In the eleven months since my dad passed away, I’ve been doing a lot of remembering. I’ve looked at photographs and thought about things we did together. After my mom died, and when I still lived in South Carolina, he often visited me for a week or so, especially after he retired, and we did odd jobs that needed doing at the parsonage. We went to a concert by the Glenn Miller Band when they came to Charleston, and we attended the Peach Bowl the year Auburn played Clemson. (I’ve never seen so much orange in my life!) And after I moved to New England, he would come up here for visits. He enjoyed taking a train ride to see the autumn foliage and the tour of Ben and Jerry’s, and our shopping trip to the Vermont Country Store. After he moved to California to live with my brother, he still traveled back to the East Coast to see me about every year or so. We enjoyed each other’s company. We had great conversations about lots of different topics. We shared a love for college football and basketball, and enjoyed watching games together, or at least talking about them after they were over. It was nice to just sit on the porch or in the back yard together at the end of my workday and talk about everything and nothing in particular.
I have remembered my dad’s Saturday afternoon yard-working days, and how I often spent time helping him when I was a kid. The only thing I didn’t like about it was that he had the Metropolitan Opera on the radio full blast! We mowed the lawn and trimmed the bushes and put out fertilizer. And he helped me with woodworking projects, like the bedside table that I still use. My dad was my protector, killing spiders and snakes without fear. My dad was a wonderful father. And he was a loving and kind husband, who cared for my mom over the five years of her cancer battle with such devotion and commitment. Most of all, my dad was my friend.
There are things that are precious to me because they remind me of him. The pictures that hang in the bedroom that was his when he came to visit all came from the house he lived in for 40 years, cross-stitch that my mom did, pictures of my parents, and prints of sailing ships. I have pictures of him in various places in my house. And I am wearing his watch, which reminds me of him many times a day.
On Maundy Thursday, Christians practice the same kind of remembering. We remember one whom we love, one who impacts our life every day, one who is many things to us, including Savior and friend. We remember Jesus.
The earliest record that we have of the Last Supper is not found in the Gospels, but in 1 Corinthians, a letter written by Paul to the church in Corinth. Paul wrote that he was passing on what he had received from the Lord. I take it to mean that he was told by the risen Christ about this meal that he shared with his disciples on the evening before he was crucified. It was important enough for Jesus to make sure Paul knew about it.
The Last Supper took place in the context of the Passover meal. Bread and wine were a part of the dinner, as they probably were at every dinner. Just common, ordinary items found in any household. But Jesus made them precious reminders of him and of what he came to do. He took bread, gave thanks to God for it, broke the bread, and gave it to his disciples. Then he said, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” And at the end of the meal, Jesus took the cup of wine, gave thanks to God for it, and said to his disciples, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Whenever you drink it, do this in remembrance of me.”
What are the things that are most important to remember about Jesus? Well, we remember his great love and compassion, love that he commanded those of us who follow him to practice as well. We remember his bold prayer, the Lord’s Prayer, asking that the kingdom of God might come on earth, offering forgiveness to those who do us harm, and stating our dependence on God to provide for our daily needs. We remember the inclusiveness of Jesus, who had women followers, who counted tax collectors and “sinners” among his friends, who never turned away from anyone who was considered to be on the fringes of society or was counted among the outcast. Jesus should be remembered for the way that he confronted what was wrong in his world, from the political situation Israel faced being under the rule of Rome to the hypocrisy of the religious leaders. We remember the miracles that Jesus performed, healing those who were sick and feeding the large crowds and walking on water and even raising someone from the dead. All these things are important to remember, but they are not the most important thing.
The most important thing to remember is that Communion commemorates the willingness of Jesus to die for us. Holy Communion is not just a ritual that we practice on a regular basis. It is a time to remember Jesus and the sacrifice that he made on our behalf, giving his life so that we might be given eternal life. Every time we celebrate the sacrament, we remember what it cost Jesus to make this possible. And, as United Methodists, we also believe that the sacrament is a means of grace, through which it is possible for a person to be saved from their sins. In remembering, we also recognize the present power of this holy meal.
It is important, on the way to Easter, to remember that Jesus took this moment to let his disciples know that the death he was about to suffer had a purpose. It is tempting for us to want to rush from Palm Sunday’s excitement to the glorious joy of Easter morning. But we also need to take a moment to think about the death of Jesus and about the fact that Jesus chose to make the ultimate sacrifice for us. Jesus did it all out of love for us. And that is worth remembering.
