Remembrance

The 11th chapter of 1 Corinthians is all about communion. Yesterday I read the first part, where Paul talks about how dysfunctional the sacrament had become because of divisions in the church. That part ended with Paul scolding them for behaving poorly.

The section I read this morning starts with the word, "For." That's a word that means a reason is coming. The reason for Paul's redirect to the Corinthians was this: "For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, 'This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.' In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, 'This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.' For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes."

Paul was upset because the Lord's Supper has a sacred purpose, one that was being degraded. It's a holy remembrance of Christ's sacrifice on our behalf, the event that changed everything about being a God-follower in this world.

Why do we need this sacrament? Because we forget. We begin to take the cross for granted, we begin to take forgiveness as license, we begin to take God's providence as our entitlement. The Corinthians maybe got to it a little quicker that we do, but we too are guilty of trying to make Christ's lordship about our position in this world instead of our reassurance for the next.

"This cup is a new covenant in my blood." That new covenant is the covenant of love, not law. The law, though good, has been fulfilled. We now obey out of gratitude, not fear of penalty. But we mustn't become complacent just because our penalty has been paid; it was paid in blood, after all, and that blood should have been ours.

It feels like Paul is DiNozzo-ing me -- you know, like on NCIS when Gibbs slaps DiNozzo on the back of the head to refocus him when he's being stupid. Sometimes in matters of faith I need to be Gibbs-slapped.