Clive Wearing: A Communion Message

In November, I was rostered for Communion duty for the first time.  This was the Homily I gave:

Welcome, this is now the time where we share communion, and if you are visiting our church, then please feel free to join in or to pass the elements on, whatever you feel most comfortable doing.  If you have your bibles with you let’s turn to 1 Corinthians 11:24-25.

Jesus says “Do this in remembrance of me.”   A few moments later he stresses the importance of this thought by repeating it: “Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

You may have had this passage brought to your attention many times. Today I’d like you to focus on these words in particular:   “In remembrance of me…”

Or to put it into less formal words, Jesus is saying “Remember me.”

I’d like to introduce you to Clive Wearing. Clive was an acclaimed musicologist, conductor, tenor and keyboardist.  By the time he was 47, he was at the height of his powers, an acknowledged expert in 14th Century to 18th Century European music and he was in charge of music for BBC Radio 3.   But in that year, his brain was attacked by a virus and now it cannot form new memories.  

He can only remember 30 seconds at a time. Every 30 seconds his brain reboots.  So every 30 seconds, he “wakes up” with no memory of the previous 30 seconds. As part of his therapy he was encouraged to keep a diary. You can see his entries next to his photograph. His entries repeatedly say, things like “I’m now awake,” or “I’m really awake”. But the previous entries are crossed out, because he has no memory of how they got there so he discounts them.

For Clive Wearing, with no memory, he is forever in the present, with no past and no way to plan a future.

And now we return to what Jesus said: “Remember me.” But in saying, “Remember me,” what memories is he referring to?

Let's read Jeremiah 29:11.

And unlike Brian Wearing, who without memories, can never make plans or have hope for the future, our memories of Jesus,  the sacrifice of his body for our sins, the shedding of His blood that cleanses us from sin, the memory of his interactions with him over the years, months, weeks, even in the last few hours or minutes, encourage us and give us hope for the future.  

But its possible that all this may seem very abstract and distant for you. Perhaps the idea of God talking to you or acting in your life and influencing your circumstances seems remote and far removed from your everyday experience,  then I encourage you to read on in this passage from Jeremiah: Jeremiah 29:12-14.

So you see, whether you are walking closely with God or if He seems remote and far away from you, Communion has something for us all.

And now we return to what Jesus said: “Remember me.”

May the servers come forward please

So let’s pray:

    “Blessed be you, O Lord our God, King of the Universe, who gives us the fruit of the vine, bread from the earth, and Jesus to be the true vine,

When we read Jesus’ words, “Remember me,” and as we eat this bread and wine, we remember,

we remember, His sacrifice for us  that redeemed us from our sins,

we remember, the things you have said, done and continue to do in our own lives,

we remember, the hope for the future that these memories bring,

we remember your invitation to seek you with all that we are,

and we remember, your promise that you will be found by us.

Amen.”

Thanks to my dear friend Anne Askey for the inspiration for this message.