And Yet

It's hard to watch the news these days without asking the question, "What's wrong with these people!? They just don't get it!" That question is nothing new.

"Then the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Why do You speak to the people in parables?”

¹¹He replied, “The knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. ¹²Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. ¹³This is why I speak to them in parables:

‘Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand." - Matthew 13:10-13

Jesus then goes on to say....

"But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear." - Matthew 13:16

What a humbling thing; the knowledge that we, a chosen group of sinners like us, have been given access to the kingdom of God!

And yet, to be clear, ALL are welcome. But few are chosen.

"For many are called, but few are chosen.” - Matthew 22:4

We had communion in our church yesterday. That's always a humbling time. We walk up front and get the little cups of juice and a piece of unleavened bread, then return to our seats. After praying, I put the bread into my mouth, but I don't chew it. Rather, I simply let it disolve. Why? Isaiah 53:5.

"He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed." - Isaiah 53:5

We know it was our sins that placed Him on that cross. And God crushed Him because of those sins. But just the thought of crushing "the bread of life" is something I don't want to be a part of. And yet, I was.

"Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty." - John 6:35

My prayer is that all would come to Christ and be saved. And yet, I am saddened by the knowledge that "the road is narrow" and not everyone will make that choice; some that I know and love. And that truly makes me sad. And yet, the choice is theirs. And God would welcome anyone, right up to the last second of life. Maranatha!

How Deep The Father's Love For Us - Fernando Ortega

Consumption

Have you ever heard the phrase, "You are what you eat"? It's supposed to apply to our bad eating habits. For example, if all you eat are Twinkies, you will eventually become one. Not really, but you know what I mean. The point of the phrase is, if you want to be healthy, eat healthy things.

This phrase extends WAY beyond our diet though. Our phones are a perfect example of this. We can spend a WHOLE lot of time on those things. I am guilty of that. If we really think about it, are we not merely entertaining ourselves because we're bored?

Another "branch" in this Y.A.W.Y.E. character study is the music we listen to. I have written here before about songs that fill the head throughout the day (and night). What we consume tends to fill us.

Our belief in Jesus is the same.

"I am the bread of life." - John 6:48

Jesus then went on to say that we must "consume" HIM.

"Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. ⁵⁴Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. ⁵⁵For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. ⁵⁶Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them." - John 6:53-56

Jesus is telling us to CONSUME who He is. To copy Him. This practice is carried out during communion in our churches.

"And He took 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.” ²⁰And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood." - Luke 22:19-20

Paul later confirmed this, using a phrase attributed to Epimenides of Crete while speaking in the Areopagus in Athens.

"In him we live and move and have our being." - Acts 17:28

We are what we eat. We become what we consume. May I suggest that we put down our phones and pick up our Bibles? Let us consume God's word. Live it. Move in it. And let us become who God wants us to be - His.

What consumes YOU?

Self Betrayal

"The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, ²⁴and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” ²⁵In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” ²⁶For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes." - 1 Corinthians 11:23-26

That's the typical passage of scripture that churches us when they take communion. But the last time our church did this, our pastor pointed out something interesting. Verse 23 above says "on the night he was betrayed." One of the men Jesus was praying with and breaking bread with that night, had betrayed him, and the other 11 would deny they even knew him before the day was done.

Our pastor encouraged us to pray for those who have betrayed us. Question: Has anyone ever betrayed you? I'm sure there are a few for everyone.

I began to make my mental list of the betrayers in MY life, but then I stopped and thought, "What about me? Haven't I also betrayed God through my sin? Haven't I betrayed myself?"

Ooo. Ouch. That was pretty humbling, and that was just how I prayed. A different kind of prayer comes out when you think of yourself as a type of Judas.

Does God look at us as "a Judas?" "A blasphemer?" Yes, He would - without the sacrifice that Jesus made on our behalf. I personally am SO grateful for Jesus and what He did! We ALL should be.

"We ALL sin and fall short of the glory of God." - Romans 3:23

"We ALL sin," the Bible says.

Quite rightly, those following Jesus once asked Him, "Who then can be saved?"

"Jesus replied, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.”- Luke 18:26-27

The world tells us to "forgive ourselves" for the sins we have committed. According to verse 7 that we just read, that is impossible. Maybe it is IN OUR OWN EYES but not in God's. However, God HAS provided a way for us to be totally forgiven. His Son, Jesus.

If one scrolls back up and reads that opening passage again, it kind of makes us want to eat some bread and drink some wine, and pray, as we remember what Jesus did for us.

"As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us." - Psalm 103:12

Crushed

We had communion in our church this past weekend. It's always a solemn time used for reflection and coming humbly before the Lord in repentance. But this week something new happened.

Our pastor read the following passage from the Book of Isaiah and something occurred to me that I had never thought of before. First read the text.

"Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed." - Isaiah 53:4-5

This passage from Isaiah is a prophetic one, speaking of the crucifixion of Jesus. It says that He was "crushed" for our iniquities. How was He crushed. He was pierced, as the text says, but how exactly was Jesus crushed?

I was thinking about that as I put my piece of unleavened bread into my mouth and then, I crushed it with my teeth. I thought of another verse where Jesus said of the bread He had just broken with His disciples, "This (the bread) is my body." (Luke 22:19)

"As often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes." - 1 Corinthians 11:26

Every time we take communion we are reminded that WE are the ones who crushed Jesus. It was our sin that Jesus died for. Something to remember the next time you take communion.

Isaiah 53 - David Platt

102

This past Monday I had an annoying little cough. Dry. Persistent. Probably a lot like this blog. Well, today I am on day three of the worst cold I have ever had. Although I did set a personal best for Internal Body Temperature, so I've got that going for me. Yay?

I didn't eat much Tuesday or Wednesday. It was like a 48-hour fast . . . but for all the wrong reasons. Blah . . .

Early this morning I awoke to a strange noise - the sound of my growling tummy. I was hungry!

"Well, you'd better get up and eat something before you wake your wife."

So I wandered out to the kitchen, bouncing from wall to wall as I went . . . at 1:27 in the morning. I opened up the refrigerator door and grabbed some juice, set it on the stove. Then I went over to the cereal / cracker cabinet which seemed more empty tan normal. The only thing that seemed palatable to this sick-o was Saltine crackers. Kind of blah but that's what I was looking for.

As I placed the crackers on the stove next to the juice I looked and saw this picture.

"26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes." - 1 Corinthians 11:26

And so . . . I prayed.

I asked God to forgive me for all of the times I have placed myself above Him; thought of my own needs before those of my King. I prayed for this world, which is so full of itself it doesn't have time for ANY gods, let alone the One True God. I prayed that Jesus would return soon. Imagine, a life without colds!!!

"Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

5 He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” - Revelation 21:1-5

Church

For most of my life "church" was a place to go - a destination. "Time to go to church! Let's go! We Don't want to be late!"

("What do you mean 'We don't want to be late'? I sure do! I HATE church! Church is boring.")

Spoken like a true unbeliever. I used to tell my wife that "church doesn't do anything for me." That statement  alone tells you what kind of "Christian" I was. I had no idea what church was to be about. No idea at all. Church is not about me and my "feelings." Church is not about "me" at all. It's about God!

When I first became a believer I joined TWO churches! I joined my wife's church, a very traditional Lutheran church on the outside but, as I would discover later, a very liberal, "progressive" church on the inside. I also joined "my" church, a very casual, welcoming church. Things were good. But then something began to happen between me and the churches that I was attending - I began to read the Bible. I began comparing what I was reading with what I was seeing in church. Things just didn't seem to line up.

Have you ever noticed that? You'll be sitting in church and all of a sudden you hear or see something that doesn't make sense. Those moments when something seems contrary to what you KNOW is true. Well, when those moments occur, what should we do about it?

The normal thing to do I guess is to simply ignore it. I call that Ostrich syndrome. Maybe, by sticking our heads in the sand, the problem will simply vanish. It will go away and things will be all better. That's like ignoring a tick when you see on crawling on your arm. We could ignore the problem but chances are that problem will just get worse and embed itself deeper and deeper.

We could complain I guess. We could speak up and let our voice be heard. But that might alienate us from "the crowd." What should we do? Where can we find some answers? Hmm. :)

Open your Bibles to Matthew 21 . . .

12 Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. 13 “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it ‘a den of robbers.’” - Matthew 21:12-13

Now turn to the Book of Acts, the second chapter.

"42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 43 And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common. 45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved." - Acts 2:42-47

Is your church like that? It should be. Let's summarize. The following is a list of things your church should be doing. If it is not, perhaps change is in order.

1. Devotion. The church should be devoted to teaching about God. Old and New Testament. That includes preaching the Gospel. Sin, repentance, forgiveness of sins through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
2. Fellowship. Fellowship is not eating doughnuts after church. It is coming together as a body for mutual edification and support. It'd talking about Jesus, not watching the game at church.
3. Communion. The breaking of bread - not only in church once a month, but always.
4. Prayer. Prayer is one of the most important parts of a Christians life. We are called to "pray continuously" (1 Thes 5:17) so we should probably do that, right?
5. Help. Jesus said "the poor you will always have with you." We are to help them. If one of our brothers of sisters are in need . . . NEED . . . we are to help them.
6. Attend. We are called to worship with other believers. This can happen in a large church or a small one, even a house church. We are called to worship . . . together.
7. Eat. We are to break bread together. This not only applies to our immediate, physical family but we are to break bread with other believers as well. See also point three above.
8. Worship. We are to praise God for all He has given us. This doesn't just happen in church but every day. Praise God always - for the blessings we receive as well as the trials. Praise Him in all circumstances.
9. Prepare. If we do all these thing, we must be prepared for the harvest. God will add to our number. That is not the job of the church.

Shortly before the instructions about communion appear in the book of First Corinthians, Paul admonished the church in his writings. He wasn't too happy about the direction the church in Corinth was headed, and he told them so. Many churches today are taking the same path that Paul specifically warns against in his letter. There are many denominations in the church today. Each on is sure theirs is the best. But there is really only one church. And it does not occupy a building either. It is the Church of Christ, comprised of believers from the entire planet. But how can we recognize the members of this church? Those goofy nametags some churches would like you to wear? Nope. It's by their fruit.

"18 . . . when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you. And I believe it in part, 19 for there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized." - 1 Corinthians 11:18-19

Lord Jesus, may your church be ready for your return. Your bride is dirty and tattered and totally unworthy. But through your sacrifice on the cross you have made us into a radiant bride. Pure, white as snow, for our long awaited wedding day.

Wedding Day by Casting Crowns

Communion

Did you ever go to church and see some people choosing not to participate in communion? Ever wonder why? I mean, is the communion wine not their favorite vintage? Do the highly compressed wafers simply gross them out because they are truly like eating cardboard? Possibly. They ARE rather nasty. Seriously though, there are a few more likely possibilities to consider.

It is possible that some people might choose not to participate because they are not believers in Jesus Christ. If that were actually the case, that's understandable I guess (that they're not participating, not that they don't believe). They do not believe, therefore, why should they participate as if they did? That's respectful. And sad. Those people need to be prayed for. They're in church, but they don't believe? Yeah. Prayer would be a good thing.

But the more I think about that possibility I actually think most non-believers would tend to just fake belief and take communion rather than be "busted" or embarrassed. They'd probably just want to fit in so they would go ahead and participate in the ritual. Sadly, there are probably more of these than the church would like to admit.

The second reason I can come up with, why some people don't take communion, and this is probably the MAIN reason people don't take communion, is because they CHOOSE not to. Hmm. Why would someone who professes to be a Christian NOT take communion when the opportunity presents itself? Isn't that something Jesus told us to do? "DO THIS in remembrance of me." That's a command! Why would ANY Christian chose not to take communion? An excellent question.

Our family went to Christmas Eve service at my wife's church this year, a Lutheran church of the ELCA variety. They practice what's known as OPEN communion. They preface their ceremony by stating, "all are welcome" to share in Christ's body and blood. That's good. Situation normal.

However, when people arose from their pews to march up front, some in attendance that evening stayed behind. They didn't bother to go up front and partake in the elements of communion. They took a pass. Why? Well, it was because they were members of a different church. They belonged to a different Lutheran church, a different synod. They were WELS, not ELCA. How do I know all these things? Those choosing not to participate were members of my family.

To be honest, the practise of closed communion, or CLOSE communion, rubs me to wrong way. It bothers me for several reasons but the biggest reason is that it is we humans who are judging what is in another man's heart. This is something that, in my opinion, is reserved for Jesus and Him alone. For us to take on that role risks judgement and is, in my opinion, blasphemy. For an interesting read on the WELS point of view, try this.

So what is right? Should we make a practise of refusing to offer communion to anyone who we think is really not a believer? Do you know what I do when I face questions like this? I go to the Bible and search for my answers there. What answer can you glean from these passages.

"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." - Matthew 26:26-28 ESV

"And he took 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 likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood." -
Luke 22:19-20 ESV

"So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. ... " - John 6:53-58 ESV

"And when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup." - 1 Corinthians 11:24-28 ESV

I'm not here just to pick on WELS Lutherans. There are many churches that practise, closed, or close communion. The Roman Catholic church for example, the Eastern Orthodox church, strict Baptists, there's a whole bunch. But for me, after examining scripture for my answer, I believe that communion should be offered to ALL. And if someone partakes in an unworthy manner they will answer to Jesus. It's simple. When we as church bodies begin to determine through human eyes who truly believes that Jesus is their Lord and savior, we are going down a path that leads to death.

We're supposed to be observing a sacred ceremony when we take communion. God does not like rituals, but a sincere repentant heart. I heard of a high school student in our youth group, a guy, drinking his communion wine like he was taking a shot of whiskey. He didn’t use his arms or his hands. He just wrapped his lips around the little plastic cup and bent over backwards until the contents had been emptied into his mouth. Not exactly the kind of reverence God was looking for?

The best communion service I ever participated in was at a small church in Seymour. There was maybe a couple dozen in attendance. The entire congregation gathered around a few linen-covered tables. We asked God's blessing on what we were about to do and then we broke loaves of bread as they were passed around. The same with the wine. We then prayed as a family as we felt led to do. It was awesome. I have never felt closer to my brothers and sisters and to Jesus during any other communion service. And isn't that the whole point of what communion is all about? To reaffirm our faith and proclaim the Lord's death until he comes?

"Do this in remembrance of me." - Jesus