Remember Him

One of the most common phrases that we hear when speaking of the Sacrament in the Church is that through it we “renew our covenants.”  Yesterday someone in Church made the observation that this is actually not a scriptural phrase; the scriptures nowhere speak of renewing a covenant in connection with the Sacrament.  I don’t think he was suggesting that this is not an appropriate purpose to talk about with the Sacrament, for certainly this is commonly taught.  For example, in the Guide to the Scriptures it states, “When worthy Church members take the sacrament, they promise to take upon them the name of Christ, to always remember Him, and to keep His commandments. Through this ordinance, Church members renew their baptismal covenants.”  In the topics section of the Church website we similarly read about the Sacrament, “Through this ordinance, Church members renew the covenants they made with God when they were baptized.”  Elder Hales also taught, “Each week in sacrament meeting we promise to remember the atoning sacrifice of our Savior as we renew our baptismal covenant. We promise to do as the Savior did—to be obedient to the Father and always keep His commandments.”  And Elder Perry stated in general conference, “The purpose of partaking of the sacrament is, of course, to renew the covenants we have made with the Lord.”  And in that talk he referenced a previous conference message from another apostle who stated, “By partaking of the Sacrament we renew all covenants entered into with the Lord and pledge ourselves to take upon us the name of his Son, to always remember him and keep his commandments.”  Clearly, the Church teaches us that when we partake of the Sacrament, we renew our covenants with the Lord. 

                And yet, it seems that the emphasis in the scriptures about the Sacrament is not that the ordinance helps us to remember and renew our covenants.  Rather, the scriptures teach that we are to remember Christ and His atonement.  For example, when the Savior instituted the Sacrament among the Nephites, He stated, “And this shall ye do in remembrance of my body, which I have shown unto you. And it shall be a testimony unto the Father that ye do always remember me. And if ye do always remember me ye shall have my Spirit to be with you.”  When teaching about the partaking of the wine He similarly said, “Ye shall do it in remembrance of my blood, which I have shed for you, that ye may witness unto the Father that ye do always remember me. And if ye do always remember me ye shall have my Spirit to be with you” (3 Nephi 18:7, 11).  In those two verses we find six times a reference to remembering the Christ—a the emphasis was on remembering the Savior and His great sacrifice.  Later when Moroni wrote about how the Nephites partook of the Sacrament, he said, “And they did meet together oft to partake of bread and wine, in remembrance of the Lord Jesus” (Moroni 6:6).  In the New Testament when the Savior gave the apostles the Sacrament we read, “And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me” (Luke 22:19).  Again the focus of the Sacrament was remembering the Savior.  In the Doctrine and Covenants, the Savior similarly revealed this purpose of the Sacrament in our dispensation: “It is expedient that the church meet together often to partake of bread and wine in the remembrance of the Lord Jesus.”  And the Sacrament prayers themselves also speak of remembering the Savior.  In the prayer on the bread we witness that we are willing to “always remember him” and in the prayer on the water we likewise witness that we “do always remember him” (Doctrine and Covenants 20:75, 77, 79).  In fact, of the three commitments we make in the prayer on the bread (take His name upon us, remember Him, and keep His commandments), only one of those is repeated in the prayer on the water: to always remember Him.  To me this suggests particular importance should be placed on this.  While certainly the Sacrament affords us the opportunity to remember our covenants of baptism and recommit ourselves to living according to those covenants, perhaps we could do a better job during the Sacrament of simply remembering Him.  We have a time set aside each week when we are commanded to first and foremost remember the Son of God who atoned for the sins of all mankind.