Communion Meditations

OUR SUBVERSIVE CONFESSION

2012-03-06T16:21:00.000-08:00

Did you know that when you make the confession of faith that we use at communion that you are also confessing to what some would consider to be subversive, counterrevolutionary activities?

This is clearly understood in China today. "Liao Yiwu is one of the most prominent and outspoken contemporary writers in China. His epic poem, 'Massacre,' composed in 1989 in condemnation of the government's bloody crackdown at Tiananmen Square, landed him in jail for four years" (God is Red, vii). His other writings are also banned because the Communist government considers them to be subversive.

In 1998 Liao met a Christian for the first time, a neurologist turned preacher in a Protestant church. Liao, himself a skeptic, admired the courage of this man and other Christians so he set out to interview several of them. His book, God is Red, records many of his interviews.

As I read the book I found it ironic that a primary tactic of the government is to force Christians to make confessions. One elderly Christian told of his imprisonment, beatings and torture, and added, "Before the government reversed its verdict against me ... I had written several hundred confessions." Many were confessions of Christian activities, such as meeting together, preaching, and evangelizing -- all considered to be counterrevolutionary.

I find this ironic because, for Christians, confession is at the heart of their faith. Confession is what it is all about. An open, willing, unforced, confession of one's commitment to Christ. When these Chinese Christians complied with the demand of their officials to confess, were they contradicting their Christian faith? I don't think so. They complied because they knew as well as the officials knew that their faith did in fact go against the interests of the totalitarian state in which they live. Their confession of faith in Christ was indeed subversive.

It has always been that way. In the beginning, when Christians made the simple confession, "Jesus is Lord," they were going against the Roman political and religious establishment that said, "Caesar is Lord."

When we say "Jesus is Lord," what gods in our culture do we subvert? What is it in our culture that tempts us to worship it? The almighty dollar? Big-time sports? The cult of celebrity worship? The electronic gadget? Whatever idol it may be, our confession of faith at the communion table says, in effect, "get behind me, Satan; only Jesus is Lord."

"You (all) Proclaim the Lord's Death ... "

2012-01-24T14:09:00.000-08:00

To understand our regular observance of the Lord's Supper it is important to pay attention to words used and their meaning. Simple words often have important implications.

In 1 Corinthians 11:23-25 the Apostle Paul gave us the earliest written record of what Jesus said at the Last Supper. He handed on the tradition that had been given to him, that Jesus spoke about the bread as his body, the cup as the new covenant in his blood, and asked that they do this "in remembrance of me." Then Paul added an explanation in verse 26 in which two very important words appear: "For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes."

The first word that claims our attention is "proclaim," a word often used with words like "proclaim Christ," or "proclaim the good news." It refers to the act of preaching. Here Paul speaks about proclaiming the Lord's death, an action that he stressed in the first and second chapters of this letter. The word also includes the idea of celebrating, commending, or openly praising.

By simply communing, therefore, we all are preachers of the good news that Jesus died for us. It is a Visible Word, a Seen Sermon. The pronoun, "you" is plural. It isn't just the preacher, or a presiding elder that does it -- you all preach this sermon. And all are needed. When one or more are absent the Visible Word is diminished to that extent.

It is done with others. The Lord's Supper was not meant to be an individual, private exercise. Our gathering together is necessary for the Lord's Supper to be what it is meant to be. When we come together we serve notice to the world that the death of Christ is real in our lives, that it impacts our lives in some mysterious yet very real way. Our gathering and observing the Lord's Supper is evidence of the continuing power of the death and resurrection of Christ. In this act we tell the world about the death of Christ.

The grammatical form of the word "proclaim" (present active indicative) means that it is a continuing action. Thus, Paul adds a second important word or phrase when he writes, "until he comes." It has the implication of doing something repeatedly until the goal is reached. It presents the picture of a group of people who are persistent against all odds, faithful in all circumstances, and determined that come hell or high water they are going to see this through to the end.

Later in 1 Corinthians 15:58 Paul summarizes all of this by saying, "Be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord." Let us, therefore, continue in this good work of proclaiming the Lord's death until he comes.

We Need a Drummer

2012-01-10T11:37:00.000-08:00

A communion meditation by Judy Sobba at Twin Oaks Christian Church, Eugene, on January 1, 2012.

One side of our church's reader board recently had what some would consider a strange statement. Our son Scott, a pastor, saw it recently and chuckled. He thought it was funny. It says simply, "We need a drummer." He understood it and so do our members but I wonder what non-members think of it? There are church signs all over town that make perfect sense, but this one says, "we need a drummer." Of course, it refers to our praise band whose regular drummer is at home in Portland while the University is on vacation.

Mike and Susan and I were talking about this and it started us thinking. Yes! We do need a drummer.

What does a drummer do? Keeps the beat so we can stay together when we sing or dance. Keeps us going when we tire, like a military drummer. Marching bands, when running around the field, if they can hear the drummer, will end up in the correct place, while keeping the beat the whole time. Drummers, along with the drum major leading a parade, inspire us.

Now it is a New Year, a new start, a blank page. But every day of every year, we need a drummer, our own personal, spiritual drummer.

We have a drummer, of course, and he is Jesus Christ. His word helps us find the "beat in our lives," if we listen. He keeps us going when we tire. He keeps us moving together as Christians toward a common goal -- salvation. He leads us in this troubled world and in our lives so that we don't get lost in all of our running around. As Psalm 18:3 says, "I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised; and so shall I be saved from my enemies."

We will follow our drummer, our Lord Jesus Christ. We will listen to his word. We will find the beat and rhythm for our lives. We will worship, study, work, and pray with others to move together in faith. Even if we scatter in all direction at times, like the University of Oregon marching band, the steady beat of God's Word can keep us from getting lost. We only need to listen carefully, pray with faith, act with sincerity and honesty, and trust that God is leading us.

May we listen and pray now as we recall that when Jesus lived on this earth, he gave his apostles continual guidance and reassurance and then, on the night before he died, he said, "Take this bread and eat it for this is my body," and "take this cup and drink. Do this in remembrance of me." And so the beat goes on!

2011-12-13T16:44:00.000-08:00

THE CRADLE AND THE CROSS

Luke 2:25-35

I love the Christmas lights although some go overboard with lavish, non-stop displays. On the news last week was the man near Portland who lived next door to someone who had done just that. He could not compete and so he had a neon sign made that said simply "ditto," with an arrow pointing at his neighbor's display. I like the music of Christmas too, and the emphasis on rejoicing. But we now are before the communion table that reminds us there is pain involved in this season. It reminds us that Jesus was born to die. It reminds us that the cradle in a stable is joined by the cross on a hill as symbols that summarize who Jesus was and why he came. They can never be separated.

We realize this when we read all of Luke's account of Jesus birth and infancy. In the first two chapters of Luke we see the beauty in the story of Jesus' birth -- Mary's song, his birth in a manger, angels singing, and shepherds praising. But then Luke tells us a story that foreshadows the pain and suffering of the cross, not just for Jesus, but also for his mother, Mary. Shortly after Jesus was born Mary and Joseph took him to the temple to "present him to the Lord," since the law stated that every first born male belonged to the Lord. There they came across an old man named Simeon who had been told by the Holy Spirit that he would not die until he saw the Lord's Messiah. I can imagine him slightly bent with age, a staff in one hand, long white beard, perhaps with some spittle dripping, but with sharp, piercing eyes. He startled many a mother as he suddenly confronted her and lifted a corner of the blanket to look see her child. When he saw Jesus Simeon took him in his arms, raised his eyes to heaven and declared, "my eyes have seen Your salvation." But when he handed Jesus back to Mary he said, This baby is appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and for a sign to be opposed -- and a sword will pierce even your own soul."

John Killinger, pastor and professor of preaching, tells how those words were driven into his soul. He and his family were in Spain, in a museum, standing before one of the great Spanish crucifixion scenes. The painting, like so many Spanish works of art, was dark and brooding, unlike the sunlit plains of Spain. Christ hung on the cross. In the lower foreground a woman knelt. "Who is that?" asked their six year old. "That's Mary, Jesus' mother," we explained. He was quiet for a second or two and then he said, very solemnly, "that must have hurted her." Since then, Killinger says, "I have not been able to read Simeon's words to Mary, 'a sword will pierce through your own soul also' without remembering that observation" (Fundamentals of Preaching, 121).

Luke has hardly finished telling the story of Jesus' birth in a stable than he elicits the image of a cross on a hill and the pain and suffering it brought to Mary. Jesus was born to die. The cradle and the cross cannot be separated.

At the communion table, as we remember how Jesus suffered on our behalf, may we also remember Mary, and many others, even today, who know him as friend, as teacher, and as Lord who also suffer and who, in some way enter into the pain of the cross.

CONFESSION OF SIN -- EXAMINE YOURSELF

2011-11-08T16:41:00.000-08:00

In the upper room when Jesus instituted the Lord's Supper, one of the things he said was, This cup is the new covenant in my blood, poured out for the forgiveness of sins." Apparently, God took sin very seriously -- enough to sacrifice his Son. Jesus took it seriously enough to willingly shed his blood in order for us to be forgiven.

When we come to the table, how seriously do we take sin? I would hope that we are not like the Corinthian Christians. From chapter one through the book Paul describes a church with a lot of problems caused by sinful action. One bore directly on the Lord's Supper. Some were causing divisions in the church by their selfish and sectarian attitudes and actions. At one point Paul said to them, By sinning against others ... you sin against Christ. In those days the Lord's Supper was observed in connection with a meal. But some were being left out of the meal. The most needy among them, the have-nots, were being ignored by the affluent ones. Some were stuffed and others were starving.

Consequently, in 1 Corinthians 11:27-28 he wrote: Whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup.

We need to be clear on what he meant. He was not saying that you must get rid of all sin in your life before coming to commune. That is impossible. He is talking about self examination, about being honest with ourselves, about acknowledging our sins. He is talking about coming in the spirit of repentance.

As the church grew and spread throughout the Mediterranean area in the first century, leaders sensed the need for specific instruction and procedures for observing the Lord's Supper, for baptism and other aspects of church life. To make the connection between sin and forgiveness and the Lord's Supper they began to include a recognition of sin in their worship service. One of the earliest documents to provide this information is called The Didache, or Teaching of the Twelve Apostles. It provided guidance for observing the Lord's Supper, including prayers that can be said for the cup and the bread. One of the things it says is this: on the Lord's day assemble and break bread and give thanks, having first confessed your sins that your sacrifice may be pure.

As the years went by the confession of sin became a regular element in the order of worship. At least from the 11th century on it was customary to have a corporate confession of sin prior to communion. To this day many churches include this in their worship as a way to help people examine themselves, acknowledge their sin, and come to the table in a spirit of repentance.

While exploring this subject on the internet I came across one site that included many confessions that are used in worship today. One caught my attention because we had just spent a profitable class on the Sermon on the Mount. It makes use of the Beatitudes as a responsive confessional prayer.

L/ Blessed Jesus, you offered us all your blessings when you announced, blessed are the poor in spirit.
R/ but we have been rich in pride.
L/ Blessed are those who mourn
R/ But we have not known much sorrow for our sin.
L/ Blessed are the meek --
R/ But we are a stiff-necked people.
L/ Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness --
R/ But we are filled to the full with other things.
L/ Blessed are the merciful --
R/ But we are harsh and impatient.
L/ Blessed are the pure in heart --
R/ But we have not sought reconciliation.
L/ Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness --
R/ But our lives do not challenge the world.
L/ Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me --
R/ But we have hardly made it known that we are yours.
L/ Your law is holy and your benedictions are perfect, but they are both too great for us. You alone are blessed. Thank you, Lord, for your tender mercies, your loving kindness, and your gracious forgiveness which we celebrate at this table. Amen.

ON THE DAY HE DIED

2011-10-03T15:41:00.000-07:00

The great designer, architect and innovator Buckminster Fuller once marveled at the workings of a tiny piece at the edge of the runner of a great steamship, like the Queen Mary, called the trimtab. "Just moving the little trimtab builds a low pressure that pulls the rudder around. Takes almost no effort at all," he said. "The little individual can be a trimtab. Society thinks it's going right by you, that its left you altogether. But if you're doing dynamic things mentally, the fact is that you can just put your foot out like that and the whole big ship of state is going to go." Etched in stone at his grave site, it says, "CALL ME TRIMTAB -- BUCKY." (Nancy Gibbs, Time, Nov 22, 2010)

Think of Jesus on the day of his death; try to take your mind back to the culture, history, and nature of society in that day. By normal political standards crucifixion was not unusual and Jesus was seemingly unimportant. Roman crucifixions were rather common. The practice of crucifixion pre-dates the Romans. For example, Alexander the Great conquered Tyre, a seacoast town not far from northern Galilee and crucified 2,000 of its people. Among the Romans crucifixion was generally not used for Roman citizens, but was widely used for slaves and enemies of the state. After the slave rebellion led by Spartacus, 6,000 slaves were crucified by Crassus.

Jesus grew up in Nazareth of Galilee, a nothing town if there ever was one. But, about 3 1/2 miles north of Nazareth was the large city of Sepphoris, a hot-bed of opposition to Roman rule. After Herod the Great died in 4 BC, a messianic-type leader named Judah ben Hezekiah led a revolt out of Sepphoris which was eventually put down by Varus, the governor of Syria. He destroyed Sepphoris, killed or sold into slavery 30,000 of its inhabitants and marched 2,000 more to Jerusalem where he crucified them in a single day. We can safely assume that the road from Nazareth to Sepphoris was lined with crosses. At the time, Jesus would have been a very small child. But later, Joseph and Jesus probably found employment as carpenters in Sepphoris which was rebuilt by Herod Antipas and made the capital of Galilee.

On the day that Jesus died, what was one more crucifixion? In the big picture of the Roman empire, Jerusalem was a little, obscure, back-water town and this Jesus was so insignificant as a revolutionary that Pilate saw no reason to kill him. He was just one of three that day, and one of thousands over the years. Who, on that day, would have thought his death would make any difference in the long run of things? And yet we know it did. Like the trimtab that turns a mighty ship, Jesus' death on Calvary changed the world.

Apparently, one person on that day had an inkling that something unusually significant had happened. Mark tells us: "When the centurion, who was standing right in front of him, saw how he breathed his last, he said, "Truly, this man was the Son of God" (Mk 15:39). And so he was, and for this reason we come to the table now to remember the one who died on our behalf and changed our world.

A Reason for Weekly Communion

2011-08-24T14:16:00.000-07:00

Each week we meet for worship and the Lord's Supper. Why every Sunday? I was raised in the Christian Church with this tradition and when that question occurred to me as a young person the usual answer was, 'we want to follow the New Testament pattern for the church and there is ample evidence that the earliest Christians observed the Lord's Supper on the first day of each week.'

To be sure, there is evidence for such regularity in the New Testament. In Acts 2:42, Luke describes how the earliest Christians "continued steadfastly in the apostles teaching, the fellowship, the breaking of bread and the prayers." The breaking of bread (communion) was as regular as the teaching, the fellowship and the prayers. Some 25 years later, after the church had expanded throughout the Mediterranean area, Luke tells how Paul came to Troas and waited several days until, as he says, "on the first day of the week, when we were gathered to break bread, Paul began talking to them ... " It appears that it was the custom to meet on the first day for the observance of the Lord's Supper.

It seems appropriate that we too should gather on the first day to "break bread". It is a good tradition. This answer satisfied me for a long time (I don't always catch on quickly),until one day it occurred to me that doing something simply because others have done it, even done it over a long period of time, is not enough. Tradition is valuable and helpful, but is it enough reason to continue doing something? Isn't there a more fundamental question that must be asked? What is behind this tradition? What is the fundamental reason for observing the Lord's Supper that drove the earliest Christians, and the church ever since then, to meet regularly for the observance?

Many texts in the New Testament, with many answers, could be given but if I had to point to just one it would be the reason given in 1 Corinthians 10:16-17, which seems to be saying that the Lord's Supper connects us to both Christ and the church in essential ways. Here is how Paul says it: "Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread which we break a sharing in the body of Christ? Since there is one bread, we who are many are one body; for we all partake of the one bread."

The blood of Christ ... the one body ... symbolized in these elements ... in this communion we are connected to the blood that forgives and the body that unites. What greater reason could we have to maintain the tradition and to "continue steadfastly in the apostles teaching, the fellowship, the breaking of bread and the prayers"?

FROM MEMORIAL TO FREEDOM DAY

2011-07-07T13:51:00.000-07:00

On Memorial Day, a few weeks ago, we remembered fallen heroes. In a few short weeks we have gone from Memorial Day to Freedom Day. But even now, as July 4th is upon us, the nightly news keeps us painfully aware of our fallen heroes. There may be one or more that each of us knew personally, either from as far back as World War Two or from more current conflicts. I'm sure that we all agree that the fallen heroes deserve to be remembered.

In 1915, Moina Michael, inspired by the poem, "In Flanders Field," contributed a short poem that led to wearing poppies in honor of those who died:

We cherish too the Poppy red

That grows on fields where valor led.

It seems to signal to the skies

That blood of heroes never dies.

It is appropriate that we connect Memorial Day, with its remembrance of fallen heroes, to Independence Day and its celebration of freedom, primarily because there is a direct connection between fallen heroes and our freedom. The PBS Memorial Day broadcast from the Capital steps was all about fallen heroes. Tomorrow's broadcast on the 4th, also from the Capital steps, will be all about celebration, freedom, and victory, capped off with brilliant fireworks.

For us who call ourselves Christians, it is particularly appropriate that we gather at the communion table today and focus on a fallen hero whose life was given in the greatest battle ever fought, and whose blood, as the poem says, "never dies." Every human war ever fought is simply a microcosm of the deeper, greater spiritual war that goes on behind the scenes. As Paul says in Ephesians 6:12, "Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the ... spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places." We are still engaged in this struggle and we come today to remember and to celebrate the fallen hero who won the decisive battle.

It's been said that every war has a decisive battle. In the Second World War the decisive battle came on D Day and the successful invasion of France. While many battles were yet to be fought, the war was essentially won at that time. There were many fallen heroes on the beach whose sacrifice ultimately led to victory.

Crucifixion day, with its decisive battle, and Resurrection day, with its ultimate victory, go together. Our hero fell, but rose again, enabling Paul to say in Romans 5:10, "If while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled shall we be saved by his life." Reconciled by his death ... saved by his life! Death and all of this world's sin and evil met its match on Calvary when Jesus Christ became our fallen and then our risen hero. Now, at this table, we celebrate the freedom that was won for us by Him.

Out of Sight, Out of Mind

2011-05-30T13:58:00.000-07:00

After her hip surgery and during the nearly three weeks that Frances was in the hospital and the rehabilitation facility I was home alone. There were several things that I had to remember. Turn off the stove, turn down the heat at night, lock the doors and, when I left the house, take the cell phone. I often forget to take it. To help me remember I moved it from its usual place to one where I would be sure to see it. With me the old cliche is true: out of sight, out of mind.

All too often a great natural disaster occurs, like hurricane Katrina, the Haiti earthquake, or the Japan earthquake and tsunami. For a time our national media keeps it before us. Right now our attention is focused on Joplin. But, as time goes by, the media turn to other events. Not everyone forgets, but with many of us it is true: out of sight, out of mind.

If you come to church from West 11th as I do, you turn at the corner on Bertleson where a drunken driver killed several people a few years ago. It was a terrible tragedy and for a long time flower memorials were placed there to remind us. Some are still there but not as many and not as obvious. Usually I don't see them and consequently I don't remember. Out of sight, out of mind.

In 1984 Frances and I had the privilege of visiting St Michael's Cathedral in Coventry, England. The Cathedral is a magnificent, modern building. On the front is a sculpture of St Michael defeating the devil. As you walk into the building from either side you cannot help but see the ruins of the original building that was destroyed by bombs in World War Two. They have left the shell of the original building for all to see. Also, once inside the Cathedral a glass wall with inscribed figures of historical Christians allows you to see the ruins.

As you stand in the ruins your eye is drawn to the charred, ugly cross behind the altar. Someone picked through the rubble of the bombed out ruins and used some blackened pieces of wood to form a crude cross. The bombing occurred on Nov 14, 1943. Only six months later, on Christmas day, the BBC invited Provost Howard to lead a Christmas broadcast from the ruins of the Cathedral. In his message he said, "With Christ born in our hearts today, we are trying, hard as it may be, to banish all thoughts of revenge ... We are going to try to make a kinder, simpler, a more Christ-child-like sort of world in the days beyond this strife."

After the war, as an act of reconciliation the German people collected offerings and paid for the windows in the new Cathedral. Also, a reconciliation statue, titled "Forgiveness", was placed within the ruins. All of these, the new Cathedral, the ruins, the statue and the cross, are visible reminders of the reconciliation found in Christ. We need such visual reminders because it is certainly true -- if it's out of sight, its out of mind.

And so it is with these simple elements, a table that says, "do this in remembrance of me," a piece of bread, a cup of grape juice, the words, "this is my body," and "this is my blood of the covenant." All of this, so simple and yet so important, keep alive and fresh our memory of the sacrifice of Christ on our behalf.

AND THEY SANG A HYMN

2011-04-11T16:02:00.000-07:00

Matthew says, "And they sang a hymn and went out to the Mount of Olives."

We are singing creatures. We have songs for everything; songs about life and death, hopes and dreams, tragedies, failures -- you name it and there is a song for it.

Near the beginning of the bible, back thousands of years ago in Israel's early history, they experienced God's mighty power when the Red Sea parted and they walked to safety on dry land. Exodus 14:31 says, "When the people of Israel saw the mighty power that the Lord had unleashed against the Egyptians, they were filled with awe before Him." So how did they respond? They broke into song: "I will sing to the Lord for he has triumphed gloriously; ... the Lord is my strength and my song; he has given me the victory." It was called "The Song of Moses."

Near the end of the Bible, through the eyes of John in Revelation 15, as we look toward the end of time, we see with him all of the people who had been victorious over the beast. They too, says John, are singing The Song of Moses and the Song of the Lamb.

In the middle of the Bible is a Psalm that links the Songs of Moses and of the Lamb with our lives. In our Bibles Psalm 66 has this simple inscription: "A Psalm. A Song." In its early verses it refers to Israel's crossing through the Red Sea and goes on to say, "we went through fire and blood, but you brought us to a place of great abundance." One scholar translates it: "you have brought us back to life." This Psalm was well known in Jesus' day because it was used by the Jews at various times during Passover week.

The early Christians continued to use it. Because it talks about passing from defeat to victory, from death to life, the early church added a word it its inscription in the Greek version, the word anastasis, which means "resurrection." They called it "A Song of Resurrection" and applied it to the victory we have in Christ who was raised from the dead.

I say all of this to raise a question. In Matthew's description of the Passover meal, what we call the Lord's Supper, after Jesus spoke of the bread as His body and the cup as the new covenant in His blood, Matthew concludes: "They sang a hymn and went out to the Mount of Olives." (26:30). What hymn did they sing? Since Psalm 66 was often used during Passover week, could that be what they sang? We don't know, of course, but I like to think that Jesus led them in singing about the mighty power of God and His victory through Jesus Christ over sin and death, which we celebrate at the Lord's Table.

About Being Solvent

2011-02-27T14:21:00.000-08:00

May I ask a rather impertinent question? Are you solvent? A lot of businesses, families, and even governments today are not solvent, although I am sure that all want to be. The first meaning of the term is that one is able to pay all legal debts, and we all want that.

I began thinking about this word when I read a meditation on Psalm 38 and was struck by the author's statement: "sin is the great solvent of our relationships" (Reardon, Christ in the Psalms). My use if the term just now and his are quite different. My curiosity about the differences led me to the dictionary where I discovered two meanings which appear to be unrelated. One is the ability to pay debts. The other says that a solvent is a substance that dissolves another substance. I wondered, how can those two definitions be related? They appear to be very different.

This question brought me back to Psalm 38 where David is sadly confessing that his sin had separated him from his family and from his God. Sin, like a great solvent, dissolves and destroys relationships. One time Frances had one of the old mercury filled thermometers break in her hand. The mercury rolled out across her fingers, contacted her gold wedding ring, and dissolved much of it. That's what sin does to our relationships. It destroys that which is valuable and precious -- our relationship with spouse, children, friend, or God. And much more.

But there is a positive side to a solvent. In many cases, it cleanses in the act of dissolving. Whether it is paint in a brush or tar on your car, a good solvent will remove it. And so it is with our sin -- a good solvent will dissolve the sin and cleanse us. Thus, we read in 1 John 1:7, "If we walk in the light as he is in the light ... the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin." And we hear Jesus at the last supper say, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, shed for the remission of sins."

Now I know the connection between the two definitions of the word "solvent" -- at least in a spiritual sense. Our debts have been covered and our sins removed through the sacrifice of Christ. We are right with God again. In His eyes we are solvent, all because of the sin-cleansing blood of Christ.

Perfection Required and Made Possible

2011-01-27T09:59:00.000-08:00

People with perfect pitch flinch when they hear something just a little off key.

A perfectionist about appearance will let every stray hair or a single wrinkle make him or her feel uncomfortable.

A skilled wood worker, creating an intricate inlaid pattern on a table top, will not tolerate even one mis-aligned piece.

The crew of a NASA flight to the moon would be very put out if there were the slightest mis-calculation in their trajectory. It would mean sending them into outer space with no hope of return.

If I were preparing a three egg omelet for dinner I might think that one rotten egg out of three is OK. After all, two out of three is not bad, is it? I'm afraid my wife would not find it acceptable.

And yet that's what we do with God. We bring him a life that is only a little bit out of tune, only slightly off course, only a little rotten, and we expect Him to accept it. We humans tend to tolerate imperfection in the lives of others because that's all we ever get. We don't expect people to be perfect. we would have no fellowship at all if we insisted that everyone qualify by a life of perfection.

But when it comes to being right with God perfection is required. Revelation 21 describes heaven and verse 7 says clearly, "nothing unclean will be there." Perfection is required. So what are we to do?

If anyone faced this problem the Christians in Corinth did. Of all the churches seen in the New Testament the Corinthian church seemed to have more than it's share of serious sinners. In chapter 6 Paul acknowledges this. He lists some serious, deadly sins that they were guilty of, saying that those who do these things would not inherit the kingdom of God. But then he adds in verse 11, "and such were some of you. But you were washed, you were made holy, you were made right with God in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God."

Here at this table, we stand as imperfect, unclean people made perfect and clean in Christ. Paul put it this way in 2 Corinthians 5:21, "For God made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."

For this reason we remember Him who, in the upper room, said, "this is my body given for you," and "this is my blood" shed for you. In Him is our righteousness.

THE LORD'S SUPPER AND BAPTISM

2010-12-15T15:50:00.001-08:00

I want to discuss the connection between the Lord's Supper and baptism but let me begin with a story. When I was a student at Northwest Christian College there was an informal, unofficial theological debating society that we called simply the "radiator club." Just inside the front door of the main building is a radiator and students would gather there, especially on cold days. Whoever showed up had a good time discussing and answering all of the big biblical and theological problems of the day. One of the questions sometimes debated was, "when is the cleansing blood of Christ applied to a sinner's life?"

First John 1:7 says: "If we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus His Son, cleanses us from all sin." John seems to be saying that when we live in accordance with God's revelation, his light, we are brought into fellowship with each other and it is within this fellowship that we experience the cleansing power of the blood of Christ. But, is there a specific time or action in which this happens? What is it, precisely, that brings us into this fellowship and at the same time cleanses us from sin?

Before he became the Apostle Paul, Saul learned the answer to this question in a most dramatic fashion. On the road to Damascus to find and persecute Christians he was suddenly blinded by a powerful light and heard Jesus ask him, "why are you persecuting me?" They led him into the city and Ananias, one of the Christians he had come to persecute, was sent by the Lord to explain things to him. Ananias concluded by saying, "Now why do you delay? Get up and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name." Ananias was saying to him, in baptism you can experience the cleansing power of Jesus' blood. In doing so he also entered the fellowship of those people called Christians.

Later, he reflected on the meaning of baptism in Romans 6:2-3 when he wrote: "How shall we who died to sin still live in it? Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into his death?"

But baptism is only the beginning. In First John, John is writing to people who have been Christians for a long time. He recognizes that sin is powerful. It can smear and pollute the best of us and all need cleansing, more than once. If we claim that we do not sin, he says, we are liars. How is it then that being within the fellowship of those who walk in the light provides the opportunity to experience the cleansing power of Jesus' blood?

Again, Paul can help us. In 1 Corinthians 10:16 he says, "Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread which we break a sharing in the body of Christ?"

Baptism and the Lord's Supper are connected by the blood of Jesus. The initial cleansing of sin and entering into the fellowship takes place in baptism, an act of faith. The continued fellowship and cleansing occurs at the communion table. To be sure, there may well be other times and actions in which we experience the cleansing of Christ, but at the very least we can experience it both in baptism and in the Lord's Supper.

ADVENT: A TIME TO PREPARE

2010-12-13T16:09:00.000-08:00

A promise was made by ancient prophets: the Lord's anointed, the one who would save his people, would be born as a child. And so Israel waited and hoped and lived "in the meantime." Finally, the time came but they were not as prepared to recognize him. As John said, "he came to his own, but his own did not receive him."

On this first Sunday of Advent we too are living "in the meantime." The word "advent" is from the Latin and means 'coming to.' Advent is that time when we focus on the promise of Christ coming to the world. Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say it is that time when we prepare to celebrate the birth of Christ. It is not a passive waiting. It is time to prepare.

A lot of preparation is needed when a baby is expected. Equipment and supplies must be purchased, perhaps a room redecorated, and other physical preparations made. More importantly, Mom and Dad need to prepare mentally and emotionally. Then, when the time is right, the baby comes.

It seems that even God had to prepare for the birth of His son. Galatians 4:4-5 says: "When the right time came, God sent His son, born of a woman ... to buy freedom for us ... so that he could adopt us as his very own children." Notice the first words: "when the right time came." It implies a time of preparation.

God worked in history so that it was the right time in many ways for Christ to come. Politically, the Mediterranean world was united and at peace, thanks to the Roman Empire. One language, Greek, was spoken everywhere making it possible to preach the Gospel to many people groups. The Romans built roads for their armies which made it easy for missionaries to travel. Also, the old gods had lost their power and attraction leaving people hungry for a savior. It was the right time -- the world was ready.

I wonder if God, the Father, also had to prepare himself? He knew what would happen. He knew how badly this sin-sick, Satan-enslaved world needed his son. And he knew what it would cost to buy our freedom. Perhaps God was always ready, but I can't help feeling that the Father not only prepared the world but also prepared Himself so that "when the time was right, God sent his Son, born of a woman ... to buy freedom for us ... so that he could adopt us as his very own children."

In this Advent season we can prepare for the coming of the Christ child by remembering why he came -- to buy our freedom -- and how much it cost. It is why we come to this table and remember how the Lord Himself took the bread, broke it and said, 'this is my body, given for you.' And the cup also, saying, 'this cup is the new covenant in my blood poured out for the forgiveness of sins.'

The Blood of Jesus: Baptism and the Lord's Supper

2010-10-19T14:37:00.000-07:00

In our church building I am glad that our communion table and the baptistery are located close to each other since there is an essential connection between them. Two statements by Paul, one about baptism and the other about the Lord's Supper indicate this relationship. In both cases he is discussing the danger of sin and how it can be dealt with.

In Romans 6:3 he says this about baptism: "How shall we who died to sin still live in it? Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into his death?" In baptism the death of Jesus, his shed blood, becomes effective in our lives.

In 1 Corinthians 10:6, in the context of discussing the sin of idolatry, he says this about the Lord's Supper: "Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread which we break a sharing in the body of Christ?" In the Lord's Supper the blood of Jesus becomes effective in our lives, just as in baptism.

Does it offend you to talk about the blood of Jesus? It does some people. I know ministers who have tried to explain the sacrificial death of Jesus in ways that play down any reference to the blood of Jesus. This is not new. We had a highly respected choir director in college many years ago who was not only a classy lady but a dedicated Christian. She also had very high musical standards. She made it clear that the gospel hymn "Power in the Blood" was neither good music or, in her opinion, good theology. I can understand the revulsion for talking about the blood of Jesus. Some insensitive, fundamentalist preachers have gone to great lengths to portray the gross and hideous details of crucifixion, linked this to the many sins of their listeners and succeeded in laying a great burden of guilt upon them.

And yet, in the New Testament, the writers chose to use the word "blood" three times as often as the "cross of Christ," and five times as frequently as "death". What do we mean when we speak about the "blood of Jesus?" Language is symbolic. It points to something. To speak about the blood of Jesus being effective in baptism and the Lord's Supper means several things. Like any good metaphor it has several meanings but one is enough for us to see the connection between baptism and the Lord's Supper.

Among other things, it means cleansing. 1 John 1:7 tells us that "the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin." Dr Brand and Philip Yancy in their book, In His Image, explain how blood in our bodies carries away harmful chemical by-products that could threaten life. "Just as blood cleanses the body of harmful metabolites, forgiveness through Christ's blood cleanses away the waste products, sins, that impede true health" (77). One of the functions of blood is to cleanse.

It used to be that Saturday night was bath night -- you took a bath once a week whether you needed it or not. When finished you were clean all over. Of course, it would not be long before you would have to wash your hands again. Its like that with baptism and the Lord's Supper. In baptism we are totally cleansed of sin -- but that doesn't mean we never sin again. God in his grace has provided access to cleansing each week as we come to the table.

Baptism and the Lord's Supper -- Part 2

2010-09-20T16:35:00.000-07:00

Baptism and the Lord's Supper go together. There is an essential relationship between them. They make the perfect pair, given to believers by God for their benefit. In a previous meditation I used this analogy to express one aspect of how they fit together: baptism as new birth is related to the Lord's Supper as natural birth is related to eating. We need weekly sustenance in order to maintain the spiritual life received in our new birth.

A second analogy is related to the New Testament image of the church as the bride of Christ. Baptism is related to the Lord's Supper as a marriage ceremony is related to marriage anniversaries and other acts of remembrance and renewal. At the ceremony, vows are said. Throughout the years that follow the vows are remembered and renewed repeatedly in simple rituals.

In a man's proposal and a woman's positive response both are saying "yes" to each other. But they haven't really said yes finally and completely until they say it in the vows of the marriage ceremony. Baptism corresponds to this. 1 Peter 3:21 says, "baptism now saves you," and then calls it, "the pledge (or vow) of a good conscience toward God." Baptism is our pledge, our vow, our "yes" to God. It brings us in that covenant relationship called the church, the bride of Christ.

We realize, of course, that saying "yes" in a marriage ceremony, and in baptism, is only the beginning. It is intended to happen only once, and then to be lived out and renewed in acts of loving faithfulness throughout the marriage. Furthermore, marriages that strengthen and deepen over the years develop simple and repeated rituals that remember and renew the initial yes.

Anniversary celebrations do this. Sometimes couples go to elaborate ends and great expense in anniversary celebrations. But they can also be very simple. I remember once on our anniversary that our kids thought it funny when our big night out was spent going to the public library.

Even more than yearly remembrances a variety of repeated, simple rituals help us to remember and renew our vows. One, for example, is the weekly date that many couples have. They may not say it out loud but when the set aside this time for each other they are in effect saying, "I remember and I renew my vow to you." They are saying "yes" to each other again.

And this is what we do in the simple weekly ritual at the Lord's Table each week. We remember and renew the vow to God that we first made in our baptism. It may be simple and the routine may be all too familiar but it reminds us of who we are as the bride of Christ. Once again we say "yes" to him as we confess our faith, eat the bread and drink from the cup.

Baptism and the Lord's Supper -- Part I

2010-09-16T13:23:00.000-07:00

Some things are meant to go together. As someone said, "Like meat and potatoes, salt and tomatoes, we make a perfect pair."

Likewise, baptism and the Lord's Supper make a perfect pair, they were meant to go together. They have a vital, even essential connection. Baptism and the Lord's Supper are recognized universally as the two ordinances, or sacraments of the church, given by God for the benefit of His people. While we often consider the meaning of each one independently, it is also important to see the essential connection they have.

Let me state it first this way: baptism is related to the Lord's Supper as birth is related to eating.

Baptism is part of the process of being born again. In John 3 Jesus told Nicodemus, "Unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter the kingdom of God." The obedient act of faith in baptism and the work of the Spirit results in new birth, or being born again.

Titus 3:5 also speaks of new birth when it says, "He saved us ... by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit." The phrase, "washing of regeneration" could be literally translated as the "bath of new birth." One commentator explains it this way: "the process of washing in baptism produced a rebirth of which the Spirit was the origin" (Quinn, Anchor Bible, 219).

The connection between the sacraments can be put this way: baptism as new birth is related to the Lord's Supper as natural birth is related to eating. How many times are we born? Only once. How many meals do we eat? Many. Why? What happens if, after birth, we eat for a time and then say, "this is too much trouble," or "this is getting old," and so we stop eating? We die, of course.

John 6 is often seen as a spiritual interpretation of the Lord's Supper. In John 6:53 Jesus says, "I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you." At the last supper Jesus held the bread before his disciples and said, "This is my body given for you." Not in a literal sense, of course, but in a mysterious and real way, by faith, we partake of the body and blood of Christ, the bread of life, at this table. If the life given to us in our spiritual rebirth is to continue we need to eat regularly.

Baptism and the Lord's Supper go together. They are the perfect pair, essentially connected. New life comes through new birth and is sustained at the table.

OUR RICHES IN CHRIST

2010-07-19T15:59:00.000-07:00

Janice Lemke, with her husband Cory, was a missionary in Ukraine for many years. Being a writer, she is always looking for a good story and she found one in a church in Kirovskaya, and then shared it in her weekly email update. In her words:

Cory likes to be early (his definition of "on time") and while waiting for things to get going, I decided to talk to an old woman who sat alone in the sanctuary. She greeted me warmly and I figured she might be good for a story or two to pass the time.

She's 89 years old, but details about World War II were just as clear to her as though it happened last month. It was a time of fear and hunger. Even though her father was a Christian, he had a position of authority on a collective farm. And even though Christians were supposed to keep their faith to themselves, he said one day, "Anyone who knows how to pray, you may go to the church and pray today for an end to this war." She recalled how they walked to the village, got down on their knees, and prayed with weeping. The next day, they heard no planes or bombs. The war was over.

When she was 40, she was expecting another child. The doctors told her she was too old and must have an abortion. She told them, "I have never even killed a kitten. How can I kill my own child?" Her daughter grew up to be a sweet and gentle woman who has a daughter who attends Bible College.

Her son lives in Germany. Her daughter does too. "They all do," she said. They wrote to say that life is easier there, and they wanted her to move there with them. She refused. "I have everything here I need," she said. "I have a garden and some chickens. I am very rich. I don't need anything more."

Here words challenged me more than any sermon I heard that day. Her clothes obviously came from some humanitarian aid box. On her feet, she wore dirty sandals with baggy boy's athletic socks with a red stripe and a hole in the heel. And her smell, frankly, told me she doesn't have hot water or a washing machine. Yet, she says, "I have everything I need. I am very rich." (Lemke update, 7/23/2005).

Reading this story led me to Proverbs 10:22, "The blessing of the Lord makes one rich, and He adds no sorrow with it." As we come to the Lord's Table we can be thankful for the riches we receive here. As Paul explained in 2 Corinthians 8:9, "For you know the generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich."

At His table we both celebrate and receive the richness of His grace, His love, His forgiveness. No wonder the Lord's Supper is called "eucharist" in Greek, which translated means to give thanks. It is indeed the Great Thanksgiving.

The Pursuit of Happiness Hebrews 12:2 A Fourth of July Communion Meditation

2010-07-13T16:18:00.001-07:00

On this Fourth of July I want to focus on two puzzling statements, one in the Declaration of Independence and one in Hebrews 12:2. The puzzling phrase, at least to me, in the Declaration of Independence is found in the philosophical heart of that document: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."

The phrase that puzzled me is: "the pursuit of happiness." It could easily be understood as hedonistic, self-centered and focused on personal pleasure. Surely that is not what Jefferson meant. But what did he mean? I came to understand it when I learned the educational and philosophical context in which it was written.

The Declaration of Independence was written and signed by men who had been highly influenced by the Scottish Enlightenment. In fact, fully one third of the signers were of Scottish or Ulster Scott extraction. They were all familiar with and had been influenced by the teaching of Francis Hutcheson of Glasgow who was known as the father of the Scottish Enlightenment.

Hutcheson believed that every one's ultimate goal in life is happiness, but for him this meant not the gratification of physical desires but making others happy. The highest form of happiness for anyone is making others happy. "That action is best," he said, "which procures the greatest happiness."

A scientific experiment at the University of Oregon a few years ago and reported in the Eugene Register Guard supports this idea. A number of people were given money and the opportunity to give it away or to keep it. Their brains were monitored and it was discovered that voluntarily giving to help others produced a response in the part of the brain that registers pleasure. I guess you could say that God created us this way.

Haven't you found it to be true that when you did something that made someone else happy that it produced happiness in you also? Like seeing your child open a gift, or seeing a young person blossom as a result of your teaching. Doesn't it make you happy to see slides by a missionary you have supported of people being baptized in Kenya, or children singing enthusiastically in a Ukrainian church camp? On the other hand, the more self centered, the more we try to make ourselves happy by hoarding or spending on ourselves, the more miserable we are.

Jimmy Durante's gravelly voice in Sleepless in Seattle said it in song, "Make someone happy, make just one someone happy, and you will be happy too."

This helps us understand the puzzling statement about Jesus in Hebrews 12:2 which says, "... for the joy set before him he endured the cross ...". It seems strange to put joy and enduring the cross together in the same sentence but its true that when Jesus went to the cross he was in "the pursuit of happiness" -- yours and mine. the happiness of forgiven sin, of cleansing and renewal. The happiness of reconciliation and hope. All of this he secured for us on the cross. Thus, it was "for the joy set before him that he endured the cross." We experience again that joy now as we join him at His table.

CHOOSING IS THE HEART OF COVENANT

2010-06-18T13:32:00.000-07:00

At the last supper Jesus spoke not only about the bread being his body given for us but also about the new covenant in his blood. Last week as the wedding of Doug and Tracy approached, and as I thought about preparing a communion meditation, I couldn't help but think about how marriage is a sign of the covenant God has given us in Christ.

There are many connections between marriage as a covenant and the new covenant that we have in Christ but certainly one of the most important is the fact that at the heart of each is choosing.

In marriage, two people have chosen each other and expressed their choice in the vows they make. It may have begun with just one of them choosing the other but it will never work until both choose the other. Over sixty years ago, unknown to her at first, I began the choice of Frances when I saw her singing in a women's trio at church. Thankfully, the time came when she chose me as well. Once both have chosen the other they are able to join in saying with the woman in The Song of Solomon, "I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine."

After Genesis 3 and the separation from God that it describes, the entire story of the bible can be summarized in terms of God choosing to love his creation. God chose Noah and established an everlasting covenant with him. God chose Abraham and made a covenant of love with him to make him a great nation and to bless all the families of the earth through him. Out of divine love God chose the Jews, as Moses wrote, "to be a people for his own possession ... not because you were more in number than any other people ... but because the Lord loves you" (Deut 7:6-8). And in the New Testament we are told over and over that God has chosen us in Christ.

Paul put it beautifully in Ephesians 1 when he spoke of how God "chose us in Christ ... and destined us for adoption as his children." Here is the beauty of it -- God hasn't chosen people in general. He hasn't chosen a crowd. He has chosen me, you, each of us personally, out of his love.

But have we chosen Him? He will never go back on his promises, He will never stop loving us with an unconditional love. He will be true to his covenant. We will always be God's beloved, and He longs to hear us say that He is our beloved also.

At this covenant meal we can not only experience the joy of knowing that he has chosen us, we can recommit ourselves to him. We can do it now as we say together the good confession of faith.

We Are Family John 19:26-27

2010-05-19T11:11:00.000-07:00

When I thought about a communion meditation for Mother's Day a text immediately came to mind, John 19:26-27, where Jesus is on the cross. He hangs there in agony but when he looks down and sees his mother and the man called his beloved disciple, often identified as John, he says, "Woman, behold your son" and to the disciple, "behold your mother."

Most interpreters see this as a loving son making sure that his mother is taken care of after he dies. Joseph is probably dead, at least he is never mentioned after the birth accounts in Matthew and Luke. Although Jesus had four brothers who are named in Mark 6 we are told by John in chapter 7 that they did not believe in him. And in both Matthew and Mark we are told of a time when they thought Jesus had "lost his senses" (Mt 12; Mk 3). Maybe Jesus thought that he could rely on this beloved disciple more than his brothers to look after a destitute widow.

But there may be a deeper meaning here. John's gospel is well known for stories that have both surface and deeper meanings. In this case he seems to be saying to Mary and John, you are family now, immediate family, and by extension he could be saying to all who come to the foot of the cross, you are my family. When we gather at the cross we are family. Earlier in the Gospel Jesus had said about his death on the cross, "If I am lifted up, I will draw all people to me" (12:32). The Gospel, like a powerful magnet, draws us together as his family. this idea of being family is supported by images used in other places of the church being the household of faith.

One day last week I was skimming through the obituaries in our local newspaper when the last sentence of one caught my eye. It was for a woman named Gloria Adams who died on April 9, one month from today. All I know about her is what I read in the brief article. It pleased me to read that she was highly respected by people in the business world and that she loved to fish and ski and was a very good golfer. But what struck me was that not a single relative or family member was listed as a survivor. She had not married, apparently, and I thought to myself, she died without a family. But then I read that last sentence: "A special thanks ... to her family at Restoration Fellowship" (a church in Springfield). Yes, she did have a family. All who gather at the cross and call Jesus Lord are family, brothers and sisters in Christ. I wonder if they sang at her memorial service, "I'm so glad I'm a part of the family of God."

To his brothers at the table in the upper room, and to us, Jesus said, "This bread is my body, given for you ... this cup is my blood, shed for you." As the family of God we say together our confession of faith.

Postscript: After this Mother's Day meditation a relatively new couple in our church said they had been in the church with Gloria Adams for several years, had attended her memorial service, which they said was packed, and expressed appreciation for the emphasis on her family-church relationship.

Inextricably Entwined Romans 4:25

2010-04-06T13:56:00.000-07:00

I like the phrase "inextricably entwined." It is hard to say but it's meaning is especially appropriate when we meet on Easter, resurrection Sunday, and partake of the Lord's Supper. It means, of course, that certain things go together and simply cannot be separated. They are so interconnected that you cannot separate them without doing damage to each.

The cross and the resurrection are inextricably entwined. The cross, which is at the heart of the Lord's Supper, and the resurrection, which we celebrate today but also on the first day of every week, cannot be separated without doing damage to the meaning of each.

Take the resurrection away and what does that do to the meaning of the cross? It means Jesus died and remains dead like any other good man, like the prophets before him. He left behind some helpful teachings but like the death of any other man, his death may be inspirational but it is not redemptive. As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:17, "if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins."

On the other hand, take away the cross and what does that do to the meaning of the resurrection? There is nothing left to validate. It may be a marvelous miracle but Jesus then is no different than Lazarus. He too was raised from the dead, but only for a time, and not to validate any redemptive, atoning sacrifice on his part. Jesus, on the other hand, came for the very purpose, as he put it, "to give his life a ransom for many" (Mk 10:45). In the upper room at the Last Supper Jesus held the bread and said, "this is my body, given for you," and the cup saying, "this is my blood ... shed for the forgiveness of sins." Were these the rants of a self-deluded pretender? No! God raised him from the dead on the third day and thereby changed the cross into a big exclamation point. YES! It is true. His death was not in vain. Paul said it all in one short sentence in Romans 4:25, "He was delivered over to death because of our sins and he was raised to life for our justification."

I wonder if some artistic person could come up with a piece of jewelry that would show the cross and the empty tomb inextricably entwined? We have lots of cross jewelry but the cross by itself, without the resurrection, is just an instrument of death, like a scaffold or an electric chair. Both the cross and the resurrection lose their power when separated. The cross or the resurrection without each other mean little or nothing, but together they mean everything.

How appropriate it is, therefore, on this resurrection Sunday that we remember the cross and give thanks that he was "delivered to death for our sins and raised for our justification."

THE OPEN TABLE

2010-03-01T16:24:00.000-08:00

Some churches practice "close" communion, so called because only those who are close, or within that particular family of faith can participate. For instance, in Ceres, Oklahoma there are two small country churches. I served one while in seminary at Enid and learned that the other, a Southern Baptist church, allowed only members of the local body to participate. Even former members who had moved away, joined another Baptist church and returned to visit could not partake. It was an extremely "close" service.

Our church, and most others, have an open table. I got to thinking about the image of an open table and its implications. Several key words came to mind that summarize the meaning of "open."

"Inclusive" was the first. The invitation in the scriptures, "whosoever will may come" applies to the table as well as to the Christian faith. It is the Lord's Table and we know from the Gospels that Jesus did not shrink from eating with anyone. Saint, sinner, down and out, up and out, all classes, all colors -- all are welcome.

The second word is "opportunity," as in an open door. But opportunity must be seized. It is an opportunity to meet the Lord and receive his grace. But you have to answer, to go through the door, to show up at the table. It requires some action and commitment on our part.

"Enough" is the third word. An open table implies that there is enough to go around. Its like the church potlucks we have. We always invite everyone to stay and eat, even if they brought no food. And there's always enough for all. What we receive at the Lord's Supper is also enough to sustain us spiritually. Here we find the bread of life and there is enough for all.

Another word that comes to mind when the word open is used is "transparent," or "revealing." You can see through an open door. Or we speak of certain people as being open and mean that they are not secretive, they do not hide their feelings or thoughts. To be sure, there is something mysterious about the Lord's Supper because it operates by faith, but at the same time it is open and revealing. Through it we see the sacrifice, the love, and the open arms of our Savior.

One more word implied by "open" is "unhindered." There is no fence around the table. There are no barriers. No one will stop you from participating. Those who have no faith in Christ will probably not participate, but the table is open to them also as an invitation to faith. To everyone, this table says, will you believe, will you commit yourself, will you confess your faith in Christ. "Whosoever will may come.

Let us say our confession of faith and then let us commune with the One who said, "this is my body," and "this is my blood."

The Gospel Every Week

2010-01-27T14:17:00.000-08:00

I once had a student at Northwest Christian who asked me the same question several times. He was an older student, had a good sense of humor, and with his Reformed Church background enjoyed playing this little game with me. The question always came if he happened to see me as we left a chapel service. Referring to the sermon we had just heard he would ask, "was the gospel or law?" He knew the answer and he knew that I knew the answer but he liked to play that little game.

If I were to ask you this morning after Nick's sermon, was that gospel or law, what would you say? It might help if I define the terms. By "law" I do not mean legalistic rules and regulations. In this case, it means guidance and helpful instructions for living. Psalm 119 refers to the law as a light for our path. It is the kind of guidance found in the Sermon on the Mount or in the epistles. It is the biblical revelation of how to live in keeping with God's will.

Nick might preach a really helpful sermon from one of these texts, say, on loving one another, or on living a holy life, or how to pray, but it would not be a gospel sermon. The gospel is not good advice or good ideas or good instruction. The gospel is good news.

But what is this good news? In its simplest and most essential sense it is Christ. To preach Christ is to preach the gospel. One of the most concise summaries of the gospel is give by Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4. In essence, he says that the gospel he preached to them was:

Christ,

Christ predicted in scriptures

Christ crucified for our sins, and

Christ resurrected and seen to be alive.

The great Reformer and theologian, John Calvin, said that we need the gospel preached to us every week, and the Lord's supper to ratify the promise, because we are partly unbelievers until we die. As the distraught father said to Jesus in Mark 9: "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief." We are all partly unbelievers and we need to hear the gospel every week, -- the good news of what God has done for us in Christ, his sacrifice for our forgiveness and salvation.

And we do. Like a couple of weeks ago when Nick's sermon was an excellent example of "law," giving guidance and instruction for living as Christians, we still heard the gospel in the communion meditation and in the act of communion. And we needed that. As the old Gospel hymn says:

Tell me the old, old story of unseen things above,

Of Jesus and his glory, of Jesus and his love.

Tell me the story simply, as to a little child;

For I am weak and weary, and helpless and defiled.

Tell me the story slowly, that I may take it in --

That wonderful redemption, God's remedy for sin.

Tell me the story often, for I forget so soon;

The early dew of morning has passed away at noon.

Yes, tell me the old, old story, of Jesus and his love. We need to hear the gospel every week, and we do as we hear his words from the Last Supper and partake of his body and his blood.

Joy For The Season

2009-12-14T11:30:00.000-08:00

"Then the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all the people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord." Luke 2:10-11

It's true that in this Christmas season many people, even many Christians, do not experience the joy and happiness the angel declared was coming. Some are burdened by tragedy or circumstances beyond their control, but many do not know the joy simply because they have forgotten or never known how it comes.

In another declaration well known to all of us we hear about "unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." That phrase, "the pursuit of happiness," puzzled me for a long time. It could easily be understood as hedonistic, self-centered and focused on personal pleasure. Surely that isn't what Jefferson and his colleagues meant. But what did it mean? I came to understand it when I learned the educational and philosophical context in which it was written.

The Declaration of Independence was written and signed my men who had been highly influenced by the Scottish enlightenment. In fact, fully 1/3 of the signers were of Scottish or Ulster Scott extraction. They were all familiar with and had been influenced by the teachings of Francis Hutcheson of Glasgow who was known as the founding father of the Scottish Enlightenment.

Hutcheson believed that every one's ultimate goal in life is happiness, but for him this meant not the gratification of physical desires but making others happy. The highest form of happiness is making others happy. "That action is best," he said, "which procures the greatest happiness. Can you imagine what our country would be like today if everyone were trying to make others happy?

A recent scientific experiment at the University of Oregon and reported by the Register Guard supports this idea. A number of people were given money and the opportunity to give it away or to keep it. Their brains were monitored and it was discovered that voluntarily giving to help others produced a response in the part of the brain that registers pleasure.

Haven't you found it to be true that when you made someone else happy that it produced happiness in you also? Like seeing your child open a long desired gift, or like seeing a young person blossom as a result of your teaching. And doesn't it make you happy to see slides by a missionary of someone being baptised in Kenya, or children singing enthusiastically in a Ukrainian church camp, knowing you had a hand in that through your support? On the other hand, the more self centered, the more we try to make ourselves happy by hoarding or spending on ourselves, the more miserable we are.

Jimmy Durante's gravelly voice in Sleepless in Seattle said it well in song: "Make someone happy, make just one someone happy, and you will be happy too."

This helps us understand the puzzling statement about Jesus in Hebrews 12:2 which says, "... for the joy set before him he endured the cross ..." It seems strange to put joy and enduring the cross together in the same sentence but it is true that when Jesus went to the cross he was in "the pursuit of happiness" -- yours and mine. The happiness of forgiven sin, of cleansing and renewal. The happiness of reconciliation and hope. All of this he secured for us the cross. Thus, it was "for the joy set before him that he endured the cross." We experience again that joy promised by the angel even now as we join our Lord at the communion table.

We Are All Connected 1 Corinthians 10:16-17

2009-11-25T10:34:00.000-08:00

The word "communion" refers to the celebration of the Lord's Supper. But it can also mean a sharing of something with others. It can refer to intimate discourse with others. I t can mean a body of Christians who share a common faith. We are a communion, a community of faith.

If there is one word that expresses the impact of communion it is the word "connected." This celebration points to our connectedness.

I have recently read two very different books that reminded me of the essential connectedness that we have in life. One is a biography of John Muir, Rediscovering America, by Frederick Turner. Actually, what Muir said came to me first in a slide show that I saw at our church not long ago. The photographer, who presented some outstanding slides of wild animals nature scenes, prefaced a section of his slides with a quote by Muir. That very evening as I read the biography in bed I came across the same statement: When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it hitched to the rest of the world. Everything is connected.

The other book is Mitch Albom's latest, Have a Little Faith. The book grew out of a request by his Rabbi for Albom to deliver the Reb's eulogy after his death. One as they visited the Rabbi began talking about the community he experienced when he was growing up in the Bronx. "Our apartment building was like a family. We watched out for one another," he said.

"I remember once, as a boy, I was so hungry, and there was a fruit and vegetable truck parked by our building. I tried to bump against it, so an apple would fall into my hands. That way it wouldn't feel like stealing. Suddenly, I heard a voice from above yelling at me in Yiddish, 'Albert, it is forbidden!' I jumped. I thought it was God."

Who was it? Albom asked. "A lady who lived upstairs." Albom laughed. Not quite God. "No, but Mitch, we were part of each other's lives. If someone was about to slip, someone else could catch him" (p 62).

Paul describes the church in much the same terms when he says, There are many members, yet one body ... And if one member suffers, all the members suffer it it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it (1 Corinthians 12:20,26). As members of this one body we are connected.

Shortly before this, in chapter 10, Paul linked the Lord's Supper with this connectedness when he wrote: The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we, though many, are one bread and one body; for we all partake of that one bread (10:16-17).

As we partake today I hope that you will let this observance speak to you of our connectedness.

Twin Oaks Christian Church
November 8, 2009

Preparing for Communion Luke 22:7-13

2009-11-02T16:27:00.000-08:00

As I read these verses recently it struck me that there is a theme here that needs more attention -- the theme of preparation. Jesus knew that an extremely important event was coming and adequate preparation was needed.

During Jesus' final week in Jerusalem, after he cleansed the temple of money changers, Jesus knew that his life was in danger. Not wanting to go before he was ready, his usual routine was to spend the day among friendly crowds in the temple area and then move to safe lodging on the Mount of Olives.

"In view of that," Fred Craddock comments, "one could easily read Jesus' instructions to Peter and John in Luke 22 as intriguing prearrangement's, as shadowy moves in a mystery novel" (Interpretation, 254).

"A man carrying a jar of water will meet you; follow him," Jesus said (v.10). It was unusual for a man to carry water; that was woman's work, and he would be easily spotted. Apparently, Jesus knew of a house where they could safely meet and had arranged to use it. He had prepared for this moment.

Then he told his disciples to make preparations for the Passover meal. This required purchasing bread, wine, herbs and a lamb that had been approved by a priest as unblemished and properly slain. It was then roasted whole.

There was a lot of preparation and the amount of preparation signified the importance of the event. When something is important we prepare carefully. Recently I watched the University of Oregon play a football game. At times I would have sworn that the defense knew exactly what the other team was going to do. Later, one of the players was quoted in the newspaper as saying that they had watched so much film and prepared so thoroughly that they did, indeed, know what was coming.

In the case of Jesus and his disciples, as a result of their meeting in that upper room we have this act of communion and remembrance. Wouldn't it be good for us to think more about our preparation? I don't mean the mechanics of supplying and filling trays. I mean our preparation to participate.

Primarily this requires a certain mind-set, anticipation, focusing on our purpose for coming together. As we get ready at home we could say to ourselves, I am preparing to meet with my Lord at the table, and dress accordingly. As we meet and greet one another we could realize that we are expressing the basic theme of one body found in the Lord's Supper. As we sing and pray in worship we could see it leading us to the table. Every Sunday our pastor presents a well prepared sermon. Consequently, his message is meaningful to us. We too should come well prepared to meet with our Lord. It will make the Lord's Supper much more meaningful if we are well prepared.

FIRSTS OR SECONDS?

2009-09-06T15:41:00.000-07:00

Let me ask a simple question: why do we eat? The equally simple answer is that we eat to live. We eat because we get hungry and we need the food to live. There are many places in the Bible where God feeds hungry people. Jesus did this several times. There were a lot of hungry people in his land and he had compassion for them. They needed, literally, the bread of life.

Other important reasons exist of course and one of these has to do with celebrations. Marie Callendar Restaurants recognize this and make it easy to celebrate in one of their places by sending out special offers when birthdays or anniversaries come - if you are on their list. My wife and I are on their list so we get discounts, if we want them, in July, August and September.

Also, in the Bible, there are times when food is not used simply to assuage hunger, but rather for celebration and to remind people of God's blessings. One of these times is in the prophet Joel where we read of threshing floors filled with grain, wine and oil vats overflowing, and the people eating not just to survive but also to enjoy, to celebrate and be satisfied. As Joel 2 puts it, "You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God, who has dealt wondrously with you." Even when times were tough and food was scarce the people of God always held feasts and festivals of celebration.

Sometimes an ordinary meal has both aspects of nourishment and celebration. Do you remember when you were small, how you learned to ask for seconds? Maybe you still say, "May I have seconds?" If so, I'll bet you are not asking for spinach or broccoli but for something you really like -- turkey, potatoes and gravy, or a special dessert. And that's OK. We eat "firsts" for hunger's sake or for nutrition and "seconds" as a kind of celebration of that which we really like.

Communion is like that. Sometimes we come for "firsts", we come because we really need it -- we are hungry and need spiritual nourishment. But sometimes we come for "seconds" just because we like it here -- the fellowship, the atmosphere, the familiarity, and the assurance we find here. It's a good place to come, and I suspect there is a little of both "firsts" and "seconds" for us here each Sunday -- both spiritual nourishment and celebration.

Here, we have the bread of life ... broken for us ... nourishment for our souls. And here we have the "cup of blessing" ... a celebration of all that his shed blood means for us. Both nourishment and celebration, and for this we give thanks.

Strength In Unity

2009-07-17T15:28:00.000-07:00

I have heard it said that the church is like a chain, having many individuals linked together. I don't like this image of the church because of its implications. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. What happens in the church when the weakest link breaks? Are the rest able to continue their work? I don't like this image because it negates the strength of the other links. Elton Trueblood suggested a better image would be that of a cable, consisting of many wires. If one wire becomes frayed or weakened in some way, and even if it should snap, the other wires with their combined strength would still carry on their work.

Actually, each strand is weak in itself, just as individual members of the body have their weaknesses. But, as Ecclesiastes says, "two are better than one ... and a threefold cord is not quickly broken" (4:9-12). The cable, with many strands making it stronger than any one strand, is a more scriptural image of the church. It speaks of the unity of the church, of each member supporting the others, and of the church banding together to accomplish God's will.

An example of this can be seen in Galatians 6:1-2 -- "Brethren, even if a man is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another's burdens, and thus fulfill the law of Christ."

The Lord's Supper symbolizes this nature of the church as it pictures unity -- the oneness in which we support each other. The Apostle Paul put it this way in 1 Corinthians 10:16-17 -- "Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread which we break a sharing in the body of Christ? Since there is one bread, we who are many are one body; for we all partake of the one bread."

The very manner in which we observe the feast can speak of this unity. Today lets do it as some churches do, taking the bread and the cup and holding it and waiting until the signal is given to partake. Before doing that we will say our confession of faith in unison as another expression of our unity in faith.

(The elements are distributed and then the leader gives the signal to partake): "The body of Christ, given for you." (Silence) ... "The blood of Christ shed for you." (Silence) -- followed by a closing prayer.

A MOTHER'S DAY MEDITATION

2009-05-11T16:20:00.000-07:00

At our church last Sunday, on Mother's Day, Judy, a mother herself, shared the following meditation at the Lord's Table.

Probably all of us at some time in our lives have dropped a stone into a clear pool of water and watched the ripples spread out, growing larger and larger and larger. But have you thought about what happens when the stone is dropped and then we turn away to do something else? The ripples still spread, even though we may not even notice them.

My Mom's life was like that. She made many ripples during her life and touched many lives in positive ways, ways that she didn't even know. Raising several foster children, for example, was to me one of the most important things she did. Each of those children, those ripples, have now gone on to touch other lives in positive ways, and so on and on it goes.

A good friend of mine recently passed away and she too cast many stones into the lake of life. She and her husband raised 23 foster BOYS! Talk about ripples!! Who knows what each of those kids contributed in the world and in all of the other lives they touched.

Even the smallest act of kindness can start the ripples; it doesn't have to be something as big as raising a child. Isaiah 54:10 says, "And the Lord said, 'For the mountains shall depart and the hills be moved, but My kindness shall not depart from you." So may we all remember that every small kindness we perform for someone else starts the ripples and sets things in motion for good.

Jesus set something in motion when he instructed his disciples to continue preaching His word, even after he was gone. His word would "make the ripples" spread throughout the world. And of course they did. Also, when Jesus broke the bread and blessed the cup in the upper room and asked his disciples to do this in remembrance of him he set in motion an action which has continued until today -- like a pebble cast into the sea of time and its circles touching the shore of our lives today.

Let us pray: Lord, grant us the wisdom to always move through your world, doing your will the best we can, and using small kindnesses to make ripples of good in the world.

When Jesus Leaves, What then?

2009-04-27T15:27:00.000-07:00

How would you feel and what would you do if you suddenly lost the most influential person in your life? Suppose there was someone who was so strong and yet loving, so compassionate and yet convicting, so powerful and yet vulnerable that you felt you could not live without him -- and suddenly he is gone. How would you feel? What would you do? This happens in Luke 24.

Two post-resurrection appearances of Jesus are seen in Luke 24. In the first, two disciples on their way from Jerusalem to Emmaus are joined by Jesus but they do not recognize him. When they reach their home he acts like the host at a meal, takes the bread, blesses and breaks it, and gives it to them. When he does this their eyes were opened and they recognized him, or it could be said that they experienced His presence.

Luke continues by saying that Jesus then vanished from their sight. Immediately they hurried back to Jerusalem and told the eleven apostles and others how they recognized Jesus "in the breaking of the bread." Luke adds, "While they were telling these things, He himself stood in their midst and said to them, 'Peace be to you.'" It is not surprising when Luke comments that they were both startled and frightened.

Jesus urged them to not be afraid, to look at him, even touch him, see that he has flesh and bones -- they are not seeing a ghost. Here he is in his resurrected body, a body appropriate to the environment, so much so that he says, "Have you anything here to eat?" They gave him a piece of broiled fish and he ate it before them.

Then Jesus began to teach them, as he had the two disciples earlier. As Luke says, "He opened their minds to understand the scriptures," telling them that the Messiah would suffer and rise again from the dead, and that "repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning in Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And I am sending forth the promise of my Father upon you ... and you will be clothed with power from on high."

When he had finished teaching Jesus led them out of Jerusalem as far as Bethany where he lifted up his hands to bless them -- and as he did so he was carried away into heaven. Jesus was gone. This man who had changed their lives, who opened their minds to God's word, who loved them with sacrificial love, was gone.

You might expect Luke to describe how sad they felt, but he doesn't. In fact he says the opposite: "they worshiped him and then returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple praising God." First they had a worship service and then went back to Jerusalem with great joy where their witnessing would begin.

I believe that Luke meant this to be a model for the church. In any event, His disciples continue to this day, meeting to worship him, to experience his presence in the breaking of the bread, and then going out with joy to their place of witness.

JUST A TABLE?

2009-03-25T15:27:00.000-07:00

Fred Craddock went to the same graduate school in Enid, Oklahoma that I did. He tells of the time when he went to a little rural church to speak. They had a real terrible rainstorm. They canceled the service, and everybody knew it because they had telephones. But he didn't have a telephone, and didn't know it. So he drove from Enid out to the little church, slipping and sliding on those roads -- dirt, mud, a little gravel. I know what he meant because I also drove out to a little rural church each Sunday. I know about sliding on those roads. Some were shale, which makes a good surface when dry, but when wet they are either like a sheet of ice or rutted so bad you can hardly drive. Anyway, two of the me had thought about the fact that the preacher wouldn't know that they were not having the service, so they went to the church to wait for him, to tell him there was no service. When he went in, they were seated at the table that had on the front of it, "In Remembrance of Me," and they were playing cards.

Fred said, "What in the world are you doing?
They said, "Well, we're just playing a little poker, waiting for you to come."
He said, "On that table?"
One of them said, "well, a table's a table's a table."
And Fred said, "No, it isn't!" Not for Fred. No, it isn't just a table.
(Craddock's Stories, 140)

Why did Fred think there was something sacred about that table? It surely wasn't anything about the table itself. In a way, the men were right -- a table is a table. Unless -- unless what? Unless it stands for something much greater than itself.

In the Old Testament God told the Hebrew priests to sanctify the cups and other vessels and utensils used in the temple. They were actually called "sanctified" vessels. Which means that they were set aside for a holy use, a holy purpose. It is exactly the term that's used in the New Testament about followers of Christ -- people who have been sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

And so it is that a sanctified people gather before a sanctified table -- one set aside for a holy purpose. And that purpose is not to be a platform for poker but a pulpit for proclaiming the Lord's death until he comes. As Paul said in 1 Corinthians 11:26, "For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes."

THE COVENANT OF GRACE

2009-03-06T10:07:00.000-08:00

If you were asked to say in one or two sentences what the Bible is all about, what would you say? Let me give it a try. The Bible is all about a God whose love and grace leads Him to choose unworthy people and enter into covenant with them. He did it with Abraham and Israel in what we call the Old Covenant, and he did it again finally, once for all, through Jesus Christ in the New Covenant. At the heart of it all is our covenant relationship with a graceful God.

It should be understood that a covenant, in the biblical sense, is similar to but not the same as our modern contract. There are similarities. For instance, both involve two or more parties agreeing on something. Also, both involve promises and conditions.

But the covenant described in the Bible is not like our modern contracts in at least one important aspect. We do not negotiate or bargain with God to get a better deal. There are always promises and conditions in both contracts and covenants, but even if we did bargain we could not get any better promises than what God offers to begin with. He offers us everything of value that we could possibly want. What more could we ask for than the forgiveness of our sins, the assurance of life eternal, and the promise that God will be our God and we will be his people, forever? We might want to bargain for easier conditions, for something less than complete trust and obedience, but that is what God expects, and these terms are non negotiable.

The sovereign God offers to us his covenant of grace. Will we accept? When Jesus offered the cup to his disciples and said, "This is my blood of the new covenant" he, in effect, changed a Passover meal into a covenant meal. For the disciples his words were a call to commitment. The broken bread and the cup represented his commitment, his sacrifice, his total submission to the will of God. To accept the cup and drink from it meant they entered into that commitment with him.

Can it mean anything less to us? The Lord's Supper is indeed a memorial, but it means much more than that. In a sense, it renews our initial commitment of faith made in our baptism. After Jesus predicted his death he said, "If anyone would come after me, let him pick up his cross, and follow me." That invitation to join him in his sacrificial commitment has echoed through the ages in the call to communion and comes to us today as we gather around His table.

COMPASSION LEADS TO ACTION MARK 6:30-44

2009-02-10T15:58:00.000-08:00

Why did God send Jesus to die for us? Why did Jesus submit to the will of God and go to the cross? Isn't it because he saw how much in danger we are and at the same time how helpless we are? Isn't it because he saw our need, knew he could provide what we need, and cared enough to act?

Compassion has that power. It leads to action. In Mark 6 we see an example of it in the ministry of Jesus. It came at a time when Jesus and his disciples were tired. In a sense they were suffering from ministry fatigue. Every day they faced great crowds of sick, hungry and desperate people. Mark tells us that Jesus said to his twelve apostles, "Let's go off to a secluded, quiet place and rest for awhile." They needed to get away for a time, to rest and to find renewal. So they got into a boat, perhaps at Capernaum, and started out across the northern tip of the Sea of Galilee.

But people saw where they were going and rushed along the shore. The numbers grew until finally Jesus and the apostles were faced by 5,000 men, plus women and children. What should they do? Leave again? try to find another secluded area? Mark says that when Jesus saw the multitude "he had compassion for them because they were like sheep without a shepherd, and he began to teach them."

As the day wore on and it became quite late Jesus realized that these desperate people needed more than teaching -- they were hungry and needed food. But this was a lonely, deserted area and there wasn't a fast food place in sight. So Jesus asked his disciples to feed them. We know the rest of the story. The meager number of loaves and fish and the miraculous multiplication until all had eaten and there were leftovers enough to fill twelve baskets.

Have you noticed the Eucharistic hints in this story, how it parallels and anticipates the Lord's Supper? There are at least two ways. First, it was compassion that led Jesus to act, both in going to the cross on our behalf and in feeding the 5,000. Second, his action anticipates the Last (Lord's) Supper: he blessed and broke and distributed the bread. Mark's story seems to be saying to us that when Jesus blesses and breaks bread our greatest needs are met.

As we come to the Lord's Table we experience the benefits of his compassion, but we also receive the challenge of his compassion -- the challenge to lift our eyes from the table and from ourselves and look upon the multitude, as he did, and act out of compassion to meet their needs. We, like the early disciples, can become the hands that distribute bread to the hungry.

THE TABLE OF BEGINNING AGAIN

2009-01-22T14:45:00.000-08:00

I stand before you today to confess my sins -- as a golfer. I must confess that I am often guilty, in a golfing sense, of sinfulness. The New Testament word for sin means literally, "missing the mark." When you swing a 44 inch club at great speed and try to hit a very small, round object it is not unusual to miss the mark. Even the best golfers miss, if only by a little. Follow Tiger Woods around a course and you will see him fail to hit the ball perfectly many times. In golf, as in life, "all sin and fall short."

One of the things I like about golf is that you get to start over again regularly. So you mess up on #1, OK, just go to the next tee and start again. Regularly you can begin again. You can leave the mishits behind and start over. In a full round of golf you have 18 second chances.

In life, also, we need opportunities to begin again. A song writer, Neil Morse, has put it well in the lyrics to "The Land of Beginning again."

I wish there was a way to start again.

Just blink and count to ten

In the land of beginning again,

Where no one knows the bad things that you've done.

The past is truly gone

In the land of beginning again.

One of the reasons I like having the Lord's Supper every Sunday is that it gives me the opportunity on a regular basis to leave behind the mishits and begin again. Paul spoke of "forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead" (Philippians 3:13). It is good, in golf, that the opportunity comes frequently. I would not want to play a par 40 hole instead of a par 4. There would be a lot of mishits before I could regroup and start again. Likewise, it is good that we can come frequently to the Lord's Table, acknowledge our mishits, confess our sins, find forgiveness and start the week with a clean slate.

We call this the Table of Remembrance but it could also be called The Table of Beginning Again. I know there are other means available to us to find forgiveness and renewal, but I like the idea that Jesus meets us here every week and says, "this is my body given for you; this is my blood of the covenant shed for the forgiveness of sins." God must have known that we would need a regular opportunity to begin again, and this is it.

From Crib to Cross

2008-12-29T14:30:00.000-08:00

Although Christmas day has passed it still seems like Christmas to me because I heard "O Little Town of Bethlehem" on the radio this morning, and because a gift I ordered online for my wife has not yet arrived. Also, we were unable to make it to our daughter's home for Christmas because of snow and ice so we have not yet exchanged gifts. Since it still seems like Christmas I want to share a Christmas communion meditation.*

An episode in the famous television series, MASH, captures some of what Christmas means. It is Christmas day in Korea and the MASH unit is looking forward to a relatively slow day. But the fragile cease fire called for earlier by both sides is broken and casualties will soon be streaming in. The hospital goes into full frenzy, with doctors operating, nurses moving from patient to patient, and Father Mulcahy doing anything he can to help.

Our attention is soon focused on one patient for whom it is obvious that death is waiting nearby. It is Christmas day though, and the staff is determined to keep the soldier alive until December 26 so they won't have to put Dec 25 on the death certificate. They don't want his family to be reminded of his death every Christmas. "Christmas should be a day of birth," says Father Mulcahey.

Long after the rest of the unit has gone off to celebrate the holiday, Hawkeye, B.J., Margaret and Father Mulcahy continue to do all they can to keep the soldier's heart pumping and his lungs filling. Despite their heroic efforts the patient dies around 11:30 PM. All their work seems to have been for naught. In the midst of war and death they had tried to bring a small piece of light. But they had failed. Or so it seems. Just as the tears begin to well up, Hawkeye goes over to the clock on the wall and moves the hands forward to read 12:05 AM. Can they falsify a record? Can they break a serious regulation? Yes. Father Mulcahy reminds them, "Christmas day is a day of birth." So the death certificate reads December 26.

Christmas is, indeed, a day of birth and yet when we gather around the Lord's Table at Christmas time it reminds us of a death. The death of a cherished son. A painful death. A terrible death. But we remember it because our Lord instructed us to remember it.

No one wants to be reminded of a death on Christmas. Especially the death of a cherished son. We know how Hawkeye and his friends felt about remembering a death on this special day. But as we gather with the shepherds around the manger and look at the baby, what do we see? Vulnerability. Helplessness. Just like any other child he is subject to the world around him.

And so we remember. We remember that this one who came on a Christmas night also died on a dark afternoon. We remember that without a death there can be no resurrection. We remember that the one who lived from crib to cross has brought us from cross to crib and given us the gift of new life. And so we remember his words: This is my body ... This is my blood ... and we give thanks.

Our Covenant Commitment Matthew 26:27-28

2008-12-09T14:50:00.000-08:00

You may have heard about the chicken and the pig who were out for a morning stroll. Soon they came upon a small diner and out in front was a sign with big bold letters: "HAM AND EGGS -- 99 CENTS." "Oh boy," said Chicken, I could go for that right now. Let's go in." "Well," said Pig thoughtfully, "I don't think I want to do that. For you its just a contribution ... but for me it's total commitment." A lot of people, also, would like to get by with just a contribution. Making a commitment is difficult. It is not always easy because commitments can cost something and may even require a sacrifice.

In the upper room when Jesus gave directions for remembering him with the Lord's Supper he used a term and called for an action that called for total commitment. He held the cup before his disciples and said, "This is my blood of the covenant," and he asked them all to drink of it. Covenants always require commitments, often costly commitments. In this case it cost Jesus his life.

He was committed, but more than that, he was asking for their commitment. When he asked them to drink from the cup of the covenant he was asking for their commitment. He was asking them to form a covenant community that would be committed to him and to each other.

Did the twelve become that committed covenant community? One went out to betray him and was lost. Another went out to deny him, but was redeemed by the resurrected Christ. Others who had been with Jesus earlier joined them. Then, on the day of Pentecost, 50 days after the resurrection, 3,000 more joined them and Luke says of them in Acts 2:42, "They continued steadfastly in the apostles teaching, the fellowship, the breaking of bread and the prayers." Luke goes on to say that the people in that fellowship took care of each other, "as anyone had need." Here is the covenant community, committed to Jesus Christ and to one another, faithfully breaking bread and joining in fellowship.

Each Sunday we renew our commitment as we share in worship and once again hear Jesus' words, "this is my body," and "this is my blood of the covenant," and as we hear him say again, "drink from it, all of you."

Something Better To Come

2008-11-25T16:13:00.000-08:00

Last Sunday an elder in our church began her communion meditation by saying that her 97 year old mother had died just a week ago. Judy went on to say that she reminded her of the woman whose story has been told on the Internet many times. You may recognize it.

She had been diagnosed with a disease and given three months to live. Her Dr. told her to start making preparations to die. So she contacted her pastor and had him come to her house to discuss certain aspects of her final wishes. She told him which songs she wanted sung at the service, what scriptures she would like read, and what she wanted to be wearing. The woman also told her pastor that she wanted to be buried with her favorite Bible. Everything was in order and the pastor was preparing to leave when the woman suddenly remembered something very important to her.

"There's one more thing," she said excitedly. "What's that?" came the pastor's reply? "This is very important. I want to be buried with a fork in my right hand."

The pastor stood looking at the woman not knowing quite what to say. "That shocks you, doesn't it?" the woman asked. "Well, to be honest, I'm puzzled by the request," he said. The woman explained, "In all my years of attending church socials and functions where food was involved (and let's be honest, food is an important part of any church event; spiritual or otherwise); my favorite part was when whoever was clearing away the dishes of the main course would lean over and say 'you can keep your fork.' It was my favorite part because I knew that something better was coming. They they told me to keep my fork I knew that something great was about to be given to me. It wasn't Jell-O or pudding. It was cake or pie. Something with substance. So I just want people to see me there in that casket with a fork in my hand and I want them to wonder, 'What's with the fork?' Then I want you to tell them: 'Something better is coming so keep your fork too.'"

When Judy told this story it made me think -- maybe we should pass out forks when we serve communion. After all, this "great thanksgiving feast" anticipates the banquet of heaven spoken of in Revelation 19:9 -- "Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!" Yes, when we come to this table we can look toward that day when all is fulfilled and "something better" than anything we have known here will be ours.

AT THE LORD'S TABLE -- THINK!

2008-11-18T10:50:00.000-08:00

Do you have this problem? I tend to do some things automatically, without thinking. For instance, I automatically close my garage door when I leave home and then a block or so away I wonder, 'Did I close the door?' Several times I have driven back to make sure the door was closed. Once, when we left on a trip, I left it open and didn't think to check it. there it was, wide open for anyone to take whatever they wanted. Fortunately, our neighbor knew we were leaving and closed it for us.

It can be risky to do things without thinking. This seems to be what Paul is saying in 1 Corinthians 11:17-34. He began by criticizing them for their divisions when they came together and then, after reminding them of how Jesus began the Lord's Supper in the upper room, he said to them, in effect -- THINK when you do this. Here is how he puts it in verses 28-29, "examine yourselves, and only then eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For all who eat and drink without discerning the body, eat and drink judgment against themselves." "Examine," "discern," he says -- in other words, THINK when you do this. But think about what?

First, he says, "examine yourselves" -- think about yourselves. This certainly means to look into your own heart, to be aware of motives, weaknesses, failures. It means being honest with yourself when you come to the table.

But he makes it clear in the next verse that examining yourselves is not a strictly private experience. He goes on to say that if you don't "discern the body you eat and drink judgment against yourselves." What does he mean by "the body?" Some say it refers to the body of Christ Himself as he hung on the cross. Certainly, that is involved. We do need to think about Christ on the cross. But if we had time to read this entire section, beginning in verse 17, you would see that he is thinking about the church as the body of Christ.

Specifically, he is thinking about the unity of the church. When the Corinthian church came together they had so many cliques and divisions among them (see chapters 1-4) that it destroyed the meaning of the meal. He actually says, "when you come together it is not really to eat the Lord's Supper."

I have always been thankful that ours is a thinking church. We think about each other. When we come to the table there is a strong sense of fellowship and unity. As we continue to grow it will be important that we maintain this by knowing each other, by caring for each other, praying for each other, and in many other ways, "discerning the body" as we come together.

Saying the confession of faith is one of the ways we express our unity of faith -- will you say it with me now.

Twin Oaks Christian Church, November 16, 2008.

A TIME TO FORGET

2008-10-27T16:17:00.000-07:00

Anyone who competes in athletic games knows the importance of forgetting. I make a lot of bad shots as a golfer but I can't dwell on them or it will affect my next shot -- I have to forget the past and focus on the next shot. When the American gymnast, Paul Hamm, fell after vaulting he had to forget it and concentrate on the next event. Anyone who lives in the past will lose his future.

At the Lord's Table we often speak of remembering, and of course, we should, because Jesus said, "Do this in remembrance of me."

On the other hand, when we come to the table it should also be a time of forgetting. We must not only remember God's saving grace in Christ, we must forget the past mistakes and failures that keep us from accepting His grace and moving on toward the future that God has for us.

Paul said in Philippians 3:13-14, " ... I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."

At the Lord's Table we see with double vision. We look to the past and remember his sacrifice on our behalf, but we also look to the future and anticipate our destiny with him. As Paul put it in 1 Corinthians 11, speaking of our action in the Lord's Supper, "We proclaim the Lord's death until he comes." Remembering his death and what it means for us helps to wipe out the memory of our failures. It frees us to look to the future, to His return, and to "press on toward the goal" that Christ has set for us.

Where Joy And Sorrow Meet Hebrews 12:2

2008-09-16T16:26:00.000-07:00

Why should Jesus, as he hung on the cross, be ashamed? Ashamed of what? Of healing the sick? Of feeding the poor? Of criticizing the self-righteous? He had nothing to be ashamed of.

And yet, in the eyes of the public it was a shameful thing to be crucified. The Gospel writers do not ignore the pain and suffering of the cross but if you look closely at their accounts of the crucifixion it is clear that they stressed something else. You don't find graphic pictures of Jesus in agony or strong adjectives describing how much pain he had. Instead the descriptions stress the humiliation, disgrace, and shame of the cross.

Honor and shame were, and still are, pivotal values in the Mediterranean and near East world. We have heard even in recent times of so-called honor killings when a man thinks his daughter or wife has brought shame upon him. Love of honor was a powerful, driving force in Jesus' day. Contempt, loss of face, defeat and ridicule were to be avoided at all costs. Those who heard or read the story of Jesus' death understood this. the Gospels give us details of how the Roman soldiers and some Jewish leaders deliberately heaped shame upon him. They stripped him, hung a purple robe on him, forced a crown of thorns on his head, and then mocked him as a king. The focus of a man's honor is his head so they struck him in the face and spit upon him. As he hung helplessly on the cross they hurled insults at him and ridiculed him.

It is no wonder that Paul refers to Christ crucified as a "scandal," and "offense," a "stumbling block," to many because of the shame involved (1 Corinthians 23). The writer of Hebrews 12:2 explicitly calls the cross "shame." But notice how he puts it: "Fixing our eyes on Jesus ... who for the joy set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."

He endured the cross and the shame. Here is suffering joined to shame but both are linked with joy. For the joy ahead he endured the cross and despised the shame. Here is where joy and the sorrow of suffering and shame meet. The cross of Christ is still, for us, the place where joy and sorrow meet.

Some words from a modern song by Avalon express it well:

There is a place where hope remains

In crowns of thorns and crimson stains

And tears that fall on Jesus' feet

Where joy and sorrow meet.

There's a place of thirst and hunger where the roots of faith grow deep.

And there is rain and rolling thunder when the road is rough and steep.

There is hope in desperation, there is victory in defeat

At the cross of restoration where joy and sorrow meet.

The Lord's Table reminds us of that place where joy and sorrow meet.

The Table of Reconciliation

2008-08-24T16:26:00.000-07:00

Is there any greater need in our world today than the need for reconciliation? Whether it is the conflict between Russia and Georgia, or husband and wife, or rich and poor, black and white -- or whatever -- the need for reconciliation is overwhelming. True reconciliation between humans, however, can never take place without first being reconciled to God. And God himself has provided the model that shows us how it can come about.

Leanna Pemberton, a long-time missionary to the troubled land of Zimbabwe, spoke at the Winema Week of Missions on the Oregon coast recently of how we. as Christians, have been chosen to carry God's word of reconciliation to the world. She read 2 Corinthians 5:18-19, "God has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their sins to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation."

She spoke of how it is often difficult, in different cultures, to express what is meant by words like "reconciliation," or what it can mean to people. Then she told of how her preacher-missionary husband, John Mark, who died much too young of a sudden heart attack, discovered a way to make God's act of reconciliation meaningful to the people they worked among. It had to do with burial concepts.

He often preached from 1 Corinthians 15 that defines the gospel message as the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. We talk a lot about the death and resurrection but not so much about the meaning of burial. Among the people of Zimbabwe, however, burial is an important function and provided a clue for John Mark's preaching of the Gospel. It came to him when two young men from different villages were drinking together with some friends. An argument broke out. It became violent and one man killed the other. The offended family refused to bury their son until the reconciliation price was paid. They even took the body and left it at the entrance of the other family's village. The police came and said, "you can't leave it here. You must bury it." They replied, "you can bury it if you want but we will not until reconciliation is paid." Finally the other family paid the number of cows, or whatever was required, and the young man was buried.

In his sermons after this John Mark would say, "See how much God loves you. He sent his Son but your sins killed him. But God did not refuse to bury him. He loves you and allowed his son to be buried without requiring a payment of reconciliation. God himself has paid the price by giving his Son on your behalf."

In whatever culture, and whatever language, God is calling upon us to be reconciled to him and to one another. We call this the Lord's Table, but we could also call it the table of reconciliation. It reminds us, as Paul said in Romans 5:8, "God demonstrates his own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us ... when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son."

The price for our reconciliation with God has been paid -- and we are welcome at the table of reconciliation.

Not A Stranger Ephesians 2:12

2008-07-21T13:46:00.000-07:00

In Ephesians 2 Paul spoke of the plight of some when he said they had been "strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world."

As I thought about what it might be like to be a stranger to the covenant of promise I remembered a conversation I heard on public radio last week. they were discussing the survey done recently across America about religious belief and the question was asked, "Do you have to belong to a church or can you be religious alone?" A woman called in and gave a good testimony of how much the fellowship of the church meant to her. Then another woman called who said she did not need a church to be religious or spiritual. In fact, she felt most religious and spiritual when sitting alone on a hillside under a tree or on a cliff overlooking the ocean.

I can understand that to a great extent. I love the mountains and the seashore and have spent a lot of time there. I have been in church camps at Winema on the beach and in the wilderness area of the Wallowa mountains when campers went out alone and had a devotional time. Those can be very spiritual moments. But how would we feel in those places if a ferocious storm came upon us -- as it well could do. Of if a blizzard threatened to bury us under a deep blanket of snow? How spiritual and religious would we feel then? I think I would feel more frightened than spiritual.

Even in good weather, being alone can be frightening. One year on our high school back packing camp in the Wallowas a girl got separated from the rest of us. The trail split and went around a lake and then came together again further on past the lake. She took one trail and everyone else took the other. The trails were far enough apart that they were hidden from each other. Suddenly we heard frantic cries for help coming from across the lake. She had left the trail and found the lake but couldn't see us. Eventually, we made visual contact and motioned her in the right direction. That night at bonfire we had our usual prayer time. She had not prayed before but that night said one simple, five word prayer: "Thank you God for people."

It can be very frightening to be all alone in the world. This is one reason we have covenants. A covenant requires commitment. It means being part of a group of people who are committed to each other. People who help us find the way.

As Jesus held the cup before his disciples he said, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood..." In effect, he was initiating a covenant community and was expressing his commitment to them. Not much later he demonstrated that commitment as he went to the cross and shed his blood for the forgiveness of sins. As we partake of the Lord's Supper we join in commitment to one another and to Christ. Some, as Paul said, may be "strangers to the covenant of promise, having no hope and without God in the world," but not us. We are his covenant community.

A Gift From God 2 Corinthians 9:15

2008-06-02T15:46:00.000-07:00

"Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift."

Speaking of gifts, I received an unexpected gift recently that meant a great deal to me. It was a book that I already had but I was able to trade it in for another, written by an author I did not know, which led to two more by the same author, each one very enjoyable. Why is it gifts can mean a lot to us? There are many reasons, I suppose, but at least this much is true, gifts say things to us.

My nephew, Steve, is the pastor of First Christian Church in Silverton, Oregon. In a recent newsletter column he commented on the meaning of communion as God's gift to us. He said that he looks forward to communion every Sunday and went on to say:

"In April of 1943, German theologian and professor Dietrich Bonhoeffer was arrested for opposing Adolph Hitler's policies. Ten weeks after his arrest, Bonhoeffer received a parcel from his parents, and then he wrote a letter from prison to them:

It is Monday, and I was just sitting down to a dinner of turnips and potatoes when a parcel you sent me by Ruth arrived. Such things give me greater joy than I can say. Although I am utterly convinced that nothing can break the bonds between us, I seem to need some outward token or sign to reassure me. In this way, material things become the vehicles of spiritual realities. I suppose it is rather like the felt need in our religion for the sacraments.

"Yes," Steve wrote, "the sacrament of communion can feel like this. The bread and juice are material things that become the vehicles of spiritual realities -- material things that speak to us. Bonhoeffer knew his parents loved him, and yet something inside of him hungered for that love to become tangible. And we also know that God loves us, and is here with us, but something inside yearns for that love to be seen and felt, touched and tasted."

"Every week we receive a "parcel," a gift from God called communion. Through the bread and cup we can experience God's love and presence. And remember Jesus. What he said, what he did. His amazing sacrifice. His resurrection."

What Paul exclaimed about God's gift of Christ we also say about our experience of Christ in communion: "Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!"

"TO LIFE!" 1 Corinthians 10:16; John 10:10

2008-05-23T10:44:00.000-07:00

Coming out of the depression and prohibition era as devout Christians my family was not a drinking family. I don't remember ever seeing my parents drink an alcoholic beverage. Frances and I continued the no-drinking policy as we raised our children. I don't regret that policy and would do it over again, for several reasons which I will not go into here. However, I realize now that by not having a glass of wine with our meal, or with friends on special occasions, we may have missed out on a rich and universal custom. Henri Nouwen describes it this way:

"After a meal the win is poured. No one drinks until all are served. Then all lift their cups, look each other in the eye, and offer a toast. It is a universal [and old] custom. In Latin the toast is "prosit," -- "be well;" in German, "zum wohl," -- "to your well being;" in English, "cheers;" in Polish, "sto lat," -- "a hundred hears;" in Ukrainian, "na zdornia," -- "to your health;" and in Hebrew, "L Chaim," -- "to life!" (Can You Drink The Cup, 57).

The Hebrew toast is an old one, but I don't know how old. I have wondered if it was the custom in Jesus' day to lift the cup and say, "to life!" We do know that the in the Passover meal there were traditionally four cups of wine that were lifted. In the upper room as Jesus and his disciples ate the Passover meal the third cup came, as Luke says, "after supper," and was called "the cup of blessing" in Jewish tradition. When Jesus held it before them Luke says that he added this distinct meaning: "This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood."

When Paul referred to it in 1 Corinthians 10:16 he used the Jewish phrase, "the cup of blessing." Peterson's The Message translates it this way: when we drink the cup of blessing, aren't we taking into ourselves the blood, the very life of Jesus? Paul must have called it the cup of blessing, not only because it was traditional, but because it had this meaning for him -- that we are taking into ourselves the very life of Jesus.

Would it not be appropriate, then, for us to take the cup, hold it up, look into each other's eyes and say, "to life!"

To life without guilt!

To life without fear!

To life without end!

As Jesus himself said, I came that you may have life, and have it abundantly" (John 10:10). Now, as I lift this cup of blessing, will you say it with me: "To Life!" ----- Yes, to Life with a capital "L".

BE PREPARED ... Luke 22:35-38 ...Table Talk #5

2008-04-22T10:26:00.000-07:00

There are times when it is especially important to be prepared. For example, transition times, like when your child is leaving home to go out into the cold, hard world on his own, or when a soldier is going into war. These are times when it pays to be as prepared as possible.

At the Last Supper, Jesus knew that when his disciples left the comfortable confines of the upper room that they would face a severe test. The soldiers would come, he would be arrested and killed, and beyond that, after the resurrection, he would leave them in a hostile world to fulfill his mission. For them, it was like leaving home to work in a hard world, or even like going off to war.

Jesus wanted them to be prepared. The last thing he said to them, according to Luke, before leaving and going to Gethsemane and the cross was about being prepared, "Earlier," he said, "I sent you out on mission without money bag, knapsack, and sandals, ... but now, he who has a money bag, let him take it, and likewise a knapsack; and he who has no sword, let him sell his garment and buy one." The disciples still did not understand that the kingdom Jesus was bringing was not a political-military one and so they misunderstood his words about the sword. They took him literally and someone said, "Lord, look, here are two swords." He replied, I think with some sarcasm, "That's enough!" Or as some commentaries say, "Enough of such talk!"

We know that from other things Jesus said that he did not mean they should literally use the sword to fulfill his mission. But he knew that they would be engaged in spiritual warfare and they must be ready for it. This is why Paul, in Ephesians 6, urged us to put on "the whole armor of God ... and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God."

When we leave the comfortable confines of this room, the warmth of Christian fellowship, and go out into the world we too will face challenges of many kinds. Will we be ready? Will we be prepared? In a sense, everything we do here helps us get ready. Our songs express scripture and the Christian faith, our minister preaches the Word of God, we pray for each other, and we meet with our Lord at this table. In these ways we put on the whole armor of God and take up the sword of the Spirit. And with this preparation we go out confidently to live and serve Him in this world.

Wounded Healers Table Talk #4

2008-04-07T13:49:00.000-07:00

In Luke's account of the Last Supper Jesus has some farewell words in addition to identifying the bread with his body and the cup with his blood, and urging us to remember him. He could see what was coming when they left the upper room, just as he can see what is coming for us when we leave the Lord's Table. Speaking to Peter but including the others (the "you" is plural), he says,

Simon, Simon! Look out! Satan has asked for you all, to sift all of you like wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith might not give out. You, for your part when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers. Peter said to him, "Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death." But Jesus said, "I tell you Peter, a cock will not crow this day before you have denied three times that you know me." (Luke 22:31-34, The Word Commentary translation).

Jesus knows that when his people leave the safe and comfortable confines of their meal together that they will face everything that Satan can throw at them. He will attack our weak points, whatever they are, and like those early disciples, we too are likely to falter and fail. Peter doesn't think he will and assures Jesus that he will go to prison and death with him, but Jesus predicts his downfall too. Before the night is over he will deny Jesus three times. But, Jesus says, "I have prayed for you that your faith might not give out."

Here is a leader, a fallen leader, if you will, who because he has been prayed for and has returned, or repented, will be able to strengthen his fellow disciples. He will be what has been called "a wounded healer." We often expect leaders, especially in the church, to be perfect. But they are human. Like Peter, they have weaknesses and fail, sometimes at critical moments. They have been wounded by Satan's attack. But if they are prayed for, as Jesus prayed for Peter, and if they repent, as Peter did, Jesus still has a job for them. They become stronger through all of this and are able to fulfill Jesus' desire that they strengthen others.

At this table we are all disciples who need strengthening; but at the same time we are all leaders in one way or another who can strengthen others. We too are wounded healers. We need to pray for each other, and we need to repent, and then Jesus can use us.

VISIBLE SIGNS OF THE RESURRECTION

2008-03-25T15:43:00.000-07:00

Many visible testimonies to the resurrection of Christ can be seen. The stone rolled away, the empty tomb, and one of the most intriguing, the abandoned grave clothes. John 20:6-7 tells us that when Peter and John ran to investigate the empty tomb they "saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the face-cloth that had been around his head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded together in a place by itself." As though he had just stepped out of them the linen cloths were just lying there. The head cloth, carefully folded or rolled up, was some distance away.

On the Internet today you will find that some are saying that this folded face-cloth, in some versions a towel, or a handkerchief, or in the old King James, a "napkin," points to a Jewish custom. If the Master leaves a meal unfinished and just wads up his napkin and throws it down, it means he is finished and the servant can clean up the table. But if he carefully folds it and lays it on the table, and goes away, it says to his servant, "I am not finished -- I will be back." Could this be what the folded head cloth meant? Perhaps, although research indicates that there is no proof that this was actually a Jewish custom and we might question the idea that a dinner napkin was used as a grave head cloth.

This much seems certain, however, that the abandoned grave cloths and the carefully folded head cloth say that the body was not stolen by a fast-moving body snatcher. Rather, they point to the calm, unhurried exit by one who had no further need of them.

But there is another visible testimony to the resurrection that outweighs all others -- the weekly gathering of disciples to commune with their living Lord. If Jesus was really still in the tomb, and had never shown himself to his disciples, there is no way that a few followers could resurrection their fellowship. In no way could they fool themselves, or pull off the greatest hoax ever seen. They knew in their hearts, deep down, that he was alive and they were willing to do whatever it took to meet with him weekly at his table. The very existence of the church is a result of the resurrection and its most powerful witness.

At the Lord's Table then, we proclaim not only the Lord's death but also his resurrection. It is the resurrection that created our community of faith and hope. As Peter put it in 1 Peter 1:3, "We (as the church and as individuals) have been born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead."

STAND BY YOUR LORD -- Table topic #3

2008-03-19T16:29:00.000-07:00

Loyalty, or to use a somewhat old fashioned word, faithfulness, is in short supply today. Whether its marriage partners (as in the latest scandal in New York), employees, employers, or church members, many people are quick to bail out if things don't go right for them. Look out for number one is the creed of modern culture. Loyalty is OK, but its not a primary value for a lot of people. As long as the football team is winning the stands will be full, but let hard times set in and fans will leave in droves.

That's why Jesus' words to his disciples in Luke 22 at the Last Supper are so important. The twelve disciples gave him a lot of trouble -- don't we all? After identifying the bread with his body and the wine with his blood, Jesus spoke openly at the table of one who would betray him and scolded them for seeking prestige and power in the kingdom, holding up his own example of being a servant. In spite of these problems he went on to say to them:

You have stood by me in my trials; and just as my Father has granted me a kingdom, I grant that you may eat and drink at my table ... and sit on thrones ruling the twelve tribes of Israel. Luke 22:28-30.

To eat at his table and share in his rule are great promises and they are given in spite of their jealous quarreling, their selfish ambitions, and their lack of complete understanding. The promises are given simply because they were faithful. Above all, Jesus needs our loyalty. And, as the text indicates, he rewards it.

Similar promises are given to the church in Revelation 3:20-21. Here, in this letter to the Laodicean church, we see pictured a church that is very much like the American church today -- rich materially but blind to its poverty, full of deeds, but lukewarm in its passion for Christ. Still, the risen Lord offers a place at his table and a seat on his throne as he says,

Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with me. He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with me on my throne, as I also overcame and sat down with my father on his throne.

He expects our faithfulness, not our perfection; our loyalty, not our lip service. By virtue of the fact that we gather each Lord's Day to commune with him he could well be saying to us: you have stood by me in my trials and now I grant that you may eat and drink at my table and sit with me on my throne.

LORDS OR SERVANTS? -- Table Talk #2

2008-03-18T09:54:00.000-07:00

The words of institution are often used to introduce the Lord's Supper but they are usually severed from their context. In Luke 22 they come to us in the context of other important words from Jesus. Here is Luke's account in 22:14-20, 24-27:

When the hour had come, he sat down, and the twelve apostles with him. Then he said to them, "With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; for I say to you, I will no longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God." Then he took a cup, and gave thanks and said, "Take this and divide it among yourselves; for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes." And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of me." Likewise he also took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is shed for you." ... Now there was also a dispute among them, as to which of them should be considered the greatest. And he said to them, "The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those who exercise authority over them are called benefactors. But not so among you; on the contrary, he who is greatest among you, let him be as the younger, and he who governs as he who serves. For who is greater, he who sits at the table, or he who serves? Is it not he who sits at the table? Yet I am among you as the one who serves."

Most of Jesus' teaching focused on the kingdom of God -- its nature and purpose. The disciples were interested because they, like most Jews, longed for the restoration of the kingdom to Israel. They saw in Jesus a Messiah who could free them from Roman oppression and lead them to the glory and power of the kingdom. Then, one day, Jesus began telling them that he must go to Jerusalem and be killed. The Gospel writers make it clear that the twelve, prior to the resurrection, never understood this. A crucified Messiah did not fit their kingdom expectations.

These two subjects, the kingdom and his death, came together in Jesus' table talk at the Passover meal when he instituted the Lord's Supper. First, he said that he was eager to eat this Passover with them before he suffered because he would not eat it again until the kingdom came. Then he took the bread and cup and spoke of his body given for them and the new covenant in his blood.

Again, they completely missed the point. He had hardly finished speaking before a debate broke out among them. Thinking only of the coming kingdom and their place in it they began to argue, not for the first time, about which of them was the greatest. And again, he reminded them that "the leader is like one who serves ... and I am among you as one who serves."

We know that in the world of politics even the greatest leaders spend much of their time and resources on getting re-elected. Position, status, power, and authority are all that matter. But, Jesus points out, it is not that way in God's kingdom. The only way up is down. The only way to lead is to serve. The only way to greatness is through lowly servitude.

Is Jesus speaking to us in his table talk at the Passover meal? Is he speaking to us at the communion table, wanting us to forsake our status seeking, our lordly ambitions, and like him become a servant of all? Is he asking us to make that kind of sacrifice? There was a cross in his future. Is there a cross in ours? If we take him seriously, there may be, for did he not say, "If any want to become my disciples let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me" (Matthew 16:24 nrsv; also Lk 14:27; Mk 8:34).

JESUS KNOWS OUR FAILURES -- Table Talk 1

2008-03-17T11:44:00.000-07:00

Every Sunday at communion time we hear the Words of Institution but in Luke's Gospel, compared to the other Gospels and Paul, Jesus had much more to say. His table talk that Passover evening, according to Luke, included both challenging and puzzling words. Luke 22:19-23 says

Then he took a loaf of 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 he did the same with the cup after supper, saying, "This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. But see, the one who betrays me is with me, and his hand is on the table. For the Son of Man is going as it has been determined, but woe to that one by whom he is betrayed!" Then they began to ask one another which one of them it could be who would do this.

I find these words puzzling because Judas, who was sitting right there, had already made arrangements to betray Jesus and Jesus knew it. Why didn't Jesus just name him? Instead, he made all of them wonder which one of them could do this.

Jesus knew, of course, how they would respond when the test came. Peter would deny him three times and all of the others would flee. Jesus knew that it was not Judas only who would leave that covenant meal and go out to abandon the sacred loyalty involved in that meal. They were all capable of fracturing the sacred trust and forsaking the loyalty that they pledged in eating the bread and drinking the cup with Jesus. Jesus knew that they were all capable of this and that is why he did not simply name Judas as the culprit -- it was something all of them faced.

And so do we. We will face many tests when we leave this table and go back to life in the world. We will be tested on how we handle this world's wealth -- will we serve God or mammon? He taught us to love unconditionally -- will we allow hatred, or prejudice, or hurt feelings to crowd out that love? He taught us to seek first the Kingdom of God -- will we seek first the fulfillment of our own desires?

Jesus knows the answer about us as well as he knew it about Peter, Judas and the others. He knows that we too will often fail him. We can join in Paul's confession in Romans 7, "I do what I don't want to do and I don't do what I want to do."

Yes, he knows our failures but still he loves us. It is precisely because we fail that we need to meet him here again each Lord's Day and hear him say, "this is my body given for you ... my blood shed for the forgiveness of sins." The Lord's Supper is our great ritual of renewal, our act of re commitment. It is our chance, one again, to express our loyalty and receive his forgiveness and thus experience renewal.

The Table of Compassionate Giving

2008-03-08T15:44:00.000-08:00

The story in John 6:1-15 of feeding 5,000 must have spoken to deep needs among early Christians because it is the only miracle recorded in all four Gospels. In it Jesus, out in a wilderness, far from homes and sources of food, blessed five loaves and two fish and fed a huge crowd of hungry, needy people.

When Jesus told the disciples to feed them, they looked at the five loaves and two fish and asked, "What are these for so many people?" The need was so great and their resources were so few that they felt overwhelmed. Similar words are spoken in many places today. The countless numbers of hungry, homeless and desperate people in this world overwhelms us. How can my small offering meet such a vast need?

Often, non Christians also, simply out of human compassion, are moved to feed the hungry. Earl Woods, father of Tiger Woods, told of watching a documentary about a famine in Ethiopia. Tiger, who was 4, saw the distended bellies and the inability of the children to even swat flies off their faces. Tiger disappeared into his bedroom and came back with his gold coin collection. "Daddy, can we give this to help those little kids?" Woods said, "I accepted it, and sent the cash equivalent to a doctor friend who was serving in Ethiopia. tiger doesn't know it, but I still have those gold coins. One day, when the time is right, I'll give them back to him and recall that moment which brought tears to my eyes."

We too feel the call as human beings to help our fellow human beings. But our motivation as Christians is even greater. We believe in a God who gave his only son. We believe in a Jesus who saw the hungry crowds and had compassion on them. We believe in a Christ who gave his life for others. As Paul said, when some in the Corinthian church were questioning his sacrificial service, "the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if one died for all, then all died; and he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again" (2 Corinthians 5:14-15).

Yes, we give because we are human, but also because "the love of Christ compels us" -- the Christ who can bless our meager offering and use it to feed the world. He set the supreme example and we honor it each Sunday as we meet him at the table of compassionate giving.