Do This in Remembrance . . .

By Connie McWilliams

The sacrament of the Lord’s Supper has always been of great significance to me. I have witnessed the power and beauty of God’s grace as it is able to touch our lives when we come to the table in the spirit of humility and forgiveness to renew our covenant with Christ and seek strength and unity as the body of Christ.

When I was a youth leader, we had scheduled a youth witnessing weekend. On Saturday, a car arrived with several rather reluctant youths who had been invited by a neighboring church member. They soon became an excited part of the weekend activities. They returned on Sunday without hesitation.

The children’s enthusiasm brought the parents to church, and after seekers classes were held, the parents and four of children were baptized. The two younger children were blessed at that same very special service. I remember that the father wanted to lead the way by being baptized first, and then I watched this man, standing dripping wet with big tears rolling down his face, as his wife and children were baptized.

As time went on the children grew up and went in different geographic directions. The father developed heart disease at an early age; the man who had lugged a hundred pounds of beef all his life was restricted to lifting no more than five pounds. At this time, need became evident, and the same witnessing neighbor contacted the local congregation for help on their behalf.

About a year later, the man came into my office and gave me double the amount he had received in financial aid. “I want to help others when they need it, like the church helped us,” he said. “Please give this to the church for us.”

When my husband and I were notified of his death some time after that, we decided to visit the family home where the widow still resided. We had been taking Communion to shut-ins that Sunday and decided to take the Communion emblems with us. We arrived at the home, and all six children were with their mother, along with their spouses and numerous grandchildren. When asked if they would like to share together in the sacrament of Communion, there was no hesitation in accepting. It had been years since they had been all together and able to share in the sacrament.

A quiet reverence enveloped us as the prayers were read and the emblems were partaken in this humble home. This was to become one of the most memorable Communion services of my life. It was in this untraditional Communion setting that the Holy Spirit touched us all as we remembered the past and acknowledged the present and the future made possible by the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross.

Covenants were renewed, sins were forgiven, divine love flowed freely, and the promises of the Holy Spirit’s comfort and strength were received. “Do this in remembrance of me” resounded in this moment of sacrament and holy communion with God and his children, and I shall not forget.

Recently, one of the sons contacted me to share his dream of starting a business. We recalled that special Communion experience, and he testified how it had brought him closer to God. Then we prayed together over the business plan laid out on my desk for the Lord’s will to be done.

Today he is running a successful business with God as his partner. The sacraments, witnessing, stewardship, and discipleship are truly meant to be of great significance and interrelated in our lives, just as this one family’s story testifies.