1 Corinthians
11:23-26
In his book of meditations on the
psalms, Ben Patterson tells of a professor who was lecturing from Paul’s
letter, First Thessalonians, in which the apostle is teaching about the return
of Christ. He was in Uganda and his students were young men preparing for
ministry. These young men were living with horrendous reminders of what they
had endured during the murderous reign of Idi Amin. Some were missing an eye or
an arm. Several had bulging red scars from what had been deep machete wounds.
In the eyes of all was the shadow of the horror they had seen. But there was
also the light of the hope of Christ.
The professor read verse 16 in
chapter 4: “The Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding
shout, with the voice of the archangel, and the trumpet call of God.”
Immediately, a student’s hand went up.
“Yes?” said the professor. “What is
your question?”
The man who had raised his hand
hesitated for a moment and then asked softly, “What will the Lord shout?”
The professor didn’t know what to
say. Who would? Yet the accumulated suffering of the students in that classroom
seemed to demand some kind of answer. What will the Lord shout when he returns
as Lord of Lords and King of Kings?
“I don’t know,” the professor
admitted. Then he looked around the room, pausing to look at each student, and
asked, “What do you think he will shout?”
A student’s voice came from the
back: “I think he will shout ‘Enough!’” That’s a good answer.* Enough violence,
enough sickness and pandemics, enough tears, enough suffering, enough hatred.
It’s a time we all look forward to.
Paul reminds us in 1 Cor. 11 that
the Lord’s Supper looks forward to that time as he says, For as often as you
eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he
comes.” His words remind us that we look not only to the past with
thanksgiving but to the future with hope. As we partake, we look to the future
when he will return, and all will be well.
To be sure, in the meantime, even
now to some extent, we can experience the wholeness and peace that he has
promised, but we know that all will not be realized until the final shout is
heard. Paul’s words invite us to look toward that day: “For as often as you
eat this bread and drink this cup you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.”
*Patterson,
Ben. God’s Prayer Book. Carol Stream, Ill., Saltriver, 2008, p. 184.
