"Do This in Remembrance of Me" (communion talk)

Jesus said, “Do this in remembrance of me”. Originally, in the early church, communion was attached to the normal household meal. As worship developed in other places of meeting, the sacrament of communion was included as an important way of focussing on the source and means of our salvation. “Do this in remembrance of me”, Jesus said.

For we would NEVER want to forget, yet humans so easily forget. The joy, for me, in celebrating communion every Sunday, having come from a slightly different tradition in the Baptist Church, where you usually only have communion at certain services – is that, in our worship together here, we can never drift from the centrality of Jesus. Jesus – in his sacrificial service on the cross; and Jesus – in his resurrection … leading to our new life. “Do this in remembrance of me”!

But what is, “this”? Yes … taking the bread, and sharing the cup. But surely this “remembrance” is also, or even mainly, about what these symbols represent – sacrificial service and new life. Doing “this” … today”, also means doing the meaning of “this” … tomorrow. We would live as those who have received forgiveness by offering forgiveness. We would live like those who have received sacrificial service by serving others. We would live like those who have received ‘new life’ by offering the reality of joy, hope, peace and faith to others.

And this is how, we can, with integrity, pray those words, “Your Kingdom come, Your will be done – on earth as it is in heaven”. We can pray these words, because we are also committed to be part of the outcome. We want to see the lines between heaven and earth fade away. So we live out our lives in forgiveness, service and peace. “Do this in remembrance of me”!

We also come … each time … to that place of mercy at the communion table, because, sometimes, “this” is NOT that easy! But here, every time we come, we find Jesus to be faithful to us in his commitment to our well-being … and to our spiritual growth. We can, not only, say, “Joy to the World, the Lord has come – but also “Great is Your faithfulness”.

We are being enlivened, enabled and equipped for life. Through the Holy Spirit, moving around us and within us, we can indeed … “Do this is in remembrance of Jesus”! So this “remembrance” is NOT just about things past, but also the great hope that lies in the present and future … because of what this bread and cup symbolise. We want to say, “I will never forget – I never will forget!!