Do This ...

I write this during Holy Week and it will probably be posted on Maundy Thursday. Since I no longer preach on a regular basis, I find myself sitting in the pew observing the worship leaders, the choirs, the celebrants of holy communion, and others who are a part of the worship ministry on any given Sunday.

And so it was on that non-communion Sunday I found myself reflecting on those words engraved on so many communion tables: DO THIS IN REMEMBRANCE OF ME. Now I could ask a question which you might consider profoundly stupid, and that question would be “what does this mean?” I think each of you would say it means take this bread and eat it remembering Jesus; it means take this cup and drink it remembering the Lord’s death until he returns. And you would be right … as far as that righteousness goes. But in this article and in this holy week, I challenge you to hear these words in a different way. When I ask the question, “what does this mean?” I am not asking the meaning of what happens at the table, rather I am asking the ontological question of to what does the word this refer. It is not just an imperative to eat or to drink remembering the past; rather it is also an imperative from the lips of Christ himself to participate in the present reality of his life and of his ministry.

Given what was said at the table that night, and the power of that moment with the disciples, there is a profound sense of irony to Jesus’ encounter with Peter there at the seashore in the gospel of John. Instead of remembering Jesus on the night of his betrayal, Peter denied even knowing who Jesus was, hiding under a cloak of shame and fear. So Jesus addresses the issue of remembrance for Peter, this time in the context of a loving relationship: “Peter, do you love me” … “Yes, Lord, you know I love you” …”Then feed my sheep.” Three times these words are spoken, or words very similar, and again there is the call to remembrance: “Feed my lambs…do this, in remembrance of me”
“Tend my sheep …do this, in remembrance of me”
“Feed my sheep …do this, in remembrance of me”

Coming to the table is an opportunity for the community to remember this atoning love. But it is not just remembering what he did, it is not just remembering the “misty watercolor memories of the way we were,” but rather it is to remember what we have been saved to do.

There was another time in the life and ministry of Jesus where this phrase “do this” was spoken, and I believe if you juxtapose this other example with the sacramental language which is before us, you will see that one helps interpret the other. A question was raised by an attorney regarding what must he do to inherit eternal life. And in a bit of dialogue between the two, the attorney answers, “you shall love the lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind, and you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” And Jesus’ response was what? … Do this and you will live. Jesus brings the focus away from self-justification to concept of sanctification. Do “this” – love the Lord thy God; and love the neighbor you hardly know – and live. Do this and you will live abundantly the life that has been granted you as a gift.

Do “this” in remembrance of me. When the “this” is demonstrating your love of God; when the “this” is demonstrating your love and concern for humankind, then you are participating sacramentally in the life Jesus purchased for you.

What is the “this” in your own life that you need to come to terms with? What is Christ calling you to do for the love of God and love of humanity when he says “Do this in remembrance of me?” So consider well whatever the “this” is that God has placed before you. Jesus raises before you in these pre-Easter days the same issues he raised before Peter in that post-resurrection appearance: Feed my lambs …tend my sheep …feed my sheep. DO THIS …in remembrance of me.

Have a most blessed Easter experience, and live in the light of Christ’s love