“For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed,
took bread, 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.” 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.” For whenever you eat this bread and drink this
cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.” I Corinthians 11:23-26
I am thankful for a good memory and I am very
thankful for good memories! The older I get the more I realize how important it
is to make as many lifetime memories as you can.
But I also realize there is a reason 6,005,000,000 post-it-notes are sold
every year! We are afflicted with the aggravating tendency to forget what we
should remember and remembering things we should forget.
After all, that is the reason for the holiday of Memorial Day - to remember those who fought and died in foreign lands in order to defend our freedoms! We NEVER want to forget those brave heroes!
Or, in a more practical sense, you could think of Communion as God's "post-it note" to remind you to remember Christ's love and His suffering that saved you from sin.
When we lose touch with God's grace we can become prisoners to our painful memories.
Memories are powerful because they recall not
only experiences but emotions.
I spent many days being cared for by my Great Grandmother Snyder. My sister and I loved going over there to stay when our mother went off to her job. We have many pleasant memories of those days spent during our early childhood. In her neighborhood there were some mourning doves and that is where I first remember hearing their soulful cry.
Nearly every time I hear a mourning dove I remember Grandma Snyder and reconnect with the feelings of being with her.
Nearly every time I hear a mourning dove I remember Grandma Snyder and reconnect with the feelings of being with her.
So, memories can be very pleasant or they can be
very painful – some are both. Because they are painful and pleasant or both, they become very powerful!
To a great extent your life
will be dominated and defined by your most powerful memory. Communion is given to be a frequent reminder of how much God loves us and the price He paid to save us from our sins.
Taking the bread and drinking the cup helps us reconnect with our emotions of when we first experienced His salvation. When we can remember how much we are loved and how blessed we are it puts our own pain and suffering in perspective. His suffering becomes our dominant memory during the Sacrament of Communion, as it should be!
Taking the bread and drinking the cup helps us reconnect with our emotions of when we first experienced His salvation. When we can remember how much we are loved and how blessed we are it puts our own pain and suffering in perspective. His suffering becomes our dominant memory during the Sacrament of Communion, as it should be!