He Always Remembers :: 1 Corinthians 11:24-25

My remembrance (vv. 24-25).

More people come to the Lord’s Table today than at any other time during the year. In some churches, this night might be the only one of the church year they remember. Many reformed churches do it only four times a year. Other churches do it nearly every time they meet. We are all trying to remember. 

These facts, together with the urgent necessity to teach the doctrine of the Sacrament of the Altar plainly, prompts us to consider what we are to remember carefully. It is most especially appropriate today that we remember to do this tonight as we join our confirmed catechumens in receiving the Lord’s supper for the first time. 

So to begin, let’s hear again the words of our Lord again, given to the apostle Paul by the Lord himself, as he wrote his first epistle to the church at Corinth.

On the night in which he was betrayed, (Jesus) took bread, and having given thanks, he broke (it) and said, This is my body on behalf of you. Do this into my remembrance. In the same way also (he took) the cup after supper, saying, This is the cup of the new covenant in my blood. Do this, in the same way, whenever you drink it into my remembrance (1 Cor 11:23-25).

The first thing we learn about this Sacrament is that it was not instituted by men. Nor was it created by the church. Jesus instituted ... commanded, in fact ... this himself. Jesus is the one doing all of this. And he is the one who tells us, Do this. ... Do this into my remembrance. The disciples didn’t vote on how often they should do this. They didn't quibble over what these words meant, or why they should do this. They had faith in Christ that he was remembering this for their good and his glory, for the many (Mk 14:24), for the forgiveness of our sins (Mt 26:26). It is Christ’s covenant to us, for us, with us. He takes the bread and gives us his body. He takes the cup and gives us the new covenant in his blood. And through these means of grace we receive the forgiveness of sins. Thanks be to God.

In these words, he remembers us. He comes to us. He remembers why we are here. He has remembered his pledge to us: To give himself fully, completely, unselfishly, in humility. It’s his covenant that he will always remember. 

OUR LORD JESUS NEVER FORGETS TO GIVE THE GIFT OF THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS THAT ALSO DELIVER LIFE AND SALVATION.

All the while, we forget it. 

Despite his plain words, we often forget why we’re doing this, and how often we are to do this. There have been periods we have done it more, and periods we have done it less. Why is it that we don’t remember?

There can answer that with many reasons. The most significant one is simply ... we forget. We forget Jesus. We forget why. We forget the words of our Lord, of what he says. We forget what he gives us. We forget what we are to remember. We forget why we need it. Oh, to be sure, sometimes we remember some of these more often than not. And maybe we remember many of them a lot. But all of the time? No, we forget.

We certainly remember how much we love being here. Tis Good to Be Here, is it not ... especially during Holy Week? We love being here for Easter. We also love being here on Sundays, too. We remember how disruptive not being here for worship is for our life. When we skip a Sunday ... even because of weakness ... then, we always remember how the rest of our week gets all out of whack. And watching a worship service online or on TV does not make up for it.

But we really forget how much we need the Lord’s Supper. We think to ourselves all too often: Oh, I had it on the first Sunday of the month; I will surely be good for the rest of the month. I was OK last week, and the month before that, and the year before that. See, it’s not like I am dying or something. 

At least that’s what we like to tell ourselves. But you know that isn’t true.

We also think we are unworthy. That’s why Luther reminds us that fasting and bodily preparation are fine outward training, but that person is truly worthy and well prepared who has faith in these words: Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. 

Our perception of our worthiness, though, is never a reason to deny ourselves the sacrament. We don’t tell ourselves we are unworthy enough to return to our baptism, or to confess our sins and to receive absolution. You return to your baptism every time you return to worship, don’t you? You hear absolution in every service: Because all of God’s services deliver the forgiveness of sins.

In baptism, the Holy Spirit refreshes and renews your faith. Seeing how we say the Lord’s Prayer every time, we recognize we are confessing our sins and receiving absolution here, too. God’s will is done in his prayer for us. 

So we know we need these sacraments. 

As Luther tells us in the Large Catechism: We are not baptized because we are worthy and holy. Nor do we go to confession because we are pure and without sin. On the contrary, we go because we are poor, miserable sinners. We go exactly because we are unworthy. (LC VI 61). 

And so too should we come to the altar tonight, trusting that Jesus never forgets.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, our Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread and the cup, gave thanks and said, do this into my remembrance ... This command is a golden promise. In it, he says, I haven’t forgotten you. I remember you. I remember why I gave you this sacrament. I remember that I gave it to you for the forgiveness of your sins. 

Our English Standard Version isn’t wrong necessarily in translating this phrase do this into my remembrance as in remembrance of me. But the English here makes this sound like the focus lies in our doing and our memory. In fact, the Greek εἰς τὴν ἐμὴν ἀνάμνησιν really means Jesus is the one who remembers. Not me. 

He says, I give my body and my blood to you. It is my covenant to you.

A covenant is an agreement sealed with blood. Covenants are pledges, promises, agreements, vows not to forget. So thank God this is his covenant with himself for you. That means he can never forget you. 

Jesus, true God and true man, pours out his blood into his covenant for you. Because he is True God, he cannot forget. Because he is True Man, he is able to stand in our place and fulfill his promise. Now the covenant between God and Man can’t be broken. Jesus gives himself this fully into his remembrance.

Memory and remembrance in scripture is always more real and vivid than any merely mental recollection of events from an increasingly remote past. God’s memory is living and active. When God remembers it means He turns His attention to someone and acts upon their behalf. He is the one who ALWAYS remembers his covenant (Gen 9:5, Ps 105:8); we are the ones who break it. God is the one who ALWAYS prepares the meal; we are the one who skip it. The Lord has made a covenant with us (Dt 5:2-4), not with our fathers. It is a present reality. 

Meanwhile, we plead over and over for our Lord to remember us (Ps 25:6,7; 74:2; 78:39) and not to remember our sins (Ps 79:8) because we even forget he remembers us. 

But brothers and sisters in Christ, God doesn’t forget you. And he longs for you to remember, too. That is why he created the rainbow, so we don’t forget that he loves us. That is why he gave us Passover (Exo 12:4): to remember the night the angel of death passed over us: first in Egypt, and then on the day we call Good, the day Jesus was crucified for you, giving his body to you, and pouring out his blood for you ... so that your sins will be passed over and never seen again. 

Remember, too, the Day of Jubilee, when we are all set free from all debt no matter how big (Lev 23:24). Jesus fulfills this day for us too tonight as he sets us free from sin, death, and the devil. 

Brothers and sisters in Christ, do you see now how all these means of grace are linked? In baptism, Christ has united you with himself in his death and his resurrection, setting us free to receive the eternal inheritance of eternal life with the Father in heaven. So now that we are in him and he is in us, he enables us to remember to confess our sins and receive his absolution in preparation for the Supper, where we will receive his tangible gifts. 

So do this whenever you can because in this gift he gives us comfort and blessing. Do this whenever you can because it is his joy and peace. Do this as often as you can because every time we celebrate the Lord’s Supper, the angels and archangels and all the company of heaven join us in lauding and magnifying his glorious name, evermore praising him in a hymn of joy. 

Most of all, do this with joy, always remembering the extravagance of our Lord’s love for us. He has prepared a feast of forgiveness like no other. 

We should cherish this testament from our Lord Jesus as a treasure of the highest value. We should love it dearly, and should make use of it cheerfully and frequently. You can’t receive it too often. And it won’t lose its specialness if you do. 

So thank the Lord and sing his praise: Life and salvation are yours forever.