One of my favorite tv shows is Phineas and Ferb. It is for the most part clean, it is hilarious, and it has an intelligence to it that you just don't get in the majority of television. This show tells of two stepbrothers who spend their summer building a bunch of stuff that you usually wouldn't expect a couple of ten year olds to be building (roller coaster, carnival ride, 50 foot tree house robots, etc...). In a couple of episodes though they don't build something, they instead do something related to music (become one hit wonders, reunite a band etc...).
In one such episode where they do something with music, they learn that the tip of a shoelace is called an aglet. They decide that everybody should be aware of this fact and so they try to raise awareness for aglets. Throughout the episode their older sister, Candace, is quite annoyed (she usually is annoyed by what they do and frequently tries to get them in trouble) and constantly keeps saying that knowing the name of the tip of a shoelace doesn't matter. You can live a long happy life without knowing she basically says at one point. But then the boys decide to have a concert to help everyone know about aglets, and Candace decides to sing, because maybe it will help her become a star.
The song starts to be sung. "A-G-L-E-T, aglet! Don't forget it!" This is repeated several times. Then Candace gets her solo. "In the end the most important thing, is to never forget, that the tip of the shoelace is called the, the, the, the..." Candace, in spite of hearing the word all day and just hearing it spelled and yelled over and over, and a kid wearing a shirt that says I love Aglets on it, doesn't remember. She eventually gives up and goes back to the "it doesn't matter" attitude she has had all day.
We have this problem too. There is a reason why we hear so many things in church every single week. There is a reason why the pastor tells you about your sinfulness and about Jesus saving you from that in every sermon.
We have this pesky (that's putting the best construction on it) part of us. It's called the old Adam. The old Adam likes to sin. It doesn't want to remember that sin is evil, hurts other people, hurts ourselves, and is what separates us from God. So, it will try very hard to forget. It will tell you that the lie you told doesn't matter, that lie kept you from getting in trouble. It will tell you that skipping church doesn't matter, you got some extra sleep. It will tell you that your sins don't matter. So and so is living a happy life and sins even more than you do, right? Forget that your sins are evil.
Sometimes old Adam will admit that the sin is bad, but it will try to make you forget that God gives you grace and faith and sent Jesus to save you from your sin. Old Adam has an ego. It wants to do good works to outweigh the sins. You sinned eight times today? Well do nine good works (or more if you can fit it in). Your good outweighs your bad. God has to let you into heaven. You can do it! Forget that you actually can't and that God loves you and did the actual work to save you.
If you are able to remember in spite of your old Adam, Satan or one of his minions will pop in and try to make you forget that God loves you and wants to forgive you and sent Jesus to pay the price for you. Satan will try to tell you that you are just too unforgivable. You did that sin? God won't forgive you! It doesn't matter what you've heard or read, your fate in hell is sealed.
Why do you hear the same thing in church every week? The confession of sin, God's forgiveness for it, Christ's death for you. Because your old Adam and Satan are doing everything they can to make you forget. They are trying to make you believe it doesn't matter.
In the end the most important thing, is to never forget...the tip of the shoelace is called the...ok, Candace was right, that truly doesn't matter. But this, this truly does matter. You are a sinner, that separates you from God. You can't fix that. God wants you to be with Him. He sent Jesus to die on the cross and save you from your sin. He forgives you. He loves you. You are baptized into Christ. Your fate in heaven is coming! Go to church and receive that beautiful reminder! And don't forget to change your clocks, so you aren't late for the reminder.
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