Friends,

An age-old New Year’s Eve song/question begs us to remember friends … and maybe even think about communion. See the column below ... 

Hope your 2023 is off to a faith-filled and encouraging start.  Blessings!

Bob

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Labels: Auld Lang Syne, communion, cup of kindness, Luke 22:19,  New Year’s Eve, perpetual Sabbath, remembrance, Robert Burns, Scotland

Spirituality Column #843

January 10, 2023

Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary

Long Time Since

By Bob Walters

“Do this in remembrance of me.” – Jesus to his disciples at the Last Supper, Luke 22:19

On New Year’s Eve last week many folks rang in the new year, 2023, at midnight singing “Auld Lang Syne.” 

Our not-so-young gathering sang it about 9 p.m. (seemed like midnight).  But I noticed nobody knew the lyrics after the first two lines, so I later looked up the song’s words and background.  Turns out, “Auld Lang Syne’s” message fits neatly as a theme for a Sunday communion meditation at church.

“Auld Lang Syne” is a Scottish idiom meaning, literally, “long time since,” and is the title of a poem written by Scottish poet Robert Burns in the latter 1700s.  The poem soon after was put to a folk music tune and then published in 1799 – after Burns’ death – by the Scottish Musical Museum.  As Scots moved away to all parts of the world, they took “Auld Lang Syne” with them, and it’s still with us today as our New Year’s anthem.

The only part of the song almost everybody gets right are those first couple of lines, “Should old acquaintance be forgot, and never brought to mind ….”  I never really thought of it as a question, but more like advice to move on into the new year and forget the past, as in, “old acquaintances” should be forgot and never brought to mind. 

But “should,” in this case, isn’t negative advice, it’s a positive question, suggesting that “should we lose touch” with someone, or if we lose touch with someone, or in case we lose touch with someone … “we should remember them.” 

The song tells us not to “forget” our past, but to celebrate our future with old friends.  It is our past that gives our lives traditions and meaning.  The second verse says to do it with “a cup of kindness” – a love that expresses our present situation.

That “brought to mind” two things regarding the Last Supper and the church’s communion table of Jesus which directs us toward hope in the future.

First, don’t ever forget Jesus … ever.  We are Christians all the time.  Jesus is our perpetual Sabbath – our rest, our peace, our inspiration, all the time.  Not just on Sunday, not just during prayer, devotionals, quiet time, scripture readings, or service opportunities through the week. I am married, all the time.  I love our children, all the time.  I am with Christ, all the time.  I don’t forget.  It’s how I live and it forms my future.

Two, as we encounter the broken bread of Christ, remember the fellowship and truth of the Last Supper; remember the inviting, broken bread of ancient and abiding fellowship.  Remember to encounter the communion cup of Christ as God’s kindness to us; it is the cup of this life and Jesus’ promise of eternal life.  The cup containing the blood of the new covenant suggests a future without end in the loving Kingdom of God. 

It is freeing to see the cup of Christ as a cup of eternal joy … a cup of kindness, if you will, even a cup of cheer; but not a cup of fear.  We diminish our relationship with Christ if we see the bread as purely a symbol of his body on the Cross and the cup only as the blood of His death. Our very real communion with Jesus and each other is our fellowship in His body and our life in His blood. Our joy is to live with Jesus all the time.

Jesus is an old acquaintance we must never forget, and always bring to mind.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) used this piece as a communion message Sunday at his church (e91church.com).  He also notes that at their New Year’s Eve “Auld Lang Syne” sing-along, nobody, after the first line, was singing the same words.  The correct words, in Scottish and English, are here (link) courtesy of Encyclopaedia Britannica. Suggestion: Hang on to them for next New Year’s Eve.