In remembrance

"eat of the bread and drink of the cup"

1 Corinthians 11:28

Do you take communion in your church?  How often?  Every Sunday?  Once a month?  Significant holy days?

Or maybe your church doesn't do communion.  I don't know if all churches do or not.

I've also known people who do communion in their own homes.  I like the sound of that.  Nothing says it can only be done in a church.  A little juice or wine, some crackers or bread, and a prayerful heart.  Beautiful.

When you take communion, do your thoughts go to what you know about the night before Jesus' death?  You probably know the facts.  If you don't, they are in the gospels.

We read about where Jesus was, and who was with Him, and what they were eating.   We read that He washed the feet of the disciples, and identified His betrayer.  And we can read what He said to all of them as they sat around the table.

And of all the things He said that evening, I believe His most significant words were, "Do this in remembrance of Me."

When we share communion, we do it in remembrance of Him.  When we share it in our churches, or in our homes, we do it in remembrance of Him.  We do it because He ate and drank, and because He told us to.

In 1 Corinthians 11, Paul wrote to the Corinthians about the Last Supper ~ the Lord's Supper, he called it. But he wasn't just reminding them, he was scolding them.  Starting in verse 17 he said, "In the following instructions I do not commend you, because when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you.  When you come together, it is not the Lord's supper that you eat.  For in eating, each one goes ahead with his own meal.  One goes hungry, another gets drunk.  Do you not have houses to eat and drink in?  What shall I say to you?  Shall I commend you in this?  No, I will not."

The Christians in Corinth were apparently not "doing this in remembrance of Him."  They were just "doing this". 

Paul went on to say, "Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord.  Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup.  For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself."

Communion, in remembrance of Him, is not a meal, any more than Thanksgiving dinner is just a meal.  Communion has a purpose.  Actually, it has three:

Celebration, acknowledgement, proclamation.

Communion is a celebration of selflessness and sacrifice; of God's plan of redemption.  And it's a celebration of our new life.

It is an acknowledgement of what that new life cost, and an acknowledgement of what it's worth.

And it's a proclamation of our belief, and our intentions ~ to Him and to ourselves.

So take communion, in your church or in your home.  Because He told us to.  But before you take, think about what you believe, and what you intend.

~ "the Lord Jesus, on the night when 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 He also took the cup after supper,

saying, 'This cup is the new covenant in My blood.

Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.'

For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup,

you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes." ~

1 Corinthians 11:23-26