Golden Memory

"...and the chiefs offered offerings of dedication of the altar on the day it was anointed; and the chiefs offered their offering before the altar."  Numbers 7:10

Golden Memory
By Rev. William Dohle

I have a challenge for you...

Next time you're in church, count how many "Memorial plaques" you can see.  Memorial plaques are usually rectangular in shape.  Gold in color.  They have engraved on them a name(or many names) and above them it usually says, "Given in Memory Of..."

Every church has them.  Sometimes in the strangest of places.

The altar may have one.  The piano may have one too.  The baptismal font is often given in memory of someone.  And the stained glass windows may have one next to them too.  Occasionally, especially in older churches, you'll find one on the back of the pews too.

In our church they can be found on the benches outside, on a rack that holds prayer shawls, on the podium, the player piano downstairs, and on a candle set used in lent.  (And I'm probably missing a number of them too!)

So...why do we have these things scattered around our churches today?  Why are memorial plaques important to us?  Why should they matter?  Especially when, often, the family doesn't attend church much anymore and, sometimes, the people mentioned on the plaque have long been forgotten.  Why are these little metal pieces important?

Perhaps the answer to this can be found in the book of Numbers, chapter 7.  Here we read about some ancient offerings and how they were recorded.

"And the Lord said to Moses, "They shall offer their offerings, one chief every day, for the dedication of the altar."(7:11)

Now, the text could have just stopped there.  God commanded every chief to bring their offering to the Lord.

But...no... the text continues.

"He who offered his offering the first day was Nihshon, the son of Amminadab of the tribe of Judah.  And his offering was one silver plate whose weight was 130 shekels, one silver basin of 70 shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering; one golden dish of 10 shekels, full of incense, pone bull from the herd, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering; one male goat for a sin offering; and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old."(7:12-17)

So...why does Numbers insist on listing every single one of the things they were commanded to bring?  And why does it insist on doing this, not just for Nihshon, but for every other chief of every tribe of Israel.  All 12 of them!?  Why?

Perhaps the reason for this mention is the same reason we place golden plaques on things we give as memorials.  Because we want to be remembered!  No one may know any of the tribal chiefs, but their names and what they gave are recorded for all time in the text.  We may not remember who they were, but we carry their names around with us in our Bibles.

In the same way, we may not remember those we memorialize on our little golden plaques, but their impact to our community can still be felt.  We still use the pieces their family donated.  We still read their names occasionally and wonder about their lives.  We still remember them.

As much as we speak about heaven and sing about our glory after we die, truth be told, every one of us wants to be remembered in this life as well.  We want others to think about us and remember us.  We want to have an impact here.

These plaques tell the world that THESE people aren't forgotten.  Somehow they live on.  In the piano that is played in church.  In the benches that sit out front.  In the candles that sit upon the altar.  These people are still apart of us.  We remember them.  They made an impact on this place.  And they still impact our lives.

That remembrance and memory is a little piece of eternal life.  It's tangible eternal life and claimable.  It's something we can see and touch.  It's not based on faith as much as on sight.  We can see it.  We can touch it.  Though others may not remember who we are, at least they can read our names and wonder what impact we made here and why this community remembers us so.

So, here's the questions I'll leave you with.  Why do we desire this little piece of eternal life for our loved ones as we do?  What does that say about our faith in God's memory?

God of Memory, you remember us in our low estate, both in this life and in the world to come.  Be our memory when we have forgotten, that the world might one day be remembered in you.  Amen.