We all would like to think we will be remembered after we are gone. That our friends and family will keep our memories alive. That we will me missed. I remember crying at my father's funeral over the loss of a father, over the traumatic experience of seeing him completely burned, but mostly because I never knew him. He started traveling around the world installing turbines the year I was born. I didn't grieve the loss of my father. I grieved the loss of never having one.
Years later I learned that, even though I could barely remember him through personal experiences, I could remember him through other people's experiences. I believe there is something important about remembering...you keep people alive in your mind and heart. The Bible gives us this same opportunity. Even though we didn't walk with Jesus, we can remember him through the experiences of the disciples. Jesus told the disciples "Remember Me!" as they shared their last supper."Remember Me!" Jesus emphasized that twice during the last supper, which we repeat when we share in Holy Communion. Holy Communion is about remembering Him and Him alone. It is about remembering His love for you and His victory over sin. It seems we have made it into something else...something ritualistic and self center...remember "me"...am "I" worthy. No one is worthy. It is through Jesus' broken body and shed blood that God forgets my sins... but not me. God remembers me!
Whether you had a relationship with your earthly father or not, we have a Heavenly Father who will never leave you nor forsake you... in your sorrow and in your pain...He will remember you!
“Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me." Isaiah 49:15-16
I like your title and writing about both fathers in the same blog. I immediately thought of "Do this in remembrance of me." You made reference to it in your earlier blog, and it really grabbed my heart-strings.
ReplyDeleteI think Christians should figure out what Jesus wants us to remember. I hate to pick on churches... I don't pick on "the Church", when I say this, but churches require people to become members, or to belong to a certain denomination, before they're allowed to take communion.
In these verses...
"For I received from the Lord Himself that which I passed on to you [it was given to me personally], that the Lord Jesus on the night when He was treacherously delivered up and while His betrayal was in progress took bread, And when He had given thanks, He broke [it] and said, Take, eat. This is My body, which is broken for you. Do this to call Me [affectionately] to remembrance. Similarly when supper was ended, He took the cup also, saying, This cup is the new covenant [ratified and established] in My blood. Do this, as often as you drink [it], to call Me [affectionately] to remembrance. For every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are representing and signifying and proclaiming the fact of the Lord's death until He comes [again]. I Cor 11:23-26
Paul is confronting the Corinthian church for turning Communion into something that separates people coming to the presence of Jesus. He had taught earlier that it was a time of rejoicing, not sober self-examination.
We don't examine ourselves to see if we are worthy of partaking and who are we to say those that are weak cannot come to the Communion table.
The purpose of Communion is to make us strong. Nobody is worthy of coming to the table... that's why Jesus died to make us worthy of a relationship with the Father. (John 6:53)
While we do this in remembrance... we should remember how worthy Christ's sacrifice was... not our own worthiness to participate. Paul said people were becoming sick and dying because they were ignoring the value of what Jesus did for them when he quoted Isaiah 53:5; (1 Peter 2:24)
Without us "faithfully" remembering... those rituals of sacraments are powerless. Amen? Jesus has never asked us to remember the pain He endured or the that it was our fault. He wants us to remember what His death provides... love, forgiveness, unity, and strength! I know you agree... I'm just goin on because I been needing some strength myself... hehe. Ya see, already, I feel better... lol.
Melts my heart fresh to know He loves me and will NEVER leave or forsake me! Thank you for sharing and bringing me to remembrance.
ReplyDelete