Looking Back

The older I get, the more interested in history I become. I hear myself saying things like, “Remember when . . .” and “Back in my day . . .” or the infamous “I wish we could go back to when . . .” Some of you can relate; some cannot. Some of you think I am too young to be writing these words, but it’s true.

I recently started reading Wendell Berry, an author whose works include numerous stories of life in Port William, Kentucky. They are fictional accounts of the people who lived in this place from 1880 to about 1960. I’ve really enjoyed reading his books because they bring with them a sense of nostalgia about days before I was even born. They were simpler times with more commitment to family, hard work, and relationships in the community. It’s made me want to go into farming and live off the land and be a part of a small community.

They’ve brought my attention around to the past. There is something important about looking back, about reflecting on the events and relationships of our past. We are not called to live in the past even though some try. Some can’t get past their past or they won’t accept how life is different today, so they live wishing the past would return. It’s not wrong to long for some of the experiences and values of the past, but God has called us to live in today.

But living in today means learning from our past and hopefully appreciating how God has used our past relationships and the past events of our lives to help mold us into who we are today.

It is right and appropriate for Community Reformed Church to celebrate its past, to take time and devote energy into remembering who we were and how we came into existence. Most importantly, it’s important for us to celebrate in God’s faithfulness and willingness to help Community Reformed Church become what it is today through the events and the people of the past.

The Bible is a good example. Think about the history contained in this book. Think about how the past events and people of this book help us to see ourselves and most importantly help us to see God. For God has revealed Himself to us through the events of the past. We better see who He is because of His work in the past. It’s not that God isn’t at work today, because He is and we can see Him moving in our lives when we take the time to look. But to truly grow in our knowledge of God, we have to look back and see how He has revealed Himself to us.

But God does not want us to look back and live there. He wants us to look back to move forward. He wants us to see Him and our need for Him, and to realize that to live in today, we have to trust and depend on Him. God is faithful. God is trustworthy. God is good. God has shown us this and much more through the past, but He offers Himself to us today. He offers us a future with hope and that hope is dependent not upon us, but upon our willingness to live with Him and in His plan for us. We’ve seen in the past how this is the only plan worth pursuing. God calls us then to live in today based on this truth. I wonder what God has in store for Community Reformed Church tomorrow. Let’s trust Him.