JER 31:31 "The time is coming," declares the LORD, "when I will make a new

covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.

JER 31:32 It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when

I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they

broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them," declares the

LORD.

JER 31:33 "This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after

that time," declares the LORD. "I will put my law in their minds

and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be

my people.

JER 31:34 No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother,

saying, 'Know the LORD,' because they will all know me, from the

least of them to the greatest," declares the LORD. "For I will

forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more."

HEB 10:16 "This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says

the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them

on their minds."

HEB 10:17 Then he adds: "Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no

more."

HEB 10:18 And where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any

sacrifice for sin.

HEB 10:19 ¶ Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most

Holy Place by the blood of Jesus,

HEB 10:20 By a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is,

his body,

HEB 10:21 And since we have a great priest over the house of God,

HEB 10:22 Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of

faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty

conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.

HEB 10:23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who

promised is faithful.

HEB 10:24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and

good deeds.

HEB 10:25 Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of

doing, but let us encourage one another--and all the more as you

see the Day approaching.

LUK 22:7 ¶ Then came the day of Unleavened Bread on which the Passover lamb

had to be sacrificed.

LUK 22:8 Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, "Go and make preparations for us

to eat the Passover."

LUK 22:9 ¶ "Where do you want us to prepare for it?" they asked.

LUK 22:10 ¶ He replied, "As you enter the city, a man carrying a jar of water

will meet you. Follow him to the house that he enters,

LUK 22:11 And say to the owner of the house, 'The Teacher asks: Where is the

guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?'

LUK 22:12 He will show you a large upper room, all furnished. Make

preparations there."

LUK 22:13 ¶ They left and found things just as Jesus had told them. So they

prepared the Passover.

LUK 22:14 ¶ When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table.

LUK 22:15 And he said to them, "I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover

with you before I suffer.

LUK 22:16 For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment

in the kingdom of God."

LUK 22:17 ¶ After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, "Take this and

divide it among you.

LUK 22:18 For I tell you I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine

until the kingdom of God comes."

LUK 22:19 ¶ And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them,

saying, "This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of

me."

LUK 22:20 ¶ In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, "This

cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.

Memories

Jeremiah 31:31-34; Hebrews 10:16-25; Luke 22:7-20

The other day I was visiting in another community. And as I was exploring the place, I found myself going over a fairly long concrete bridge which went over an expressway I got the odd feeling that I had been there before, a long time ago. In fact, the feeling was so strong that it was almost like I was reliving some experience of the past. And, yet, I knew I'd never been in that community before. Of course, I knew at the time that I had never been there in my life. Yet, simply crossing that bridge brought back some memories so vivid that it was as though I was actually reliving some event of the past.

Most of us have had things like this happen. We call it "deja vu," which is a French word meaning "already seen." Psychologists say that when this kind of thing happens it is simply a trick our mind and our memory are playing on us; that it is simply an illusion. Yet, when it happens, you still get a strange feeling about it.

Indeed, memory is important to us. And there are some events in our past that we sometimes almost relive when something happens to trigger our memory. It is almost as if our memory is able to go into overdrive to recreate the situation so that in our mind we are able to see faces, hear the voices, feel the sensations, and even to smell the smell and know the touch of that event.

In fact, this is what Jesus was talking about when he sat down with his disciples on another Thursday night of Passover, about 2,000 years ago. He had told his disciples about his impending death and resurrection. They hadn't understood him. They probably didn't want to believe him. But, Jesus could see it coming. And he wanted his disciples to remember. So, he gave them something to trigger their memories. He gave the bread and the wine. And when he passed the bread he said, "Take and eat this in remembrance of me." From that day on, the sharing of the bread and wine would be the trigger for the memories of God's people.

The Jews believed that when they celebrated Passover the mere celebration of the event was not simply a remembrance of the event, but an actual reliving or recreation of the event, itself. This is what Jesus wanted for his followers after he was gone from them. He wanted to give them a way to vividly recreate the experience of his presence among them. And, so he said, "Do this in memory of me."

The actual word in Greek is "mnesis." Taken very literally, this is exactly what "mnesis" means: a memory so vivid of an event that it is recreated in the present.

A good story teller is able to bring about this kind of recreating of something that happened in the past. For instance, a while ago I went to a children's theater production of Peter and the Wolf, produced by professional actors for an audience full of elementary school kids.

The actors were very good story tellers. They were able to make something that was supposed to have happened in the past come alive in the present. In fact, they were so good at it that when it looked like Peter might get eaten by the wolf which was stalking him through the woods, the children would start shouting, "Look out, Peter!" and get so involved that they were even standing up and pointing at the wolf.

This is what should be happening to us when we celebrate the Lord's Supper. And, yet, some of us may be confused about this. After all, how can someone "remember" something that they never witnessed? If we weren't there, how can we remember it? But, probably, more than anything, what is important is for us to remember Jesus' love and acceptance of us. When we remember, what we may remember is the experience of when we first accepted Christ in our hearts, or when we felt especially close to Jesus. When we remember Jesus in the Lord's Supper, we may visualize an event described to us in scripture that has become dramatically vivid by the power of the Holy Spirit. What's important for us to know, when we remember Jesus, is that Jesus is alive; that Jesus cares for us and died for us and is with us, even now.

Perhaps this is expressed in no better a way than through the hymns which we sing at this time of year: "Christ the Lord is Risen, Today;" "Were You There When They Crucified My Lord;" "Now the Green Blade Riseth;" being just three examples.

Jesus said, "Do this is remembrance of me." When we remember Jesus in the Lord's Supper Christ comes into our midst, sits at our table, and eats with us. The past becomes the present in a very mysterious way. Amen.