Memorial Day weekend serves two purposes. First, it is a long weekend with an extra day for relaxation or travel. It makes a wonderful opportunity for a mini-vacation, which has infinite more value than a long one because, usually, you do take time to relax.

The second purpose served is sometimes one forgotten in the midst of all the fun of the extra day off. That is that the day is set aside to remember those who gave their lives in the wars of our country. Our country is worth dying for because it serves us in protecting our freedoms and upholding what is right. Those who have died for us and our nation have generally not died in vain. We remember and love them for it. It is good a proper that we set the day aside.

There is some concern among the more patriotic among us that the last, more weighty, purpose is lost in the first. How many will stop during the day to think of our war dead? We are assured by the experts that they will be few in number. We are too interested in getting that boat in the water or finding that camping spot. If that is the case, which I hope it is not, I am for the abolition of the holiday. I am sure that for many, it is just time off work, but I hope it is not that way for most of us.

Christians have a Memorial Day celebration, too. Every first day of the week we commemorate the Lord’s death in the partaking of the emblems in the Lord’s supper. What are we doing and why? Where is your heart when you partake? Is the Lord’s day really his, or just another day off?

The term "Lord’s supper" is found only in 1 Corinthians 11:20. "When therefore ye assemble yourselves together, it is not possible to eat the Lord's supper." Paul goes on in the text and distinguishes between the Lord’s supper and meals where the flesh is fed, and he tells them that those meals for the flesh ought to be kept out of and away from the assembly. It is at this point that he repeats the instruction that he had received from the Lord by inspiration. "For I received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which he was betrayed took bread; and when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, This is my body, which is for you: this do in remembrance of me. In like manner also the cup, after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood: this do, as often as ye drink it, in remembrance of me" (1 Cor. 11:23-25).

Several things are accomplished in the Lord’s supper. First, we have fellowship, or communion – hence the name "communion – with Jesus in his dying on the cross when we partake. "The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not a communion of the body of Christ?" (1 Cor. 10:16). There is no mystical joining, or conjoining, of the body and blood of Jesus in the supper. We simply memorialize with him his death in the emblems. The communion is in the memorial.

Second, we have communion with one another in the Lord’s supper. Paul says in the following verse: "Seeing that we, who are many, are one bread, one body: for we all partake of the one bread" (1 Cor 10:17). The New American Standard-U, reads a little better. "Since there is one bread, we who are many are one body; for we all partake of the one bread." The Lord’s supper is communion between brethren because we all have in common what it represents. So as we partake, we demonstrate unity and fellowship with those saved who are of like-mind all over the world.

A third accomplishment is a demonstration of our faith. "For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink the cup, ye proclaim the Lord's death till He come" (1 Cor. 11:26). We proclaim the Lord’s death in partaking. We would not partake if we did not believe in what we were memorializing. Therefore, partaking is a proclamation that we do believe. And we do this with the expectation of his coming. So our partaking is also a proclamation to the world that we expect him to come.

But NONE of these things is the purpose of the Lord’s supper. The purpose of the Lord’s supper was given by Jesus and repeated by Paul. "For I received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which he was betrayed took bread; and when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, This is my body, which is for you: this do in remembrance of me. In like manner also the cup, after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood: this do, as often as ye drink it, in remembrance of me" (1 Cor. 11:23-25). It is a memorial service. There is no blessing, except as one does the Lord’s will he is blessed, and it is blessed to think of the great love of that sacrifice. There is no mystical joining with Christ, no non-mystical joining with Christ. It is a feast for those who have already been joined. "And he took a cup, and gave thanks, and gave to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many unto remission of sins. But I say unto you, I shall not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom" (Matt 26:27-29). There is no forgiveness in the supper, nor dispensation of grace, except as all service to God is a grace to us. It is a memorial.

The emblems used in the memorial are appropriate. There is something in unleavened bread – we know it was unleavened because the supper was instituted during Passover – that reminds one of the solid features of flesh. And there is something in the fruit of the vine, the grape juice that is marvelously reminiscent of blood. The reason for that is that the purpose of eating is to remind us of the body and blood of Jesus.

With the memorial in mind, Paul issues this warning: "Wherefore whosoever shall eat the bread or drink the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. But let a man prove himself, and so let him eat of the bread, and drink of the cup. For he that eateth and drinketh, eateth and drinketh judgment unto himself, if he discern not the body" (1 Cor 11:27-29). To discern the body is to distinguish it in your mind. If your mind is not dwelling on what the bread represents or what the grape juice represents, you are eating and drinking judgment [damnation – KJV] unto yourself. You have taken lightly the death of Jesus, and thereby profaned the memorial (Heb. 10:28-29).

What Paul is addressing in verses 27-29 is not being worthy or unworthy to partake. If you are a Christian, you are expected to partake. No consideration is given as to whether you are worthy or not, because nobody is really worthy. There is a doctrine going around that those who are not living right shouldn’t partake of the Lord’s supper because they are not worthy. Those who teach that doctrine are lost because they teach it. It is endorsement of disobedience. No, those who are living wrong should repent, ask forgiveness, and take the Lord’s supper at the appropriate time. To refuse the Lord’s supper because we are not worthy is compounding the sin and rebellion against what Jesus commanded in 1 Corinthians 11.

What Paul is addressing is the manner in which we partake. If we are not thinking about what the emblems represent, then what does the partaking mean to us? It is the same problem Jesus addressed among the Jews. "Ye hypocrites, well did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying, This people honoreth me with their lips; But their heart is far from me" (Matt 15:7-8). If we cannot discern the body and blood of Jesus, we are partaking hypocritically.

The Lord gave us the wonderful gift of salvation by offering himself to die for our sins. We have an effective and touching memorial, given also by the Savior, to remember what he did.

On this Memorial Day, the first day of every week, let us remember the Lord’s death by coming together to eat the supper.