Why Remember? February 4, 2024

Text: 1 Corinthians 11:23-26

                             Today is what we in this Church have come to refer to as Communion Sunday.  It is the day we have chosen to remember the sacrifice of Jesus our Savior on the Cross.  Our text comes from Paul's first letter to the Corinthians chapter 11:23-26 where he wrote:  " (23) For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto  you, that the Lord Jesus the same night in which He was betrayed took bread (24) and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, Take, eat, this is My Body, which is broken for you; this do in remembrance of Me.  (25) After the same manner also He took the cup, when He had supped, saying, This cup is the New Testament in My Blood, this do you, as oft as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.  (26) For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup you do show the Lord's death till He come."  Paul  is instructing believers to remember the sacrifice of Jesus until He returns.  We do this by recreating what Jesus first did with His disciples when they had finished their Passover meal prior to His arrest.   We know the bread is a representation or symbol of His body and how it was mutilated on the Cross, and the cup of wine symbolizes the blood that He shed so that we could be forgiven from our sins and allow us to reconcile or return to God.

                             Some churches choose to remember the death of Jesus weekly, some monthly, some quarterly, and some annually.  We have chosen the first Sunday of each month.  Regardless of how often this is done, it is done to remember His death as verse 25 of our text tells us we should.  But why have we been told to keep remembering such an agonizing and gruesome event?  We lavishly celebrate His birth each year even though we were never instructed to do so.  Why were we specifically instructed to remember His death?

                             Obviously, the symbols used in the memorial  remind us of the physical suffering Jesus endured which is important, but there is more to it than that.  Just as the Passover meal was a celebration of Israel's deliverance from slavery in Egypt, the Lord's Supper, or Communion Service, celebrates our deliverance from the slavery of sin made possible by the death of Jesus.  Some believe that during the service, the bread and wine actually become the body and blood of Jesus; while others believe that while the elements remain unchanged, Jesus is spiritually and  uniquely present with them during the service. Still others believe that the elements symbolize the body and blood of Jesus,  Regardless of what one believes about the bread and the wine, all Christians agree that participating in the Lord's Supper is important to our faith and that Christ's presence, however we may understand it, strengthens us spiritually. 

                             Regardless of how the symbols are perceived, when we remember how Jesus died, we are reminded of the story of our redemption and what it took for us to be redeemed of our sins. To 'redeem' is to buy back what was previously sold.   Many of our hymns that tell the story of the unending love of God and His plan to redeem us from scourge of sin when we were sold to Satan in the Garden of Eden.  Jesus died to buy us back, to set us free, to redeem us.  His suffering purchased our pardon from sin.  1 Peter 1:17 says:  "Since you call on a Father, who judges each person's work impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear."  Peter is showing us that reverent fear is the healthy respect believers have for the all-powerful God.  Because God is the judge of all the earth, we dare not ignore Him or treat Him casually.  We should never assume that our privileged status as God's children gives us the freedom to do whatever we want.  We must not act like spoiled children but instead be grateful and always show love and respect to our Heavenly Father.  Did you know that Christians are foreigners on this planet?  All who accept Jesus as their savior become citizens of Heaven and foreigners of this earth.  As foreigners, we should not be too attached to our culture here.  Remember we are just passing through so we should always be ready to respond to God and be ready to leave so we can see our final home.  We must always remember the Savior's cry of complete redemption when He said on the Cross:  It Is Finished.  He finished God's plan for our redemption with His death.

                             We can't remember the Cross without remembering the Resurrection and His promise to return for us.  Verse 26 of our text speaks of the return of Jesus.  The risen Jesus walked with His disciples before He ascended to Heaven and the angel told of how He would return.  We have been promised that this life is not the end.  All who are redeemed will have a place in eternity with the Savior who died, defeated death, and rose again.  After driving the merchants out of the temple, Jesus told the Jews in John 2:19 and 20 that if they destroy His physical body that He called a temple, He will raise it up in three days.  They thought He was referring to the physical building, but He in fact He was referring to His body and His upcoming death and resurrection.  This confirms His deity which is His divine nature and oneness with His Father God.

                             Because of the resurrection, we have been given three guarantees by God:  First there is the guarantee of a Savior who is Jesus as Paul tells us in Romans 1:4-5.  Second is the guarantee of our salvation.  Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:14-20,  if Christ had not risen, there would be no resurrection for anyone, our faith is in vain, and we are still sinners with no path to reconciliation or  eternal life with God.  But because He has risen, we can be reconciled to God and have eternal life.  The third is the guarantee is found in 1 Corinthians 15:20-23.  It tells us that we will also be resurrected into eternal life.  Without the resurrection of Jesus and our eventual resurrection, there would be no church, no continuing communion with our Savior and no promise of eternal life in Heaven.

                             So you see, remembering Jesus' death through the Communion Service reminds us that we can look forward to the time when He will return to claim us as His own.  We are to do this until He comes back for us because it is a continual reminder that the One whose death we remember is coming back again.  The significance of Communion Service should fill us with expectation for the promise that God has made to us.  Each time we participate, we are counting down the time to His return.  The promise of Jesus' return helps to purify us and prepares us to be like Him as John writes in 1 John 3:3.  We don't know exactly how we will be like Him, but we do know that we will have eternal, resurrected bodies.  We will be free from sin and pain and have a greater understanding of God than we do while living on earth.  Knowing our ultimate destiny motivates to us live morally pure and free from the corruption of sin.  It also gives us encouragement as we struggle with sin because we know that one day, we will be sinless and perfect like Jesus.

                   Don't let Communion Service become routine or taken for granted.  Use it allow you to live in the light of the Cross and help you to prepare your heart and your life for when Jesus returns and claims you as His own.

                             Until we meet again, may God bless and keep you, may He shine His light on you, show you grace, and give you peace in all the days ahead.