Remember Him

I​ pondered the words. “Do this in remembrance of me.” This is likely the most common reference to the Bible used during communion. We have carved out a special time to reflect and honour this moment. The bread and the wine are significant and symbolic of Christ’s blood and body. We think about His sacrifice.

Y​esterday as we did this a thought came to me. Jesus didn’t use fancy or special items. He used the items before him – the Passover feast. Yes there is greater significance in this as the meal ties him to God’s great retribution against the Pharaoh. But also these were everyday items. The bread, although unleavened, was the staple diet. The wine was ubiquitous.

H​ad Jesus’ last supper happened just last week in Texas, the items might have been cornbread and cola. Or if it happened in India it would have been green tea and naan bread. This is fanciful perhaps. But the point is these were the staples of life.

We are to remember Jesus in the everyday, in the mundane repeat parts of our lives. We are to focus on him always not just in special moments.

T​he Israelites were told to teach their children about God in every moment. To have His commandments infiltrate every part of their lives. As we go about our lives remember Christ – the bread that sustains and the drink that quenches. The living water that will make us thirst no more.

D​euteronomy 6: 4 – 9 Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

The answer

There is just one answer to all of the problems in life. It doesn’t make the problems go away. It doesn’t make the struggle easier. It doesn’t even explain the big why question. It does however give us purpose and hope.

We can have confidence in this answer. We can trust it fully. The gospel is the answer.

Romans 1: 16-17  For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. 17 For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”

True north

I have heard the phrase, “we have lost our moral compass.” You have probably also heard this phrase. It is a great visual. It connotates being lost and unable to chart a course out of the confusion.

What I see in the world around me today is perhaps even deeper. I don’t think our society has lost its moral compass. I think we have lost true north. We have all the gadgets and technology necessary to find our way out, but we don’t have an agreed upon core of truth. What good is a compass if it isn’t drawn to the north (magnetic – I know but that doesn’t sound as good as true – sorry)?

We can’t possibly all head the same direction if we won’t agree on a basic concept of truth. We have lost our way, because we have lost a sense of God. We have removed the ability for our compasses to seek and point us to God.

The good news is, we aren’t powerful enough to remove God. We are vain and arrogant to think he disappears because we won’t see him. He is there, still calling. We need to give our compasses a good whack and jiggle out the dust and we can correct our course.

That is the only answer. The only way to move forward. Find God and begin to walk toward him.

John 14: 6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life.
No one comes to the Father except through me.