's what I want you to do. Whatever you do, you got to get God's word right up inside these kids. Got to get that word right up in them. And she was talking really about this path, not just I want to get it in your mind. I don't just want them to know and memorize it. But how do we get the Word of God, the commands of God that are for our good and our thriving? How do we get them in here? How do we get them so that we want to live out the commands of God?
An Old Testament professor, Jason DeRouchie says when sharing this, especially with children, but I would say when you're sharing the commands of God with anyone and even if you're not a person of faith this morning, think about how this approach might work for you. He says do three things as he looks at this passage. First of all, remind them who the rule giver is in the first place. And that's what Moses does. He says, remember where we were verses 21 and 23, how God saved us from the Egyptians when we were in slavery, when many of our ancestors were dying off and in bondage, God set us free. Remember how he did plague after plague after plague, how he took us through the dry land, he parted the sea, he took the waters, and washed away the Egyptians. Remember, this is the one, the gracious one, who now gives us these commands for our thriving and for our good. So, remember who the law giver is.
The second thing is, remember that God's commands are actually for our good and remind them of the rewards of obedience. Verse 24 says, “The Lord commanded us to obey all these decrees and to fear the Lord our God, so that we might always prosper and be kept alive, as is the case today.” So, God's grace and His faithfulness reminds us that it's not that God wants to restrict our happiness. And I think this is a game changer that all of God's commands, if you viewed them not as to restrict us, but rather to keep us from harm, to keep us for our good, that would be a game changer. This doesn't mean, by the way, that if you follow all the commands of God, everything is going to go well, that God is going to bless every part of your life. But what that does mean is that God's commands are actually for our good. It's better off to obey them.
The third thing he says is celebrate the fact that God provides what He requires through Christ. We see this in verse 25, which we'll get to in just a minute. So, to not forget the Lord your God, remember to listen with the intent to obey, but here's the second thing in order to not forget God, and that is to remember to love God with everything you've got. Verses five and six say, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts.” And the heart is really the inner person. It's the will, volition, the mind of a person. The soul is really what it sounds like. The soul is the inner passion or life of a person. And “might” simply is a word that means with intensity, muchness, or abundance.
In other words, God says, I want you to love me with every fiber of your being. Love me with everything that you've got. The heart is a very significant theme in all Scripture, especially in the Book of Deuteronomy. And I think that's because of this. What God knows and realizes is that if he has your heart, he's got you. But if your heart is not in it, it's very hard to live out the commands of God if your heart is not in it.
Is it really love in the first place? Because we ultimately obey and do what our heart requires. That's why Proverbs 4:23 says, “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” It’s why God said in Isaiah 29:13, “The Lord says: ‘These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.’” This passage is so significant that Jesus quoted this very passage. He says all of the commands and laws of God can be summed up like this, Love God with all of your heart, with all of your mind, with all of your soul, and with all of your strength.
You've seen this when someone's heart's not in it, it's not the same. Maybe you watch professional sports, and if your favorite team is not giving 100% effort, if they're going through the motions, what do you say? Their hearts’ not in it. You don't want anything to do with that. It's easy in any avenue of life to simply go through the motions, that can be parenting, that can be marriage, that can be sports, or that can be your job.
You notice when someone's heart is not in it, but how do you get someone to love God? And maybe you're here today and you're thinking your heart is sort of cold towards the things of God. So how are you supposed to muster up a love for God? And here's the reality. You can't on your own. Apart from the intervening heart surgery of God, you and I cannot on our own love God with everything that we've got.
And so, that's the first thing, to recognize we're in a place that we cannot love God. So, God has to come in and take our heart of stone, our hard hearts, and give us a new heart, a heart of flesh. I think we see evidence of this, seeds of this in Deuteronomy chapter six, that our heart has to be in it, especially in 25, in order to obey God.
But this is also true if you're already a follower of God, there are commands of God to rend your heart to the Lord, to be tender hearted. I think the only way for you and me to be tender hearted and love God with all of our heart and soul and strength is to once again, or for the very first time, truly look at God's heart for you, especially in the person of Jesus Christ. To get in the front of Jesus and to recognized how much we have been loved by God in the first place, that there's nobody who loves you like Jesus. There's nobody who went to the lengths that Jesus Christ did for you and for me. And that's the only thing that can get our heart pumping.
I was talking with someone this week about some frustration that people have in the church and even in America to get people fired up for God. And one of my pet peeves is when, and follow me with this, when I hear people, particularly pastors who are really passionate about having America having an awakening for God. I think awakening is a great thing, and I think that's something worth praying for. But what I found is that many people are more fired up about having an awakening than getting in front of Jesus and the love of God. Because if there's going to be an awakening in the church and in America, it's not going to be passionate about an awakening, it's going to be getting people whose hearts and lives are changed by Jesus. How do you just muster up people to be excited about Jesus? But by having them intently stare into Jesus Christ as given by His Word and seeing God's heart and love for you and for me.
And so right now, wherever you are this morning, I want to invite you to do an honest self-evaluation of your own heart as it relates to God. Where are you with God? Are you hardened by the things of God as you look out at your own life and into the world, and maybe you're hard hearted towards the things of God right now? Or maybe you've been walking with Jesus for a long time, and if you're really honest, you think that your heart is rather cold. You don't have a lot of passion and fire for the very things of God or even the commands of God. One of the reasons can be is because there is an enemy whose name is Satan. Who one of his soul desires is that he would blind the minds of unbelievers so that we would not see the goodness and the glory of God in through Christ in the Gospel.
So, my heart and prayer right now are God, I would pray that you would have your way, that Satan would remove blinders, that we might see the beauty and the glory of Jesus Christ for us in the Gospel. And again, if you're someone who's not sure of Jesus, can I encourage you in this summer season to investigate who it is that Jesus says he is? Because if God is who He says He is in Christ, and if the resurrection from the dead is actually true, then that changes everything. But if Jesus did not in fact rise from the dead, then what you and I are doing here this morning is a waste of time. But I think that, as you genuinely seek, you will genuinely find that God's heart is with you and for you, and that God is absolutely crazy about you. No matter where you've been, no matter the skeletons in your closet, no matter what you've done, God has better things prepared for you, and God loves you with an everlasting love.
And so, if you're not going to forget God, remember to listen to God with the intent to obey. Remember to love God by getting yourself in the presence of God's people. And if you have a hard heart towards the things of God, ask yourself, am I putting myself in position to experience the love of God? Maybe that's what you're doing here this morning as you're hearing the Word of God proclaimed. And are you with the people of God? Are you receiving God's love letter to you in the form of his Word, on a consistent basis? So, love God with all of your heart and soul and strength.
And then finally, to not forget God, remember what and why He's done what He's done for you. Here's what we read in verses 20 to 25. “In the future, when your son asks you, “What is the meaning of the stipulations, decrees and laws the Lord our God has commanded you?” tell him: “We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, but the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. Before our eyes the Lord sent signs and wonders—great and terrible—on Egypt and Pharaoh and his whole household. But he brought us out from there to bring us in and give us the land he promised on oath to our ancestors. The Lord commanded us to obey all these decrees and to fear the Lord our God, so that we might always prosper and be kept alive, as is the case today. And if we are careful to obey all this law before the Lord our God, as he has commanded us, that will be our righteousness.”
So, he says look at what I've done. Remember how I saved you with an outstretched arm? But for those of us which would be all of us on the other side of Christ, I think God is saying, remember what it is Christ has done for you. Remember where you are. Apart from the intervening work of God in your life. Remember you were a captive to Satan. Remember that before Christ intervened in your life, you were literally an enemy of God. You were heading for an eternity in hell, apart from God forever, that you were held captive to the ways of the world and God when you were at your very worst. He saw our peril. He saw that it was like we were headed to a flaming inferno, that the bullet was headed straight for us, and that's when he sent Jesus Christ.
He loved you and I so much that He sent Jesus Christ, who was the only person to live out all the commands and laws of God's as it's instructed here in Deuteronomy chapter six. That Jesus not only lived the perfect life that was required, and by the way, God not only sets the standard, but he meets the standard. God's standard is perfection. Did you read verse 25? It says, obey all the laws and commands of God. That's God's standard that all of us have fallen woefully short of. God not only sets the standard, but he also meets the standard in Jesus. Not only did he live the perfect, obedient life, he went to the cross in your place and in mine, where he bore on himself the very brunt of the wrath of God, that is, to be poured out on sin. That God promises that he will have justice with every person, either in eternity or through Jesus Christ. That Jesus not only bore the brunt of the wrath of God.
Not only did he die an excruciating death on the cross, but he rose from the dead and he defeated sin and death and hell and Satan. And he promised that whoever would put their hope and trust in Jesus Christ, that you would be completely forgiven, that you have the love of God on you. Not only did God save you from all of those things, but he also saved you for himself with a new purpose and gave you a new heart with a new mission that God loves you with an everlasting love.
And if you're here today and you're someone who's been a follower of Jesus for a while, not only remember what he's done in Christ, but remember what he has continued to do, how God has been with you through thick and thin. How maybe for you, when you were on rock bottom, you found that he was the only rock at the bottom. Remember God's faithful hand through your life and through your family and through your heartache and through that health concern. Remember that God was with you every single step of the way, that he promises, I will never leave you nor forsake you, that I am a good God. And so, remember what God has done. He has not forgotten you. Go back and recount the ways that you've seen the faithfulness of God through your life to this point. Because God has and he always will be faithful when we are faithless, God is faithful when times are tough. Don't forget God when times are good, don't forget God. So, remember to listen, remember to love, and remember what God has done until you see Jesus face to face.
Let's pray, Father God, I thank you for the incredible gift of grace that you've given in Jesus Christ and God. I repent, and we repent for ways that we have forgotten you. Maybe there's someone here this morning who has a hardened heart towards you, and they recognize that we cannot earn our way to you. But you did everything needed for us to be in the presence of God forever by sending Jesus Christ. And so, we turn, we repent, and we place our trust in you. And Father God, I repent for those of us who have forgotten you over the days and over the years of your faithfulness in our life. God help us not to forget, but to remember who you are and what you've done on our behalf. And we ask all these things in Jesus’ name. Amen.
