THIS DO IN REMEMBRANCE OF ME . . . for 14 seconds
Recently, I was interviewed on Stories of Amazing Grace. It was published on December 4: Stories of Amazing Grace
Early in the interview, a question arose about how COVID hurt the church. I observed, “The biggest thing we lost in COVID was the Lord’s Supper.”
Gail and I visited a church a few months ago. I probably shouldn’t have been peeping at my watch, but I was. From the time a brother finished offering thanks for the bread until he started the prayer for the fruit of the vine, it was seven seconds. It was seven seconds from the time he finished the prayer for the fruit of the vine until he began the prayer for the contribution.
We had fourteen seconds to “DO THIS IN REMEMBRANCE OF ME,” examine ourselves, and look forward to His return.
I’ve practiced counting to seven twice during the Lord’s Supper for forty-seven years.
During the bread, I think of:
- One Lord.
- Two thieves.
- Three crosses.
- Four soldiers.
- Five wounds.
- Six hours.
- Seven sayings.
After drinking the fruit of the vine, I think of the seven sayings:
- “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” Luke 23:34
- “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” Luke 23:43
- “Woman, behold your Son! Behold your mother!” John 19:26, 27
- “My God, My God, why have You forsaken me?” Mark 15:34
- “I thirst.” John 19:28
- “It is finished.” John 19:30
- “Father, into Your hands I commit my spirit.” Luke 23:46
See my blog post on this: The Lord’s Supper: Count to Seven — Twice
There’s no way I can do that in fourteen seconds. How difficult would it be to read a song about the cross, read a passage about Jesus and His death, or any other meaningful reflection on the purpose of the memorial that Jesus gave us in fourteen seconds?
I find many presiders allow thirty seconds between prayers. That’s twenty-three seconds better than seven.
A suggestion for men who preside: after giving thanks, pause, be seated, and allow time between bread, the fruit of the vine, and contribution.
Worship shouldn’t be a checklist of the “items of worship.” Jesus said:
God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth (John 4:24, ESV).
This Reader’s Digest version of the Lord’s Supper reminds me of a story of a song leader who announced the closing song, Take Time to Be Holy. He added, “Since we’re running late, we’ll only sing the first verse.”
What changes have you noticed in the Lord’s Supper since COVID? Please comment below.
Recent episodes of Gleaning Mustard Seeds:
These two episodes relate to one of my most powerful conversations. This two-part conversation illustrates this observation: People don’t sin because they think about sinning. People sin because they don’t think about sinning enough.
You can listen to both episodes in 19 minutes and 2 seconds.
Episode 24: Why do people make bad decisions? 1
Episode 25: Why do people make bad decisions? 2
If these “mustard seeds” are helpful, please share them with a friend: Gleaning Mustard Seeds with Jerrie Barber
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Thank you brother. We need not rush through anything in our worship. Or making excuses because our time is limited. We don’t see this happening at all in the.OT or NT perhaps if we don’t have the time for our worship to our God maybe He won’t have time for us.
Thank you for reading and responding.
Excellent point, Jerrie. I think that both pre-Covid and post, there has been a tendency to see the communion time as a checklist item. Our practice during communion is to post a Scripture related to the morning message on the screens, have someone to share prepared thoughts about that Scripture and how it relates to remembering Jesus and impacting our lives. We do a separate text and comments for both the bread and the juice, allotting 10 to 15 minutes for communion and collection (also a text and comments). That could certainly be expanded, but allows for fair amount of time for remembering and reflecting. If we come together to break bread as our focus, it seems reasonable that communion should be the focus of our time together – not a 14 second check off.
That’s unusual and refreshing. During an interim in Jeffersonville, Indiana, I saw this emphasis. A brother would lead us in thoughts about the Lord’s Supper. Each person prepared and it was evident. It wasn’t unusual for there to be PowerPoint slides. A separate person gave reflections (“separate and apart”) on the blessings of being able to give. Neither were rushed. I heard no complaints. That’s just the way they did it there. I was encouraged and impressed.
Jerrie, thank you for saying this. During the pandemic, we started using those little communion kits, they’ve got the bread and the wine in them, pick one up in the back and communion lasts, as you say, fourteen seconds. The pandemic is over but we keep on using them, in some churches, just because that’s the easier way to do communion. I don’t like doing anything in worship just because it’s more convenient
Ron, It’s interesting how interruption and pain can bring a new, undesirable habit and we forget we can change again after the danger is over.
I don’t really see much difference between now with the communion packages and before COVID with the passing of the trays.
Here’s what I mean by that. How long, truly, did quite a lot of those of us in the pews spend actually focusing on remembering Christ’s death during the 5-8 minutes it took for the bread and then the fruit of the vine to be passed to each row of pews in the congregation?
I’ve been attending the Lord’s church for most of my life, baptized in 1986, preaching full time since 2000. As a preacher between 2000 and 2020 when COVID hit, and before that as a Christian who helped pass the trays on a regular basis from 1986 to 2000, I have observed quite a lot of my brethren — most, I would have to say, including myself in this for quite a while — clearly NOT thinking about Christ during the time it took for each serving of trays to make their way through the auditorium.
As someone who passed the trays, I admit that most of the time I put most of my focus on passing the trays and making sure everyone was served, not remembering Christ myself during that time period. In my time as a preacher, many men who pass the trays have told me that they have the same failing. We tend to take less time than the 14 seconds you mentioned in your article to think of Jesus if we do it at all, because all of our focus is on passing the trays.
Additionally, many over the years that I’ve been a preacher have admitted to me that they regularly stare off into space letting their mind wander during the entire time or, at best, use about the time you mentioned in your article – 14 seconds – to think on Christ before letting their minds wander. And that’s the best case scenario, as I have regularly observed many spending the time while the trays are passed writing their check for the contribution, sleeping, whispering to their neighbor, making faces at the cute baby in front of them, etc. Before I became a preacher, I was guilty of this most of the time, and since I’ve became a preacher there have still been times when I have let myself do this.
I bring this out because the time factor since COVID with the communion packages replacing the trays – on average 14 seconds based on your article – is really just a symptom of a much deeper problem, a problem which if not addressed and changed will still be around even if your congregation sets aside minutes instead of seconds for each aspect of communion. That problem is the lack of discipline needed to focus on what we must focus on, which in turn points to what is likely the main problem: apathy about Christ’s death.
Until all of us get to where we, like you, Jerrie, purpose in our hearts to focus on particular things about Christ’s death during that time because we care so much about him and are so grateful for his death, it won’t matter whether we have 14 seconds to do so or 10 minutes.
Jon,
Good observation.
Thank you for your honest perspective of yourself and observation of others. Focused thinking is a challenge.
This presents opportunities for teachers, preachers, and parents.
I’ve preached the sermon mentioned in this post many times. I pass out a 3″ x 5″ card with the two lists of sevens. I’ve had many people years afterward show me the card in their Bible. They use it as a weekly reminder during the Lord’s Supper.
Thanks again for helping us think. We are not very effective at taking time to “be holy”. Intentional worship is tough for our fragmented minds to focus on.
Ken,
Thank you for your comment.