This week is the Sunday for our quarterly communion, and as a part of our worship, we will be singing a new song by Matt Maher and Matt Redman called Remembrance. They say that they set out to write a song for communion because there are few communion songs in the church repertoire. As I sing this song, and think through the lyrics, I love the depth of the lyrics, the poetic quality, and the theological foundation on which they’re based.
Before we get to the best lines, we have to wade through Verse 1, where there is much that could be debated, and much to be misunderstood. The first line, “Oh how could it be, that my God would welcome me into this mystery” isn’t ambiguous, but the next line, “Say take this bread, take this wine. Now the simple made divine, for any to receive” causes me pause and thought.
Let me give you some history.
In 1 Corinthians 11:23-26, Paul tells us, “23 For xI received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that ythe Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body which is for5 you. Do this in remembrance of me.”6 25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death zuntil he comes.”
The words that have caused much discussion are the words, “This is my body,” and “This cup is the new covenant in my blood.” The cause for division has been the extent to which the church takes the words Christ spoke here. There are three levels of interpretation. The Roman Catholic Church takes Christ quite literally, and they believe that when the elements have been consecrated by a priest, they actually become the literal body and blood of Jesus Christ. To follow, they believe that when the bread is broken and the cup is poured, the Body and Blood present are sacrificed and imparting Christ’s grace on those gathered. (By the way, my source here is Systematic Theology by Wayne Grudem, so Catholic friends, feel free to correct me).
This is why, in the history of the Catholic church, commoners weren’t allowed to drink from the cup. There we a concern that they might spill the literal Blood of Jesus Christ, thus desecrating the sacrifice. The Catholic view assumes that Christ was being literal when he spoke, yet Christ frequently uses symbols when speaking about Himself. For example, He says that He is the vine (John 10:9) and that He is the door through which we must enter the Kingdom (John 6:14). Jesus also frequently made his points using parables as symbols. Therefore, we can be confident in knowing that Christ might use symbols to highlight His point. Also, the disciples at the Last Supper certainly would not have misunderstood Christ’s symbols as He broke the bread and poured the cup. The cup is not itself the new covenant, but rather a picture of what the new covenant is, Christ’s blood poured out for our sins.
The biggest objection to the Catholic view centers on their belief that each Eucharist is a sacrifice for our sins. Hebrews 9:25-28 debunks the idea of this being a sacrifice offered each time for sin. “Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.” One sacrifice for all time!
The Lutherans meet somewhere in the middle with their belief in consubstantiation, or that Christ’s Body and Blood are present in the Bread and the Cup, much like water is present in a sponge, but the sponge is not water. The last view is that the Lord’s Supper is a symbol that helps us to remember the covenant that we have in His Body and Blood.
Why does all of this matter? Because Matt Maher, one of the two writers is Catholic. “Now the simple made divine” could easily mean, now the bread become the Body, etc. However, I don’t think that’s what they mean here. Matt Redman is not Catholic, and they both stated that as they wrote this song, they deliberately stayed away from doctrinal differences in interpretation. This line would never have made it if it was talking about Transubstantiation. Rather, I think the line is simply saying that the simple act of eating the bread and drinking the cup has a significance beyond simply eating and drinking. We certainly see this from Paul, who says in right after the usual communion passage, “27 aWhoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord bin an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning cthe body and blood of the Lord. 28 dLet a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.”
Paul wanted to make sure that the Corinthians understood that remembering our Savior is not just eating and drinking. Paul isn’t saying we need to be sinless, rather, he’s saying we must examine ourselves. I don’t know about you, but serious self examination leads me to the cross. As we examine ourselves, we eat and drink together and are reminded that it was while we were yet sinners that Christ gave His life for us. Communion is a symbol by which we can proclaim to the world the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
Let’s move on through the song. The last paragraph is summed up in the pre-chorus that says “By Your mercy we come to Your table, by Your grace You are making us faithful.” It is in recognition of His wonderful mercy that we come to celebrate His sacrifice. And it is only by the Grace of God that we are faithful at all!
That brings us to the chorus, which is my favorite part of this song. I love the progression here. Lord, we remember You, and as we remember Your sacrifice, we worship You, and as we worship You, we celebrate Your sacrifice at the Table. As we are responding at the Table, we remember You. What a wonderful cycle of worship! Are we not getting a glimpse of heaven? We see in Revelation that we’ll be before the throne singing Worthy is the Lamb who was slain! We’ll be remembering His sacrifice just as we do when we share the Table, yet in heaven, we’ll really get it. We’ll really understand His majesty! We’ll really understand what He did in becoming man, and we won’t need a symbol to see how He loved us at the cross!
Ouch, I’m into page three, and I’m not even halfway through the song, so I’ll try to hurry up. The next verse shows us both the Hope we have in Christ, and the Grace He shows us. On the cross, He overcame every trial we have faced and ever will face. And not just that, but there is no one who is outside of the range of God’s Grace if they would but come to the cross. All sins are forgiven at the cross. We must share this with the world around us!
Finally, let me touch on the bridge, where the lyric is, “Dying You destroyed our death, Rising You restored our life.” When I hear this line, I’m reminded of the way Pastor Mark baptized people, as they went under water, he would say, “United with Him in His death,” and as he lifted you up he would say, “Raised to new life in His resurrection.” Here is another symbol of how we connect with Christ through the cross. When He died on the cross and then rose from the grave, He won a victory over death itself, and when we follow Him, we too will see victory over death as we live eternally with Him! May He return soon so we might see His face!
