WE BECOME WHAT WE WORSHIP

In our reading of The Story we have come to Second Kings and the devastating consequences for Israel of their continuing idol worship.  Last Sunday Nick spoke on this topic.  I like to see the text during the sermon but I had come to church without my Bible so I looked around and found a Good News Version.  As I followed along in the text I was struck by how this version worded one sentence: "They worshiped worthless idols and became worthless themselves" (1 Kings 17:15).  Its true!  We become what we worship.  If we worship worthless idols we will become worthless ourselves.

As I thought about a communion meditation for today this truth was still kicking around in my mind.  It reminded me that the Apostle Paul had a similar concern and issued a warning about idolatry in connection with the Lord's Supper.  In 1 Corinthians 10 he cites the disastrous results of idol worship for Israel and then says, in verses 6-7, "Now these things happened as examples for us, so that we would not crave evil things as they also craved.  Do not be idolaters, as some of them were ...."  Then, in verse 14 he adds a second admonition to flee from idolatry.

Now notice how he connects this with the Lord's Supper.  We can see this clearly in Peterson's, The Message, by simply reading Paul's words starting in verse 15:

I assume I'm addressing believers now who are mature.  Draw your own conclusions:  When we drink the cup of blessing, aren't we taking into ourselves the blood, the very life of Christ?  And isn't it the same with the loaf of bread we break and eat?  Don't we take into ourselves the body, the very life, of Christ?  Because there is one loaf, our many-ness becomes one-ness -- Christ doesn't become fragmented in us.  Rather, we become unified in him.  We don't reduce Christ to what we are; he raises us to what he is.  That's basically what happened even in old Israel -- those who ate the sacrifices offered on our God's altar entered into God's action at the altar.

Do you see the difference?  Sacrifices offered to idols are offered to nothing, for what's the idol but a nothing?  Or worse than nothing, a minus, a demon!  I don't want you to become part of something that reduces you to less than yourself.  And you can't have it both ways, banqueting with the Master one day and slumming with demons the next.  Besides, the Master won't put up with it.  He wants us -- all or nothing.  Do you think you can get off with anything less?

We become like Christ -- or we can become like the false gods we worship -- we can't have it both ways.  That's why we come here each Sunday.  To remind ourselves who we worship and whose we are.  As The Message puts it, When we drink the cup of blessing ... and eat the loaf, don't we take into ourselves the very life of Christ?  We become what we worship ... and we worship God in Christ alone.