Do This in Remembrance of Me

2:44 This do in remembrance of me. You may be seated in the presence of the Lord. Every October, we change our regular routine of worship and move our celebration of communion from the second Sunday to the first Sunday. And the reason we do that is that first Sunday around the world is World Communion Day. It is that Sunday when Christians around the globe seek to elevate themselves above our denominational differences and doctrinal divisions and embrace the essence of what makes us Christian through an act of unity as around the world, collectively, we all take the Lord's Supper.

3:41 It's interesting, Deacon Easter, that the universal church would choose communion as the act of unity when one would realize that how we take communion is probably one of the most divergent and divisive practices within all the body of Christ. Everybody takes communion differently.

4:08 I was surprised to find this out because, as you all know, I was raised in an old school Baptist church on the south side of Chicago. Lillydale Progressive Missionary Baptist Church. And honestly, I don't know why they called it progressive. There was nothing progressive about that church at all. It was as old school as old school Baptist can be. And if you were ever raised in an old school Baptist church, you know that there were some signs and symbols that cue you into the reality that this is an old school Baptist church. It was old school Baptist because there was no clock in the sanctuary.

5:02 Worship wasn't going to start on time. And it was clear once you got in there, you wasn't fitting to go anywhere anytime soon. There was no hour of power in an old school Baptist church. 11 o'clock service started around 1130. And if you get out anytime before 245, the Holy Ghost has shown up quick. It was an old school Baptist church. We didn't have praise and worship. We had devotions led by the deacons who would line out hymns every Sunday like, Father, I stretch my hand to thee. Though all the help I know. Deacons, they could sing and pray. Felt you had to sing in order to be a deacon. I wonder how a deacon-led devotion would sound at Alfred Street.

5:59 It was an old school, old school Baptist church. The choir didn't just walk in and sit in the choir loft, no. They had a choreographed procession that they'd been working on all week long. Sometimes they rehearse that more than the songs, but you know, they look good coming in. It took them about 12 minutes, but they look good getting in. You know it was an old school Baptist church because then the announcement clerk would come. She knew it was her time, but she was all the way in the back of church and it took about three to four minutes to walk up to the front. She'd open up that bulletin and read every word of every announcement and then end by telling you the menu for dinner after church.

6:54 And although we used to get irritated when Sister Sadie Willis would read all those announcements, there was a reason for it because everyone in that church was not privileged with education and they were not literate and rather than embarrassing someone for their lack of literacy, someone would get up and read all of the announcements. It was old school Baptists. We sang the Lord's Prayer every Sunday. And I'm not talking about the quick easy version. talking about the 12-minute remix that took forever to get through. It was about as old school as old school could be. We didn't have lyrics up on the screen. You had an old wooden tablet on the wall over there with numbers on it. And those numbers corresponded to hymn numbers in that green hymnal. And when you opened up that hymnal to that hymn, you were going to sing all four verses of that hymn.

7:50 It was an old school Baptist church. Dr. Gunn, you know about it, you couldn't just sit wherever you wanted. There were reserved seats in that sanctuary. Mark, there were chairs up in front of the pulpit where the deacons would sit and fall asleep every Sunday. Two to three rows on the left hand side and the back. You couldn't just sit there. That was reserved for the mother's board. Some of y'all don't know what the mother's board is. That's for the reverence of the older ladies in church who had crossed over 80 and could now wear them thick white dresses that were stain proof, you know. Panty holes so thick you couldn't even see through them. They would sit right there with them little doilies on their head. We had a bench over to the left and that bench right over there, that wasn't for trustees, that bench wasn't for church council, that wasn't for leaders, that was called the mourners bench.

8:46 If you ain't old school, you don't know about the mourners bench. That's where grandma put you when she was praying for you to accept Jesus Christ in pardon of your sins. And while you would sit there, they'd be praying for you. And I know a whole lot of folk who gave their life to Jesus just to get up off that bench. We had proper protocol in this Old School Baptist Church. You know Old School Baptist because you never walk in front of the pulpit when the preacher is talking. Old School Baptist, you don't just leave church. That's disrespectful. You put a finger up. Now, I don't know if the finger meant how long you're going to be gone or what you were leaving to do. All I know is I never saw anybody put up two. Amen.

9:37 Old school Baptists, if you caught the Holy Ghost, because that's the language we use, you didn't get happy and you weren't overcome with the, you caught the Holy Ghost. If you caught the Holy Ghost, the sisters would form a circle around you and keep you from bumping into anything and hitting something and hurting yourself. And if you got slain in the spirit and laid out, they had towels ready for you. Pull them out and just throw them over you so all your goodies wouldn't be seen, you know. And then they'll go get some smelling salt and ammonia and rub it in front of you to wake you up. It was an old school Baptist church. Old school. We didn't have dressed down Sundays. Not a little progressive missionary Baptist church.

10:32 When you went to church, you wore what were called church clothes. them were the clothes in your closet that were reserved for Sunday and you wore them to church and when you got home you immediately took them off and put on your play clothes because church clothes were what you wore when you came to worship Jesus Christ it was an old school back you know how you know it's old school when your pastor was known by two initials William, our pastor was L.R. Jackson. It wasn't until I was grown that I found out L.R. stood for Lawrence Robert Jackson, but there was a reason old school pastors went by two initials. Most of them had been raised in a segregated and racist society where one of the ways white men would disrespect black men was to use nicknames. Nicknames were almost a disrespect as if to suggest you did not earn the right to carry a full Christian Eurocentric name.

11:35 And so rather than calling somebody Howard, they would call them Howie. And Howie was disrespectful. So old school pastors went by two initials because in their mind, if you don't know my full first name, you can never disrespect me. Go on, teach Pastor Wesley. It was old school Baptist, and the way we knew it was old school Baptist was first Sundays. First Sunday in an old school Baptist church was serious business, because that was Communion Sunday. If there's anything an old school Baptist church took seriously, it was communion. Communion would be at the end of service And Dr. Gunn, we would ask all the guests to leave Because the communion was closed And if you weren't a member of Lillydale Progressive Missionary Baptist Church You weren't fitting to get no communion And after the guests left If you looked in the back of church You'd see the deaconess forming back there See, y'all are new school Y'all ordain women to serve You believe in this equality of men and women but in an old school church, there were no female deacons.

12:54 You were the wife of a deacon, and that made you a deaconess. And them deaconess would be in the back, and they'd be putting on those white gloves. And they would drape the communion table in white linen. And they would roll the communion table down the aisle. Because the one thing we took seriously at an old school Baptist church was the communion table. You didn't play around the communion table. You didn't set your purse on the communion table. You going to hell if you touch that table.

13:26 They'd roll that table on down and bring it to the front, and with precision, they would fold up those linens and lay them off to the side. And then communion began by reciting the Baptist covenant. Now, if you didn't know the words, that's all right. It was written on the wall right over there. Some of y'all are old school. you remember this, having been led as we believe to receive the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior and all the profession of our faith, we do now in the presence of God, angels, and those assembled joyfully and willingly enter the covenant with one another as one body in Christ. We engage, therefore, by the aid of the Holy Spirit to walk circumspectically in the world, to be slow to take offense, but always ready for reconciliation, being mindful of the rules of our Savior and to apply them without delay. We engage to abstain from the sale and use of intoxicating drink as a beverage. Whole lot of saints got quiet at that part.

14:31 And then the deacons would come and they would pass out communion. There were two trays. The first tray was the bread. But if you were old school Baptist, it wasn't bread. It was a little square piece of edible chalk.

14:51 That when you bit down on it, it was so dry, it was like glue in it. Just shut your mouth up. Then they passed that tray with the cups, and in the cup was not grape juice. No, no, no. In old school Baptist church, that was Manischewitz. Lean over somebody tell me what's that? What's Manischewitz? We had real wine. And I know a whole lot of folk gave their life to Jesus just to get some Manischewitz on first Sunday. And after we had the bread and the wine, we would always sing the same hymn, Blessed be the tie that binds. That was how communion went at Lillydale Progressive. and I was shocked, amazed, and even offended to find out that Christians around the world didn't do communion the way we did at Lillydale.

15:50 It messed me up. I went to an Episcopal church, and communion was intinction. Everyone say intinction. Intinction is when you take the bread and dip it in the cup, and the bread gets the wine, and you get two for one. That messed me up. Thank you. To me, I didn't know what to do when I went to a Catholic church and you found a single file line and when you get down front, you put your hands behind your back, open up your mouth and the priest put it in your mouth. I almost lost my mind. And I was offended when I went to a Methodist church and they had one cup and everybody Hey, Drake! They all put their lips on the same? My mama taught me you don't drink after folk.

16:50 No. I mean, that messed me up when I went to other places and found out they didn't do it on first Sunday. Old school Baptist's first Sunday. When I came to Alpha Street, I thought something was wrong with y'all. had communion on second Sunday. That ain't right. Went to a Lutheran church and they'd take it every Sunday. That's too much. went to a Coptic church and they take it once a quarter. Y'all going to hell. I had people called it different things. I knew communion. I never heard of the Lord's Supper, the Lord's Table, Eucharist, sacraments, ordinances. This is one of the most diversified practices within the body of Christ. But despite our diversity of when we take it and how we take it, and whether it's grape juice or wine or whether you dip it or it's placed on your tongue where you drink from the same cup.

17:55 The reality is that this table always has one message. No matter how differently we practice it, it always says the same thing. Beloved, the Bible is clear that whenever we as Christians gather together, that part of our identity is in the breaking of bread and the sharing of cup because in that act we are proclaiming something and we are remembering something. Paul says as often as you eat the bread and drink the cup, you're proclaiming the Lord's death until he comes again, that the reason we take bread and drink cup is because it says something that we need to remember that too often we forget. This is not just some empty ritual. This is not just some regular first Sunday, second Sunday observance that we have.

18:49 This is a reminder of a message that we often forget that we need to hear time and time and time again. What is the message of the table? Go back to when Jesus first instituted it with his disciples. It's Thursday of Holy Week. it's a few hours before his arrest his trial and his crucifixion it's thursday and in a few hours jesus is going to be dead and knowing that his death is imminent knowing that it's right around the corner he tells his disciples go get a reservation at a room because we need some time together. There's some things I got to tell you. I'm about to leave.

19:44 These are our last moments together. Imagine how precious this moment is. This is the last time they will see Jesus before he dies. And Jesus says, I got to tell you all something. I need to give you your last lesson. I need to make certain you understand what my life is all about. Let's go to the upper room. And when they get in the upper room, Jesus has two conversations with his disciples.

20:17 One is about the Lord's Supper. He takes bread and breaks it and blesses it and gives it to him and says, this is my body. He takes a cup and he says, drink from this. This is my blood. This is for your forgiveness of sins. but before the bread and before the cup he has another conversation and Marlon that conversation goes a little something like this one of you is going to betray me Jesus has gathered his disciples in an upper room with moments to spare it's a critical time and what he needs them to know is one of y'all will betray me. One of you has followed me and you're not going to fail me. One of you has called yourself a disciple and you're about to mess up in a way that history will never forgive.

21:15 You're about to do something that will scar you for the rest of your life. You're about to make a life-altering mistake. one of you will betray me. Now, you and I know what the apostles in the room didn't know. We know it's Judas. We know before they get to the upper room that Judas is going to betray him. because we have the benefit of a literary device that biblical writers employed called dramatic irony. Let the church say dramatic irony. Dramatic irony is when a writer gives you information as a reader that the characters in the story don't know.

22:14 Dramatic irony is when you know something that the people in the story do not know. When you have information that they do not have. Let me give you an example. It's like if you went to see Avengers Endgame. And when they began telling you who's in the movie, Thor and Captain America and Incredible Hulk, and they then said in Iron Man, who's going to die at the end? Now you already know that Iron Man's going to die, even though all the other characters do not yet. Dramatic irony is at play with Judas. Because every time Judas is introduced in Scripture, it's his name with a comma, the one who betrayed Jesus. When Jesus first picks the disciples and we get a listing of their names, it reads like this. Peter and Andrew and James and John and Matthew and Thaddeus and Bartholomew. And always last is Judas, comma, who betrayed Jesus. So from the very beginning, you already know that Judas is going to betray Jesus. There's a comma after his name. And it's a sad thing when you can do something in life that causes Christians to put a comma after your name.

23:37 And you are eternally identified by a mistake you have made. So we know Judas is the betrayer. Jesus knows Judas is the betrayer. And watch what happens. When they go to the upper room, Jesus invites Judas to come to the table. I want to make sure you get this. Jesus knows what he's up to, and the Lord invites him to the table anyway. Jesus knows he ain't no good. Jesus knows he's going to drop the ball. Jesus knows he's not going to live up to the calling of a disciple, and yet he's invited to sit at the table anyway. now the reason you haven't even thought amen is because you had forgotten that in the bible when you sit at a table with someone that's saying something you sit at a table when you're in fellowship you sit at a table when you're friends you sit at a table when you're working stuff out you sit at a table when there's no hostility and jesus got in trouble with the pharisees because he always sat at the table with the wrong folk.

24:57 Sinners, prostitutes, thieves. And here he is in the upper room knowing full well what Judas is about and yet Judas is invited to sit at the table anyway. Because the table reminds us that grace creates space for the unworthy to be in relationship with God. I want to make certain you catch that, that this table proclaims grace creates space for the unworthy to be in relationship with God. that when I'm not worthy, when I haven't lived right, when I'm not what I ought to be, this table reminds me that God still invites me to sit at the table and be in relationship with him.

26:01 Come here, brother Judas. Come here, sister Judas. I got some good news for you. Grace is greater than sin. love outweighs your mistake God's goodness is better than you deserve grace invites the unworthy to sit at the table and there's somebody here today you can wink amen cause you know that God has brought you to some tables you ain't got no business sitting at God has put you in some offices You ain't got no business working at. God has blessed you with some children. You ain't got no business watching them grow like this, but because of grace. There ought to be a witness in here right about now that I know where I am is not because I earned it, not because I'm so good, not because I'm so smart, not because I'm so connected, but grace.

27:09 brought me to a place that I could not get by myself. And I thank God. It's grace. The table reminds us the unworthy are invited. Now, can I push this just a little bit? Oh, y'all forgive me. I'm going to shout myself on this one. Watch what happens. Jesus brings him to the room and Jesus announces the betrayal.

27:51 But Al, he never identifies the betrayer. Read it. He doesn't say Judas is going to betray me. He simply says one of y'all will. he never pointed out Judas in the presence of the other disciples. He identifies he's going to be betrayed but he never calls out who's going to do it. Let me tell you why I love my God. And I don't know about your relationship with God I ain't going to cast judgment but let me tell you what I found out about God that makes me shout. You want to know what makes me shout about God? that there's some things God knows about me that God covered and never told you. There's some things God knows about me that God never exposed to anybody else.

28:49 And I'm so glad we've got a God that covers, a God that keeps some stuff from going public. Is there anybody here who's grateful God did not expose your sins?

29:09 Let me tell you how I can identify people who know God is covered. Because every now and then, without warning and without any connectivity to what's going on in worship, they're going to stand up and start praising God. And you're going to get nosy. and you're going to ask them, why are they praising? And their answer to you is none of your business. And whenever you praise God in a way that you ain't going to tell nobody why, it's because you know God covered some stuff. I thank God every day. If there's some stuff under this robe you don't know nothing about.

30:07 Somebody say, he covers. He covers. Jesus says, listen, one of y'all will betray me. He never identifies Judas. And watch what happens. When he says it, the Bible says that every disciple asks Jesus the same question.

30:29 Is it I? Watch it play down. One of you all will betray me. Could it be me? The table that Jesus invites his disciples to, when he announces the betrayal, it triggers self-examination. They all began to look at themselves. The table is an invitation to examine your own life. Every saint needs a spiritual MRI.

31:19 Moments when you're not judging someone else's walk. Come on, preacher, stay right there. But I'm looking over my own life. And let me tell you why that's so critical, because it is very easy to slip into a place of sin and not know it. It's easy for your life to stray from the center of the will of God, and you think all is well. So the Lord invites us to the table for self-examination because sometimes we don't understand the sin we're actually in. Let me give you an example. So watch what happens. Jesus says, when of y'all is going to betray me? The Bible says, every disciple asked, is it I? And even Judas looks at Jesus and says, you talking about me?

32:18 Judas has already set Jesus up on Wednesday. And yet he looks at Jesus and says, me? I would argue with you that although Judas has set Jesus up, Judas is not fully aware of the damage and the consequence of what he's done.

32:43 In his mind, he has not betrayed Jesus. and it's very easy for you to sin and not know it in your mind. I thought I was doing right. Hear me, follow the trail. Judas is different than all the other apostles. He's from a different region than all the other 11. He's from a region that is known to be rebellious against the Roman oppression of Israel. He wants revolution. And Judas, in my opinion, believes that Jesus is capable, but Jesus has not done what needs to be done. He's been passive. He's been loving. He's been talking about compassion. Jesus, it's time for the legion of angels to come. It's time to set this thing off. And so Judas thinks that if he can put Jesus in a place where Jesus has to show his power, then it'll go down the right way. So let me help turn him over because once the Pharisees get him, he has no choice but to show who he really is. Judas is not fully aware of the damage he's done. And we can slide into that place. So the Lord says, come to the table and examine yourself because it's possible that you've done something and you don't know the depth of the damage you've caused. Go on preach, pastor. So the table is an invitation to self-examination that then leads to self-conviction.

34:27 Because what will change your life quicker than anything is self-conviction. Not external judgment, but self-conviction. And one of the signs that you're growing in the power of the Holy Spirit is not that you can talk in tongues and not that you can lay hands on folk and they fall out and not that you memorize scripture, but that the Holy Spirit can convict you of your own sinfulness and you become aware of when your life has strayed outside of the will of God.

35:02 The sign of the Holy Spirit in your life ain't your shout. It's your awareness you messed up. come to the table to examine yourself. Because not only can you slip in a place where you sin and don't know it, you can slip into a place where you think you don't sin.

35:26 Come here, Sister Righteous, Brother Bible, come here, come here. Watch how it goes down. Jesus says, one of you will betray me. The King James Version says, the disciples said, Lord, is it I? The New International is a little bit more authentic to the Greek. Jesus says, one of you betrayed me. This is what the disciples really say. You can't be talking about me. I wouldn't do that.

35:54 I'm immune to that kind of sin. Lord, I would never sin against you. It's almost as if they believe it is impossible and incapable for them to have made a mistake. beloved how easy it is for us in our spiritual arrogance to think that if I'm not guilty of the big sin then I've committed no sin it's easy to take your name off of the list of the big sin and not be aware that in God, watch this, there's no big and there's no little sin.

36:43 Beloved, there's no hierarchy of sin. There's no, I'm glad I don't do what she does and I don't do what he does. Here it is. In God's eyes, sin. I'm preaching sin. is sin. So watch what Jesus says. This is deep. Jesus wants them to know all y'all are sin. This is what he says. They said, Lord, who is it? He said, oh, I'm going to tell you who I identify. Whoever put his hand in the bowl, right? And so in our mind, we've always thought that Jesus was holding a bowl. And as soon as he said that, Judas put his hand in. The bowl was almost like a family style meal. It's where the food was and it went around the table and everybody pulled out of the bowl, which means that anybody who had eaten had already put their hand in the bowl. Now, Judas may have put his hand in at that time, but that doesn't mean that Peter hadn't put his hand in and Matthew hadn't put his hand in and John, because at some point every disciple has put his hand in the bowl and every disciple is guilty of some kind of sin. I came by to tell you today, all of us are sinners. All of us have strayed. All of us have failed. All of us have made mistakes. All of us have let God down.

38:07 This would be a good place to tell you to touch your neighbor, but no, why don't you touch yourself? I don't need you calling out my stuff. I need to call out my own stuff. Touch yourself and repeat after me. self. You ain't nothing but a sinner. Oh, I want you to know you may be in church, but you're just a religious sinner. You might be dressed up, but you're just a well-dressed sinner. You may sing the hymn, but you're just a hymn singing sinner. All of us. Everybody in here is a sinner.

38:49 Now, why is that important? It's important for you to know you're a sinner. Watch this. This is good because when it goes down, Jesus says, one of you betrayed me. Lord, is it I? Is it I? Is it I? Judas says, is it I? Jesus said, you said it. it's now known say it's now known in the room that judas messed up and watch what happened then that doesn't happen today everybody knew judas was the betrayer and nobody said he's got to go What was this? Everybody knows Judas betrayed, and nobody put a motion on the floor to vote him out.

39:37 Now, you got to remember who's up in the room. Peter's in the room, and Peter is a gangster. No, no, say it with me. Because remember, when they left the upper room, they went to Garden of Gethsemane, and in the Garden of Gethsemane, people came to arrest Jesus, and Peter pulled out a switchblade and cut somebody.

39:59 Peter had the blade on him in the upper room. And he doesn't cut Judas. Look at your neighbor's purse.

40:24 Peter, who's going to cut someone else, does not cut Judas when he realizes Judas has betrayed Jesus. Because sinners have to be careful how they treat other sinners. When you recognize you are a sinner, it will cause you to be careful on how you treat other sinners. Sinners can't vote other sinners out.

40:57 Sinners can't put other sinners in hell. Sinners can't tell other sinners you're not qualified to worship in this space. All sinners can do is love other sinners. encourage other sinners pray for other sinners Jesus tells them when are y'all gonna betray me and it seems to me that that would have got them all upset but maybe the reason they didn't get upset is because they heard what else Jesus said watch this he says one of you will betray me but don't trip the son of man Jesus my life goes as it is written Now, Judas is going to do what he's going to do, but my life is not ordered by Judas. What Judas does does not control my destiny. Judas can do what he will. My life is ordered by the word and the will of God. That's a powerful message that Jesus presses on us at the table. It's a reminder that no matter what others do, the word is still at work.

42:03 No matter what your doctor says, the Word is still at work. No matter how your co-worker treats you, the Word is still at work. No matter what the doctor says, the Word is still at work. No matter what goes down on your job, the Word is still at work. God's Word is always still at work. As a matter of fact, would you know somebody and tell them the Word still works? He's still working it together for your good. Joy still comes in the morning. He still takes what was meant for evil and uses it to bless you. He still prepares a table in the presence of your enemies. The word is still at work. Somebody, that's the message you need at the table today. Because tomorrow you got to face a Judas.

42:56 And I want you to remember the word is still at work. I'm done. But Dr. Gunn, can I share with you the greatest tragedy in all of Scripture? It happens right here. The greatest tragedy in Scripture is right here. Jesus finishes the conversation about betrayal. And then he begins to teach on the Lord's Supper. This bread is my body. Eat it. This cup, my blood, drink it for the forgiveness of sins and watch it. And the Bible says that he gave the bread and the cup to all of them. the bread and the cup was given to all of them.

43:49 Judas shared in the Lord's Supper. And here's the greatest tragedy in Scripture, that at that table, God was telling Judas, minute and listen to all these wheels and