In Remembrance of Me
Hello Saints,
At 11:00am, on November 11, 1918 the Great War, the First World War was officially declared over. Some 17 million people had lost their lives, and 23 million were wounded. To remember the tragedy that war is and the millions that sacrificed their lives to maintain the liberty of their population, Remembrance Day was officially established and celebrated for the first time in 1919. Sadly, we have not learned from our past, so nations continue to war against each other resulting in over half a million casualties of war every year. Since the beginning of time, even with only two siblings named Cain and Abel, peace was not possible – “The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked” (Jer. 17:9). It is filled with greed and envy, comparison and desires that lead to hate and violence. The world will never be at peace no matter how many Remembrance Day services we observe. We cannot seem to learn from our past and continue to inflict pain and suffering on each other because we simply do not agree with the way ‘they’ do things. In reality, there is always one group of people who is angry with another group of people; offended, bitter, judgmental and ready to take that offense to the streets to demonstrate and defend their right to protest no matter if people get hurt or die in the protest. We war with words, attitudes, actions and weapons to be heard, be heeded and be obeyed by those we are trying to persuade, as if we know best what is right for the masses. I believe that most of us reading this will agree that the world is more in a mess than it has ever been – so much so that I keep hearing many Christians say they are ready to leave the world and be with Jesus! Listen, with all the Remembrance Days and memorial services for this atrocity and that injustice, we have still not learned nor changed the way we do things, and we never will because it is not a behavior problem…it is a heart problem. And there is only One who can change the human heart, if allowed to do so.
Yesterday at church we celebrated the Lord’s Table, The Lord’s Supper, Communion, call it what you want (wars have even been fought over what to call it and how to do it). I was reminded of two people’s writings who were not even present at the first Last Supper with Jesus: “Do this in remembrance of me” Luke (Luke 22:19) and Paul (1Cor. 11:24-25), said by the Master to His disciples. Picture a meal with thirteen people of various backgrounds and professions, and beliefs in who Jesus really was. Judas was a thief, Peter a wound-up fisherman, Matthew a despised tax collector, doubting Thomas, over-zealous James and John, etc. What a motley crew! Their personalities and characters were a conflict waiting to happen. Yet, in the presence of Jesus, in communion with each other and Jesus, they were sitting down having a meal together, a very intimate meal at that! Together, they were all given the mandate to “remember” this moment by perpetually re-enacting what they were witnessing – the Son of God come down to wash their feet, and unite them together in Him, under a new covenant of peace with God (Rom. 5:1) and each other (Eph.2:14-15). “For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till He comes” (1Cor. 11:26). This remembrance meal was instituted to symbolize and remind the disciples of the covenant of peace with God only made possible through the broken body and shed blood of the perfect Lamb of God, a sacrifice accepted by God to forgive the sins of the people and bring communion to those who put their trust in the sacrificed Lamb. We remember the Lord’s death! His death brings life, true life to those who put their trust in Him. His death brings forgiveness to those who receive His sacrifice. His death brings reconciliation between us and God. His death brings peace between others who have also put their faith in Him. He creates true communion with God the Father and with each other. It is the only death ever that has truly accomplished what it was supposed to accomplish. Sadly, the millions of lives lost to war over the years have never eradicated hate, envy, strife, division, etc. The ‘sacrifices’ as we like to call them, have never accomplished true peace within our borders, nor our world…. And they never will! There is only one sacrifice worthy of truly remembering and proclaiming as we are commanded to do, and that of God who came down in the flesh in the person of Jesus to die to take away the sins of the world! Sin is at the root of every war. A person without Jesus is at war with God (Rom. 5:10, 8:7), and within his own heart a battle is forever raging (Rom. 7:23; 1Pet. 2:11). What is absolutely imperative to ending every war is faith in Christ Jesus who gives us a new heart and fills us with His love for God and each other. A new heart is a work of God, not us – we can’t earn it, buy it, nor manufacture it. All we can do is cry out to God for mercy and forgiveness received only by and through the sacrifice of Jesus. Once we have received it, we are to remember what great love the Father has lavished on us, and we are to proclaim it by a remembrance meal. A day of remembrance that does not need to be remembered only once a year like Passover, or once a month at church, or once a week in a small fellowship meal, but literally every minute of every day. Can we live in gratitude all day long that through Christ and His finished work on the cross we can enjoy and celebrate peace with God and ‘commune’ with each other all the time. What a gift! What if at every meal, we just stopped and remembered and thanked Jesus for true peace and reconciliation? What if His praises were continually on our lips (Psa. 34:1) and we were continually thanking Him in front of our loved ones at every meal we share together? Proclaim His death by doing all in Remembrance of Him (Col. 3:17).
Blessings!
"Advancing the Kingdom of God by releasing Spirit-filled followers to serve Jesus in freedom and joy."
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