In His Memory

 

God’s grace, peace and mercy be with you. My sermon is based on our Gospel (Mark 14:1-15:47). Let us pray. Heavenly Father, the psalmist wrote, “I rejoiced when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord.’” Now that our feet are within your gates, we rejoice to hear your Word. As we listen, may your Spirit enlighten our minds and move our hearts to love deeply as Jesus loved. This we pray to you, Most Holy Trinity. Amen.

The disciples were happy as they walked along under the stars. It was a bittersweet happiness. Jesus said too many sorrow-shadowed things. His final words, especially, kept ringing in their ears: “Do this in memory of me.”

Years after the Last Supper, Paul wrote, “As often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the death until he comes.” Paul’s point is important. Jesus is present in a mysterious way in every celebration of the Eucharist, or the Lord’s Supper, but the fullness of his presence will be realized only when he returns in glory. Until then, the Lord’s Supper will always be a paradox of presence and absence.

It will be a call to mourning as well as feasting, to sadness as well as to joy, to longing as well as to satisfaction. When you attend church and come to the Lord’s Table to receive Christ’s Body and Blood under the form of bread and wine, why is it so meaningful for you? Do you mourn or rejoice? Are you sad or satisfied? Perhaps your feelings are influenced by life’s events and affect how Christ comes to you in the Lord’s Supper. Is it the birth of a grandchild or the death of a grandmother? Before you retire this evening, take time to speak to Jesus about the opportunity to share in His Supper.

Next, the discouragement Jesus must have felt. We have all experienced discouragement. It may have been as a child or as a parent, in our personal or professional lives. Like Jesus, we have all experienced discouragement.

In the vein of Paul Harvey, I tell you the story of a mother who experienced great discouragement when one day her partially deaf son came home from school with a note from his teacher. Little Tommy handed the note to his mother.

Mother opened the note slowly and read it. As she did, she choked back tears. The note suggested her son was too dull to learn. He was holding back the entire class. It would be better if she would withdraw him from school.

The mother finished reading the note. At first, she felt discouraged, then awkward and finally challenged. She said to herself, “My son is not too dull to learn. I’ll teach him myself.”

When little Tommy died many years later, the entire nation honored him in a remarkable way. At exactly 9:59 p.m. Eastern Standard Time in late October 1931, every home turned off its lights for one minute as a tribute to the man who invented those lights.

Thomas Alva Edison, inventor of the electric lightbulb, the movie projector and the record player, the boy “too dull to learn,” died with a thousand patents to his credit.

From the outset of his ministry, Jesus faced opposition. He was opposed not only by the devil, but also by those he called. “I mean, really,” said one of his disciples, “could anything good come from Nazareth?”

As a follower of Jesus, I am certain you experienced discouragement. This week, recall those moments, and speak to Jesus about how he handled discouragement.

I close with a quote from Harper Lee’s main character in “To Kill a Mockingbird,” Atticus Finch. One of the memorable lines in her book is often memorized and quoted like a confirmation verse. “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view … until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.”

Until you climb into his skin and walk around in it. … This week, ask the Lord for the grace to accept life’s trials with the same courageous acceptance that he demonstrated in Gethsemane. Contemplate Jesus’ suffering the way the evangelists contemplated it. … May the Passion of Jesus mark your Holy Week. And may the peace of God that surpasses all understanding keep your heart and mind in Christ Jesus. Amen.