How is “remembrance” different than “remember” in the Sacrament Prayers? The theme of the word “remember” is always the future action of the memory of what Christ taught us, who Christ is, the miracles He wrought and what He did for us in his atonement, death and resurrection. He is the Living Christ, the bread of Life, the peace in the storm, and the forgiving of sins through His tender mercies, merit and grace. He is love personified, not just any love, but the overpowering, consuming love of God (agape) that Peter couldn’t quite grasp on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, eating fish, the future symbol of the early Christian church. The risen Christ and the Holy Ghost wrap a person in love so powerful that it seems as if their very flesh will melt with joy unspeakable.
Contrary to the ideas brought up by “remember” in the Sacrament Prayers is the phrase “In Remembrance” which signifies more of a funeral rite, a respectful memorial at a funeral. The thesaurus dictionaries use the synonyms of this phrase to mean: celebratory, memorial, commemoratory, dedicatory, in memory, observing,[i] and a greeting or gift recalling or expressing friendship or affection.[ii]
The gift we give is our broken heart and contrite spirit, the very yearning centre of our beings. Nothing short of our whole soul will do for this memorial, this token of our appreciation. As He has given all, so too do we in utter gratitude at the magnitude give our all, even though it is only a small token, like flowers, in comparison to His gift.
We often put markers, tombstones, even videos at gravesites. There are phrases on the tombstones reminding us of what the person did or who he or she was and what the person means to others. The tombstones are decorated either on holidays or continuously with flowers which have been found even surrounding Neanderthal graves.
In India there is a tradition where the descendant who has finished having children will visit the ancestral home of his family in Hindu holy city of Haridwar, much like Joseph and Mary did Bethlehem but for a different reason. He will look up the genealogist of his particular family line, and add his children to the ancient book. Then the genealogist will read the family names going back generations and in some cases 100’s of years. The names have attached to them not only their children, but pithy phrases of life’s wisdom learned by the ancestor in his sojourn in life. The descendent will then add his wisdom to the book.[iii]
This reverence for one’s ancestors, and hearing their words passed on down through the generations is the essence of “in remembrance”. We are part of a larger family, a line of ancestors stretching back through the mists of time, yet timeless, like the tribes of Jacob (Israel), having a mission in life due to our inheritance. We remember them by honouring them with lives well lived, passing down to our children indelible essence of being who we are in the line of generations of our family.
We are also of the lineage of Jesus Christ. When we are baptized, we are adopted into his family where God is not only His Father but ours as well. As Paul says in Romans:
Romans 8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
So like the grieving family at the funeral of their father, we come to the celebratory memorial service of our adopted family member Christ, our brother, sharing the same eternal Father. We are adopted sons and daughters, beloved by Him, bestowed with the His gifts and privileges, and having the same opportunity to show respect and honor. The Lord’s Supper, is so much more than Christmas and Easter flowers on a grave. “In remembrance” of his body and blood is so much more than a wall of flowers at the murder site of someone famous. Becoming like Christ, honoring the adoption, filling our thoughts, words, and deeds with the inheritance of His Spirit, His love, His deeds of merciful service to those so ignored and forgotten is the essence of the phrase “in remembrance”.
[i] http://www.thesaurus.com/browse/in%20remembrance
[ii] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/remembrance
[iii] https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/India,_Hindu_Pilgrimage_Records_(FamilySearch_Historical_Records)