Don't Forget!

Do you ever have problems remembering things that are important?

One of my favorite movies of all time is Finding Nemo. I remember seeing this movie for the first time when my wife and I were away from the children on a week-long trip. It was about day 5 of the separation (we were really missing our kids by this time), and we thought we’d distract ourselves by taking in a light-hearted animation akin to Toy Story, or A Bug’s Life. However (if you’ve seen the movie you’ll know what I mean), the very opening scene ripped our hearts out and we were gone through the whole movie! The story, based on the underwater life of fish and other aquatic creatures, is basically one father’s incessant and life-endangering search for his lost baby boy. On top of that, the entire movie centers around a parent and a child with a disability…of which our oldest child has…it was not a pretty scene on our row!!

At any rate…one of the main characters introduced in the father’s quest to find his son is a blue Jackfish named Dorie. As is soon discovered, although pleasant and good-natured, Dorie suffers from acute, short-term memory loss. Even though she can retain long-term memories and can function like any average person (fish), her ability to retain recent, accessible information was nil. Although she can remember her name and the that she’s a fish, she doesn’t know who her family is, where she comes from, or what she’s doing when the father (Marlin) bumps into her on the ocean floor. In the span of a 30 second conversation, she introduces herself twice as though they’d never met. From that point on, her bad memory gets the pair in all kinds of predicaments, including a scrape with 3 sharks, a shocking run-in with a jellyfish colony, and an overnight stay in a whale motel. From scene to scene, the fish’s inability to remember gets the two in all kinds of trouble and threatens the rescue mission.

At a pivotal scene in the movie, a clue (a lost diver’s mask) is found that has the name and address of the child’s (Nemo) captors on it. Unable to read human writing, Marlin relies on Dorie to decipher and remember the information to direct them on their journey. Time and time again, the blue fish remembers and forgets the information, causing the journey to prolong and all hopes of a rescue fade. Finally, when Dorie discovers the lost Nemo, her memory is transformed and she is able to unite the father and song at last.

Memory. How many times have I felt like Dorie in this life when I lose my keys, can’t pull up a name from my memory banks, or forget what I’m doing as I travel from the sofa to the kitchen. Even more so, how quickly do I forget things of supreme importance like the sacrifices and promises of my Savior, Jesus Christ.

As we embark on a new sermonic journey for the next four weeks, we turn our attention to Communion, and it’s lost place in the vault of our mind. As we try to remember the importance of the Lord’s Supper this week, we take our cue from the Master and His cue to the disciple to “do this in remembrance of me.”

As you worship this week:

Meditate – on those things that you forget easily.
Contemplate – on the importance and significance of remembering those things that are truly important in this life.
Seek – the Host of the Supper, the Name above all names
Find – a deeper meaning and symbolism in institution and practice of Communion.

Resounding Themes:

Remembering the Master
Knowing the Name of Jesus
Magnificent Love

Getting READY to Worship

Ready, Set, READ

Luke 22:7-20

Ready, Set, MEDITATE

- What is the Passover Feast? Why is Jesus choosing to celebrate it with the disciples? What preparations does Jesus require to get ready for the feast? How specific is Jesus in His requests? Is that in and of itself significant?

- Why is the meal so important? Is there any significance to this being the time and place Jesus chose to live his final moments on earth? What does Jesus do with the meal that changes it forever?

- Why is it so important that the disciples “remember” Jesus in the days and weeks to come? What is coming about for Jesus? For the disciples? For the Church? How is something as simple as some bread and juice important for us today?

- Do you really use communion as a time to truly remember the Savior? What good can come from remembering? What bad can come from forgetting? What can you do this week and on Sunday to take the Lord’s Supper and remember him until He comes?

Ready, Set, PRAY

Father, our hearts are filled with joyous expectation as we come to worship each week, for we know that there, we will meet You there. And we also know that the Lord will be our gracious Host at the table of life. God, we ask for a greater sense of awareness and heightened presence of awareness as we come each week to the Lord’s Supper. Precious Savior, roll back the curtain of our memory that we might always keep in front of us Your life, death, and resurrection. Remind us, dear Lord. Through the power and majesty of the Name above all names.

AMEN.

Ready, Set, WORSHIP!