Lenten Reflection, Sunday, March 1, 2020
By: David May
This Lent, I want to hold up before us the words of Jesus at the last meal he shared with his friends when he said, ‘Do this in remembrance of me.’ I treasure the clarity of his words, ‘Do this.’ Think about it, yes. Talk about it, yes. Wonder at the mystery of it all, yes. But most of all, ‘Do this.’
Jesus was specifically talking about sharing a sacred meal and with one another, and being fed by his life to live a life like his. Perhaps his instructions to ‘Do this’ given at this last meal can be just the beginning of many kinds of ‘do this’ in remembrance of him.
In preparing for Lent, some of us have been thinking about the ways that Jesus lived and naming some of the key characteristics of his life. We wondered, what would it be like if we applied Jesus’s ‘Do this’ from the Last Supper to those key aspects of his life? For example, Jesus forgave. Shouldn’t we ‘Do this’ – forgive – in remembrance of him? Jesus showed compassion. Shouldn’t we ‘Do this’ – show compassion – in remembrance of him?
Our Wednesday night Lenten Dinner and Speaker series begins this Wednesday. I am excited about the four speakers who will be joining us to discuss a key aspects of how Jesus lived his life and how we are called to ‘Do this’ in remembrance of him. Here’s our Lenten speaker schedule and the topics about which each will be sharing:
March 4: The Rev. Whitney Z. Edwards – ‘Proclaim’
March 11: The Rev. Ben Campbell – ‘Show compassion’
March 18: The Rev. Deacon Peggy Newman – ‘Forgive’
March 25: Dr. Charles Bryan – ‘Heal’
As baptized Christians and followers of Jesus, we are called to live lives like him. Proclaim good news, show compassion, forgive, heal – do this in remembrance of me. We’ll begin with a simple meal together beginning at 5:30 p.m. followed by our speaker’s presentation starting at 6:15 p.m. We’ll conclude by 7 p.m. with evening prayers. I hope you can join us for as many of these Wednesday evenings as you can, as we ‘Do this’ in remembrance of Jesus.