Communion as a Remembrance...
Luke 22:14-20
November 20, 2005
Introduction
At our board meeting last Tuesday, we spent a good deal of time talking about celebrating the Lord’s Supper, or communion. We were unanimous in our opinion that we don’t observe it nearly often enough and that we should do something about it.
We then decided to try an experiment of having it the first Sunday of every month. I think it’s a great idea and it wasn’t even mine!
And we’re going to celebrate today as well, because I think that the Sunday before Thanksgiving is a great time to celebrate the Lord’s Supper.
I don’t know about you, but images of the early Thanksgiving celebrations with the pilgrims and Indians bring forth thoughts of God-ordained fellowship among God’s people.
Obviously, not everyone who was at these early celebrations was a follower of Jesus, but the celebrations were a time to celebrate the goodness of God.
Communion is in my mind a kind of celebration of the goodness of God, as we remember the goodness in sending his Son to shed his blood for our sins. And its good to do that among our brothers and sisters in worship.
Communion has some other connotations as well. The word "communion" itself denotes a close union. In communion we rededicate ourselves to close union to God, and we also see communion as a way to gain a deeper fellowship with other believers.
Is it any wonder that the words "communion" and "community" share the same root? They are also derived from the same Latin origins.
But the aspect of communion I want us to focus on today is that of "remembrance." Over the next few months, we will look at these other aspects, and delve into them more. But today, the operative word is "remember."
Many of you have no doubt that our communion table has something wrong with it. The word "Me" is broken and missing a piece of the letter "M."
And chances are that there are some of you who’re going absolutely nuts inside because of it - you like things nice and perfect, and this is bugging you big time.
Don’t worry - we’re working on getting it fixed, but for now, there it is.
In the meantime, I think it’s a good reminder of something - that often our remembrances of Jesus and his sacrifice are less than perfect. If we take the time to remember at all, that is.
For all our spiritual talk and posturing, we Christians can be a pretty shallow lot sometimes, even when it comes to such important things as remembering the sacrifice of Jesus on our behalf.
And while I don’t claim that today you’ll leave here having had a perfect remembrance as we celebrate the Lord’s Supper, maybe you can use this little flaw to remind you to pray to God for a better remembrance.
Our Scripture passage for today is Luke Luke 22:14-20. And it’s printed for you in the note-taking guide. Please follow along as I read this.
When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. 15 And he said to them, "I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. 16 For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God."
17 After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, "Take this and divide it among you. 18 For I tell you I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes."
19 And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me."
20 In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you."
Let’s pray.
Before we partake of the Lord’s supper, I want to take just a little time to look at three benefits of this discipline of "remembering."
My intention in doing this to help drive home the fact that "remembering" in this sense is more than just recalling where you put your car keys.
This kind of remembering should be life-changing. And I hope it will be for you today.
Let’s get started by looking at the first benefit of remembering:
Remembering keeps us from becoming casual in our thanks for what Jesus did for us.
We dress pretty casually here at AWC. Some wear nice suits and ties, and others where jeans. And neither is wrong, in my opinion.
But we need to understand that our relationship with God should never be casual. God takes that relationship seriously, and so should we. Our relationship with God is supposed to change our lives. It should impact every area of our lives.
The casual Christian can’t relate to that because they think that life should be lived in compartments - my work compartment, my family compartment, my recreation compartment, and if there is room for any other compartments, my God compartment, as long as it doesn’t mean more than an hour on Sunday and certainly not past noon.
What Jesus did on the cross, hanging there for all those hours, was hardly a casual thing. It was for the Romans, because they crucified people all the time.
But for people who were crucified, it was horrific and tortuous. I won’t go into all the details of crucifixion today, but suffice to say that there was nothing casual about it.
And our remembrance shouldn’t be casual, either.
Here’s the second benefit of remembering:
Remembering draws us to deeper level of love for Jesus.
I’ve noticed that when I intentionally reflect on the love that drove Jesus to the cross on my behalf, I can’t help but desire him all the more.
Especially when I reflect on the fact that I don’t deserve it. The Bible is very clear that we all deserve death and eternal punishment in hell. But for some reason, he allowed me to hear the good news that there is an escape from the punishment I deserve.
His love, as shown in the breaking of his body and shedding of his blood, made it possible for me to love God at all. Because you see, we can’t even love God without his help.
But he loves us so much. He wants us to be able to love him back. But for that to happen, Jesus had to die so we could have that kind of relationship.
I hope that as you reflect on that this morning, you will be drawn to a deeper love for Jesus as well.
Here’s the third benefit of remembering:
Remembering draws us to a deeper level of commitment to live for Jesus.
Last week I mentioned a man in prison overseas who gets to see his wife once a year. And each year, he is told that he can leave, if only he will renounce his allegiance to Christ.
And his answer is that since Jesus did so much for him, how could he deny him?
That, folks, is commitment.
Jesus said that we’re to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. And so often we spend so much time trying to figure out just what it means to love God with these that we forget that one little word that proceeds the list of things we’re supposed to love God with.
And that little word is "all!" All our heart, all our soul, all our mind, and all our strength.
In other words, we’re supposed to consecrate our entire being to loving and serving God.
This goes back to what I said a little bit ago about not becoming casual in our relationship with him and not just making our little "God" compartment in our lives.
If you adopt this kind of thinking, which according to Jesus is the greatest commandment, then there’s no room for half-hearted commitment to Christ.
This kind of thinking and living says, "Okay, Jesus. I’m yours - everything I have is yours, including my family, my possessions, my job. Use me and use these things for your purposes. I’m giving them all over to you. Help me to love you all the way."
"Because of what you did for me - leaving the glory and wonders of heaven so you could suffer and die on the cross for me, I’m willing to live for you."
I pray that that will be the case for you, if you’ve never made that kind of consecration before. I pray that as you remember that Christ died for you, you’ll want to live for him.
Conclusion:
Well, as we prepare to take communion, I want us to look at one other benefit of remembering the sacrifice of Jesus, and that is that...
Remembering keeps us mindful of the fact that God has never forgotten us.
God isn’t some distant force that existed and worked only in the ancient past. He exists and is working today.
We don’t just pray to the God of "long ago." We pray to the God of "now." And to the God of "tomorrow." He is eternal. And aren’t you glad?
Jesus says over and over that God is mindful of us all the time. Not just as a group of people who call themselves Christians, but as individuals.
Psalm 139 describes the detail in which God knows about every person on earth.
God may seem far off at times. And sometimes we’ve pushed God away. But the bottom line truth of the matter is this: God has not forgotten you.
How does that relate to remembering, especially in communion?
Remembering what he did in the past helps us to rely on him in the now.
I hope that your knowledge and experience of Jesus doesn’t end with, "Wow. It’s really cool how God did all that stuff in the Bible. He really did some amazing stuff way back then. Oh well, that’s not for today. Too bad."
Because folks, it IS for today. And it’s for YOU, if you’ll take it.
By putting your trust in Jesus and what he did for you on the cross, and turning from your sins with his help, you can have not only a home in heaven, not only forgiveness of your sins, but also the wonderful knowledge that God wants to be active in your heart today and until you die, helping you live for him, and positively impacting the world around you, including the ones you love.
Remembering keeps us from becoming casual in our thanks for what Jesus did for us.
Remembering draws us to deeper level of love for Jesus.
Remembering draws us to a deeper level of commitment to live for Jesus. And...
Remembering keeps us mindful of the fact that God has never forgotten us.
We’re about to take part in this holy ceremony of remembrance. My hope and prayer is that this won’t be a meaningless ritual for you.
Because if it is, then you probably shouldn’t take it. If that’s the way it’s been in the past, but you don’t want that to be the case anymore, then you need to take it, if you’re a believer in Jesus.
But whatever the case for you, may it take on a special significance for you today.
Let’s pray.
"Responsive" section
Our dear Lord, Jesus...
We break and eat this bread in remembrance...
Of your body, which was broken for us.
(break the wafer and eat it).
Our dear Lord, Jesus...
We drink this cup in remembrance...
Of your blood, shed for us.
(Drink the juice)
Close with The Lord’s Prayer.
