It's all about what we pass on.
(I found this short story on a website forum discussing John Wesley & Communion. Thought it was a good way to open today's blog entry.)
There are two words for today's entry that you should keep hold of as you read.
Tradition & Remembering.
Those two words lay before us all that we do and why we do it.
The scripture I have on my mind and heart comes from 1st Corinthians 11 as Paul explains the whys and hows of communion to them.
1 Corinthians 11:23-29
New International Version (NIV)
Paul was very in touch with what he experienced and understood about Christ.
He then wanted to pass that experience along to his readers and listeners.
That means anyone can come.
Anyone is free to take of the bread and the wine and join in our celebration.
But, do you understand what we are celebrating?
Have you taken the time to understand what it is we are doing here around this table?
When I ask, "what do you remember?", too many of us drop off into tradition.
We remember that we have always done it and that we were raised to do it this way.
But, remembering takes on the subject of why.
Well, lets see, I remember some scripture about Jesus breaking bread with his disciples.
OK.
I remember it has something to do with the cross, I think.
Alright.
Let me stop you there.
Have you ever accepted Christ as you Lord and Savior?
Have you ever ask Him to come into your heart and life?
I don't know if I ever have.
I know I've been sitting here in this pews for a number of years.
I know I went through church membership class when I was a kid.
I know I've been giving my money to this church for as long as I can remember.
Ok, let me phrase it to you this way.
What do you remember about Jesus?
I don't know. I stood down front after being baptized and I was asked the big question, "Do you believe Jesus Christ is the Son of the Living God?"
How did you answer?
Well, I said 'Yes', but I'm still not sure what that question meant.
What didn't you understand?
Well, what does it mean, 'Jesus Christ is the Son of the Living God' ?
I've heard many a conversation like this one. Even people who have had the tradition of going to church for years and they still don't know it in their own hearts about the Saving and Redemptive work of our Lord. It's simply been told to them for years that this is what they are supposed to believe, this is what they are supposed to do. And, many a person simply nod their heads in approval and do what their told. How many of us need to make that phone call and ask our mother, "Why did we do it that way for?" How many of us need to hear the story laid out before us and with startling realization utter the insightful "OH!" ?
Why do we do what we do?
God sent his one and only son into this world to die for our sins in our place.
Our most familiar verse of scripture says it all.
Do you believe in Jesus Christ?
When I ask, what do you remember, it is not just a recalling of tradition that I am looking for.
Do you remember what Christ has done for you? It's personal.
It's a recollection of everything you remember about what God has done for you in your life.
The salvation He provides in the name of His one and only Son.
The provision He has shown to you and your family.
The guidance He has given to light your path.
The healing He has brought to your mind, soul, and body.
And the list goes on.
Paul wanted to pass along to his Corinthian readers the realization that this supper they were partaking was not just some sloppy, potluck feast with all the trimmings.
I hope you realize today that Christ died for your sins.
When we approach the table, we take some bread.
Jesus wanted his disciples to think about His body.
They would see with graphic realism in just a few days how his body would be broken and beaten.
They would take that bread and dip it in a cup of wine.
Jesus wanted his disciples to think about His blood.
When they saw Jesus carrying the cross and being nailed to it, they would see how much blood He lost to pay the price for our sins.
They would remember their feet being washed in the Upper Room.
They would remember the last 3 years of walking with Him.
They would remember the many healings, the crowds, the demons chased out of people, tables over turned in the Temple.
They would remember Him appearing to them after He had died and was laid in the tomb.
They would remember seeing Him ascend through the clouds, going back to the Father.
He would pass along to His followers all they would need in order to hang on to their faith in Him.
And so, the question still beckons, "what do you remember?"
Jesus said, "Do this in remembrance of me."
(I found this short story on a website forum discussing John Wesley & Communion. Thought it was a good way to open today's blog entry.)
I read where a woman, when cooking a pork roast always cut off both ends of the roast before cooking.
When asked why she did that, she responded that that was the way she learned it from Mom.
She called her mother and asked why pork roast was cooked in that manner, her Mom told her that in those days they had a really small oven and that was the only way a large roast would fit in the stove.
The woman said, "Oh!".Why do we do what we do the way we do it?
There are two words for today's entry that you should keep hold of as you read.
Tradition & Remembering.
Those two words lay before us all that we do and why we do it.
The scripture I have on my mind and heart comes from 1st Corinthians 11 as Paul explains the whys and hows of communion to them.
1 Corinthians 11:23-29
New International Version (NIV)
23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 24 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.” 25 In 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.” 26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
27 So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. 28 Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup. 29 For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves.Man, if I could just preach like Paul wrote.
Paul was very in touch with what he experienced and understood about Christ.
He then wanted to pass that experience along to his readers and listeners.
For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you
What is Paul passing along?
He passes along the tradition that was taught to him.
The first four verses of our passage (23-26) read pretty much like the Gospels read.
It's almost word for word what Jesus either said or did with the disciples as they broke bread during the Passover meal in that Upper Room.
That's tradition.
Why are you cutting that roast like that for?
That's just the way my mom always did it.
How many of us, if asked or approached, would explain communion to someone in a similar manner?
Why do you folks eat that bread and juice like that for during church?
I don't know.
Preacher calls us down front and we eat it.
Has something to do with Jesus eating with the disciples in that Upper Room thing.
In other words, it's tradition. It's what we've always done.
But the question actually cuts deeper.
I don't just want to know what you do - I want to know why you do it.
Could we answer that question for someone?
The lady in the story above, when asked, simply recalled that it was always the way her mother had done it.
For many of us, that's how we would most likely explain things about our lives if asked.
My dad always took us out to eat at this restaurant.
My mom always hung her clothes on these lines.
My aunt always baked her pies this way.
My uncle always took us fishing at this place.
It should be pertinent to us to find out why they did what they did in the way they did it.
I am huge into family tree and ancestry work for my family lines.
I've been on the websites and driven around the great state of Ohio researching and piecing things together.
But, I don't just want names and dates. (It's frustrating how many websites just give you the basic info.)
I want to know the whys and hows and when it happened.
I want to know more than just the simple story of birth and death.
Paul isn't content with just retelling the story as it was told to him.
He is driven to take it further.
Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup.
Do we understand why we are tearing this bread off this load?
Do we understand why we are dipping this bread into this cup?
In a deeper context of the last few verses of our passage (27-29), Paul wants them to examine the sin of their lives.
whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord
What a minute, you say, how does sin tie in with this whole thing?
It behooves us to seek out the answer to, what do we remember?
Ok, I remember church membership class.
I remember getting baptized.
I remember standing down front of the congregation.
I remember being allowed to take communion after that.
(Some denominations and groups won't allow one to take the Lord's Supper until they have joined the church.)
If you've been a UMer all your life, then you've been taking communion all this time anyway, even before 'church membership'.
So, what's different about this now?
Upon 'examining our lives' Paul wants his readers to ask the question, "Do you know Christ as your Lord and Savior?"
Have you ask Him to come into your life?
Have you asked him to forgive you for your sins?
Just a couple blog entries ago, we took a look at the Laodicean church.
Jesus is at the door of their heart and is knocking.
"Whoever will open the door I will come in and eat with him and he with me."Now, in the United Methodist Church, we have an 'Open Table'.
That means anyone can come.
Anyone is free to take of the bread and the wine and join in our celebration.
But, do you understand what we are celebrating?
Have you taken the time to understand what it is we are doing here around this table?
When I ask, "what do you remember?", too many of us drop off into tradition.
We remember that we have always done it and that we were raised to do it this way.
But, remembering takes on the subject of why.
Well, lets see, I remember some scripture about Jesus breaking bread with his disciples.
OK.
I remember it has something to do with the cross, I think.
Alright.
Let me stop you there.
Have you ever accepted Christ as you Lord and Savior?
Have you ever ask Him to come into your heart and life?
I don't know if I ever have.
I know I've been sitting here in this pews for a number of years.
I know I went through church membership class when I was a kid.
I know I've been giving my money to this church for as long as I can remember.
Ok, let me phrase it to you this way.
What do you remember about Jesus?
I don't know. I stood down front after being baptized and I was asked the big question, "Do you believe Jesus Christ is the Son of the Living God?"
How did you answer?
Well, I said 'Yes', but I'm still not sure what that question meant.
What didn't you understand?
Well, what does it mean, 'Jesus Christ is the Son of the Living God' ?
I've heard many a conversation like this one. Even people who have had the tradition of going to church for years and they still don't know it in their own hearts about the Saving and Redemptive work of our Lord. It's simply been told to them for years that this is what they are supposed to believe, this is what they are supposed to do. And, many a person simply nod their heads in approval and do what their told. How many of us need to make that phone call and ask our mother, "Why did we do it that way for?" How many of us need to hear the story laid out before us and with startling realization utter the insightful "OH!" ?
Why did dad always take us out to eat at that restaurant?
Well, you see, that's where he and mom met for the first time...
Why did mom always hang her clothes on these lines?
Well, you see, this was Grandma's house at one time, and these were the very first lines they could afford to put up...
Why did aunt so & so always baked her pies this way?
Well see, her family was from Ireland and they used certain spices...
Why did uncle so & so always take us fishing to this place?
Well see, he caught this 7 lb catfish right here that one time, and so he has always come back here...
Why do we do what we do?
God sent his one and only son into this world to die for our sins in our place.
Our most familiar verse of scripture says it all.
"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life."Do you have everlasting life?
Do you believe in Jesus Christ?
When I ask, what do you remember, it is not just a recalling of tradition that I am looking for.
Do you remember what Christ has done for you? It's personal.
It's a recollection of everything you remember about what God has done for you in your life.
The salvation He provides in the name of His one and only Son.
The provision He has shown to you and your family.
The guidance He has given to light your path.
The healing He has brought to your mind, soul, and body.
And the list goes on.
Paul wanted to pass along to his Corinthian readers the realization that this supper they were partaking was not just some sloppy, potluck feast with all the trimmings.
I hope you realize today that Christ died for your sins.
When we approach the table, we take some bread.
Jesus wanted his disciples to think about His body.
They would see with graphic realism in just a few days how his body would be broken and beaten.
They would take that bread and dip it in a cup of wine.
Jesus wanted his disciples to think about His blood.
When they saw Jesus carrying the cross and being nailed to it, they would see how much blood He lost to pay the price for our sins.
They would remember their feet being washed in the Upper Room.
They would remember the last 3 years of walking with Him.
They would remember the many healings, the crowds, the demons chased out of people, tables over turned in the Temple.
They would remember Him appearing to them after He had died and was laid in the tomb.
They would remember seeing Him ascend through the clouds, going back to the Father.
He would pass along to His followers all they would need in order to hang on to their faith in Him.
And so, the question still beckons, "what do you remember?"
Jesus said, "Do this in remembrance of me."
