Bringing it all together
Last week saw one of the most profound evenings of our course for training worship leaders. It was very enjoyable being able to listen to the speaker, rather than being one of the leaders, as we had a guest from the Diocese who came to talk about 'remembering'. Whilst much of it was focussed around how we structure services of remembrance - for important events, for Remembrance Sunday (the UK version of 'memorial day'), for those who have died etc etc there was a lot of deep thought went on about what it means to 'remember'.
I was struck again by how important 'remembering' is to us as human beings. As we re-member we integrate our history, both our personal history and our identity, and the 'big picture' - national identity and faith history into what it means to be ourselves. Remembering well is about bringing together all the disparate parts of our lives and making something whole.
So in our gathering week by week at Church we are re-membering the story of salvation, owning it, making it ours, telling our own story and inviting others to share in that story of what God has done. We bring it all together under God. In many ways that's what our faith is all about, about bringing wholeness, about integration and integrity, about not allowing any part of life to be beyond the touch of God in Christ.
Every time we share bread and wine we 'do this in remembrance of Christ' - we bring together the dis-membered body of Christ and proclaim the unity which faith should bring, until that day when we share the feast in Christ's kingdom.
And alongside this there are things to remember no more - to leave behind. The book of Isaiah shares the words of God 'remember not the former things of old, I am doing a new thing'. There are things which break us, hurts which damage us, fears which constrain us which need to be healed and 'got rid of'. God can do new things, move us on towards that healing and wholeness which is our goal. May we remember these things no more.
I was struck again by how important 'remembering' is to us as human beings. As we re-member we integrate our history, both our personal history and our identity, and the 'big picture' - national identity and faith history into what it means to be ourselves. Remembering well is about bringing together all the disparate parts of our lives and making something whole.
So in our gathering week by week at Church we are re-membering the story of salvation, owning it, making it ours, telling our own story and inviting others to share in that story of what God has done. We bring it all together under God. In many ways that's what our faith is all about, about bringing wholeness, about integration and integrity, about not allowing any part of life to be beyond the touch of God in Christ.
Every time we share bread and wine we 'do this in remembrance of Christ' - we bring together the dis-membered body of Christ and proclaim the unity which faith should bring, until that day when we share the feast in Christ's kingdom.
And alongside this there are things to remember no more - to leave behind. The book of Isaiah shares the words of God 'remember not the former things of old, I am doing a new thing'. There are things which break us, hurts which damage us, fears which constrain us which need to be healed and 'got rid of'. God can do new things, move us on towards that healing and wholeness which is our goal. May we remember these things no more.
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