00:00:00.000 - 00:00:25.000

[Silence] The following message for the moment is delivered by the Reverend Dr. Bruce Wheeler Thielman. Today's sermon is entitled, "Meal of Many Memories." [Silence]

00:00:25.000 - 00:01:11.000

Let us give reverent attention to the reading of God's Word as it is recorded in the Gospel according to Matthew, chapter 26. I begin the reading at the verse which is numbered 26. "Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, 'Take, eat; this is my body.' And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, 'Drink of it, all of you; for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

00:01:11.000 - 00:01:56.000

I tell you, I shall not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom.'" And may the same Spirit who inspired these words incline our hearts to their understanding. Pray with me. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, amen.

00:01:56.000 - 00:02:22.000

The Apostle Paul reports to us that at the Last Supper, Jesus said to his disciples, "This do in remembrance of me." What did Jesus mean when he uttered those words? Well, this is quite obviously a very human plea. We all like to be remembered.

00:02:22.000 - 00:02:52.000

We all like to have someone recall our name, especially when we did not expect them to do so. We've all had the experience of having someone come up to us and say, "You remember who I am, don't you? And you know all the time that they're hoping that you will know exactly who they are." Well, Jesus was fully human, bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh.

00:02:52.000 - 00:03:29.000

And so there was in him, as there is in all of us, a human desire not to be forgotten. There was a famous artist by the name of Jacques Barrassin who lived in Paris during the days of the Nazi occupation. He was hidden in the attic of a home by a Christian family. And in the attic of that home, he found a Bible and he read it, and he was led by the Spirit to become a Christian.

00:03:29.000 - 00:03:57.000

He made a vow to God, and his vow was that if he were permitted to come through the war alive, that he would paint a series of pictures depicting the life of our Lord. And after the war, he began that series of pictures. He completed it in about eight years. It consists of 44 life-size paintings.

00:03:57.000 - 00:04:33.000

They've traveled around the world many times, and if you ever have the opportunity to see them, don't miss it. Now, of all those 44 pictures, the one that touches me the most is the one that is called the Great Commission. This is where Jesus is sending out the disciples and saying to them, "Go ye into all the world and make disciples of all nations." And as he is saying these words, they are walking away from him to the different corners of the earth to carry out their ministry.

00:04:33.000 - 00:05:03.000

The interesting thing about the picture, that which moves me in it, is this. Jesus is weeping. We see a misty-eyed Master. And why? Because parting is hard, because it is difficult to separate ourselves. Jesus knew that this was the last time he was going to be together with the disciples for a long time,

00:05:03.000 - 00:05:33.000

until they were united in the kingdom at some point years in the future. This group had constituted virtually a family to him. And now, as he said goodbye to them, he was profoundly moved. When we are parting, one of the things that sustains us and strengthens us is the fact that we will remember one another.

00:05:33.000 - 00:05:50.000

And this was in Jesus. James Cleland was the distinguished dean of the chapel at Duke University for many years, and his mother was very faithful upon the sacrament of Holy Communion. She did not miss it for over 60 years.

00:05:50.000 - 00:06:25.000

We ask her on one occasion why it was that she was always so anxious to be there for communion, and she replied, "Our Lord has asked his friends not to forget him. I am one of his friends. I do not forget him." There's something very trusting and very human and very good in this. On the human level, Jesus simply wanted to be remembered as all of us would like to be remembered.

00:06:25.000 - 00:06:51.000

But Jesus was not only man, he was also God. And when one considers what these words mean from a divine perspective, one finds that they are pregnant with some very powerful implications. For example, Christ wants us to remember the measure of his love.

00:06:51.000 - 00:07:19.000

Now, none of us has the ability to tell another person how much we love her or him. Elizabeth Barrett Browning sat down and wrote to her husband Robert, "How do I love thee? Let me count the ways." And then she lists in a beautiful sonnet the ways in which she loves her husband. But she would never have suggested that with that list she had encompassed all of the love that she felt for him.

00:07:19.000 - 00:07:49.000

Now, if it is impossible for us to totally express our love to another human being, then how can we begin to express the length and the depth and the height and the breadth of the love of God? Donald Gray Barnhouse, a great Presbyterian pastor of a few generations ago, used to illustrate the love of God this way.

00:07:49.000 - 00:08:12.000

He would spend a good portion of every year in France. And in the southeastern corner of France, there is a spring known as the Vancouver Spring. He and some friends one day decided to trace that spring to its source. They were in a wide valley, and as they walked along the sides of the stream,

00:08:12.000 - 00:08:36.000

it became narrower and narrower until finally they found themselves in a box canyon. And at the base of the cliff, which was at the end of that canyon, there came gushing up out of the water, out of the earth, this tremendous stream of water, the Vancouver Spring, considered to be the greatest spring in the known world.

00:08:36.000 - 00:09:03.000

It puts out more than a thousand gallons of water a minute. And Barnhouse would say, "And the love of God is greater than that." Now, insofar as it goes, I think that's a very good and appropriate illustration. But to be perfectly frank with you, it does not move me much,

00:09:03.000 - 00:09:24.000

because it thinks of the love of God in terms of its vastness. When I think of the love of God, I think of twelve men gathered around a table. One of them is going to betray Jesus, one of them is going to deny Jesus, all of them are going to forsake Jesus.

00:09:24.000 - 00:09:46.000

But he says to these, he makes to these, an ultimate commitment of love. "And greater love hath no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." And he is doing this for those who will betray and deny and forsake him. Paul sums it perfectly when he says in Romans,

00:09:46.000 - 00:10:09.000

"God chose his love for us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." To me, the love of God is not measured best in how many he loves. That is, in terms of its volume. But it is measured best by how much he loves,

00:10:09.000 - 00:10:31.000

in the sense that he has offered himself through his Son, even to those who are altogether unlovable. The infinity of the love of God is seen in its extent, yes, but it is also seen in its intensity,

00:10:31.000 - 00:10:48.000

with the fact that it is extended to all, and intended even for those who turn against him. You know, there's only two places in all of the scriptures where it says that Jesus marveled.

00:10:48.000 - 00:11:10.000

And both of those occasions are times when Jesus sees people refuse to believe in the love of God. He wants us never to forget it. That's one of the reasons he says, "This do in remembrance of me."

00:11:10.000 - 00:11:27.000

I think Jesus also wants us to recall the manner of Christian fellowship. This last summer I went to my 40th high school reunion. I haven't missed any of our reunions. It was a grand time.

00:11:27.000 - 00:11:43.000

They always start off the same, rather quiet and reserved conversation, everybody lying to each other about how they haven't changed a bit. And then someone brings up some incident out of the past. "Do you remember the 50 game with Uniontown?"

00:11:43.000 - 00:12:01.000

Or, "Do you remember how Don came back to school and let us know he was back by setting off a huge firecracker in the ventilation system?" And as these kinds of stories were told, stories that we had shared in, there would be laughter and a gradual easing of conversation

00:12:01.000 - 00:12:21.000

until we were just as we had been 40 years ago. The friendship was flowing. Now Christ wants that kind of friendship to flow here. There is a story told of a woman who said she wanted to give a gift to her church.

00:12:21.000 - 00:12:38.000

And the minister said, "What we need is a new communion table." And she said, "I will give that on one condition, that my gift be anonymous." And the minister agreed. When the table was delivered, he had it set up,

00:12:38.000 - 00:12:54.000

and three days before the congregation was to see it for the first time, he invited the woman who had given it to come see it privately. And she was delightful. He set the hour at 4 o'clock when the sunlight would be coming through the stained glass windows

00:12:54.000 - 00:13:10.000

and falling down on this beautiful table. And he entered the sanctuary with the woman from the rear so that as they walked closer and closer to the table, she would be able to appreciate it from a distance and then up close

00:13:10.000 - 00:13:28.000

and thus really see its full beauty. And she was commenting about what a beautiful thing it was and how thrilled she was with the opportunity to give it. And then suddenly, halfway down the aisle, she stopped short.

00:13:28.000 - 00:13:45.000

And he said, "What is the matter?" And she said, "I told you that you were to give and accept this gift anonymously." And he said, "Well, it is anonymous." And she looked at him very coyly and she said,

00:13:45.000 - 00:14:10.000

"Oh, I can read on the front of it, 'In remembrance of me.'" "Well, if there is any word that can be more false than the word 'me' at a place like this, I don't know what it is. Because here we are to be thinking about God and we are to be thinking about one another."

00:14:10.000 - 00:14:31.000

I have so many fellowship experiences that I have known at the Lord's Table. I think of the first communion that I served in the church where I ministered in California. Now, that was a church three times the size of this one. And the man who arranged communion and had done it for fully 30 years

00:14:31.000 - 00:14:45.000

was a fellow named Henry Patton. And the first time I met Henry, I loved him right away. Because he walked over, shook my hand, put his arms around me, gave me a great big hug, and whispered in my ear,

00:14:45.000 - 00:15:03.000

"I have three sons who are Presbyterian ministers. I know what you're going through. I'll be on your side no matter what." Well, he came in to tell me that I must limit my communion meditation to 15 minutes,

00:15:03.000 - 00:15:19.000

because there had to be time following the service to remove all of the trays of bread and wine, the leftovers, as it were, and to completely set the table again for those who would be coming in for the second service. Well, this was my first service in this new church,

00:15:19.000 - 00:15:37.000

and I was very anxious to do well, and I completely lost track of the time. And I rambled on for 25 minutes, which resulted in them still setting the communion table for the second service while we were singing the second hymn in the second service.

00:15:37.000 - 00:15:51.000

And I was terribly embarrassed. And after the time at the door, I went to my study, and I was sitting there thinking to myself, "What a jerk. Your first communion, and you really must get it."

00:15:51.000 - 00:16:13.000

And Henry Patton came to the door, and I thought, "Oh, my, here it comes." And he said, "Oh, the services were just beautiful." Well, the fact of the matter is the services weren't beautiful, but Henry was very beautiful.

00:16:13.000 - 00:16:34.000

It wasn't. He was. That, to me, was the model of the kind of forgiving fellowship which is to be abundant here. You know, Christ only calls upon his disciples to remember three times. One time is here, in this passage that we are noting this morning.

00:16:34.000 - 00:16:52.000

The second time is in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5, where he says, "If you remember that you had anything against your brother, go and settle it with your brother before you come to the altar." And the third time is in John 14, in the upper room,

00:16:52.000 - 00:17:12.000

when Jesus says, "These things the Holy Spirit will bring to your remembrance." Now, the Holy Spirit is the agent of binding. He is the one who ties the cords of love amongst Christians. He is the one who tangles Christian heartstrings.

00:17:12.000 - 00:17:30.000

He is the agent of God making us one. And the word "to settle any conflict you have with your brother" is an invitation to that same kind of oneness. So when Jesus says to us, "This do in remembrance of me,"

00:17:30.000 - 00:17:53.000

he is partly, at least, referring to the manner of Christian unity. He is speaking of the caring and the scaring that is to occur here. Christ did not want us to forget this. And then finally, when Jesus uttered these words,

00:17:53.000 - 00:18:13.000

he was calling us to recommit ourselves to our ministry. You know, there's a difference between a symbol and a sign. A sign can be a billboard by the side of the road, or an arrow that points to a certain room in the church where a meeting is going to be held.

00:18:13.000 - 00:18:32.000

But a symbol is more than that. For a symbol, by definition, contains within it some of the power of that which it symbolizes. The cross, for example, is more to us than just a symbol, just a sign.

00:18:32.000 - 00:18:48.000

It is a profound symbol. The very looking at it and thinking about it, meditating upon it, moves us deeply inside. Our nation's flag is a symbol. It has abided some of the power of that which it represents.

00:18:48.000 - 00:19:07.000

Well, then, let's go with the symbols that are used at this table, symbols of bread and wine, that which is poured out and that which is broken. Jesus is saying to us, "This is what is going to happen to you." You see, when Jesus said, "This is my body,"

00:19:07.000 - 00:19:22.000

he was not referring to his body. If you look at the Greek in the passage, you discover that the endings of the words do not match up if one refers to the body of Christ and then the bread and the wine.

00:19:22.000 - 00:19:36.000

Now, when he says "the body," he's referring to the disciples gathered about the table. He is saying, "This is my body, and this is what is going to be broken, and this is what is going to be poured out."

00:19:36.000 - 00:19:59.000

He is calling us, you see, to faithfulness in our church. He reminds us of the rich gifts we have received from God and of our high responsibilities to God. Many of you will remember a little over 20 years ago

00:19:59.000 - 00:20:20.000

when there was a terrible riot at the Attica State Penitentiary in the state of New York. Thirty-nine people were killed in that riot. Now, 60% of the inmates of the Attica Penitentiary were black,

00:20:20.000 - 00:20:34.000

and almost all of them came from New York City. Now, it was very difficult for members of their families, usually from low-income groups, to travel all the way from New York City to Attica,

00:20:34.000 - 00:20:50.000

a distance of 300 miles, to visit their imprisoned loved ones. And so a church in New York City would rent one bus or two buses, or however many buses were necessary, each Sunday, so that these people could board these buses

00:20:50.000 - 00:21:05.000

and they would travel the 300 miles to the prison so that they could visit their loved ones. Now, Attica is a prison, and so there were no facilities in the prison where these people could freshen up after the long trip

00:21:05.000 - 00:21:18.000

before they sat down with their loved ones. And so the church in New York that ran the buses got in touch with a church in Attica and it said, "Would you mind letting your church be used

00:21:18.000 - 00:21:34.000

as a kind of comfort station for these people so that they might have an opportunity to get themselves gathered together before they go in to meet their loved ones?" And the first board considered this

00:21:34.000 - 00:21:52.000

and then sent back a letter which said, "We aren't ready for anything like that." Now, it so happened that the next Sunday in that church was communion. And one of the officers of the church was in the act of saving the elements

00:21:52.000 - 00:22:11.000

of the bread and the wine, when he suddenly thought to himself, "What if Christ would have said as he approached the cross, 'I'm not ready for that yet'?"

00:22:11.000 - 00:22:27.000

He was so moved by this thought that he went home and discussed it with his wife. And they called that church in New York City and said, "Our church may not be ready, but our home is ready."

00:22:27.000 - 00:22:41.000

And some of their friends opened their homes as well. And until this day, when these buses come, these folks from New York visit the folks from Attica. And they visit them in their homes and that's where they refresh themselves

00:22:41.000 - 00:22:50.000

and sometimes take a nap before they go to the parish. They become very, very good friends. They bring cakes to one another. They sing Christmas songs and Christmas gifts.

00:22:50.000 - 00:23:07.000

A beautiful fellowship has grown out of this. And it happened because one man at this table remembered what his ministry could be to the least of the brethren.

00:23:07.000 - 00:23:30.000

Jesus was not crucified between socks of silver on a white linen background. Jesus was crucified between three thieves on a garbage dump. And he wants us to remember that

00:23:30.000 - 00:23:51.000

and to be obedient to his example. This is what the Apostle Paul means when he says, "For me to live is Christ." That is, I serve in the name and the spirit of the Christ who is present in me.

00:23:51.000 - 00:24:03.000

You know, the best illustration of that word of Paul that I've ever come across is in "For Whom the Bell Tolls." And Robert Jordan, the American expatriate, has been fatally wounded by the Spanish Baptist.

00:24:03.000 - 00:24:19.000

And he is trying to convince his beloved Maria to flee while she has a chance to leave him there to die. And he says to her, "You go for both of us. You do our mutual duty.

00:24:19.000 - 00:24:32.000

We will go together. There will always be me in thee. I promise." And she says, "Roberto, let me stay. Roberto, let me stay."

00:24:32.000 - 00:24:47.000

And he says, "No. I am with thee. I am with thee. We are together. Always. So go."

00:24:47.000 - 00:25:04.000

When we come to this table, we not only remember how we are to be faithful to our ministry, but in remembering God's love and the nature of his fellowship with us and the fellowship to which he calls us,

00:25:04.000 - 00:25:27.000

we remember also that the Christ who set this table has promised to always be with us as we serve him. He does not want us to forget that. The "me" in "thee."

00:25:27.000 - 00:25:49.000

This "me" in remembrance of me. The full depth of those words is lost in mystery. And certainly no mind as small as mine is ever going to be able to track their purpose. But there is at least this in me.

00:25:49.000 - 00:26:08.000

There is a human plea to you not to be forgotten. But there is also a divine exhortation that we might remember the nature of God's love, the manner of Christian fellowship,

00:26:08.000 - 00:26:23.000

and the ministry which is ours. And that as we carry out this ministry, Christ is with us. The "me" in "thee." That in our service, in our joy, in our suffering, in our victory,

00:26:23.000 - 00:26:58.000

or in our defeat, we take no steps alone. He is always at our side. So let us now come to this place and remember him who said, "This "thee" in remembrance of me."

00:26:58.000 - 00:27:09.000

And may God bless you with simple witness in his name. Amen. www.circlelineartschool.com