Re — Again, Anew
by Rick Chaffee, pastor of Amber Congregational Church, Marietta, New York
There are a lot of words that begin with the prefix re, which means simply “again” or “anew.” We have been talking about several of these for the past year with words such as revitalization, renewal, and recommitment. These words can intimidate us a bit, make us uneasy, as if everything old must give way to everything new. But that is not the intent or the direction that our talks and plans and efforts are seeking to accomplish. In fact it may be better to introduce an old re word to help us move ahead. That word is remember.
This is not Rick — but it is the church where he serves
The first time that the word remember is used in the Bible is in the context of covenant. God said, “I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures.” (Genesis 9:15) Remembering either keeps the essential things in clear focus or returns those that have been blurred from lack of attention into renewed focus. Our efforts to “re” things is all about remembering the vital truths upon which we have based our lives (revitalization), remembering our excitement when we were new in the faith (renewal), and remembering the covenantal importance of our commitments (recommitment). This is not anything new; it is the same thing again, anew.
So what is it that we need to remember? Our purpose statement identifies three things. First, we need to remember our commitment to God. The Ten Commandments begin with three statements about our relationship with God: we are to give him exclusive commitment, we are to accept no alien distraction, and we are not to misuse our relationship with him. The fourth commandment tells us to “remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.” (Exodus 20:8) In other words, God is giving us an aid to enable us to keep the first three commandments. It is simply: worship with others regularly once a week. Oh, I know that we can all worship without coming to public worship every Sunday, but the reality is that we don’t. And the more we neglect the weekly reminder given to us by God, the more we lose the focus of the first three commandments and we need a recommitment.
The second item we are to remember from our purpose statement is that we are accountable to one another. Life was never intended to be lived in isolation from others. We need one another for both encouragement and correction. The church is the place where loving accountability is to be provided. The descriptive images of the church in the Bible illustrate the inter-personal nature of Christian growth: the body (1 Corinthians 12:12–31), the building (Ephesians 2:19–22) and the family (Mark 3:31–35). Oh, I know that relationships are difficult and some people just make us angry. But that is not a valid excuse to resist accountability. We cannot love God and not love our brothers and sisters (1 John 4:20). We need a revitalization.
Our purpose statement concludes with the reminder to look beyond ourselves and get involved in Christ’s transforming work in our world. God has kingdom purposes. His goal is to “bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.” (Ephesians 1:10) Even now he is at work to accomplish that end. And we are to join him. Life is not about us; it is always about Jesus and about others. I know that there are too many tasks, too many needs, too much to do. I know that we lack what we perceive of as the necessary skills and understanding to be effective. I know that we are a bit scared outside our comfort zones. But Jesus said “Go… make disciples… teach them to obey everything I have commanded you… and surely I will be with you always.” (Matthew 28:19–20). We need a renewal.
