This sermon was heard at the First Presbyterian Church in Marshall, Texas on Sunday March 25, 2012, the 5th Sunday in Lent.
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Jeremiah 31:31-34
Psalm 51:1-12
Hebrews 5:5-10
John 12:20-33
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen.
Growing up, my mother was raised in the town where I was born, Mexico, Missouri. Mexico was once known as the “saddle horse capital of the world.” Simmons Stables still stands (well, sort of) on West Boulevard between Grove and Webster Streets. She was also raised in the shadow of the Mexico Military Academy, a boy’s military school with an equine program. So horses were always a part of her life. She passed that on to me with the Triple Crown.
When I was ten years old was the perfect time to introduce anyone to the Triple Crown. It was 1973 and the horse was Secretariat, still one of the most regaled horses of all time. He won the Kentucky Derby in a time that is still a race record. His win in the third race in the crown not only established a race record that still stands, but he won by 31 lengths, an absurd distance to win a race. It’s like winning the Daytona 500 by a half a lap going away.
Over the next five years, the Triple Crown would be won in 1977 by Seattle Slew and the next year by Affirmed. Before Secretariat won the crown, no horse had completed the feat since Citation in 1948. No horse has won the crown since Affirmed either. It was a great time to learn about horse racing.
Because of this upbringing, I was unknowingly in a great position to meet Marie. As you know, she is horse crazy. I may like to watch a race, but she can tell you things about the horses and the “Sport of Kings” that I would never guess. Among the things she taught me about was race preparation.
We can begin with pedigree. The sires and dams of great horses can be traced back so many generations that Luke’s genealogy of Jesus almost looks quaint by comparison. Preparing a horse for the Triple Crown begins long before the horse turns three, it takes generations and generations.
Training begins on these horses almost after they take their first steps. There is much for a farm, trainer, and horse to do even before setting foot on a track. Just preparing a horse to run takes work, and instilling and nurturing that love to run takes the right amount of work and play.
On the day of the race there are the stable hands and horsemen that work the horse to prepare for the big day. There is feeding and grooming. There is walking and putting on tack. There is a ton of preparation before the horse goes out before tens of thousands of people, probably the biggest noise they have ever heard. This all before the jockey dresses and weighs in before the race. Then comes the post parade and the wait for the gate. That’s when the hard work begins.
While I was contemplating this scripture, this is the image I could not get out of my head.
Our Gospel reading begins not long after Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem, the events we will celebrate next weekend on Palm Sunday. Jesus was a threat to the establishment. He was drawing crowds that made the temple leadership uncomfortable. They were uncomfortable because any large crowd around a charismatic Rabbi would make the Roman overlords uncomfortable. Momma Rome wasn’t happy; and when Momma ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy.
So our reading begins with the Greeks looking for Jesus. These Greeks were pagan Greeks; the Book of Acts uses a different word for Greeks who were Jews and believers in Christ. While Rome was the political and economic capital of the Empire, Athens was the cultural center of the Empire. The Greeks were travelers. They brought art and stories and mythology and religion home with them from their journeys. Also to say “the Greeks” wanted to “see Jesus” is to say that they wanted a meeting. They wanted a sit-down.
They wanted to hear his story. They wanted to learn about him and they wanted to take the word of God and Jesus home with them to share with others. These Greeks would be among the first evangelists. I suspect they stayed in town long enough for the crucifixion and resurrection. Scripture doesn’t say whether or not they did. It doesn’t even say whether or not they ever met with Jesus at all.
With the arrival of the Greeks Jesus saw the final domino fall into place. It was at this moment that Jesus knew his message would go beyond the bounds of Palestine. Jesus knew his words and his deeds would be known throughout the world. He knew that what was coming would be told. He knew his hour had come, and after it came word of it would go through the whole wide world.
Jesus and Philip and Andrew; we first heard these names after the baptism of the Lord as Jesus calls his first disciples. In a wonderful way, the news of the Greeks comes in the reverse order of their call to discipleship. What once went from Jesus to Andrew to Philip now goes from Philip to Andrew to Jesus. The Lord saw this circle close. So with this news, with these signs, and with his knowledge; he picks himself up, dusts himself off, and moves on. This as he moves the whole world one step closer to eternity.
This is probably not how it happened, there’s very little chance it did. But I imagine when Jesus gets the news of the Greeks seeking a meeting he literally picks himself up, dusts himself off, and moves on.
As he begins to move on, he begins with a quick agricultural parable. Usually, the agricultural parables were used to describe the Kingdom of God. This is one of the purposes for this parable. He tells his disciples that unless a seed dies, it remains a single seed. But when it dies and takes root it produces many seeds. Jesus tells them that only by the death of a seed will other seeds be produced. This is the Good News of the Kingdom of God, more seeds will be produced, but Jesus shares the price of the bounty. It will cost the life of the first seed to produce all of the rest. The second purpose of this parable is to show that the fully-human fully-divine Jesus must die.
This takes us to something important to remember about Jesus. Our Lord did not have a death wish. Jesus did not approach the hour singing “Get Me to the Cross on Time.” We hear this speech in the Garden of Gethsemane, and we hear it here too.
His heart is troubled. Jesus knows what’s going to happen, and now happen soon. But he’s not in a hurry to meet his fate. I guess he has always known his time with his apostles would be short, but he has just gone from an indefinite “one day” to a very finite “the hour.” He has gone from “some day” to “not long from now.”
What troubles him? Perhaps it is the coming crucifixion. Surely the humiliation, indignity, and pain would be troubling. He knew he would soon be paraded like someone worse than a common criminal. Rome saved crucifixion for special cases. Rome saved crucifixion for people who were to be made examples for all to see. He knew he would be writhing. He knew the pain would be unbearable. He knew the thirst of the day’s sun would scorch his body inside and out. He knew the flogging and mocking would come.
Yet, Jesus knew that it was for this very reason that he came to this hour. In all of the horror, terror, and glory; Jesus both dreaded and embraced the hour and his destiny.
In this knowledge, in this hour Jesus cried out “Father, glorify your name.” And the reply came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” While the crowd didn’t hear the thunder of God at the baptism of the Lord, they heard this. They heard the voice from Heaven in all its glory. Jesus declares this word is not for him. After all, Jesus is confident with his relationship with his Heavenly Father. This voice is for the disciples. This word is for us so that we may be confident. Confident in the Heavenly Father and confident in the one he sent to us, Jesus of Nazareth, Jesus the Messiah, the Christ, the Lord Incarnate, Emmanuel—God with us.
Friends, I have never heard this thunder so clearly in all my life. I feel like we, this part of the Body of Christ, is that race horse being led to the gate. We have been made ready to run the race of our lives. Unfortunately, we don’t have the benefit of knowing the track is a dirt oval and the race is going to end after ten furlongs. Horses and NASCAR drivers have the benefit of knowing it’s nothing but left turns for the whole distance. We don’t.
So what do we need to know to run the race? What do we need to know about this hour for this congregation? The first thing we need to remember is that if we try to hold onto our life, surely we will lose it. Jesus warns his disciples and I can’t imagine this warning doesn’t pertain to the Body of Christ as well.
Jesus says the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. This English translation isn’t quite what Jesus means. This is an expression, like “month o’ Sundays” meaning “a long time” and not “thirty weeks.” What Jesus means is that those who love their life more than Him will lose what they hold onto so dearly. It is when we hold the Lord and the love of God above everything else that we will keep our lives for eternal life.
Yes, I say again, eternal life is available to us on this side of the grave. It is not something we wait for while on this earth. It is available to us now when we love God more than anything else. Because of this, because of this gift, because of God’s good grace, we are called to respond faithfully. This is how we live eternal life, not just have it. To live life, we must share. We are called to take what God has given us and share it with the world.
So if we love the building and the programs and the denomination and all other manner of things more than we love the Lord our God we have surely missed the point. If we love our history more than we love the Lord we have missed the point. If we love our polity and Confessions more than we love the Lord we have missed the point.
We are called to love the Lord who loved us first more than everything else. Jesus leads us to places we would have never considered going without him. In its way, this should be troubling to us. It was troubling to Jesus so it would be awfully conceited of us to not be troubled too. But like Jesus we are called to embrace this hour. In Christ, we are called to approach the hour with confidence in our relationship with the Almighty, not in the trappings we put around Him.
We are called to love God and one another, not history, buildings, and paperwork. I found a way to describe a healthy relationship with the church a couple of weeks ago on the wall of a fellowship hall in Dallas—“Cherish our past—Support the present—Embrace our future.” This is a good plan for any congregation.
So, am I about to share my five point plan with you? Am I about to tell you it’s going to be in the newsletter so stay tuned? Oh how I wish it were so. If there is one thing that has been revealed to me recently it’s that thinking has put the church in the place it is now, and it’s not more fancy thinking that’s going to get us out of it.
I’m a smart man, I’m a learned man, I have great knowledge and training, and right now it’s not changing the world. If all it took was good thinking, a smooth voice, and an internet presence; I’d have this thing licked. But that’s not what it takes, not at all.
We have to begin again with the basics. We have to begin with establishing Godly priorities. Our first priority is this, establishing a relationship with the Lord. That’s where it has to begin. It begins with walking the word. It begins with prayer. It begins by keeping company with those who walk in the word and live life bathed in prayer. It begins by realigning our priorities.
We need to hear that voice again, the voice that came from heaven saying “I have glorified my name and I will glorify it again.” Only by listening and responding to the voice and its glory will we ever, ever make it out of the starting gate.
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Wondrous Love
This sermon was heard at the First Presbyterian Church in Marshall, Texas on Sunday March 18, 2012, the 4th Sunday in Lent.
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Numbers 21:4-9
Psalm 107:1-3, 17-22
Ephesians 2:1-10
John 3:14-21
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts
be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen
The hymn we just finished singing
is one of my favorites. One of the reasons I like it is because to sing it I
can drop my voice into one low bass note and just keep singing. The fewer notes
I have to hit, the less time I spend singing out of key. More than that of
course, the lyrics fill me with a sense of joy that I cannot explain. These
simple words written nearly 200 years ago say what I have spent years
proclaiming from the pulpit.
What wondrous love is this? O my
soul, O my soul!
What wondrous love is this, O my
soul!
What wondrous love is this which caused the Lord of bliss
To bear the heavy cross for my
soul, for my soul
To bear the heavy cross for my
soul.[1]
You’ll notice an asterisk, star
key, in the last couple of lines. This notice tells us that the original text
didn’t say “heavy cross.” It said “dreadful curse.” I can’t tell you why the
committee that put together the hymnal decided to make this change. This I will
say: If it were not for the dreadful curse of sin which only Jesus could bear,
he would not have needed to bear the heavy cross for my soul.
What kind of love is it that bears
the heavy cross for my soul? What kind of love is it that bears the dreadful
curse for my soul? It is the love of God who so loved the world that he gave
his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have
eternal life. It’s as easy as that.
I guess I could wrap up the sermon
with that and we could sing some more songs, but I haven’t clued Georgia or Al[2] in
on that plan and I do have something to add.
Our call to worship began with a
declaration of Thanksgiving to the Lord our God. This snippet from Psalm 107
begins, “We give you thanks, O God, for you are good; your steadfast love
endures forever.”[3] This
“steadfast love” has a special translation. Actually, the Hebrew word “ds,x,”
(pronounced hesed) cannot be directly translated in English.
The word means “love,” that’s for
certain. But it means much, much more. Other translations use the words phrases
like “steadfast love” or “faithful love.”[4]
Others use words like “lovingkindness”[5] (yes,
as one word) and “mercy.”[6]
Still others don’t bother to say anything more than simply “love.”
But this word can also mean things
like faithfulness, goodness, and graciousness. This kind of love points to the
proof of God’s mercy.[7]
Other sources say it points to evidence of God’s grace.[8]
Just looking at the witness of translation and interpretation, this love, this ds,x,,
is truly a wonder of God.
Paul’s words to the Ephesians say
more about the scope and wonder of God’s love. Paul writes that while we were
dead in transgressions, to sin, God who is rich in mercy made us alive in
Christ. It is by grace that we are saved. There is nothing we can do to earn
this salvation. It’s funny; I’m of the opinion that whenever we try to earn our
salvation we invariably do things that actually thwart God’s work in the world.
So much for what I think, let‘s get
back to Paul’s epistle to the people at Ephesus.
While we were dead in
transgressions, Christ raised us to new life, eternal life. This is not a life
to be lived after we pass from this world. No, there is still sin in this
world-this is true, but Paul says the life in Christ is here for us today.
Through the grace of God, we were
made alive together with Christ and raised up with him and seated with him in
the heavenly places. This is done to show the incomparable riches of God’s
grace expressed in his kindness to us through Jesus. It is by grace through
faith and not by ourselves that we have been saved.
That last sentence is something
that needs to be remembered, “It is by grace through faith and not by ourselves
that we have been saved.” We have been saved. It’s not we will nor is it we
were. We have been. By the actions of the Father and the Son, events that
happened two-thousand years ago, we have been saved. The actions taken in the
past have repercussions into the future. A future that is our present and a
future that is still our future.
The world is set for us to do God’s
good works through the power of the Holy Spirit. By the work of Christ this
power is available to us to do what Paul’s calls, the good works God prepared
in advance for us to do.
Friends, this is the reason for our
salvation. This is the reason for the Gospel. To respond to our salvation,
freely given by Christ on the cross, we are called to do the good works which
God prepared in advance for us to do.
To God and to the Lamb, I will
sing, I will sing,
To God and to the Lamb I will sing,
To God and to the Lamb who is the
Great I AM,
While millions join the theme, I
will sing, I will sing,
While millions join the theme, I
will sing,
We sing unto the lamb because he
came so that all who believe may have eternal life. Being saved through grace
gives us something to sing about. We don’t have to work to earn the love of the
Heavenly Father, the promise of God’s love has been with creation since the
beginning and was shown in full flower on the cross. This leads us to something
important, God’s work on the cross was not human work; it was God’s work. Even
death on the cross was not human works, it was God’s. Indeed, God did not send
his Son into the world to condemn it but to save it.
So know this, this may be one of
the most difficult principles of scripture, God did not come to condemn the
world. God did not come to condemn you or me. God came to save us all. God came
to reconcile the Holy Triune Lord with all of creation. This is important for
at least three reasons I can think of.
For one, if you listen to some
folks they’ll tell you that you don’t deserve God’s love. It doesn’t take long
watching the wrong folks on TV before you can believe that God wants nothing
more than to smite your very being from the face of the earth because of your
sin. Well if that was the way it worked then the only person on earth would be
a carpenter from Nazareth
Again, we can’t earn God’s love. We
don’t deserve God’s love. That’s what makes it a gift. By God’s work on the
cross we have all received the gift. The only question that remains is whether
we’re going to open and enjoy the gift or not.
Next, we tend to not believe it. I
get this one, I understand this one more than you can imagine. I have had a lot
of trouble in this life believing God’s love is for me. Sure, I see other
people bathe in God’s love, but there were days when I wondered if that love
was meant for me too. And on too many days I concluded the answer was “no.”
This is another lie. God’s love is
meant for you and for me too. I don’t believe I’m so different from some who
will hear and read this sermon. Some people will say to themselves, “Maybe for
you, but God’s love is not for me.” Trust me, it’s true, God’s love is for us
all.
On the other hand, don’t trust me.
As a man, I can only point to works and as we’ve said, works can be worthless.
Works can be misunderstood even in the easiest times. Open yourself to God’s
saving grace, the grace that you have already been given. Not believing is like
taking a shower in a raincoat. You may be in the midst of the cool, refreshing,
cleansing water, but you aren’t going to get wet.
Finally, we don’t seem to act like we
have been reconciled with God from time to time. There are times in traffic
that we offer gestures featuring only 20% of our fingers when we wave our
hands. There are times when we insult one another because we don’t understand
one another. There are incidents of genocide which prove we don’t live fully
into the gift we have been given.
But those who do what is true come
to the light. We don’t live in it perfectly, and won’t on this side of glory.
Still, we are called to do what is true so that it may be clearly be seen that
our deeds are done in God.
There are some things that are
unavoidable for the preacher. John 3:16 is one of them. Since I have been in the pulpit, I have
preached this piece from John’s gospel three times. Today makes four. So now
for the fourth time, I share this thought on this most beloved of all bible
passages. Page ten of the current edition of the Gideon Bible contains this in
the introduction:
“There is a verse in the Bible which has been translated into more than
1,100 languages. It tells of One who
loved us with an everlasting love. The
verse is here recorded in 27 languages of the world which are understood by
more than three-quarters of the earth’s population. That verse is John 3:16.”[9]
The introduction continues with this verse translated into
languages ranging from Afrikaans to Vietnamese.
These simple words have a tremendous impact on people everywhere. “For God
so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in
him may not perish but may have eternal life.”
Some call this “the
Gospel in a nutshell.” Others call it a
confessional summary of the Gospel.
Believers and unbelievers alike have a special connection to this verse. For many, this verse is seen as the answer. It is an answer, the answer to the question
of what God’s steadfast love looks like, and one of the things it looks like is
shown in our responses.
I have been asked about doing a
good old fashioned altar call in worship. Well, I must admit I am not comfortable
with that. A part of it is my upbringing. Part of it is my training. Part of it
is our polity which requires session approval of baptisms. Part of it is that
it is not in our practice to have water in the font every Sunday.
Part of it is that we Presbyterians believe what Paul
teaches the Ephesians, “There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were
called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one
God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all”[10]
so the baptized don’t need multiple baptisms.
So if I’m not going to have an altar call today, if I’m
not going to invite folks to come down to the river, there is something I will
do. I invite everyone here today to dedicate themselves to respond to John 3:16,
the “gospel in a nutshell,” with John 3:21. I ask everyone here today to
dedicate themselves to do what is true so that it may be clearly seen. I ask us
all to do good deeds that all will know are done in God.
If you want to say, “I’m too old,” I say to you that the
wisdom of your walk with the Lord has not gone out of fashion. If you want to
say “I am too young,” I say to you in a couple of months you’ll have your
chance to lead worship. You will have your chance to read scripture or song or
read in worship. If you want to say, “I’m too busy,” I say to you “Really?”
What is more important than serving God? Yes, some of us are very, very busy,
but is anyone too busy? Is it impossible to spare an hour? To be too busy for
God is to be too busy for eternal life.
And when from death I’m
free, I’ll sing on, I’ll sing on,
And when from death I’m
free, I’ll sing on,
And when from death I’m
free, I’ll sing and joyful be
And through eternity
I’ll sing on, I’ll sing on
And through eternity
I’ll sing on.
Speaking of eternal
life, to be free from death is to live fully. To be free from death is eternal
life. It is meant to begin in this world and continue to the next. Through
eternity let’s all sing on.
[1] “What
Wondrous Love is This” set to the tune of “Wondrous Love.” Lyric from Walker
[2] Our
pianist and song leader respectively.
[3] Kirk,
James G., “When We Gather, A Book of Prayers for Worship, Revised Edition, For
Years A, B, and C.” Louisville ,
KY
[4] New
Living Translation
[5] New
American Standard Bible
[6] Jerusalem
[9] Holy
Bible, King James Version, Gideon International, page 10.
[10]
Ephesians 4:4-6
Sunday, March 11, 2012
His Disciples Remembered
This sermon was heard at the First Presbyterian Church in Marshall, Texas on Sunday March 11, 2012, the 3rd Sunday of Lent.
Podcast of "His Disciples Remembered (MP3)
Podcast of "His Disciples Remembered (MP3)
Exodus 20:1-17
Psalm 19
1Corinthians 1:18-25
John 2:13-22
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen.
Scholars teach there are three sections to the Ten Commandments, this morning’s reading from Exodus. The first three commandments, verses 4-7, tell us how humanity is to relate to the Lord our God. Verses 8-11 teach us how to relate to creation by way of the Sabbath. Finally, verses 12-17, the last six commandments, address social relations, how we deal with and take care of one another. Most of the Ten Commandments teach using action verbs, though usually through their negative. We shall not make; we shall not bow; we shall not take; we shall not murder; we shall not steal; and so on.
The only commandment that seems passive is “Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy.” But this is not so, the command to remember the Sabbath is not just a mental exercise, it’s active too. Verses 8-11 instruct us not only to remember the Sabbath but how to remember the Sabbath. We are instructed not to work, not only us but everyone and everything in our household is not to work. We are to remember that the Lord made heaven and earth in six days and on the seventh the Lord made, blessed, and consecrated (consecrated means “made holy,” or more simply “set aside”) a day of rest for all that was created.
In English, often we think of remembering as a mental exercise, like remembering our multiplication tables or the alphabet. We know to “Remember the Alamo ,” but what does that mean? What exactly are we to remember about the Alamo ?
For the Alamo , we can be called to remember the bloody military battle and its horrendous body count. We can be called to remember political consequences of this battle to the Republic. We can be called to remember “Remember the Alamo” as the slogan used by the Republic forces at the Battle of San Jacinto, the battle which ended the revolution in favor of Texas
Remembering the Alamo , I want to remember the words Lieutenant Colonel William B. Travis wrote about Davy Crockett during the battle. “The Hon. David Crockett was seen at all points, animating the men to do their duty.”[1] Crocket reminded the men of their duty, what they were to do in service to the Republic of Texas
This is a very Hebraic—Jewish—way to remember, not only do we remember in our minds, but we remember with our actions.[2] As important as it is for us to bear the Sabbath in mind, it is important that we respond to the Sabbath. We are to meet the sovereign God and answer the Lord’s call keeping the Sabbath day holy. This is the command of the Lord to Moses and all God’s people.
The reading from John’s gospel is the story of Jesus coming to the temple for the Passover and seeing it turned into a marketplace. It is the story of his acts in cleansing the temple for worship. It is also a prophecy of the destruction of the bodily temple Jesus inhabits; and the resurrection of that same temple.
But there are two very interesting pieces to this reading that aren’t common to our lectionary readings. Most of the time, our readings are real time narratives. There is a sense of “you are there” in the readings. There is no indication that what we read wasn’t recorded as it happened until in verses 17 and 22 where we are told that his disciples remembered. The disciples not only remembered the events, but they remembered teachings that preceded these events.
They remembered what happened in the past as foreshadowing of what would happen in the future. This reading is one of the few times that we realize the author was remembering the events and actively reflecting on them after they happened. They remembered not only words and lessons; they remembered the actions that would follow them.
As the last verse in our reading teaches us, they remembered and by remembering they believed the scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken. They remembered not only in their minds, they responded through belief; and through their belief, through their faith, were able to do many great things in the name of the Lord.
We are called to remember our baptism. In the words of John Calvin, “As often as we fall away, we ought to recall the memory of our baptism and fortify our minds with it, that we may always be sure and confident of the forgiveness of sins.”[3]
Surely those of us who were baptized as infants, like Billy Wayne, Elizabeth, and Isabel were, we won’t remember the events of our baptism. We don’t remember the chill of the water as we are anointed as God’s own. But as these children of the Body of Christ were baptized into the community God calls into existence, we are called to remember the vows of our baptism too.
We are called as the community to accept the responsibility to encourage those receiving this sacrament. The baptismal liturgy in The Book of Common Worship asks the congregation:
Do you, as members of the church of Jesus Christ
promise to guide and nurture these who receive this sacrament
by word and deed,
with love and prayer,
encouraging them to know and follow Christ
and to be faithful members of Christ’s church?[4]
Answering “We do,” as surely as we who were baptized as infants will not be able to remember our baptism, we can remember those who are now baptized. And by our very words, we are called to remember the promises we make to them upon their baptism; promises not only of word but deed, not only of thought but action; actions including teaching, serving, rejoicing, weeping, sharing food, and breaking bread together.[5]
As we celebrate the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, we hear the words of institution:
On the very night He was betrayed
Jesus took bread and gave You thanks
He broke it and gave it to His disciples,
“Take, eat, this is My body which is given to you;
do this in remembrance of Me.”
In the same way, after supper
He took the cup and gave You thanks
He gave it to His disciples, saying,
“Drink this, all of you;
this is My blood of the new covenant,
which is shed for you and for many,
for the forgiveness of sins.
Do this as often as you drink it,
In remembrance of Me.”
If you are thirsty, drink the Fount of Life
If you are hungry, eat the Bread of Life.
Blessed are all who hunger for this Bread
And thirst for this Fount.
Together we remember and proclaim
the mystery of Christ.[6]
Again, this remembrance is more than a mental exercise. This remembrance is a call not only to know in our minds but to reimagine—even recreate the Lord’s last supper.[7] In our remembrance of the Lord, we are not just to imagine as we celebrate the sacrament. We are not to experience remembrance as a solitary event. Remembrance is an event of the church. We celebrate the body and blood of Christ as the Body of Christ. By repetition, we are to take this remembering into our very beings and into the world. Doing this in remembrance of the Lord is so important to us that these very words are carved into the table.
We do this together until he comes again. In an oddly wonderful command, we are to remember into the future. We are to remember what is to come. The same Hebraic understanding of remembrance that allows us to experience anew the past also allows us to experience already the future.[8] The hope that is rooted in the historic past is the source of our Christian hope for the future. It is in remembrance that we connect these things in the present. It is in this sacrament that we are fed, nourished as the Body of Christ for God’s work in the world.
As the last verse in our reading teaches us, they remembered and by remembering they believed the scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken. They remembered not only in their minds, they responded through belief, and through their belief, through their faith, were able to do many great things in the name of the Lord.
To us in the world of today, this kind of remembering, remembering with our minds and our actions, is foreign, it’s paradoxical and ironic. I know about remembering, but what does this kind of remembering have to do with the Republic of Texas
One of the ways this takes us to the cross, one of the ways this takes us on our Lenten journey, is it teaches us something special about our remembering; when we remember by our own wisdom, we gain nothing at all. When we remember by our own wisdom, we gain nothing at all.
For those wise in the ways of the world, the wisdom of the cross is lost. When we base our wisdom on our own understanding, the wisdom of God seems foolish. When we try to figure out how the things of God work in the ways of our world, our thinking cannot help but be too small.
Those who demand signs may receive them, but the ability to interpret them properly will fall short as long as we use what makes us wise to read them. We can study and we can debate and we can interpret and reinterpret all creation, but when we do, God will make our wisdom foolish.
In human wisdom we are told that those with the most toys win. We are told everyday that the only value anything has is the value that can be measured with a price tag. Let’s face the truth of this; Donald Trump gets better ratings than a Billy Graham Crusade. Keeping our life and life style is all that some people value.
Unfortunately, if that value cannot be earned honestly it can be stolen, and if it can be stolen it must be protected. Walls have to be built, power has to be collected. Giving becomes a sign of weakness.
This is not the power of the cross. This is not the power of God.
Paul writes God has made foolish the wisdom of the world. To those who build walls and store treasures, their reward is kept. They cannot give and perish a little more everyday. But to those who are bathed in the power of the blood, those who are bought with the body of Christ, we who see the cross as the world’s greatest failed attempt at controlling God; we are saved through the grace, peace, and glory of Jesus the Christ. This bit of wisdom is a stumbling block to those whose understanding is in the tangible things of our flawed, sinful humanity.
Instead we are to call on the Lord, whose foolishness is greater than all of our collected wisdom; whose weakness is greater than all of our combined strength. Paul remembers this, and Paul teaches not only the Corinthians to remember, but us as well.
On Wednesday evenings we are studying a book by Adam Hamilton called, “Final Words from the Cross.”[9] In last week’s lesson Hamilton
In the waters of our baptism, in the bread and the cup of the Lord’s Supper, we participate in the life and death and resurrected life of Jesus Christ, the special revelation of God, the Law incarnate, the living Torah. We are called to participate as Jesus did; not in the pomp and ceremony of the temple sacrifices, but in the life of the Church, the Body of Christ on earth and all of God’s good creation.
As the apostles and disciples before us, we are to remember and by remembering believe. By believing and through faith, the Lord is able to do far more with us than we could ever hope or imagine doing on our own.
We are called to remember. In remembering we are called to respond to God in gratitude. Answering God’s call because of an obligation is only necessary when gratitude is missing. In gratitude we are called to share the good news of Emmanuel, God with us.
We are called to share from the very life we are given in Christ. Today let us begin by remembering the Sabbath day and keeping it holy. Let us remember God’s wondrous love and respond. Let us remember the foolishness of our wisdom and weakness of our strength. Finally, and most important of all, let us remember who remembered us first.
[1] Groneman, Bill, “Alamo Defenders: A Genealogy, the People and Their Words.” Austin , TX
[2] “rAk±z"” entry, Brown, Driver, Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon, Electronic Edition found in BibleWorks version 7.0.019k.1 (Print Edition Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1907, page 269)
[3] Calvin, John, Institutes of Christian Faith, vol. 4, part xv, section 3.
[4] “The Book of Common Worship” compiled by The Theology and Worship Ministry Unit for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. Louisville : Westminster
[5] Boonstra, Henry, “Perspectives: Remember Your Baptism”, in Reformed Worship Magazine, #14, http://www.reformedworship.org/magazine/article.cfm?article_id=243, retrieved March 14, 2009.
[6] Imago Dei Christian Community, a community drawn to Christ, Celtic Communion Liturgy, http://imagodeicommunity.ca/category/celtic-communion-liturgy/, retrieved March 10, 2009.
[7] Stookey, Laurence Hull, “Eucharist, Christ’s Feast with the Church.” Nashville
[8] Ibid, page 31
[9] Hamilton, Adam, “Final Words from the Cross.” Nashville , TN
[10] Ibid, page 43.
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