Calendar
Originally scheduled for January 22
Most of us have a calendar we keep. It’s
somewhat of a misnomer; because we often use the same book or
software application to record such things as to-do lists and names
and addresses as well as the appointments we wish to keep. If you
have a smart phone, or a computer, or some other electronic device
like that you probably keep it on that device. But the purpose is
the same as your grandmother’s little booklet that she kept in her
purse: contacts, appointments and a to-do list.
Perhaps you never thought about it, but you
don’t actually learn anything from your calendar. Think about it: if
there are names and addresses in your calendar, you put them in
there. You may have loaded someone else’s list or typed it in
yourself. The same sort of thing happens with appointments; you
don’t learn from them, you write them down. You put actions on your
two-do list yourself. In a sense you don’t ever learn anything from
your calendar; your calendar remind you of the things you should
already know. As Samuel Johnson once said, “Men more frequently
require to be reminded than informed.” So the purpose of a calendar
really is to make sure you don’t forget something that’s important.
Communion serves much the same purpose. Like my
calendar, it reminds me.
·
It reminds me of who Christ is. Like
my address book, it tells me who Christ is. This is God in the
flesh, the suffering Savior, the Lamb of God.
·
It reminds me that I have
appointments — in particular, appointments that I have no choice
about keeping. It reminds me that I am going to die, for that is
appointed to mankind. It also reminds me of the coming resurrection
by the power of the Holy Spirit. Last in sequence but not in
importance, it reminds me of the Day of Judgment — and therefore
warns me to be ready.
·
If I am alert, it will also remind me
of things I need to do. Do I approach the throne of grace without
having forgiven someone? I need to be forgiving as Christ is
forgiving. I also need to commune with Him. I need to establish a
prayer life that thanks him for what he has done for me. I need a
prayer life that tells me where and when and how I should obey.
Someday this will end. We are told that we are
to remember him in Communion “until he comes.” So until then we take
the cup and the bread to remind ourselves of the sacrifice which
made Christ our Savior. Until he returns, we live in his grace. Just
thought I’d remind you of that.
