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Sunday, August 7, 2011

Remembering...

 


Today's sermon (for those of you who were unable to attend...) was "The Truth About...Communion".  While I really enjoyed today's sermon, it actually reminded me of a sermon that Matthew has preached at a previous church.  The previous sermon was based (or at least the part I remember is based...) upon the the word "remember."  This is such a simple word, but it contains so much meaning...and reminds me a lot of where we are here at GUMC. 
Let's break down the word "remember." I know, you are thinking..."remember means I didn't forget!"  Yes, but we are going to look a little deeper.  We know that "re" is a prefix that means again.  The word "member" is one who claims their identity to a particular organization or group.  Hmmm....isn't that interesting. Both definitions have a place.  If you have ever noticed in any church, including ours, on the altar, especially for communion, the words "In Remembrance of Me" are placed neatly around the altar.  In our church they are embroidered into the cloths that we place the communion elements upon.    I'm sure you've heard the term "dismembered" too.  It means there's a part here and a part there, but everything that should be put together is separated and not unified.  Think about communion.  It is in the moment of communion, at God's thanksgiving dinner, that the body of Christ is "remembered."  At that moment we are all one with Christ and one with each other.  The body is "re-membered" or put back together.

Since that sermon, I always think of the word "remember" in a much different way. Hopefully, next time you hear that word or participate in Communion you will think about them in a much different way also.