On Refusing to Forget
October 5, 2025
Rev. Traceymay Kalvaitis

Matthew 26:26-28
Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

Luke 22:19-20
And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant.

Acts 2:42
And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.

1 Corinthians 10:16
The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?

***
Today’s sermon is titled On Refusing to Forget.

We are familiar with the word amnesia, describing the condition of not remembering, but there is a lesser known word that means “refusing to forget.” The word is anamnesis. To live in a state of anamnesis is to always remember…to refuse to forget.
Last year, scientists at the University of Texas discovered that microbes like bacteria and yeast can also remember. Even though microbes are microscopic and have no brains, they can still “store information and adjust their behavior based on past experiences.” Microbes have evolved the ability to store memories in their cells. And what’s more, microbes can pass on their “memories” when they reproduce so that successive generations inherit information directly from their predecessors.* We humans are not as old as microbes, but we have evolved over millions of years and our growing ability to remember things like migration routes, where berries grow, and where the dangers lie have been absolutely essential to our continued survival.

In 2025, we mostly have to remember where we put our car keys and our wallets. There are other things we would be served to remember, and to never forget, as we face life in the 21st century. The ritual of Communion can be part of our remembering and part of our refusal to forget that the powers of Empire that sought to silence and disappear Jesus failed in the first century and, if we resist, the powers of Empire at work in our own times will not succeed in silencing us; they will not succeed in disappearing us.
Listen to these words from The Reverend Mary Luti. She was my teacher in the recent Clergy Convocation a few weeks ago. She writes, “Remembering Jesus in Communion is like standing up to an adversary. It’s not reminiscence, it’s resistance. It’s not merely remembering, it’s refusing to forget. There are forces around us and within us that want us to forget what they’ve been up to for eons, wreaking havoc, taking up all the breathing room, wringing the life out of everything for ego, profit, and power. They’re always at it, trying to fog over all traces of Jesus’ revolution in the world and in our hearts. They hope we’ll lose his trail. They hope we’ll forget we ever knew him. When we forget, we’re putty in their hands. When we forget, they can tell us anything they want. In the vacuum of forgetting, injustice has it easy, violence rules the day. Communion is our uprising. At the Table, repeatedly, deliberately, dangerously, we remember. We remember him. We remember each other. We remember everything. We refuse to forget.”

Friends, every time we gather we resist the powers that isolate us and manipulate us. Every time we share what we have, even this simple meal of bread and juice, we resist the powers that tell us there is not enough to go around; we resist the powers that tell us that “others” are out to get what is rightfully ours. Every time we remember that Jesus faced his own death to prove that truth can not be silenced and that love can not be disappeared, we resist the powers that spread lies and we resist the powers that spread hate.

It is in this ritual of Communion, and only in this ritual of Communion, where we can partake in all three of these acts of resistance. It is in this ritual of Communion where we gather, we share, and we refuse to forget. It is in this ritual of Communion where we are strengthened to face the demands of our times which are growing more with every passing day. It is in this ritual of Communion that the true “body of Christ,” the church, is strengthened so that we can be a force in the world for justice, for truth, for love, for compassion.

The Reverend Mary Luti taught me a new word. The word is communionized. She proposes that in our gathering, in our sharing, in our refusing to forget, we become, together, a communionized body that will not tolerate untruth, will not tolerate hate, will not tolerate violence, and will not stand silent as the marginalized in our society are silenced and disappeared.

When we remember Jesus at our Communion table, we also have an obligation to remember all those who have, over the millennia, been silenced and disappeared especially through violent means. The American Indians were some of the first victims, and centuries of anti-immigrant sentiment have followed in the wake…one long, slow, tragic trail of tears. Added to the list of victims now are the unhoused and the mentally ill. Added to the list are those from many sectors of the public square who are raising their voices for freedom of the press, freedom of speech and due process.

In closing and as we prepare to enter into Communion, I issue the invitation to the table with an invitation to come as an act of resistance…resistance to forgetting, resistance to isolation, resistance to scarcity, resistance to hate and fear. Instead, Friends, let us gather to be communionized as the body of Christ on this earth. Let us gather to show we can not be separated. Let us gather to show we will share what we have. Let us gather to acknowledge Christ and all others who have been victims of violence, of silencing, and of disappearing. Let us gather because those before us gathered even under the threat of punishment and death. Let us gather so that those who come after us will also refuse to forget. So be it. Amen.

Prayer from Mary Luti: Even if we do forget, dear Christ, by your mercy, it all comes back to us at the Table. Communion by Communion, evil retreats, love and justice grow. Thanks be to God.

*https://asm.org/articles/2024/august/do-microbes-have-memory

Pastoral Prayer

Beloved God, source of faith and hope and love, guide us in ways of living faithfully in the world. May we find comfort in Friendship, satisfaction in serving others, and an abiding sense that goodness, that God-ness, is at work in our world. Help us to slow down and experience the rich meaning that is around us each day in the beauty and perfection of nature, in the warmth of connection with Friends and family, and even in the spark of recognition with those we do not yet know as we pass one another along the pathways of our daily lives. This I pray in Christ’s name. Amen.

Benediction
I leave you with these words from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, Chapter 3:

“May you be strengthened in your inner being with power through God’s spirit–may Christ dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love.”