Celebration of an Affair to Remember
Rev. Joseph R. Reid
An old preacher was dying. He sent a message for a dishonest banker and a crooked lawyer, both church members, to come to his home. When they arrived, they were ushered up to his bedroom. As they entered the room, the preacher held out his hands and motioned for them to sit on each side of the bed. The preacher grasped their hands, sighed contentedly, smiled, and stared at the ceiling. For a time, no one said anything. Both the banker and lawyer were touched and flattered that the preacher would ask them to be with him during his final moments. They were also puzzled; the preacher had never given them any indication that he particularly liked either of them. They both remembered his many long, uncomfortable sermons about excess, greed, and materialistic behavior that made them squirm in their seats. Finally, the banker said, “Preacher, why did you ask us to come?” The old preacher mustered up his strength and then said weakly, “Jesus died between two thieves, and that’s how I want to go. “
Even in the end, our focus is on anything but being happy to go to the next level of life. We miss the point of celebrating the life we lived. There are two ways of celebrating an Affair to Remember. One, by remembering God when we are happy and not suffering and two by becoming love itself and sharing that love unconditionally. The challenge we face is many of us claim to follow the example of Christ yet we seek Him only when we are suffering, in despair or at death’s door. If we don’t start celebrating each moment of life as an affair to remember we will find ourselves old, angry and regretful of the life we have lived and not fit for the Kingdom.
Let me share two ways to avoid this. First, by remembering God when we are happy, as well as when we are suffering and in pain. There are two approaches to God. One approach is to find Him when we are suffering, in pain, sickness, weakness, helplessness and despair. Many of us do not think seriously about following the Lord unless we are in trouble. We worship God only in times of trouble. We worship a bogus god. We have made God a drug or pain pill. God is not a prescription we can turn to when our outer condition has deteriorated.
The second and best approach to God is when we are happy. To worship God is always a time of feasting and celebration. This Bible says, “Just before the Passover Festival Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father.” It was in this hour we see Jesus just before the Passover Festival preparing for the ultimate change, His death and resurrection. Jesus knew that the hour had come for Him to leave this world and go to the Father. But He had an intimate relationship with His father. He was His Father’s Son and He knew He would be taken care of. He was happy to do the will of His Father. We should be happy to serve the Lord. We should be glad to seek Him no matter what’s going on or wrong in our life.
Another way we can celebrate an affair to remember is by becoming love personified and sharing that love unconditionally with everyone. God is Love. But not only that, God is unconditional love. Agape love. Love in spite of! No matter what you do to me, I will love you anyway. This is the state of love and God is the state of love. Jesus symbolically shared this ultimate love with His disciples and before His death. It was truly an affair to remember. We call it the Last Supper. It was during this great event that Jesus washed the feet of the disciples and shared with them communion, telling them to always do this in remembrance of Him. It was not a time of sadness but a time of joy and happiness, for God, “Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.” That love is now available to us all as an affair to remember.
