"remember And Proclaim The Lord's Death" (1 Corinthians 11:23-26)

"Remember and proclaim the Lord's death" (1 Corinthians 11:23-26)

23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

Japanese people are known to be resistant to accepting the gospel. However, there is someone who has testified to Jesus to the greatest number of Japanese people through Japan's NHK broadcasting and the publication of poetry collections. It is Mr. Mizuno Kenzo. (1937-1984) When he was 11 years old in the 4th grade of elementary school, he suffered from measles, and due to a high fever, he developed cerebral palsy, becoming paralyzed in his entire body. He lost the ability to speak, move his fingers and toes, and could not even sit up on his own, with the exception of being able to hear and see.

One day, he received a Bible as a gift from a neighboring pastor and, while reading it, encountered Jesus and was able to write exquisite poems expressing gratitude to God. Unable to speak or use his hands, he couldn't write either, but his mother posted the 50 characters of the Japanese alphabet on the wall, and when he blinked his eyes at the character he wanted among those his mother pointed to, those characters were gathered to form words, sentences, and poems. It is said that a collection of poems was published after 10 years. Among the poems he wrote is the following poem titled "My Lifelong Wish":

I want to say "Thank you" aloud to my mother.

I want to say "Thank you" aloud to those who come to me.

I want to try calling out "Heavenly Father" aloud. Heavenly Father in heaven, I want to call out Heavenly Father in heaven. Even though I believe that you hear me even if I don't speak out and call, I want to call out Heavenly Father in heaven.

Are you grateful for the fact that you can speak, and therefore say thank you, express gratitude, and call out Heavenly Father in heaven? Or have you ever been grateful? There are so many things to be thankful for, even just physically: being able to hear, being able to speak, being able to see, being able to touch, stand, and walk, being able to sit, being able to sleep and wake up without pain, being able to excrete and breathe easily, and so on. We live in a world filled with things to be grateful for, including the people He has allowed around us, wives, children, parents, church members, living in America, the fresh air, the sky, the surrounding grass and trees, mountains and seas, etc. We are told to give thanks in all circumstances, so how much gratitude do we have in our lives? How often do we live with gratitude, even if it's just once a day or a few times a week?

Unfortunately, when we look at the history of the Bible, we can see that even God's people lived lives in which they did not know how to give thanks. A representative example that we already know well is the Israelites who came out of Egypt. God not only saved the Israelites from the oppression of Pharaoh, the most powerful king in the world, through amazing miracles and wonders, but also, when they came out of Egypt, they received many valuables as gifts from the Egyptians. However, the response of the Israelites as they headed toward the promised land was more complaining and resentment than praise or gratitude. They complained, "There is no water, there is no food, we miss Egypt, are you going to kill us here, who made you our leader, does God speak only through you?" These complaints, on the surface, may seem to be reactions to their circumstances, but in the end, they were complaints and resentments against God's salvation and God's grace.

The history of the Kingdom of Israel, which began after arriving in Canaan, is no different. The fact that they continuously engaged in idolatry even while receiving God's discipline reveals their attribute of not knowing how to be grateful to God and rather complaining and resenting Him. Even after seeing the Northern Kingdom of Israel perish through idolatry, didn't the Southern Kingdom eventually perish as well because they continued in idolatry instead of coming to their senses?