Remember

Scripture Reading: 1 Corinthians 11:23-25

The words of Jesus: "This Do In Remembrance of Me." These words have echoed in my mind today. I think about this and though I don't know the Greek interpretation of the passage, I can see the heart of Jesus towards His disciples (and to us) at the meal. The most difficult and overwhelmingly despairing hour was about to come upon Him. Though He knew He would raise from the dead, and though He knew that the Father would be glorified in the cross, He knew that it would be a very long time before He would be with them for a long period of time. In fact, Jesus said that He would not eat the Passover meal with them until they were in Heaven with all the saints. We need to remember that Jesus was not only God and man, but has feelings like we do. So when Jesus uttered the words, "Remember Me" for the practice of showing His death till He comes again, I really think in the midst of all this He also included in this wants us to Remember Him as the loving Savior and Friend.

Just like you and me, we want others to think about us, in life and after death. We do not want to be forgotten and neither does Jesus. I wonder if there was angst in His foresight not for the disciples but to all who would follow Him. He knows that we drift away from Him. He knows that we can accuse Him falsely of things. He knows that things of the world cause us to misplace our focus of Him. When we do this, we forget Jesus. We forget the One who redefined what love really is and that awesome love is directed solely at our hearts. If we had a earthly friend who perhaps gave his or her life for us we would not quickly forget it. We would tell all the ones we know how this person pushed us out of the way of the falling building, took the bullet that should have been ours, or went back into the fire to get us out and dying after we were safely out. Of course we would tell others about this, but would they be constantly on our minds. This constant remembrance I believe is what Jesus had in mind. He knew the volume of love he would out pour and though He never asked we earn that love (how could we) but I think He wanted us never to forget our Supreme Benefactor over the long centuries to the time we yet anticipate His return.

So, how do we keep in remembrance the Christ who gave all for us?

Remember Him by putting Scripture to memory. Prayer and Bible reading are the staples of our Christian life. However, if we read but do not retain what we've read, we are losing valuable moments with God. You do not have to memorize long verses at first, but concentrate on the shorter verses. You cannot go wrong on memorizing any scripture because it all points to Christ. I would suggest memorizing John 3:16, Romans 5:8, John 1:1-3, Romans 8:28, Romans 12:1-2, and there are many others. Putting these to memory will help us reflect on the goodness of God and desire us to know more of Him. It will aid in troubles and comfort others in theirs. Nothing honors Him more than to desire to remember the very words He so lovingly gave.

Remember Him by having a special piece of art in a prominent place. This could be a point where there are some fundamental folks, well meaning of course, would balk at. Let me say that we should never worship art or give greater place to a statue or whatever. True worship belongs to the Person of God living on the inside of you. However, it is not wrong I don't believe to have a representation of Christ. Though we do not know what He looked like, its okay to have a visual reminder of Him as it draws our thoughts to Him. The painting in the article today is one of my favorites. I personally have several prints and a sculpture and that really does help me to think of Him. I love "religious art" when it is correctly depicting Scripture. I encourage you to have something in your home like it. If nothing else, have a Bible that has illustrations opened to a particular illustration such as "the Last Supper." Spend more time with God than the art, but definitely keep it to remember Him.

Remember Him by talking to others about how He has and is working in your life.
Of course this is the way He wants us to remember Him most. Our daily lives to reflect Him. The last recorded words of Christ in Matthew tells us to tell the whole world about Him. Personal testimony is something another person may not want to always hear, but something they cannot deny. You don't have to be a bombastic expositor or preacher to do this. In fact the most valuable testimony is just the plain simple, un-embellished facts of what Jesus is doing or has done through you. Each of us who are believers should have something to point to, some grace, some work, some help that Christ has been and is being to them. We encourage others and are the instrument of help to saved and lost alike when we remember the Lord this way.

Remember Him by not forsaking any of the worship services your church has. This is something rather of a lost importance in today's society. Not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together is sort of marginalized because our busy schedules won't allow it. Typically this comes in the form of Sunday EVENING church attendance. Anyone remember that??? It is obviously a huge pet peeve of mine. But more than that, it is a huge hurt to Christ to know His followers think so little of Him as to give Him an hour or so a week in corporate worship. Then there is Wednesday or midweek meeting that are skipped. Though Christ is hurt by our lack of attendance, we are the real losing ones. Of course there are job reasons and sickness that keep us away, but that is not what I am referring to, I am referring to a willful attitude that church is not really that important on a given time, especially when it interferes with some highly sought after earthly activity. If family time interferes with Church time, I guarantee you, you will not be sorry when your kids are grown by "keeping" them in the Lord's house every time the doors are open. As a matter of fact too often not taking them to every service as much as possible leads to shipwreck later in life because the Word of God was not firmly planted in them. Remember Christ in corporate worship.

In the coming week, make plans to remember Christ in your hearts and minds by following the suggested ways. These are certainly not all the ways and not one of them takes place of prayer and Bible study, but remember, how much Christ loved us. This desire of His to be remembered by us should be our joy and motivation, becoming so intertwined with our daily lives. Remember.

Dear Lord Jesus, we thank you for remembering us in our most desperate hour. It is a shame we don't think of you more than we do. Draw our hearts to you and help us to place you in the forefront of our lives as David said in Psalm 16, "I have set the Lord before me." May this week find us closer to You than in many years. In your name, Amen.

Lord Is It I?

Scripture Readings: Mark 14:17-19 and
1 Corinthians 11:28

The famous painting of Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper will perhaps remain the hallmark of Christendom paintings. The fictional garbage of Dan Brown will not be referenced here. Of course we have all heard the statements of how inaccurate the setting is (I am not sure what good that ever did) but the pictorial message da Vinci was portraying is one that is seldom talked about in sermons or lectures.

The most typical assumption of this painted scene is one in which Jesus has said, "do this in remembrance of Me." However that is not the moment of the meal for which the painting is struck If you examine the painting we see a lot going on, but the snapshot is of the reaction to Jesus statement, "One of you will betray Me." Three things are going on. First, the disciples looked stunned. Second they begin to ask each other and the Lord, "who will betray You?" Lastly, the Apostle John is seen close to Jesus secretly inquiring the answer to the same question. It is the pivotal moment in the meal. After that, Christ would give the most important lesson on servanthood. Most certainly this lesson is and should be the most emphasized, but what about the former moments of revealing the traitor? Judas Iscariot was controlled by Satan to carry out the deed of betrayal, but the disciples didn't know that. So they each began to examine their own hearts and motives. In connection with remembering the Last Supper, the Apostle Paul challenged us to examine ourselves as well. This process of examination we'll look at is not only beneficial but necessary for the Christian is our day to day lives.

I don't believe that any of us are in danger or want of betraying Christ as Judas did, however we do betray His plans for us and His vision for us when we sin. Something to note before going any further is that the betrayal even of Iscariot was not a sin that couldn't be forgiven. Just this morning I was thinking about the Gethsemane betrayal and remembering how Jesus addressed Judas as "friend" just before He was betrayed by him. I personally think not only could Judas have been forgiven of this act of betrayal, but that night Judas was heavily on the grieving heart of the Master. Such are we on the heart of the Lord as we sin against Him. So when we sin against Christ, we should instantly stop and examine what has been done and the space put between us and Christ as the result. Examining ourselves is the best way and the first step towards restored fellowship with the Savior. Here are some areas which this process is achieved.

First, Self Examination must be an inward desire to be most effective. The mark of the true follower of Christ is to put sin far away from them. One preacher put it this way, "we need to keep a short account with God." None of us like to go to a doctor. But when we do go it is out of need, but how much better it would be to go out of desire for prevention of a disease. Likewise we must constantly desire within us to examine ourselves to see if there be any wickedness that cuts off our fellowship with Christ. Christ is our lifeline just as is our mortal blood to our body. We do not desire bodily disease, therefore in the same manner we should not desire the encroachment of sin in our souls. However, if we shy away from looking inwardly, or, if we put it off for a more "convenient" time which never comes, we allow the spread of sin to run unchecked working its discord. It is true that one of man's superior talents is to pick out sin in someone else's life, but unless we see it for ourselves in our own life, we fail harshly in our purpose to glorify God while we bear an unsightly mark of unconfesed sin. Therefore, to invite self examination is to desire Christ's person and witness in the life of a believer to be first place above all else. May it be true of us.

Second, Self Examination must be willing to truly admit what it finds. Denial is one of man's voluntary natural reactions. When found out of some wrong doing, the first reaction is to deny out of shame or perhaps protection of one's "character." Sin is a reproach to anyone, believer or unbeliever. Yet just because a sin is not admitted to exist in a person, changes nothing. John tells us in his first epistle, that if we say we have no sin we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us 1 John 1:8. Even though we commit a sin, we would rather put it out of our minds than deal with it. We don't like the looks of sin nor do we like the thought of us behaving shamefully. The truth is we cannot mask off parts of our lives from the eyes of God. So, we must admit our faults before Him. Notice that in confession of sin we are not bringing to God something that He is not aware of, we are simply agreeing with His Holy character that the sin does not belong. Also in true confession we cannot sugar coat or dress up our sin. For example, (none of this is intended to be critical) a person who is in the sin of adultery, we would rather call it an "affair." Another example is one who is caught up in stealing or vandalization, we wink at it and call it "mischief." One more example is one who cheats either a person or the government, we giggle and smile as we justify ourselves. God however neither giggles nor smiles. Sin must be dealt with straight on for what it truly is, not what we want it to be. Sin must be seen as an offense to God and something that needs immediate attention. We must be willing to admit we messed up, we are to blame, we are at fault, we need forgiveness.

Third, Self Examination must be willing to submit to the only treatment.
Once we have discovered the wrong in our lives we cannot falter on its remedy. We are so use to getting by with doing things half way. We want to make an end run around the situation without having to face up to the consequences. Naturally on the inside, we do not want to face up to God's holiness. The flesh has a tender nerve to it. That nerve doesn't want to submit itself to the forgiveness of Christ. The reason is that the flesh always wants to be first. It cannot stand it when we make ourselves lowly. When we ask Christ to forgive us our trespasses, we are lowering our position to depths of truth, but not necessarily of glamour and enjoyment. The only working prescribed treatment for a cavity in a tooth is to have it drilled out. Deliverance from its effects cannot be had any other way no matter how much we desire otherwise. Such it is in the spirit of man when we sin. Fortunately, the treatment of Christ's forgiveness is less painful than any medical procedure! But is greater seriousness, this matter of humbling ourselves is why Jesus said that there are few who find the narrow road which leads to eternal life.

Lastly, Self Examination is not something set aside for just a special occasion. We put up a Christmas tree during the holidays. We eat a turkey for Thanksgiving. We watch fireworks for the fourth of July. Each of these actions are only done at special times and never all day, every day. We cannot treat self examination in the same manner. Even though in the Old Testament the High Priest made an atonement offering for the sins of the people once a year, it is important to realize that the individual sin was to be dealt with immediately. Setting aside a time for forgiveness does not say much about our caring relationship with Christ. We cannot approach Him with the desire to know Him and love Him when we treat Him carelessly about our sin. Just as when we offend someone deeply, we do not go up to them and greet them as if nothing happened when we know there is an offense between us. Typically in a religious sense, man feels the need to confess sin at a particular time, usually for Communion, which it is commanded so. However, the heart of the true believer in Christ is not religious, but related. Our relationship to Christ pushes us towards this examination willingly every day out of love not out of duty or occasion.

When sin is uncovered by the Holy Spirit in our lives, is our default mode like the disciples, saying, "Lord is it I?" "Does this sin have presence in me?" We should always keep this mindset of examination in front of us for the reason of our love for Christ and the desire to be more like Him.

The great thing about this examination is that no matter the diagnosis, the cure is always sure, plentiful and completely effective.

Father thank You that You do not condemn us in our sins. However Lord we must realize how valuable it is in our relationship with You to keep our sins in check. We fail so often, but thank You that You're forgiving, loving and kind. Help our hearts not to be so hard as to not acknowledge our sin before You. Help us rather to be tender of heart and desirous of Your Character always. In Your Name, Amen.