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November 2006, Page 2.
Index of articles:
by subject,
by date.
In this issue:
(November 2006)
Be strong,
Remember me,
Don't wanna job,
Power of prayer?
Remember me, said Jesus
"Remember me," said Jesus, "Take this bread.
It means my body crucified and dead.
My soul is filled with sorrow and with dread,
and yet I give my life that you'll be fed.
My flesh is meat indeed," our Saviour said.
"Remember me," said Jesus, "Take this wine.
It represents my blood - a living sign.
Draw near and drink this cup, for you are mine.
Receive my life poured out: as I decline
I institute a covenant divine."
So bread and wine now mean his flesh and blood,
to be received by faith and understood
as cleansing souls and bodies by the flood
poured out for us upon the cross of wood,
all on that dreadful day, which bought our good.
As I draw near, my Lord, as I receive,
to you my Saviour and my friend I cleave.
O help my unbelief, for I believe.
O fill me with your Spirit, and relieve
the fears which rise as I approach life's eve.
As we draw near, Lord God, to share this meal,
we ask your grace, that deep divides may heal.
Bind us anew to Jesus, so reveal
the unity you give, that we may feel
your Spirit move among us, true and real.
Words and tune copyright © John Hartley 2006.
The tune can be found on our web site.
Many hymns on the Holy Communion take a fairly Catholic line on its theology, and I wrote these lines to try to redress the balance and to say positively what reception of the bread and wine might mean to those who take a reverent but not a high-church view of the sacrament. For Protestants also value the Supper!
As well as obeying Jesus’ instructions, we take the bread and wine to “receive the benefits of his precious death and passion" (Book of Common Prayer); and to be reassured that we truly belong to him, and he will never leave us nor forsake us. The Holy Communion can be our individual act of allegiance to Jesus.
But “communion" also means “fellowship” - we can’t do it solo, and it’s a recognition of the body of Christ in the assembly of believers. So it involves a commitment to the others who are gathered around the Lord’s table, and to Christian unity focussed on Christ. It’s supposed to make us aware of all three persons of the Trinity, and to engage our emotions as well as our wills and our minds.
John Hartley