Series: You’re Gonna Have to Serve Somebody

Title: How to Forget God’s Name

Text: Jeremiah 23:23-29

I. Remembering Numbers

I’ve always been good with numbers.

For me High School math was like playing a game, solving a puzzle. Unlike some of my other classmates, I enjoyed Algebra, Geometry, and Calculus.

In my college years, I continued to enjoy mathematics.

One of my favorite classes was International Finance.

I remember one spreadsheet assignment in particular.

We had to estimate the real-dollar rate of return of an international investment over the next ten years.

For each year we had to adjust the investment by its expected internal rate of return, the expected inflation rate, and the expected exchange rate between the dollar and the foreign currency.

For me it was like playing a game. I loved it!

Yet, I’ve always had a hard time remembering numbers:

Mary’s work number? I have no idea. It’s in my cell phone.

My high school locker combination; that was a tough one. I remember several times showing up at my locker, desperately needing to get in, and drawing a total blank. I simply could not remember my combination.

 

II. Forgetting the Name of the Lord

There’re many things you either cannot or choose not to remember, but what about the Lord, do you remember the Lord your God? Do you remember the Lord all throughout the week?

The truth is, there are certain things which make us forget the Lord.

What makes you forget the Lord?

To be honest, sometimes we simply ignore Him.

We know He’s there, but we intentionally choose to ignore him, to pretend He’s not there.

We’re running with our agenda, and we simply don’t want the Lord and His agenda interrupting ours.

Have you ever called someone, and they either didn’t return your call or refused to help?

Eighteen years ago Greg Lindsey took a year of classes at a biblically balanced seminary in Berkley, California.

Around the first of this year, Greg started calling them, trying to get his transcript. Call after call after call – They never answered the phone or returned his call.

They did the same thing to me.

Realizing they’re in Pacific Time, I decided to call late in the afternoon.

I finally reached someone. I told her I was Greg’s priest and needed a copy of his transcripts for his ordination process.

She was very polite and said she’d look into it.

A month went by and no transcripts.

I called again, she said she’d look into it. She didn’t.

For the past four months, I’ve been calling every other week, asking for his transcripts.

Finally, a couple of weeks ago, she sent verification that Greg had completed a year of theological education.

For some reason, she had chosen to ignore me. The only reason she quit ignoring me was because of my persistence.

Unfortunately, sometimes we treat the Lord the same way. Over and over again he calls us, but we simply ignore him.

At times we act as if God only exists in certain places:

As if He’s only here in church, but not at work, at school, or at home.

As if He’s in our times of Bible study and prayer, but not in the movie theatre or on the Internet.

 

From our reading in Jeremiah 23, God said,

23"Am I only a God nearby," declares the LORD, "and not a God far away?

24Can anyone hide in secret places so that I cannot see him?" declares the LORD. "Do not I fill heaven and earth?" declares the LORD.

Jeremiah 23:23-24 (NIV)

In other words, God is everywhere, all the time.

When you or I act as if God is not present in each and every moment of our day, we are in fact choosing to forget God.

In Jesus’ letter to the church in Laodicea, found in Revelation chapter three, Jesus said,

20Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.

Revelation 3:20 (NIV)

Jesus was knocking at the door, but no one was answering.

When you stop ignoring Him, when you answer His call, he comes in to dine with you, to have intimate fellowship with you.

But when you consistently ignore God’s voice, you will eventually forget Him.

The second way to forget the Lord is to become distracted, to get so consumed about other things, that there’s just no time left to think about Jesus.

Three years ago, Stephen McKim was running late to a church staff meeting at his church in Bartlett.

He was on the cell phone talking with another Youth Minister.

I imagine he was exhausted from Youth meetings the night before.

He had tons of things he needed to get done.

He had a lot on his mind, a lot to distract him.

Stephen had an excellent reputation as their Youth Minister and still does to this day.

With all of his responsibilities, with so many things on his mind, he forgot that it was his turn to drop off their seven-month-old daughter at day care.

Very quietly, she had slept in her car seat in the back seat.

Two hours later, on that tragic August 9^th day, he remembered.

He raced to the car, but it was too late. The temperature in the car was close to 130 degrees. Mia had died of hyperthermia.

http://ggweather.com/heat/33_2005.htm

http://www.memphisdailynews.com/Editorial/StoryDaily.aspx?story=digest&date=3%2F7%2F2007

http://www.bryanmcanally.com/blog/archives/001976.php

Did Stephen McKim intentionally allow his daughter to die?

No way.

He had too much on his mind. He had become distracted.

The same can be true about your relationship with the Lord.

You can become so distracted, so consumed about other things, that you simply forget about the Lord.

It’s not that you’re intentionally forgetting the Lord, He just gets crowded out.

Jesus talked about this in His Parable of the Sower. He said,

3"Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. ⁴As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. ⁵Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. ⁶But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. ⁷Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. ⁸Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, multiplying thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times."

Mark 4:3-8 (NIV)

Later Jesus explained the spiritual meaning of the parable to His disciples:

First, he said that the seed represented the Word of God.

Concerning the seed sown among thorns, He said,

19...the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful.
Mark 4:19 (NIV)

Unless you and I reserve time for God, the many distractions of life will come in and strangle God’s Word from our souls, and cause us to forget Jesus.

A third way to forget God is to listen to ungodly teachers.

On the front page of last Sunday’s Commercial Appeal, there was an article about churches using the teachings of Scientology.

http://www.commercialappeal.com/mca/us/article/0,2845,MCA_25346_5669834,00.html

Scientology has:

"No specific belief about God."

No belief in the Incarnation of Jesus.

No belief in heaven and hell.

No doctrine of sin.

No belief in the salvific work of Jesus on the cross.

http://www.beliefnet.com/story/80/story_8057_1.html

Yet, these church pastors are promoting the twisted teachings of Scientology, causing God’s people to forget the one true God, and worship the false god of Scientology, a so-called impersonal "life force" of the universe. It’s 21^st century Gnosticism!

The same thing happened 600 years before Christ during the time of Jeremiah the prophet.

Turn with me to Jeremiah 23:25. God said,

25"I have heard what the prophets say who prophesy lies in my name. They say, ‘I had a dream! I had a dream!’ ²⁶How long will this continue in the hearts of these lying prophets, who prophesy the delusions of their own minds? ²⁷They think the dreams they tell one another will make my people forget my name, just as their fathers forgot my name through Baal worship.
Jeremiah 23:25-27 (NIV)

These prophets were "lying prophets."

They did not speak the truth.

They spoke lies and half truths about God and His will.

They spoke of exciting new revelations, "I had a dream! I had a dream!"

They spoke sincerely. They truly thought they were speaking the truth. They were sincere, but they were sincerely wrong. They had prophesied from "the delusions of their own minds."

 

In Matthew chapter 15, Jesus said,

14Leave them; they are blind guides. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit."

Matthew 15:14 (NIV)

Jeremiah goes on to say in verse 27,

"They think the dreams they tell one another will make my people forget my name, just as their fathers forgot my name through Baal worship."
Jeremiah 23:27 (NIV)

They think their twisted doctrine and loose morals dressed up in religious terms will make God’s people forget God’s name. Are they right?

No! And yes.

Those who truly listen to them:

Those who walk away from the teachings of Jesus.

Those who become enamored with the self-absorbed philosophies of the day.

Those who in essence begin to worship false gods.

They will forget the one true God.

 

But those who refuse to listen:

Those who refused to get sucked into their folly.

Those who weigh their seductive teachings and find them wanting...

Those who, join in quoting Hebrews chapter 12, saying:

2Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. ³Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

Hebrews 12:2-3 (NIV)

These will never ever forget the Lord.

Three ways to forget the Lord:

Intentionally ignoring Him.

Allow your many distractions to dominate your day.

The influence of ungodly teachers.

 

III. Remembering the Lord

But how can we remember the Lord? How can we remember to serve Him?

In verses 28 and 29, the prophet Jeremiah concludes our reading by saying:

28Let the prophet who has a dream tell his dream, but let the one who has my word speak it faithfully. For what has straw to do with grain?" declares the LORD. ²⁹"Is not my word like fire," declares the LORD, "and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?

Jeremiah 23:28-29 (NIV)

Verse 28,

"Let the prophet who has a dream," the uninspired dream, the "delusion of their own mind[s]" dream... let him tell it.

But for the sake of you soul, for the sake of your family’s salvation, don’t you dare embrace it.

The second half of verse 28,

"but let the one who has my word speak it faithfully. For what has straw to do with grain?"

Embrace the true Word of God in your heart and in your life.

Listen carefully, discern between what is grain and what is straw, what is food for the soul, and what is garbage.

 

Finally verse 29:

29"Is not my word like fire," declares the LORD, "and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?

Unlike the word of false prophets, false teachers, false philosophies:

The true Word of God burns up what is false.

The true Word of God destroys, deceptive destructive teachings.

 

Let the true Word of God burn in your heart, and you will never never forget the Lord your God.

But it’s not just the Word of God which causes us to remember the Lord. In the New Covenant, Jesus gave us the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. Each and every Sunday, as we come to the Lord’s Table, we "do this in remembrance" of Jesus.

Of course, if you distractedly stumble through the motions, coming for Holy Communion may not help you remember the Lord.

But if as Jesus said, you intentionally and consistently, "do this in remembrance of me," you will never forget.

 

1. Let the Word of God burn in your hearts.

2. Do this (Holy Communion) in remembrance of Jesus.

And you will never forget Jesus.