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Living in the Now

I have been thinking about the uniqueness of the Lord’s Supper, or Communion, as a memorial event. Now memorial events are reasonably common in our culture – for example, we have Remembrance Day (11th Nov) in Commonwealth countries and the Fourth of July in the United States. Even birthdays can be thought of as “memorial events”, as we are celebrating the anniversary of our birth. Most of these memorials focus almost exclusively on what happened in the past: there was a significant event, and we want to keep remembering and recognising it. Sometimes there is a small aspect on the relevance of the event today, but it is largely marking the anniversary of a historical date.

The Lord’s Supper is different, in that it forms one point on a continuous timeline. It brings together the past, the present and the future at this one point in our lives. Yes, we remember the past: we look back as far as the origins of the Passover in the exodus narrative and the celebrations of the Passover throughout Israelite history. We look back to Jesus establishing the Lord’s Supper just before his death, and above all we remember His death – when He gave His body and His blood for our ransom. But we can keep looking back to the more recent past; at the history of the church since Jesus’ resurrection – at the continuous chain of believers gathering for this memorial feast from the first century right through to the present. We also look at the present: at the gathering of believers communing in the Supper with us and recognise the fellowship we have with them. But it does not even stop there. The Lord’s Supper is unlike any other memorial event, because we are “proclaiming the Lord’s death until he comes” (1 Cor 11:26). We look forward to that great heavenly feast, when we shall live with the Lord for all eternity. The Lord’s Supper is the point at which this invisible reality is made concrete. So we “remember” an event in the future; something which has not happened yet, but which we know will come to pass.

Psalm 130 covers all three of these aspects of time. First is the past (vv. 1-4), filled with its trouble and sins. Then in verses 5-6 is the present: waiting patiently on the Lord. Finally, we come to the future (vv. 7-8), anticipating the Lord’s triumph and plentiful redemption.

Now all of these aspects are important, and particularly that we live with our eternal destination in mind. However, I would like to focus on the “now”. We recognise from history that God is sovereign over the past, present and the future. We can trust Him to deliver on what He says that He will do. But the Lord’s Supper reminds us that now is now. Now is not the past, and it is not the future. It is an opportunity to remember the past, but we cannot live in it. It is a reminder to look forward to our future, but neither can we live in it. Rather, we should realise where we are not, and that God for it.

I have realised that I’ve spent too much time obsessing over the past; beating myself up for mistakes I have made and sins I have committed; opportunities I have missed and decisions I have made. Some of those I don’t know yet whether they were the right decision or not. Conversely, I have also spent too much time worrying about the future. Worrying about what could go wrong; worrying that I am going to mess up again. How will I stand in times of trial or temptation? Am I going to make the wrong decisions? I forget that the future is God’s domain; I live in the present – the “now”.

What I need to realise is that my past doesn’t define who I am. In fact, even I don’t define who I am. Only God can do that, and He says that I am a child of His. So my goal is to live as a son of God in the “now” – remembering the past and the future, but not trying to live in them.


Photograph by Kaique Rocha, via Pexels. 

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