generational memory
From Judges 2:6-7, 10-13
After Joshua had dismissed the Israelites, they went to take possession of the land, each to his own inheritance. The people served the LORD throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him and who had seen all the great things the LORD had done for Israel....
After that whole generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation grew up, who knew neither the LORD nor what he had done for Israel. Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD and served the Baals. They forsook the LORD, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of Egypt. They followed and worshiped various gods of the peoples around them. They provoked the LORD to anger because they forsook him and served Baal and the Ashtoreths.."
Reading this chapter is an interesting set-up to the theme of Judges... people forgetting about God and then they suffer; God continually raising up a leader to save the people and lead them; the leader dies and the people screw things up again. It's sad to see that even after all the amazing things that happened with Joshua, it only took one generation for the poeple to forget everything that happens.
I think for our generation, how often is it the same? That us younger people forget about the struggles and lessons of the generation before us?
Just using CBC as an example, I think I sometimes take having the church building for granted, forgetting all the work it took for my father and his generation to build the addition to the church (gym and west wing)... and even the elderly generation of CBC people before that, who moved the church from Chinatown to Beacon Hill. That generation of people grew so much in their faith by simply trusting God, regardless of who was the leader at the time.
And now here we are again, leaderless, in a "time of testing"... I wonder often what choice our generation will make. Will we the generation that helps to restore and maintain our church... or will we be the generation that betrays it?
After Joshua had dismissed the Israelites, they went to take possession of the land, each to his own inheritance. The people served the LORD throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him and who had seen all the great things the LORD had done for Israel....
After that whole generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation grew up, who knew neither the LORD nor what he had done for Israel. Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD and served the Baals. They forsook the LORD, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of Egypt. They followed and worshiped various gods of the peoples around them. They provoked the LORD to anger because they forsook him and served Baal and the Ashtoreths.."
Reading this chapter is an interesting set-up to the theme of Judges... people forgetting about God and then they suffer; God continually raising up a leader to save the people and lead them; the leader dies and the people screw things up again. It's sad to see that even after all the amazing things that happened with Joshua, it only took one generation for the poeple to forget everything that happens.
I think for our generation, how often is it the same? That us younger people forget about the struggles and lessons of the generation before us?
Just using CBC as an example, I think I sometimes take having the church building for granted, forgetting all the work it took for my father and his generation to build the addition to the church (gym and west wing)... and even the elderly generation of CBC people before that, who moved the church from Chinatown to Beacon Hill. That generation of people grew so much in their faith by simply trusting God, regardless of who was the leader at the time.
And now here we are again, leaderless, in a "time of testing"... I wonder often what choice our generation will make. Will we the generation that helps to restore and maintain our church... or will we be the generation that betrays it?
posted by G @ 12:54 AM
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