A Ramble About Rekall

I recently watched the remake of Total Recall. The original with Arnold Schwarzenegger was one of those movies that I saw as a kid at the drive in (when there still was one in Westminster, CA) with my mom, who still happens to be a sci-fi buff and is the reason why I became one as well.

For those not in the know, the premise of the remake is that a master double agent, Carl Hauser, has his memories erased and rewritten by a corrupt future government in the attempt to root out the leader of an opposition cell. Their plans go askew when his new persona, Douglas Quaid (a lowly factory worker), is dissatisfied by his job and goes to a business called “Rekall” to have more exciting memories implanted in his brain. This sets off alarms at Rekall when they attempt to do the memory implantation and find out what happened. From there on it's one long constant chase as he eventually finds the aforementioned cell leader, named Matthias, who it turns out is something of a gentleman philosopher.

In the dialogue of their meeting, something profound is said:

Quaid: “I want to remember.”

Matthias: “Why?”

Quaid: “So I can be myself. Be who I was.”

Matthias: “It is each man's quest to find out who he truly is. But the answer to that lies in the present not in the past.”

Quaid: “But the past tells us who we've become.”

Matthias: “The past is a construct of the mind. It blinds us. It fools us into believing it. But the heart wants to live in the present. Look there. You'll find your answers.”

As I turned this dialogue over and over in my own mind, it kept reminding me of a simple truth. It isn't who we were that God's judgment is based on. It's who we are in each and every moment. It isn't what we've done in the past which matters, but what we do and say right here and right now, in this moment of time. It is who we are at the moment of death (and therefore resurrection) or living transfiguration which matters to God.

In Ezekiel 18:21-28 (ESV), God says pretty clearly,

“But if a wicked person turns away from all his sins that he has committed and keeps all my statutes and does what is just and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die. None of the transgressions that he has committed shall be remembered against him; for the righteousness that he has done he shall live. Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord GOD, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live? But when a righteous person turns away from his righteousness and does injustice and does the same abominations that the wicked person does, shall he live? None of the righteous deeds that he has done shall be remembered; for the treachery of which he is guilty and the sin he has committed, for them he shall die.”

“Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ Hear now, O house of Israel: Is my way not just? Is it not your ways that are not just? When a righteous person turns away from his righteousness and does injustice, he shall die for it; for the injustice that he has done he shall die. Again, when a wicked person turns away from the wickedness he has committed and does what is just and right, he shall save his life. Because he considered and turned away from all the transgressions that he had committed, he shall surely live; he shall not die.”

Again and again in the Holy Scriptures this idea is reinforced. God is merciful and compassionate to all those who turn to Him for forgiveness and follow what He says no matter what they have done or who they might have been in the past. He doesn't care about the person you may have been as much as He cares about the person you are now. All the bad things you may have done are in the past. In the same way, all the good things you've done are in the past as well and don't count for the present (or the future for that matter).

Jesus said “Remain in Me.” He also said that the person who didn't remain in Him would dry up and eventually be burned with the rest of the dead foliage. This is a warning to all those who profess to follow Him. God doesn't remember laurels and gold stars any more than He remembers sins and transgressions. Don't rest on them. He's not concerned with a person who no longer exists. Church was this morning. This morning is in the past and is gone. Who are you right now? He's concerned with the person you are right now at this moment, not who you were in the pews several hours ago.

Are you remaining in Him at this moment? Are you obeying Him at this moment? Are you walking and acting by Grace through faith at this moment? If not, turn around. Draw close to Him and He will draw close to you.