Remembrance by Deon Crafford

1 Corinthians 11:23-29 For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when 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 also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.

The only thing that matters about the past is the future. So many people, myself included, are fascinated by history. I enjoy reading biographies, visiting significant historical sites and imagining how things may have felt at the time for those who lived it as the present. Why the fascination? Because I believe it gives us a glimpse on our collective human identity – what horrors we are capable of and what tenacity and determination we possess to overcome. The past tells us so much about the future.

When we’re called and mandated to be the salt of the earth, Jesus reminds us of our identity – that because of our immersion in Him, we have acquired “Spiritual saltiness” with which to approach the present and future. When we’re urged to partake in the body and blood of Christ through the bread and wine, we do so in remembrance of what He had done for us. We look back at His redemptive sacrifice, as a guide to our present and future. Jesus effectively says, I have erased your past, so you can live, so you can be the salt of the earth. Salt is your identity.

And if we’re still not sure about this then pure remembrance of Christ’s visible hand in our lives and circumstances shall prevail. We all have episodes or situations in our lives where we were so vividly reminded that we serve a living and attentive God. These were times when we stood in awe about God coming through for us, healing us, picking us up or just facilitating a situation for us. Our memories are often short, and we need to understand how this disempowers us to be impactful. When Jesus implored us to remembrance of Him, He advised us that the more often we do this, the more impact we will have in our world. Remember Jesus. Let your remembrance drench you in Salt, so you will be this in the world.

Love to all