Remember

“Do this to remember me.” (I Corinthians 11:24)

Food For Thought… A few years ago a highly acclaimed movie called Saving Private Ryan hit the theaters.  It began with a very gripping scene of Allied soldiers storming the beaches of Normandy on D-Day. The story centered around an army officer, Captain John Miller, and a small unit of men assigned to search the interior of France to find one soldier and bring him out. This was a search and rescue mission. This soldier, a Private James Ryan, had 3 brothers who’d been killed in 3 different battles in war. The military brass decided it just wouldn’t be right if he, the 4th brother, lost his life as well.

So this search and rescue party was dispatched, and ultimately, Private Ryan was saved. But in the process, several men gave their lives to save this one man. And in one of the last scenes, the heroic Captain Miller was mortally wounded in the final battle to get Private Ryan into allied territory. In his final breath, Captain Miller whispers to Private James Ryan “Now, go and earn this!”

What was Captain Miller really saying? “Remember this…don’t ever forget what others have done for you…your life has taken on higher value because of this…so remember this sacrifice by making the rest of your life count.”

And the movie ended by flashing forward to the present, with Ryan, now an aging man, visiting a military cemetery and kneeling before the marker of Captain Miller, who saved him. Moved to tears, he remembered the sacrifice that saved him. With a deeply emotional, trembling voice, the now elderly Ryan whispers to the grave of Captain Miller, “Everyday I’ve thought about what you said…I hope, at least in your eyes, I’ve earned what you’ve done for me.”

These scenes from Saving Private Ryan remind me of another search and rescue mission. About 1900 years before Private Ryan was saved, there was another warrior who was sent out. But instead of the many sent to rescue the one, this was the story of one sent to save the many. And this warrior, too, gave his life to deliver the many out of the enemy’s territory safely into his Father’s kingdom. And as he was about to go into his final battle, knowing he would sacrifice his life, he uttered these moving words we reread each time we come to the Lord’s Table:

“The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, ‘This is my body, which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of me.’ In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.’” (I Corinthians 11:23)

What was Jesus saying? “Remember what I am about to do. Never forget it! You’re life will never be the same because of this…this shows that your life has value in my Father’s sight…so don’t live a day without thinking about what I’ve done for you. ‘Do this in remembrance of me.’”

When you receive communion in your fellowship, is the Lord’s Table truly a time for remembering what Jesus has done for you, or do you simply perform your way through it?

I read of youth pastor who led his youth group in a re-enactment the crucifixion. He played the role of Christ, the students the jeering mob who shouted, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” Then they dragged him into yard of the church and hung him up on a cross. And as this “Christ” hung there, the kids grew quiet as he said, “Even though you are doing this to me, I still love you.” The pastor of the church had been watching, and he noticed one of the younger girls in the front of the group, transfixed by the scene. He looked at her and saw real tears streaming down her face. And the pastor was moved by her love, and he said, “I was envious of her. For the rest of us, it was a ‘performance.’ For her, it was the real thing. She was there…she was remembering.”

Next time you come to the Lord’s Table, don’t let it be a performance. Make it a remembrance. It will please the Lord very much, and it will truly bless you as well.

One More Thing… “If we show the Lord’s death at Communion, we must show the Lord’s life in the world. If it is a Eucharist on Sunday, it must prove on Monday that it was also a Sacrament.” — Maltbie Babcock