We partook in the Lord's Supper last Sunday. Sometimes that can get ... tedious. It's designed to remember Christ's sacrifice, but repetition can also breed ambivalence. This one was different for me.
It wasn't that they did anything different. It wasn't that they said anything different. It was simply the proximity of Christmas. Two weeks before, we had celebrated the Incarnation. "Incarnation" -- the "becoming flesh." That baby in the manger wasn't just another baby. He was God Incarnate, God made flesh, Emmanuel, God with us. With that truth still fresh in my mind, then, "This is My body, which is given for you" and "This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins" takes on a whole new weight. That baby in the manger was born for this. It didn't "just happen." It was the plan (Acts 4:26-28). That innocent baby, uniquely, remained innocent until His murder 33 years later and that blood that He shed for us remained innocent, too. For us. For a new covenant of forgiveness of sins.
As the media has demonstrated, repetition can breed credulity -- belief without substance. "Well, they told us it was an insurrection enough times. Must have been." "Well, they've told us often enough that a guy can be a girl, so it must be so." Repetition can breed familiarity, and sometimes familiarity can breed contempt. But Jesus said, "Do this in remembrance of Me," so this repetition must have genuine value and remembrance of His sacrifice is worth the repetition. We should be careful that it breeds awe and not apathy.
No comments:
Post a Comment