Novelty and the forgetfulness of the heart

Jonathan Robinson

The Gospel of Mark • Sermon • Submitted a year ago • Presented a year ago

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Novelty and the Forgetfulness of the Heart

Humans naturally seek novelty, or new experiences and information. It’s one reason why we love to try new foods, visit new places, and develop new skills. This drive for novelty can push us to become better-rounded people with lots of fulfilling experiences. When taken to extremes, however, an addiction to novelty can prevent us from sticking with the things we’ve chosen to try. It can lead to a lot of jumping around, which reduces the very fulfillment new experiences should provide. In this article, we distinguish between novelty-seeking behavior and novelty addiction so that you can get an idea of where on the spectrum you fall.

Information addiction is a term being used a lot lately to describe many people’s non-stop pursuit of new information, particularly online. A constant desire to scroll through Facebook, check your email, refresh Twitter, or Google the answer to every possible question likely qualifies as information addiction.

Christianity is not a novelty but rather a religion founded by God long ago and now brought to fulfillment in Jesus Christ.

James Montgomery Boice

First, by calling it “new” they do great wrong to God, whose Sacred Word does not deserve to be accused of novelty. Indeed, I do not at all doubt that it is new to them, since to them both Christ himself and his gospel are new.

John Calvin

The Deceitfulness of Forgetting 1-10

v1 “Those Days”

Days that Jesus was in the Gentile region coming back from Tyre and Sidon

A great gentile crowd had come to hear Jesus

v 2 Compassion on these gentiles

3 Days of being with him in a desolate place

really desolate that they would faint on their way home.

v 4 The Disciples seem to forget the recent miracle of feeding the multitude

COMPARISON Mark 6 vs Mark 8

This group is smaller 4,000 in total

They are gentiles

Generic word for fish in Mark 6, Sardine in Mark 8

7 loaves not 5

Fewer baskets left over

v4 Satiate the people’s hunger in this desolate place?

God created ‘Ex Nilo’

With Jesus he will satisfy our needs.

We doubt Jesus’ goodness

We forget his faithfulness in the past

We are so quick to forget

Taylor Swift Concert Amnesia

3hrs of Songs

One notable aspect of collective memory is the "peak-end rule," which suggests that people tend to remember events based on the peak of emotional intensity and the final moments of the event. This means that the details and nuances of events that occurred in the middle or long ago tend to fade more quickly from memory.

Additionally, research has shown that the availability of information and the media's coverage of events can impact the collective memory and public attention span. In today's fast-paced digital age, where news cycles are rapidly changing, it's been observed that the public's attention can quickly shift to the latest events or trends, causing recent events to be forgotten or overshadowed.

Moreover, the "news fatigue" phenomenon can contribute to the quick forgetting of recent events. When people are continuously exposed to a high volume of news, particularly concerning negative or distressing events, they can experience a sense of overload and disengagement, which may lead to diminished memory retention and attention.

It's important to note that individual and cultural factors can also influence the collective memory and how quickly events are forgotten. People's personal experiences, emotional connections, and the societal significance attributed to certain events can impact the longevity of their memory.

The danger of forgetfulness is that it can bring about doubt in God’s goodness and him truly being on our side and being for us.

Romans 8:31 “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?”

Psalm 56:9 “Then my enemies will turn back in the day when I call. This I know, that God is for me.”

We seem to forget the faithfulness of God and we tend to forget from where he saved us from.

See that you do not forget what you were before, lest you take for granted the grace and mercy you received from God and forget to express your gratitude each day.

Martin Luther

Why do we doubt? Why are we quick to forget?

Sometimes its because we’re looking for something novel, something new, something to reassure us of what God has said.

The Desire for Novelty

We scream out “VALIDATE YOURSELF” prove to me you’re good. Prove to me you’re here.

The pharisees came and begged for a sign from heaven to test Jesus. JESUS IS THE SIGN FROM HEAVEN. THE SCRIPTURES ATTEST TO THIS!

Let us so adhere to the Word of God that no novelty may captivate us and lead us astray.

John Calvin

What is the sign? The sign of Jonah Matt 12:39 “But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.”

We are are looking so often for something to validate, something new, some manifestation of the Spirit’s work.

This obsession for the miraculous

Signs and gifts

We have all that we need in the person of Jesus Christ and the sending of his Spirit.

Let us not exacerbate our Savior’s patience.

REMEMBER

The Discipline of Remembering

Hence it follows that leaven is the name given to every foreign admixture; as Paul also tells us that faith is rendered spurious, as soon as we are drawn aside from the simplicity of Christ, (2 Cor. 11:3.)- John Calvin

The Leven of the Pharisees is that which adds to the purity of the gospel. Jesus is showing them that they don’t need another sign, another proof, HE is all they need to know that God has come.

7 baskets and they forgot any bread

Being prepared, don’t forget the blessings of God that have come before.

Look to Christ to sustain you now

Stop worrying about your circumstances

Don’t you see that Jesus is enough?

Why do I forget God’s Word? . . . To forget is not only a matter of the mind but also of the whole person, including the heart. That on which my life and soul depend I cannot forget. The more I begin to love the ordinances of God in creation and in his Word, the more they will be present for me at every hour. Only love guards against forgetting.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Let us not forget

Not allow the distraction of novelty to cause us to look beyond what God has spoken

Not allow our minds to forget the faithfulness of Jesus in the past, to take us to the future.

We need the Gospel Daily

What is an Ebenezer 1 Sam7:12 “Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen and called its name Ebenezer; for he said, “Till now the Lord has helped us.””

God has helped us the person of Jesus

Church Planting: GOSPEL CULTURE

Gospel Doctrine (orthodoxy)

Gospel Culture (orthopraxy)

Lex Orandi Lex Credendi

Charge & Benediction

Because we are so quick to forget the goodness of God I charge you therefore to be disciplined to remember the gospel, the good news which is for you and for your children.

Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. | 1 Cor. 15:58

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