by Dennis Gladden, By Green Pastures, ©2024
(Jun. 19, 2024) — How often to observe communion has been debated, sometimes fervently. Is having it at every service, each week, or monthly too frequent? Do those who serve the Eucharist quarterly have the right balance between ritual and remembering?
Jesus gave us no schedule, but transformed the annual Passover feast into an undefined “whenever.” Paul followed suit, instructing disciples, “as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes” (1 Corinthians 11:26, emphasis mine.)
We are left to keep the communion service meaningful and to guard it from rote.
What is paramount is its purpose. Jesus said, “Do this in remembrance of Me.” (Luke 22:19)
How do we go about remembering Jesus? What memories of Jesus will we bring to the Lord’s table the next time?
These are questions this article considers.
Reposted from the IM Writers Forum
Scripture reading: Luke 22:14-20.
The hour has come that Jesus has had His heart set on.
“With desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you.” Jesus and the disciples have kept other Passovers together, but this one is different. Jesus says, “I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. We have remembered how God delivered us from slavery in Egypt, but now I say, when you eat, do this in remembrance of Me.“
Remember me.
This seems like an unnecessary command. Look around the table. There are Peter, James, and John—the inner circle. There are the other apostles. All of them had been with Jesus day in and day out for three years.
To them, Jesus says, “Remember me.”
I can hear Peter’s response. “Remember you? How could we ever forget?”
“Lord, I remember when we had no food and you blessed a few loaves and fish and we fed 5,000. And that same night you sent us to the other side of the lake and a storm came up. You walked out to us on the water, and I walked with you.
“There was Jairus’ daughter and Lazarus, whom you raised from the dead.
“Remember you? Lord, I could never forget you.”
I can hear Jesus sigh. “Ah, Peter. You say, ‘I will never deny you!’ and yet you will deny me three times before this night is over.
“You say, ‘I will never forget you!’ But occasions to forget will come; therefore, I say, ‘Remember me’ and I give you this Passover bread and wine as a reminder.”
When Jesus says, “Remember me,” He shows how well He knows us. We forget. He says to us what His Father told Israel through Moses.
“Take heed to yourself, and diligently keep yourself, lest you forget the things your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life.” (Deuteronomy 4:9).
Israel had seen and heard amazing signs and wonders. The Ten Plagues in Egypt. The wailing of Egyptian families while the Death Angel passed over their own children. They walked through the Red Sea. They drank water from a rock and ate manna from heaven.
How could they forget? But they did. In Psalm 106 we read,
“Our fathers in Egypt did not understand Your wonders; they did not remember the multitude of Your mercies, but rebelled by the sea. They soon forgot His works; they did not wait for His counsel. They forgot God their Savior, Who had done great things in Egypt”
(Psalm 106:7, 13, 21).
Read the rest here.
In my church, we offer ourselves to Christ every Sunday.
The Habitual sinners take part more often than the other parishioners, who, as a rule, do the 2 obligatory visits per year, Easter and Christmas Eve services.
I believe that it is a good thing to accept the Golden Rule as one’s compass in navigating life, which, as I said, we celebrate during every service during the “passing of the plate.”
Commendable editorial, by the way.