In a few minutes we will once again participate in the work of memory. . . memory on multiple levels.
Every Sunday as we come together in the larger context and shape of worship, we are remembering important teachings from Jesus, and we also remembering how they shape our relationship with God. Memory is behind much of what we do in worship—we remember where God has taken us from and where God carries us to and towards.
Yet today we are also remembering the table which is set before us.
These elements of bread and the cup, they also bring to mind the sacrifice of our Savior in vivid details. In themselves, the bread and the cup, they tell us the story of his love and of his suffering, death, and resurrection. These simple elements also whisper to us about our hope for our future. They speak about God’s reconciliatory work that is accomplished in Christ Jesus.
But they are not the only symbols which sit before us.
For we are also here to remember something/someone else.
For every one of us, those physically in this space, those watching at home live, and those watching at a later date, we recall those who are not with us any longer.
This is another act of memory that is crucially important in the context of worship. Those lives speak to us, and even if they did not worship here, or directly teach us any lessons of faith that we share with our families and our children, they tell us something about the Lord and, again, his reconciliatory, healing, work in Christ Jesus.
So, as we participate in the All-Saints memorial soon, we remember our friends, our family, our loved ones who have entered the Church Triumphant. Even if they are not on THIS year’s list. . . they are on OUR list.
Memory. It is something that Paul speaks about in Ephesians 1 to us and to the church in the city of Ephesus. The Apostle does this with a few key terms and phrases. I want to draw you attention to them now.
Move 1- Inheritance.
The first of those terms is: Inheritance. Before he invites the church to remember Paul pulls their eyes, he draws their eyes, forward to that which God promises to give the church.
But this is not just a promised reward that is given to the faithful people or to a faithful church only—that would be good, and I would like that. This inheritance is more than something that we can deposit or count. Only occurring in the New Testament generally in this one verse, Paul has a deeper theological understanding that he wishes to convey to the pluralistic community of Ephesus for inheritance.
“Th[is] verb underscores the believer’s secure place in God’s redemptive purpose, portraying salvation as an “inherit[ed] appointment” accomplished in Christ.”[1]
That’s a mouthful, but it is truth that we cannot deny.
Because we are unified with Christ, linked with Christ in a bond at our conversion, the believer is held secure with the Lord always and forever. This has been promised upon in the Old Testament by God, taught to us in Jesus in the gospel, and as Paul writes to the Christians in Ephesus, it is our source of future hope today.
For our presence and our relationship with Christ is neither an accident nor a casual thing. We were, and we are, chosen by God. It is our inherited place that persists regardless of the daily circumstances—long after trials and struggles. We are in Christ, and we are chosen by God—as are the people who God calls you to care for, to serve, and to love.
We remember our inheritance as we remember the Table before us and those who are now resting, and celebrating, with the Lord. As we have this inheritance to fall back on, to rest in at a future date, it is our calling to share this good news with others and to help them learn of it, so that they can build their own relationship with Christ Jesus.
Move 2- memory
Inheritance is one concept that Paul spoke about in our text today and it is profound. But I want to remind you of a second one: Memory.
Memory serves an additional purpose that helps reinforce and remind us of our inheritance that is promised and delivered upon because we are in Christ.
Besides being theological for Paul in nature and reminding us of our union in Christ as the Church, and besides reminding us of our relationship with God that endures throughout the generations, and of the work that God did to choose, memory has an active position and purpose that we see at work here.
For Paul, the memory that he speaks about to the church at Ephesus is positive.
Paul’s work of memory takes the shape and structure of positive memories when it would be possible, and perhaps permissible, to only dwell on the negative—a task and position that we see often around us.
Paul thanks the Lord for all the good things, good moments and wonderful blessings that he has witnessed in the life of the Ephesians where ministry is being done for the glory and honor of God. This is not an easy task for Ephesus was a city where Jesus was taught but so was every other faith and religion—some to a higher level and passion than God.
It would be easy to let that news cause our shoulders to slump a bit; to think that this (whatever this is) that it won’t work here… in this context. But the Ephesians do not do this, and Paul thanks the Lord that he was able to witness it firsthand.
Dwelling on the negative, remembering the negative, that is a very 21st century thing to do. As you know, we see this happening in so many places and with so many people.
Without a posture of gratefulness as a church, and as individuals in the church, we lose our way and our memory of how good God has been for us fades.
We lose our focus, and we lose our sense of calling in the Lord. We lose our way when we are not grateful in the work of memory that we do. Memory is a crucial part of what we do today at our All-Saints Day memorial and at the Table for the two services are linked the memories that we have of Jesus breaking bread and pouring the cup.
And memory is also what we will do at Bethesda over the next 2 days as we help a pair of families remember. . .
Conclusion
Memory and inheritance are why we need to come time and again to moments like this as a church. I hope that as we continue, and as you hear the names, and partake of the sacrament your memories of a faithful God, a God who has given you a great inheritance, will bubble up. And as they do, perhaps this will be the time when you can that blessing with someone else.
DM
