Joy For The Season

"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

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

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?

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

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

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?

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?

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

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

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

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.