“Do this in remembrance of me” (Luke 22:19).

The command of Jesus takes a special urgency if what I observed when my local church celebrated the Lord’s Supper is also true in your church: dismissal for the ordinance of humility is taken by some as a signal to head home.

The neglect may be casual, but it has to be reviewed for three reasons:

First, the Lord’s Supper is a memorial of that divine plan conceived in eternity and fulfilled on the cross. It reminds us of Christ’s broken body and shed blood for the remission of sins (see Matt. 26:28). It tells us that Christ was God’s redemptive act for the problem of sin. Lest we forget that, Jesus ordained the Supper and commanded that it be kept until He returns.

Second, the Supper provides us an opportunity to examine ourselves and our relationship with God and with His people (1 Cor. 11:28, 29). Redemptive experience is more than a onetime event; it is a continual call to affirm our faith walk.

Third, the Supper reminds us that Jesus is coming again. At the table, Jesus made a vow and a promise: “I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom” (Matt. 26:29). Paul admonishes the faith community to come to the table and “proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes” (1 Cor. 11:26).

The Lord’s Supper links history, existence, and hope by constantly pointing to us the One who was, who is, and who is to come. The table of the Lord is a reminder that history has meaning and life has hope. Dare we miss that appointment with the Lord?