"To Him be glory forever": Lord's Supper

Showing posts with label Lord's Supper. Show all posts

Sunday, November 20, 2016

Until He Comes

Last Sunday I preached from Mark 13:1-23 and today I preached from Mark 13:24-37. In this chapter of the Bible Jesus is teaching His disciples about what we might call "end times," i.e. the time when Jesus returns in power and glory and God's judgment on the world comes to pass. My sermon titles were, "The Coming Judgment, Part 1 & 2."

This morning after the sermon we shared the Lord's Supper. In the picture is my view from the front of the church, where I look towards the congregation while I preach. This picture is taken before our worship service began, while I was getting things set-up, and there are two things in the picture I want to touch on.

First is the preaching of the word. My Bible sits open on the pulpit, with my notes next to it. There are a few tabs hanging out of my Bible to make it easy to find passages I want to refer to during the sermon. Being the 21st century I could very easily put those verses into my notes, but my preference, when it comes to reading God's word, is to read it from the Bible itself.

There are possibly almost as many theories to the act of preaching the word as there are preachers. I belong to the group that believes that, in some way, Jesus Christ must be lifted up in every sermon. He is the center of the book; the hero, if you will. Many preachers are quick to begin with the Bible and then move off to their pet topic, usually resulting in a sermon that either moralizes or spiritualizes the biblical text.

The places in the world where we can get spiritual and/or moral lessons are virtually endless. The places where we can hear of the unique love that the Living God brings to the world through the person and work of Jesus Christ are few. Week by week I try to be a preacher who does that with the people God brings before me. And I will admit that it is a task in which I still have much to learn.

The other thing to notice in the picture is the table sitting in between the pulpit and the pews. It is in the process of being set-up for us to share the Lord's Supper as a part of our worship.

Among the words I speak as we get ready to share the Lord's Supper are 1 Corinthians 11:23-26, where Paul says this in verse 26:

"For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes."

Mark 13 is a glimpse of the end of the story, from the lips of Jesus. Or perhaps not quite the end of the story, but what C. S. Lewis called "the beginning of the real story," the time when all of God's children are gathered with Him forever.

Every time we gather at the table to share the meal Jesus has given us we strengthen our faith and remember the very good promises of eternal life that He has made to His children.

And every time we share this meal we give witness to the world that we believe He will return one day. We proclaim a life that was given over to death for the salvation of all who have faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. We do this church by church throughout the world, "until he comes."

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Restless

We are in Denver for a few days. I am attending a seminar on discipleship, while my wife and daughter are checking out the museums. On Monday I was free during the morning so we all went to the Denver zoo.

In packing for the trip I checked the weather forecast, which seemed like a reasonable thing to do. I looked at the forecast for the three days we would be gone and packed appropriately. Appropriately for running, that is. I mostly paid attention to what the early-morning weather would be and packed the right clothes for running at that time of day. I had packed a few long-sleeved shirts to wear to the seminar and my fall jacket, figuring that would be okay for the reminder of the day. Turned out not to be a good plan.

On the day we went to the zoo the temperature barely made it to 40 and it was damp all day, with an occasional mist in the air. I had the wrong clothing for the weather. I was cold every time we were outside, and particularly so whenever a breeze kicked up. I tried to be a good sport but whenever I had the chance I had my hands in my pockets or tried to get indoors. The only times I felt comfortable were when we were inside the car and had the heat turned up.

I was experiencing a persistent sense of restlessness, physically, and it made me think, as so many things do, theologically.

Last Sunday our church celebrated the Lord's Supper. I had prepared for about 60 people and it was a surprise to find out that as we served the congregation the amount of bread and juice I had ready was not quite enough for those present. We quickly worked out a solution and were able to serve the sacrament to all who were gathered for worship.

The Lord's Supper is a physical reminder of God's covenant promise to hold his people firmly, in life and in death. The act of chewing the bread and tasting the juice is, for me, a reminder that amidst all in life that makes me restless, particularly the things that pull at my emotions and spirit, God's presence and promises remain sure.

And in his son, Christ Jesus, he has promised to hold me as his own, forever. It is a promise I can remember in each restless moment, knowing he is bringing a rest that will never end. And it a promise he holds out for you too.

Monday, September 30, 2013

The feast of heaven

Yesterday I preached from Luke 16:19-31, a text that in many Bibles is called "The Rich Man and Lazarus." I read a number of different translations as I prepared to preach and one of them, the Good News Translation, had a particularly powerful way of picturing Lazarus and Abraham together, saying in verse 22:

"The poor man [Lazarus] died and was carried by the angels to sit beside Abraham at the feast in heaven."

I invited the people in church to imagine a particularly fine meal or celebration that they may have been a part of, and then suggested that the "feast in heaven" would be something that was much more magnificent and lavish then the best celebration they had ever experienced.

While we could only use our imaginations to think of this feast it was my privilege after preaching to bring a taste of the feast to the congregation in the form of the Lord's Supper.

As part of the liturgy for this part of our worship service I read these words:

"We come in hope, believing that this bread and this cup are a pledge and foretaste of the feast of love of which we shall partake when his kingdom has fully come, when with unveiled face we shall behold him, made like unto him in his glory."

There is a lot of theology and biblical imagery packed into that paragraph, and within the broad umbrella label of "Christian" there would be many points of both agreement and disagreement about what those words, and the Lord's Supper, mean. I'm just going to focus on the two words I placed in bold, pledge and foretaste.

At the Lord's Table I believe that we experience in a palpable way, a physical way, a reminder of God's promises to us. We chew, taste and swallow the bread. We sip, swirl, taste and swallow the juice. The Lord's Supper is both a physical and spiritual experience. Our various senses are actively engaged.

And we know that God is present with us by his Spirit, which is a foretaste that whets our appetite for the same experience that Luke pointed to in his Gospel and is promised to every person who calls on Christ in faith.

If you know this promise of God is true for you, I thank and praise God, and I invite you to consider who you know that doesn't know this promise as their own, and to whom God may be calling you to bring his Good News to.

And if you have read this far and don't know this promise of God as including you, then I invite you to read the full text of Luke at the link above and contact me privately, because I would be glad to help you understand that God's promises are not just for me, but for you too.

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Brokenness

It has been one month since we arrived in our new home. By "home" I mean the whole deal: the house, the church, and the community. One thing I have learned is that all three intersect right outside our back door.

There are a number of houses to the north and west up the hill from the church, with a fair amount of foot traffic right behind our house from our neighbors as they walk between their homes and locations closer to the center of town. Early on I made it a practice to say "Hi!" to everyone passing through. I may be an introvert but it wouldn't do to have a pastor that avoided or ignored people who are right in front of him.

Once in a while people stop and talk. On some occasions the words exchanged are fairly light. Not so much on other times. I have been surprised by what I have heard in brief conversations. Relationships with our neighbors are developing. There is one young man who has come to the back door several times, looking for me to talk with him.

In the past month I have gradually come to know the members of our congregation. And in talking with the people walking through the property I have begun to know some of the neighbors. One thing I have learned is that there is a lot of brokenness in both places. Today's thoughts on brokenness were sparked when we discovered that someone kicked in a window last night at the church gym, a tangible marker of the physical, spiritual and emotional brokenness our eyes are being opened to see.

A large part of my work today has been getting prepared for worship on Sunday. That's no surprise for one who has been called to preach God's word. I spent a good portion of my day working on my sermon. This Sunday our congregation will also be sharing in the Lord's Supper, which will mark the first time I have presided over the Lord's table, so I spent some time on that too. I feel humbled to be bringing Christ's sacrament to His people.

Today I helped a church member repair the broken window in the gym. On Sunday I will be bringing Christ's people a meal that signifies the healing He has brought in the broken relationship between God and man, a brokenness that He has healed eternally. Matthew 26:26-28 says:

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

The gym window may get broken again but the brokenness that Christ has healed stays healed forever. It is my prayer that in the various ways I give witness to the healing He has done in me, that I am used by Him to bring His healing to our neighbors in our new home.

Thursday, December 27, 2012

Book Review: In Remembrance of Him by Guilemus Saldenus and Wilhemus a`Brakel

The phrase “In remembrance of Him” is one that is intimately connected with the Christian sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. It is frequently used in the worship liturgy and it is written onto the front of many altars and tables in church sanctuaries. But what does it mean to “remember” Christ when we feast at His table? Answering that question is the goal of the two essays in the book In Remembrance of Him: Profiting from the Lord’s Supper, by Guilemus Saldenus and Wilhemus a`Brakel (Grand Rapids, MI: Reformation Heritage Books, 2012).

As might be guessed from their names, Saldenus and a`Brakel are not exactly 21^st century authors. They are two pastors/theologians who were active in the Netherlands in the 17^th century. And despite the passage of time, what they have written here has much to say to strengthen and enrich the practice of the Lord’s Supper today. Saldenus focuses on the efficacy of the Lord’s Supper, first addressing the comfort found at the Lord’s Table and then the way in which taking the Supper nurtures the Christian’s sanctification. a’Brakel writes in three parts, dealing with the issues of preparation, celebration of, and reflection on, the Supper, followed by a meditation on how the sovereign work of God’s grace is active in the Supper.

I thought that the writing of both authors was filled with relevance for today’s church. While they both write from a place that theologically is deeply within the Reformed tradition, they powerfully invite Christians of any tradition to consider more fully what a biblically-grounded view of the Supper entails. Fallowing are examples from each author.

Saldenus, writing on the theme of sanctification and how taking the Supper can lead to a greater abhorrence of personal sin, concludes a very rich paragraph with these words: “It communicates that it is according to God’s will that precisely that body and blood which is set before you in the Lord’s Supper is ordained to be the atonement for your sin. And if this is true for the least sinful thought, we cannot begin to fathom how utterly abominable and accursed the entire mass of our sins must be.” (63-4)

a`Brakel, writing on the nature of reflection after partaking of the Supper includes this advice: “We should first of all attentively and calmly reflect upon the steadfastness and immutability of the covenant of grace, and upon all its promises that have been sealed to us by means of the Lord’s Supper, such as forgiveness of sins, comfort, sanctification, and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Additional promises pertain to God’s preservation of believers in the state of grace, as well as to the eternal salvation in heaven that shall be their portion after life.” (108-9)

I found a lot to take from these authors and only a small bit that seemed to me to be less relevant. The less relevant writing was primarily where they addressed the matter of taking the Supper unworthily, which was a real issue for the early Protestant church as it reformed practices that had been a part of the Roman Catholic tradition. Yet even in the way they dealt with this issue they did so in a manner that can deepen the way we prepare and approach the Lord’s Table today.

In sum I highly commend this book to pastors, elders, professors and Sunday school teachers who want to learn more about the powerful way God touches people at His Table and then bring what they have learned to the people they minister among. And I recommend it to the lay person who wants to deepen their own understanding of the way God touches them through this sacrament, a sacrament that always points to God and His covenantal promises.