Monday, September 17, 2018
618 - Forget Me Not
Spirituality Column #618
September 18, 2018
Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary
Forget Me Not
By Bob Walters
Do you ever forget that you are married? That you have
children? Parents? A family?
That you have a job, a home, a car, a community, and a life?
Individually
we may have all or some or – we may imagine – none of the above, but there are
basics in the life of each one of us that we don’t and can’t forget. So how illogical it is that we could ever
forget about the author of all life, Jesus.
Why is it that Jesus had to tell His disciples at the last supper – and
by extension tell every Christian in every communion – “Do this in remembrance of me”? (Luke 22:19)
Maybe the
answer is: because we are free to forget Him.
After all, true love cannot be coerced: it is voluntary; a free act of
the will. And more of the answer is,
Jesus knows how important it is to each of us to know we are loved, and He
wants us to remember that above all. It is a comfort beyond all imagining to
know salvation in Christ.
Yet we must
also remember that the enormity of God’s love is more than an activator of our
comfort and spiritual peace; Jesus is the one great and supreme, flesh and
blood – bread and cup – example of God’s glory.
In remembering Jesus we remember His lesson of love, of sacrifice, of
humility, of loving our enemies, and of our own Creation in the image of God. Jesus did all that, and yet sometimes we
forget.
Life’s
basics regularly involve challenges, pain, confusion, and loss, too. Whether in love or in grief, humans generally
don’t need much coaching about what to remember. I’ve never been to a wedding where the vows
included an injunction or request of the spouse to, “Remember me.” I’ve never heard a grieving spouse, family member,
or friend at a funeral express a desire to forget the loved one just passed.
In the same
way that we are challenged to live a Christian life all week and not just “act
like it” in a weekend church gathering, so should we afford ourselves the
luxury and comfort of always remembering Jesus … to let him light and direct
our ways, and to provide a guardrail of protection and shadings of
understanding throughout all corners of our lives. So many people forget that; I pray so many more
would remember.
Remembering
Jesus should be a joy; an “all-the-time” joy.
When Paul says “pray continually” (Thessalonians 5:17), it is not a call to inaction on our knees
but a call to perpetual remembrance of Jesus in our entire, all-the-time being.
We are with Him, and he is with us: so remember
Him. It is our joy to live with Jesus
whatever this broken world might have us endure. We see glimpses of God’s mirthful Kingdom,
sure; but Satan’s worldly mischief and suffering are everywhere, and certainly the
world provides daily opportunity to forget Jesus and neglect this great and
abiding Christian faith.
How sad
that one could ever forget the truth, rest, and peace that exist in Him.
With
whatever else in our lives, in communion, let’s remember Jesus. Always.
Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) sees marriage and family as an apt parallel for a faithful Christian
life. It’s always a mistake to forget
love; always a joy to remember it.
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