By Jim Nichols

“TIME OUT!” The umpire shouted and took off his mask. The catcher removed his also and walked toward the mound where he and the pitcher had a brief conversation. If it went too long, the umpire would head out there to shorten the break in the action. 

I am glad that it is almost baseball season.

Have you ever wondered what that catcher/pitcher conversation included? During an interview once, a catcher was asked for details; it went something like this.

Catcher: I told the pitcher that this batter historically has trouble hitting balls that are on the lower and outer sides of the strike zone. I also said our right fielder is having difficulty with his arm today and will not be able to make a strong throw should the runner on second base (who is a fast runner) try to score on a single to right. I added that there are no outs right now.

Interviewer: You mean to tell me that the pitcher does not know this batter cannot hit balls low and outside, that the right fielder’s arm is weak, that the runner on second is fast, and that there are no outs?

Catcher: He probably does, but I wanted to remind him. When he goes into the stretch, pitches, and the batter swings, I want to make sure the pitcher does not have to start all over to remember the situation. He needs to remember before the action starts.

Have you noticed that much of the Christian life is not a matter of learning new things but is, instead, a matter of remembering things that we have learned in the past? Whether they are perspectives we have learned through reading books or the Bible or through experience, we generally already know how we should respond to situations. We know that lying is wrong. We know that cheating, bullying, and ridiculing others is wrong. We can easily tell good sexual relating from bad. We are good at recognizing honesty and dishonesty. The problem people (including Donald Trump) have is not knowing what correct behavior is; it is acting with that behavior. This is not the absence of information; it is a moral problem.

The word “remember” occurs well over 350 times in the Bible, depending on which English version we use. This high frequency cannot be just an accident. Apparently, God is highly interested in us learning from the past and having that shape our decisions and future.

Sometimes the word is simply a reminder of the mighty acts of God. We are called to remember how our spiritual ancestors were brought out of Egypt by a series of seemingly impossible events. We are called to remember how another generation of spiritual ancestors was exiled to Babylon. Individuals such as Noah are proposed as examples of good and bad decisions leading to the eventual outcome God desired, preaching to all the inhabitants of Ninevah. 

Frankly, it is hard to miss the emphasis on remembering throughout the Bible. Even remembering the horrific events has an important purpose. If you and I become discouraged at the evil in the modern world, we can remember that God’s people have seen all this before, and even worse. Horrible, awful leaders have arisen and done tragic things to people, yet God has continued to have a remnant of followers. For us to say, “This is a desperate time; we’ve never been in a moment like this before” is to ignore much of human history, let alone the history of God’s people. Indeed, can we think of anything more tragic than Jesus’ crucifixion? And that led to a resurrection.

Shortly before that in an upper room, Jesus takes wine and bread and changes them for all time. He tells his followers then and now to drink and eat this, “remembering” him. This is a deep meaning of the word.

Calvary takes us to another use of the word “remember.” In this case the word becomes a plea, the plea of Good Friday.

There were three crucified, not just one. Of the other two, one ridiculed Jesus. The other, however, pled with Jesus to “. . . remember me when you come into your kingdom.” To which Jesus effectively says, “Welcome.”

Jim Nichols is a retired Abilene Christian University biology professor and current hospital chaplain