One aspect of worship that we often overlook in our modern church settings is the simple act of remembering. Remembrance was a key component in the worship of the Old Testament. The many feasts, such as the feast of Tabernacles or Unleavened Bread or Passover, were focused on commemoration, the remembering and retelling of God’s grand story of redemption. In the Christian Church, these practices can be seen in the seasons of Lent, Eastertide, and Advent. And so the act of remembrance—of God’s great acts of grace and mercy and power—has been practiced from generation to generation for thousands of years.

Theologian Robert Webber has this to say: “Biblical remembering makes the power and the saving effect of the event present to the worshiping community. The word remembrance (in Greek, anamnesis) has the force of “making present,” “making alive,” “making real.” God loves our worship when we remember his saving deeds in Jesus Christ. That’s the story God gave the world, and that story is the content of worship.”

I’ve entered a season of life now where I am seeing friends and loved ones lose the gift of remembrance. When the fire within a person starts to fade from great passion to quiet existence, and their personality begins to become muted and suppressed. Alzheimer’s, dementia, memory loss—I think many of us have experienced the slow decline in people we love. And while this might solicit a somber melancholy in me, it’s also given me an opportunity to understand in deeper and deeper ways what a profound gift remembrance is.

I have access to literally thousands of beautiful, precious memories of my life. The birth of all four of my children. The sunsets on several continents. The music I’ve played or heard, and the musicians I’ve played with. The laughter I’ve shared with others. The last time I saw my Dad. The moment I slipped a ring on to my wife’s finger. The valedictorian speech I gave when I graduated high school. The time I learned to hang glide (and nearly killed myself trying). Like a collection of old photo albums, every one of these memories sits on the shelves of my heart, special and unique and cherished. And the blessing is not only do I have these precious experiences, but I continue to have the remembrance of them. And I don’t take that for granted now.

Here’s the thing. As a person who’s been a follower of Jesus for a long time now, I can look back at all of those memories, those moments, and I can see the hand of God in them. He was there, in each moment, allowing me the privilege of having each moment.

For the Christ follower, remembrance is the precursor to thanksgiving. We remember God’s goodness, His faithfulness, His grace. And in response, we cannot help but give thanks. It’s in this way that every act of remembering can be an act of worship.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. I pray your season be filled with fond remembrance and irrepressible thanksgiving.

[Banner Photo and inset photos: Scrapbooks assembled by my wife over the years.]