We have just celebrated Memorial Day. We have remembered, recognized, and honored our service people of the past and the present. We do this with parades, picnics, visits to cemeteries, band concerts, and in many other ways. The goal is for us to remember the sacrifice of life and limb from all the conflicts that have plagued our country since its existence.
Memory doesn’t always come from experience. Viet Nam and the Persian Gulf wars are present in the minds of a great portion of the population, both in the United States and abroad. Most, however, do not remember World War I and World War II, except through stories and history books.
Memories bring about sadness and joy, but remembrances of conflict carry only sadness for pain and suffering. Only the joy of friendships and thankfulness for survival offer comfort.
Our Lord spent approximately thirty-three years on this earth, during which time He gave of Himself every day. He healed the sick, cast out demons, fed hungry people, raised people from the dead, and loved a sinful nation. He suffered much from being verbally abused, insulted, betrayed by those closest to Him, and lied about. Finally, He was arrested, tortured, and crucified.
Just before His arrest, the Lord asked His disciples to remember Him. He didn’t want parades, picnics, or band concerts. He didn’t want visits to the tomb where He was buried because He wouldn’t be there. He would be with God, the Father. What He asked for is found in Matthew 26. “Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, ‘Take, eat; this is my body.’ And he took the cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying ‘Drink of it, all of you, for this is the blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins’” (Matthew 26:26-28 ESV).
Later, the apostle Paul had to confront the church at Corinth because they were abusing the Lord’s Supper in two ways. They were eating it as a fellowship meal, and they were mistreating some by doing so. He reminded them of what Jesus had said when He instituted this sacred worship. He reminded them that they were to do this in memory of Him—His death, burial, and resurrection. He then followed this with a warning. “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” (First Corinthians 11:26-29).
The Jews of the Old Testament sacrificed for many reasons. One of the most important events in their memory, first through having lived it and later from stories past down through generations, was their deliverance from Egypt. Their sacrifice and eating the Passover was like our Memorial Day. It helped them be thankful for being free. Memorial Day helps us remember the sacrifices made for us and our freedom.
The Lord’s Supper represents a Christian’s freedom from sin through the blood of Christ. The Lord asks us to remember this on the first day of the week (Acts 20:7) when we meet to sing, pray, listen to the Word, and cheerfully give back some of the physical bounty we have.
For some, the first day of the week is just another day, but to the Christian it is a day to show honor and respect to the Lord who gave His life for us. How can we possibly miss a chance to remember Him?
Sandra Oliver