Do This...

When the hour had come, He reclined at the table, and the apostles with Him. And He said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; for I say to you, I shall never again eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He said, “Take this and share it among yourselves; for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine from now on until the kingdom of God comes.” And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood." Luke, Ch. 22, vs. 14-20, NASB

We do this in remembrance of Him. Remembering His love for us, his devotion to us, His sacrifice for us.

I was raised in, and still attend, churches of the Restoration Movement ; Churches of Christ as a child and young adult, and a Disciples of Christ congregation today. In these churches, The Lord's Supper is the pinnacle of the worship service, the prime reason that we meet each Sunday. "For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes." 1 Cor., Ch. 11, v. 26, NASB.



We remember Him, proclaim His death, and await His return. Yet in doing these things, we do so much more.

Looking inward:
We remember that He died to reconcile us to God.
We remember that He died to defeat sin and death.
We remember that He gave His life in our place.
We remember that He forgave us.

Looking outward:
We remind ourselves that He did these things for everyone.
We remind ourselves that we should love as He loves.
We remind ourselves that we need each other.
We remind ourselves that we have to be open to forgiving as well.

And The Lord's Supper reminds us of boundaries; of how Christ broke the boundary of sin that separates us from God, and how we should break the boundaries of fear and anger that separate us from each other.

The New Covenant of reconciliation to God reminds us of our need to break the boundaries between ourselves and our fellow man. Sometimes that boundary in our hearts seems even bigger than the boundary between us and God. And sometimes, that forgiveness seems as painful as His death on the Cross.


How do we break the seemingly impossible boundary? I'm not even going to pretend to know how, but if we call ourselves His, we at least have to believe that it is possible. Maybe not now, maybe not until the end of our lives, but we have to believe in that possibility.

"Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors", He taught us to pray. For us, forgiveness is an ongoing process, and He knows that. We are forgiven, not at the end of our forgiving others, but as we enter and walk through the process of forgiving.

With God, all things are possible. Even the things I once thought I could never forgive, have crossed, and are still crossing, the boundary of forgiveness.

It's possible, but not quick or easy. I have to remind myself to be open to it, even in the midst of my deepest regrets and anger.

And each Sunday, as we drink of the Cup and eat of the Bread, He gives us His loving reminder that through Him all things are possible.

Do this, and remember Him; all that He did, and all that He still does.
It is the high point of worship, and the hardest work of our lives.