Remember Jesus
March 9th, 2025 – Communion Meditation
This week I’ve been practicing a habit that I tend to do more frequently whenever I’m feeling overwhelmed. I tend to practice this when faced with obligatory tasks that aren’t much fun or when an external deadline is approaching or when I just don’t wanna. I would like to give up this habit, but I haven’t gotten around to it yet. Yep, my undesirable habit is … procrastination!
Yet at the same time, I am well aware that we are all pretty hard on ourselves at times, myself included. Our 2025 pace of life is a lot faster than in previous generations, thanks to our emphasis on things like efficiency, productivity, and opportunity. We put pressure on ourselves in all kinds of ways.
Funny how the natural world has so much to teach us in this regard. Our incredible meteorological technology enables us to know of the existence of things like Cyclone Alfred off the coast of Brisbane this week. And yet Alfred, a personified storm, decided to take his sweet time making landfall. Was Alfred procrastinating? I think Alfred was just doing what winds do, going wherever they please with no pressure at all to meet our expectations!
In order to follow Jesus, we have to be countercultural in myriads of ways. Meanwhile, Jesus’ words to us remain the same in all seasons and circumstances. In Mark 6:31 in The Message translation, Jesus says to his closest followers, “Come off by yourselves; let’s take a break and get a little rest.” Mark adds this comment: “For there was constant coming and going. They didn’t even have time to eat.”
Today as we come to our time of Communion, we are coming off with Jesus together. We are taking a break and getting a little rest. This is constant coming and going all around us, near, far, even on the other side of the world. There is surely constant coming and going in all of our lives. Some of us are dealing with some really hard things right now. All of us are unfortunately aware of many things that can cause us great anxiety, fear, worry, stress, grief, and pain.
Whenever we notice that we’re practicing procrastination or any of these other responses, remember Jesus. Jesus is with us right here, right now, beckoning us to take a break from it all, get a little rest, and have something to eat. When we eat the bread and drink the cup during communion each week, we are not just having an ordinary snack. We are participating in the body and blood of Christ. We are communing with the risen and living Jesus Christ and with the entire body of Christ. Let’s pause for a few moments of silence and stillness before partaking of the elements.
At the Last Supper, Jesus took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it he broke it, gave it to those with him and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” Let us eat together.
Jesus then took a cup, and after giving thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you; for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” Let us drink together.
