The Beauty of Remembering God's Love
How the Sacraments Especially Cause Us to Be at Peace in the World's Turmoil
Good Morning,
This week is a busy week in the life of the church. We have our first meeting of presbytery for the year today and this coming weekend Bethany has an outreach event on Saturday and then our annual missions Sunday along with a luncheon and a baptism. God is doing wonderful things as the spring of the year comes upon us. We are reminded of His goodness and His grace in new and fresh ways. There is something special about the earth beginning its slow crawl to summer as the bulbs planted in the fall come to seek out the light and flash their bright colors.
In our Thursday time as we walk through the Directory of Public Worship we are currently looking at the sacraments of the church. It is worthwhile then with the forward movement of the sun to consider afresh the way the Son calls us in baptism and the Lord’s Supper to look back in the midst of our springing forward in time and space. When Christ gives the instructions to His disciples in the Upper Room He says, “And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”.
What exactly does it mean then to remember Jesus when we take the Supper? On hand Jesus is not encouraging us to literally make a scene of the Lord’s Table in our head. That would be a violation of the Second Commandment. Often when the Bible tells God’s covenant people to remember it is better understood as a word to stand fast in that which you know. It’s similar to what Paul is doing in Hebrews 11 as he lists one after another the exploits of the faithful men and women of God in the Old Testament. He isn’t performing a hall of fame speech on behalf of those named. We who have read the Scriptures know all about what he is talking of, his purpose is to push us towards deepening our love of the one that they loved by faith. In other words what made Abraham trust in the promised deliverance of his son Isaac? It was that he remembered the biblical examples and he remembered the very nature of God. This caused Abraham to be still.
The same is true here of the reason why Jesus would have us remember as we eat the bread particularly in the Lord’s Supper. The bread moves us to consider afresh the Incarnation, the active obedience of Christ, the way the crowds mocked Him, reviled Him, how He was beaten and died on the Cross due to our transgressions. These remembrances are meant to cause us as we commune together to be lifted up in spirit into the very heaven of heavens of joy and thanksgiving for the goodness and love of God in the sending of His son for our salvation. It is in these remembrances that we feed by faith on the body of the Lord and receive all the benefits of this part of the Lord’s Supper. There is an opportunity here to be refreshed and renewed and be more ready for the spiritual battle being waged in and around us. Remembering gives peace.
When we bring Baptism into the mix Scripture also provides a similar blessing. Just as Communion is the new covenant sign of the old covenant promise of the Passover, so to is Baptism the new covenant sign of the old covenant promise of Circumcision. Just like in the old covenant so to in the new covenant while it is ordinarily applied to the children of believers the sacrament is available to any who would come to faith and seek membership in the covenant community regardless of age. The blessed expansion of the new covenant is that not only are the male members of the household eligible to receive this sign, so to are the ladies. In the Christian Church then when we think about the way remembrance is of use in baptism our Larger Catechism even helpfully advises us on how to use this mercy in our own spiritual life. It says:
Q. 167. How is our Baptism to be improved by us?
A. The needful but much neglected duty of improving our Baptism, is to be performed by us all our life long, especially in the time of temptation, and when we are present at the administration of it to others, by serious and thankful consideration of the nature of it, and of the ends for which Christ instituted it, the privileges and benefits conferred and sealed thereby, and our solemn vow made therein; by being humbled for our sinful defilement, our falling short of, and walking contrary to, the grace of the Baptism and our engagements; by growing up to assurance of pardon of sin, and of all other blessings sealed to us in that Sacrament; by drawing strength from the death and resurrection of Christ, into whom we are baptized, for the mortifying of sin, and quickening of grace; and by endeavoring to live by faith, to have our conversation in holiness and righteousness, as those that have therein given up their names to Christ; and to walk in brotherly love, as being baptized by the same Spirit into one body.
As you read the Q/A you see that much like the Lord’s Supper the sacrament of Baptism is not a one-time event that we forget. It also deals with the objection to the sign being given to infants that they “won’t remember” the day. There is a use noted above that as we consider our situation in life it is always a benefit to know that we belong body and soul to the Lord Jesus Christ by the fact that we are visible members of His kingdom. Due to that we receive all the protections of our King and can know His grace is gifted and granted unto us as a sign of His love in Baptism.
In closing, Psalm 46 is well-loved for many reasons. One of the most central is the line in verse 7, “The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.”. How does Asaph know this? It is simply because that is always the way Jehovah has been. If He is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and we confess that He is, then the same peace which Abraham experienced, the same comfort that Jesus knew, and the same praise that Hannah expressed is ours for they all remembered the faithfulness of God and found their rest and peace in Him.
Last word:
https://learn.ligonier.org/articles/observing-baptism-means-grace
Blessings in Christ,
Rev. Benjamin Glaser
Pastor, Bethany ARP Church