"The Lord Jesus on the night when He was betrayed took a loaf of bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, 'This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.'  In the same way He took the cup also, after supper, saying, 'This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.'  For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes." 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 (NRSV)

Nora has a favorite book that she likes me to read when we are at the cottage.  It's entitled "Don't Forget the Oatmeal".  It's a Sesame Street book and in this story, Bert discovers that he is fresh out of oatmeal, his favorite cereal.  So he and his buddy Ernie plan a trip to the grocery store.  It's a gripping tale of how the two of them write out a list of all the good food they need - milk, eggs, cheese, bananas, lettuce and of course, don't forget the oatmeal.  Bert even ties a string around his finger to help him remember to buy oatmeal when he's at the grocery store.

At the grocery store they have one adventure after another - Ernie picks up a lot of things they don't need and aren't on their list.  Then they meet Cookie Monster who is there for the big cookie sale, and he ends up eating every cookie in the store!   All the while, Bert constantly tries to remember to pick up some oatmeal at the cereal aisle.

Well, I can tell you are all sitting on the edge of your seats wondering what could possibly happen next – well, the two of them pay for their groceries with Ernie's last coins from his piggy bank, go home and unpack their groceries, when Bert finally gets a chance to sit down and relax.  And as he's sitting there he happens to look down at this finger and see the string tied to it, and all of a sudden realizes that he has forgotten the one thing that he really wanted to get from the grocery store in the first place.  "Don't Forget the Oatmeal" ends with Bert forgetting to get the oatmeal!

When you and I gather around this table, Jesus tells us not to forget Him.  This table is a table of remembrance; it is our Lord's way of tying a string around our finger to remind us about Himself.

When you come to this table, don't forget Jesus.  This is what our Lord says, "Do this in remembrance of me."

I

When we come to this table let us be sure to remember His life.  Remember how God became one of us - how He took on the very nature of a servant, and was found in appearance as a man.

Remember that while He was King of kings he was not born in a castle with high walls and rich surroundings, but that He was born in a cattle stall, placed in a manger where no one was excluded from coming to worship.

Let us remember WHY he walked this earth.  Recall to mind His mission statement, "I have come to seek and to save the lost".  Every step He took seemed be guided by the motto, "it is not the healthy that need a doctor but the sick".  He did not come for the righteous, but for sinners.

Let us remember HOW He lived.  He did not come to condemn the sinner but to restore the sinner.  He did not come with a fist to crush the weak and the wounded but he came with an open hand, accepting those who were burdened with sin, healing those who were ravaged by disease and bidding the weary to come and find rest in Him.  He came giving life to all who received Him and who believed in His name.

In your mind's eye, see Him giving sight to the blind, freedom to those in bondage to sin, release to those who were oppressed by materialism and selfishness.  See the joy He brought to everyone who had felt that God had abandoned them, but now through His presence were reassured that God is an ever-present help in times of trouble.  Look and see how He brought life to those who were once were dead.

Place yourself in front of Him and know that He is speaking directly to you when He says, "Anyone who comes to me I will never drive away." (John 6:37) (NRSV).

And He never did.  Let us remember how He loved to sit with sinners, and how His closest friends were those who were called "undesirable".  He never hesitated to speak to those who were broken by life, and unclean in the world's eyes.

Remember how He loved to be around all kinds of different people, but He was especially attracted to people the world didn't think much of.

Remember His words?  - How He said that He was the bread of life and that whoever takes Him in will have Him live within them?

Let us remember His life, why He lived, how He lived and then…

Remember how Jesus Christ is still the same, yesterday, and today and forever - how He has not changed from that day to this - how He still accepts those who seek Him, no matter who they are or what they have done.

Let us remember that He accepts us, and welcomes us to this table, that He loves to be with us, and that how, in His eyes, if you weren't here, the feast would be less somehow.

Let us remember that He still has the power to heal, He can still bring sight to your blind eyes - if you are unable to see God, simply pray to Jesus and He will give you the ability to see the divine, to taste real grace and love.  He still has the ability to transform that damaged life of yours into wholeness if you will submit to Him.

He still has the ability to forgive sin, if you will but repent and say, "Lord, forgive me; I want to live for You."

Do this in remembrance of Christ's life.

II

But let us also remember His death.  For when we come to this table, we see that the bread is broken and the cup is poured out.  Both speak of His death.  In a dramatic way we are brought face to face with the cross.

Let us remember His sinless body broken, the crown of thorns mockingly pressed into His head, the nails that pierced His hands and His feet, and eventually tore His flesh, the spear that split open His side and ripped His body cavity.  The bread calls us to remember His body.

And then there was His blood.  It was everywhere - dripping down His face from the thorns, oozing out and down His back from the lashing He received from the guards, and as He hung there in the heat of the day, there was blood dried and caked on His hands and feet.  The cup calls us to remember this.

Let us remember that He endured that death for you and for me.  He died because of our sin, He died instead of us in our sin.  He died that you and I might live.  Let us remember how the blood of Jesus has purchased us from the hand of Satan, and from sin.  How once we belonged to the world of Satan and how there was a price tag hung around our necks and the price tag said, "The cost to purchase us out of that world is death."

Jesus read that price tag on your life and said, "I will pay it - not just in part, but in full.  I will give My sinless life for yours."  And so you and I have been redeemed - the price that was required has now been paid.  And by His blood we are now free from our sins and have been brought into the new world of eternal life with God.  Let us remember that Jesus Christ's death did all that for us.

Let us remember that His death still has the power to take away our sin, that it still is the only way that you and I can be forgiven for our sin and released from all our guilt and all that burdens us.  "There is only one name under heaven by which we can be saved", proclaimed Peter in the book of Acts - and it is still true today - the name of Jesus.

III

"Do this in remembrance of me," Jesus said.  Let us remember His life; let us remember His death.  Let us remember His resurrection.  For this table is a is not a morbid memorial service, but a celebration feast.  We do not worship a dead hero, but a risen Saviour.  We do not serve a beaten carpenter, but a reigning King.  We do not follow one who gave it his best shot but failed, but we worship one who lived life in total obedience to God and took all the darkness of the cross and turned it into the light of the resurrection.

Our power for living is not gained simply through emulating His self-giving life, but it is gained through faith in the fact that Jesus Christ has defeated our last enemy, death, and now sits at God's right hand exalted.  And there will be a day, there will be a day when our Lord comes again, but this time it will not be in humility and grace but it will be in strength and power and judgment.  We take the bread and the cup - proclaiming the Lord's death until He comes again!

"Do this in remembrance of me."  Let us remember our Lord's life, our Lord's death, our Lord's resurrection.  Don't forget Jesus when you come to this table.

And we think, how could we do otherwise?  We think of the ceremony, with the reading of Scripture, with the prayers that are said, and the hymns that are sung and of course most importantly, the bread and the cup, and we think how could we ever forget Jesus when we come to the table?

But like Bert forgetting his oatmeal even after making a list and tying a string to his finger, we sometimes fall into the trap of going through the ceremony, of singing the hymns, of receiving the bread and the cup and forgetting Jesus.

We may come not remembering Christ's righteousness but remembering our own righteousness.  We come to this table and in our minds, we celebrate our own goodness and our own obedience to God.  We come and we say to ourselves it is good that I am here to receive this cup and this bread – it is exactly what God wants me to do, therefore God will accept me because of the good things I have done and he'll be especially pleased with me because I am taking communion right now.

No… no!  In this case, we have forgotten the one thing we were supposed to remember when we come to this table.  Let us remember Jesus.  Let us remember how He is our righteousness, how His obedience is the only obedience we can claim.  Let us remember how His perfect submission to the will of God is the key to our eternal salvation.  Let us remember that even participating in this meal is not a means of winning God's favour.  It is only through faith in Christ that we have God's favour.  Forget all your claims to being a good person; forget all your self-righteousness when you come to this table and remember only the righteousness of Christ which is yours through faith.

If you are going to allow yourself to think of yourself at all when you come to this table, then think of yourself as a sinner - as a loved and dear sinner belonging to God through the deep, love of our Lord Himself.

But don't come parading in your mind your righteousness before God and patting yourself on the back for your goodness

Rather, come to this table clinging to Jesus Christ and remembering that He is our righteousness.

He is the only claim we have to eternal life.

He is the one who has transformed us so that we can be presented before God in His holiness.

When I was at a wedding recently, people complimented me on my suit.  They said, "You look good!"  I said, "I didn't have anything to do with it.  My wife dressed me!  If I dressed myself, I wouldn't look so good.  I don't' have a sense of colour and what looks good together.  My wife dressed me.  I took her to Moore's suit sale, she picked up the suit, and she said, "Stay away from that colour, you don't look good in that colour, you look better in this colour."   I don't have anything to do with the way I look.

When God looks at you, He may say to you, "Who dressed you in clothes of holiness and made your soul shine with purity and righteousness?  You look good!"

Don't you say you had anything to do with it, because you didn't.  Scripture says all our righteous acts are like filthy rags in the sight of God.

Rather, say, "I didn't have anything to do with it.  Jesus dressed me in these robes of righteousness.  It is because of Him that I stand before you so radiant, without satin, or wrinkle, or any other blemish.  He has made me into a new creation."

"Do this in remembrance of me," said Jesus.  And you know you won't be disappointed if you do this.

For as you remember Jesus, your heart will be filled with joy - the joy of knowing that we are free from trying to please God.  The joy of knowing that we are fully and finally adopted into God's family.  The joy of knowing that God loves me and is not against me.

And oh, what thanksgiving wells up within us when we remember Jesus at this table.  Our soul cries out again and again, "Thank you, thank you, thank you for loving me and dying for me."  And our relationship with the living Lord becomes all the more significant and all the more special.

So, when you come to this table, don't forget Jesus.  Have this prayer in your heart.

"Lest I forget Gethsemane,
Lest I forget thine agony,
Lest I forget they love for me,
Lead me to Calvary."

Copyright MBC and Tom Cullen - January 2002