What Do You Remember?

Luke 22:
19And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me."

Matthew 26
27And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, "Drink of it, all of you, 28for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

Jesus, on the night he was betrayed to those who would have him crucified, washed his disciples feet, and had supper with His disciples. He said, “do this in remembrance of me”, because clearly he knew, as most of us have done one time or another, that we forget. We forget why we call Him Lord.

I’m going to play a video for us right now, probably one of the most accurate on screen depictions of Jesus’ time with the cross. It’s pretty graphic, but don’t allow yourself to take your eyes off of it. Don’t be like some of His disciples who fled and hid their eyes from what they thought was a sorry sight. Let us remember what Jesus was talking about in the broken bread, and poured out cup. “Do this in remembrance of me”, let us know what we’re remembering.

I remember everything that stood between me and God being placed on the perfectly innocent, the very Son of God. I remember that everything Jesus went through, all of that was originally meant for me. That agony, that torment, that anguish, I remember that that was my now and forever apart from Jesus. I remember, as the prophet said in Isaiah 53, he took up my infirmities, carried my sorrows, he was pierced for my transgressions, crushed for my iniquities. I remember that He was wounded, punished, chastised, rejected, led to the slaughter as a sacrifice for my sins. I remember He was oppressed, afflicted, judged for my rebellion by God own Father, who had to turn His eyes away and break ties with His own son.

But oh how I remember that through Jesus there is now peace between me and God. I will remember that I now walk with the creator, and fellowship daily with my maker. I will remember that my real destiny has been restored to me, the purpose, mission, love and joy that I was originally created for. I will remember that God loved me first, even when I was still a sinner, and by faith I live in His glory in this life and the next.

I will remember that Jesus is worth calling Lord. I remember what the Apostle Paul said in Philippians 3:

Philippians 3
7But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9and be found in him

I will remember that all of this life, my degrees, my career, my relationships, my possessions, my future, everything in my life is rubbish, just garbage apart Christ. I will remember how often I forget that and pledge my allegiance to earthly things. I will pray to remember to do this gift of life in remembrance of Him. I will remember that Jesus Christ is my my Saviour, my Lord, my God.

Before this bread and this cup, what will you remember? Some of you will remember the moment you entered into God’s love, and how you’ve danced in it ever since. Some of you will remember, alarmingly perhaps, that for a long time now you haven’t felt anything close to love or  joy when you looked at the cross. Some of you will remember how being under Christ’s lordship has freed you from fear, anxiety, and hopelessness. Some of you are remembering that midterm or paper coming up, that grad school you’re working so hard to get into, that payment you need to make soon. “Do this in remembrance of me”. What will you remember? Tonight, tomorrow, next week, next month, next year. What will you remember?

Still others of you have never walked with Jesus and don’t have anything to remember, and I do ask you to refrain from taking the bread and cup. I do want to tell you though, that journey of finding life with God that Amanda talked about at her baptism last week, you can start that journey today! I can’t promise that you can repeat a prayer and be guaranteed to be sealed for all eternity, there isn’t some magical chant that gets heaven into your pocket. Even this bread and cup is useless if the reality behind it, God’s act of sovereign, loving sacrifice, is not fully encountered and embraced.

But what I can tell you are the same words that Jesus told his disciples, ”Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” And so if you really want Jesus, and you’ve realized His love is worth living for, this community will commit to walking with you until God brings you through that door into His Kingdom. Talk to one of us, talk to someone you trust, the friend that you came with. Talk to them about it today, like in the next minute after I’m done talking. ‘cause to be real I don’t know if you have a tomorrow. Your step towards God’s love, towards eternity is here right now. Go grab your friend, grab one of us, talk about it pray about it with them.

So come, take the bread and cup, go back to your seats. Examine your hearts for idols which have claimed some of Christ’s Lordship, and pray over such with one another. Let us take communion in remembrance of no other love, of no other Lord, than Christ. Come take the bread and cup back to your seats, and we’ll take it together when everyone is ready.