Tag: communion

Living Bread from Heaven (John 6:51-58)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
Art by Nigel Wynter (1957-2024)

I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever, and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” 

So 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. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day, for my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which the ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live forever.” (New Revised Standard Version)

To the religious leaders of Christ’s day, Jesus was making more noise than a couple of skeletons dancing on a tin roof. And they neither liked it, nor appreciated him drawing so much attention to himself.

Tensions had been escalating between Jesus and the religious establishment. The atmosphere was thick with grumbling leaders, as they tried to make some sense of Christ’s words to them.

Jesus offering his body for people to eat was causing far too much noise for the Jewish leaders. What in the world is this guy talking about?

Rather than making the meaning clear for them, Jesus added drinking his blood to the discussion. What’s more, Christ got up in their grill and confronted them with a choice, instead of a straightforward explanation.

Using some good old double negative language, Jesus flatly stated that there’s no life without any eating of his flesh and drinking of his blood. Then conversely, stated positively, Jesus affirmed that eternal life is found in those who eat his flesh and drink his blood.

This was next level communication of Jesus to the religious leaders. Earlier, Christ let them know that they needed to make the choice of coming to himself, of engaging in a life-giving relationship with him.

Yet now, it’s a matter of outright participation in Jesus, of eating and drinking the body and blood of Christ. Both the choice of relationship and of participation are radical decisions, which requires ditching some old traditions, and beginning some new ones.

Christ’s words are difficult, because they demand a change in thinking and behavior. Indeed, his words demand a change in our very way of being.

Christian discipleship requires that we stop the false ways of being in this world, and start a different way of being, according to the true self. In other words, Jesus was insisting on repentance and faith.

We are all on the hook to not just talk some theology and take some communion elements. It’s a lot more involved than that. Jesus demands our very lives, and not simply to sign off on some doctrinal statement about him. It’s about life itself, the power of life and death.

By eating and drinking Christ, there is meaningful relational connection, and ongoing participation in his life and ministry.

None of this is about literal cannibalism, and not even about actual bread and wine. This is deep metaphorical stuff which is meant to convey to us who Jesus is and how we can be related to him.

When we ingest food and drink, it goes into us and throughout our entire body. You cannot get much closer to something than by eating it and having it inside you. Just as eating bread goes to our very core and helps sustain life, so ingestingJesus is about allowing him to be as close to us as possible, into the very depths of our soul.

And by taking Christ into us, we will truly live and connect; and not be separated and die.

Art by Soiche Watanabe

We can no more spiritually live without taking Jesus into us, as we could live without eating on a regular basis. Christ is our breakfast, lunch, and dinner; our midnight snack and our birthday cake. Jesus is all that, and more.

Perhaps you are wondering why Jesus didn’t just state plainly who he is, why he came, and what will happen. Because it’s too much to handle.

We don’t simply accept Jesus into our heart, and then go on our merry way. Jesus Christ is someone to search for and discover, as if we were looking for fresh water or for the best baguette in the world.

Anyone can affirm a few belief statements, or do some good deeds. But it takes real courage to go hard after the spiritual life and find out what it’s all about:

It requires some solid bravery to explore the depths of your own true self and face the internal crud that’s been hiding in the shadows of your soul.

It demands identifying the bogus ways we prop up a false self for others to see – wanting to control how people view us and treat us.

It takes some real chutzpah to pursue the God life without worrying about where it will take you or who it will upset.

Jesus is a force to contend with. He is the Son of God, sent from above, to provide the world with real spiritual food and drink. Christ is the one who sustains life, and makes abundance possible. He is the Lord who speaks, calls out, and draws us to himself.

Jesus Christ helps us fit, even though we come from the island of misfit toys.

Even more pertinent than the question of “Who is Jesus?” is the probing question, “And what will you do with him?”

Christ cannot fit into your neat theological system, your tidy doctrinal statements, and on your nicely cleaned coffee table within the attractive Bible. Sooner or later, we all must contend with the divine force which gives life to everything. We cannot get away from him.

So, go after Jesus. Find out who he is. Determine how to deal with a mercy so powerful that it melts away guilt and shame as if it were in a 500 degree oven. After all, it’s better to have a tasty loaf of bread than to become a hard slice of burnt toast.

But let’s not worry about how hot it is in here, but how noisy it’s getting.

Gracious Lord, move us, your people, to experience your love more deeply. Fill us with the energy that comes from a desire for service. Connect us with creation to care for your world. Engage us in the scriptures and increase our knowledge of you. Raise up your power and come among us. May your bountiful grace and mercy equip us. Amen.

No Class (1 Corinthians 11:17-22)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Exploring Church Ministry Blog, Year BLeave a comment

In the following directives I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more harm than good. 

In the first place, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you, and to some extent I believe it. No doubt there have to be differences among you to show which of you have God’s approval. 

So then, when you come together, it is not the Lord’s Supper you eat, for when you are eating, some of you go ahead with your own private suppers. As a result, one person remains hungry and another gets drunk. 

Don’t you have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God by humiliating those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you? Certainly not in this matter! (New International Version)

The memory of the Last Supper with Jesus and his disciples is one that has significantly shaped church history. In the earliest church, we see from the Apostle Paul how impactful table fellowship was for the believers.

Paul received the words of faith, and passed them on to the churches he established, including the church at Corinth. The Apostle faithfully engaged in handing down a tradition which Christians practice all over the world, even today.

The Corinthian Church had devolved into a bunch of divided special interest groups. They were in great need of unity in order to reflect being the one Body of Christ. The divisions fractured their worship, especially their communion with one another.

The Christians in Corinth were gathering for a shared meal, but not really for communion with each other and their Lord. There was no true interaction and fellowship that was happening.

The church’s divisions were such that the groups had no intention of meaningfully interacting with one another. In other words, the church culture was so fragmented and polarized that the Apostle Paul had enough of their disunity, and addressed it head on in his letter.

One of the significant situations was the class differences amongst the believers. The wealthy members of the congregation were given to a lot of leisure time with a good deal of discretionary money. They would often come together, well before the working class and the day laborers could show up to eat.

The richer parishioners feasted amongst themselves. By the time others arrived, many of them either had very little, or went without altogether. For Paul, this was a travesty of the communion meal, which was supposed to signify the unity of believers and the sacrifice of Christ for all.

The Apostle clearly understood that the poor were being humiliated and treated as second class citizens in the church. So, Paul condemned this situation of division, and the inequitable treatment of the less privileged.

The rich people were therefore instructed to eat and drink privately in their own homes, so that the wealthy would not come and scarf all the food, making a mockery of the sacrament.

The shared meal was to remind them of Christ, and was not a time for petty and ostentatious selfishness. Jesus gave his life for all. All believers – whether rich or poor – are to remember both the corporeal body of Jesus, and the corporate body of believers, so that every Christian may overcome ungodly divisions and live into the unity provided through the cross of Christ.

What the Corinthians were doing was not the Lord’s Supper. The believers’ conduct and character eviscerated it’s true purpose and meaning, and made it something else altogether.

Celebration, by John August Swanson (1938-2021)

If the church was to celebrate at the Table, then they needed to listen to what the Lord told Paul about it. Christians coming together for fellowship, eating, and remembering the Lord is not a collection of individual believers doing their own thing. It is a collective meal, meant to emphasize their unity with Christ and one another.

Unlike a contemporary church potluck, the Corinthians brought their own food to eat without sharing. Thus, the rich were eating caviar and crème brûlée, whereas the poor chewed on a peanut butter sandwich with no jelly, and stale potato chips.

On one side of the room there was a group of well-to-do people gorging themselves on a feast, while on the other side of the room the less fortunate folks just tried to eat their meager rations.

The have’s and the have-not’s were splitting the church in ways that made it no different from the wider pagan culture. And Paul would have none of it. The Apostle’s train of thought and Christian convictions on this were clearly spelled out just a few verses earlier in his letter:

So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God—even as I try to please everyone in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved. (1 Corinthians 10:31-33, NIV)

We are all to ensure that our meetings together are helpful, life-giving, and promote the common good of everyone. Anything less than this is simply unchristian.

Almighty God our heavenly Father, you declare your glory and show forth your handiwork in the heavens and in the earth: Deliver us in our various occupations from the service of self alone, that we may do the work you give us to do in truth and beauty and for the common good; for the sake of him who came among us as one who serves, your Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

All Saints Day (Psalm 34:1-10, 22)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment

I will praise the Lord at all times;
my mouth will continually praise him.
I will boast in the Lord;
let the oppressed hear and rejoice.
Magnify the Lord with me.
Let us praise his name together.
I sought the Lord’s help and he answered me;
he delivered me from all my fears.
Look to him and be radiant;
do not let your faces be ashamed.
This oppressed man cried out and the Lord heard;
he saved him from all his troubles.
The angel of the Lord camps around
the Lord’s loyal followers and delivers them.
Taste and see that the Lord is good.
How blessed is the one who takes shelter in him.
Fear the Lord, you chosen people of his,
for those who fear him lack nothing.
Even young lions sometimes lack food and are hungry,
but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing…

The Lord rescues his servants;
all who take shelter in him escape punishment. (New English Translation)

In all times and every place throughout history God has specialized in taking imperfect and broken people and transforming their lives. On the Christian Calendar, November 1 is the day each year to remember the saints who have gone before us. This day is meant to be an intentional way of not forgetting the people, friends, and family – as well as long-dead historical saints – who made a significant impact in our spiritual lives.

All Saints Day is more than a focus on extraordinary persons; it highlights the work of ordinary Christians who faithfully lived their lives. We give thanks for the gift of how they lived their faith every day. We also remember that all believers in Jesus are united and connected through the cross.

Remembering is a prominent theme in Holy Scripture. Over one-hundred times we are told to remember God’s covenant and actions on behalf of people; to remember the needy and those less fortunate; and to remember the important people who influenced us in our journey of faith.

Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you.  Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. (Hebrews 13:7, NIV)

We are to be inspired now in the present with the actions of faithful saints of the past. They serve as a model of faithfulness, so that we will persevere in our Christian lives and not give up. Through biblical stories of very human persons being used of God, as well as reading biographies of godly people, we can gain motivation for patience and perseverance until Jesus returns.

Who were the people in your life that went out of their way to communicate God’s love to you with both words and actions? Who were those persons who labored behind the scenes in prayer so that you and others would know Jesus? 

If any of those persons are still around, and you know where they are, remember them. Drop them a note. Express to them a simple thank you for their influence in your life. You will not only encourage that person – it will help you remember and re-engage with something in your life you may have forgotten or have just taken for granted for too long.

We are not to live our Christian lives in isolation from others, as if we do not need them. You and I are here today because someone influenced us in the way of Jesus. And we will continue to persevere and thrive in the faith when we remember those who have gone before us and allow those here in the present to journey with us along this road of faith.

Today is all about remembrance. We remember answered prayer and salvation. We recollect the people who gave us the life-giving gospel message in both word and deed. We remember the death of Christ and recall that he said he is coming back.

The psalmist recalled his rescue and pulled it forward into the present so that all God’s worshipers could taste and see that the Lord is good. This is exactly what the Apostle Peter did for a church which needed to recall and remember the mighty acts of God:

Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him—you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 2:2-5, NIV)

Our memories are accessed through symbols and with taste and sight. God uses symbols to reveal himself to us.  For example, when God wanted to show us the ugliness of sin and the cost of forgiveness, the Lord told the Israelites to kill an animal and sprinkle its blood on their clothing and on the altar.

That sounds awful. Yet, worshipers never walked away from the experience scratching their heads and wondering what it was all about. That’s because they encountered and tasted the drama of sin and redemption. Their senses saw it, felt it, smelled it, and tasted the meat from it. 

Symbols have power. We cannot know God with only our minds; we’re more than brains on a stick. People need ordinary events, like shared meals, that include symbols and rituals. 

Every year faithful Jews gather to remember and re-enact the Passover – the story of how they were enslaved in Egypt, oppressed by Pharaoh, and set free by God.  To this day pious Jews still remember the Passover by eating and drinking together and telling stories.

We need both words and sacraments. Therefore, holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas involve both verbal expressions of gratitude and love, and particular actions of love in giving gifts and sharing food. Together, it all connects us to God, to one another, and to a history of God’s people. 

Jesus met his disciples in the Upper Room to celebrate Passover together. Jesus energized their time together by filling it with words and symbols of love and redemption. Christ told the disciples about his upcoming death and acted symbolically. “Take and eat – this is my body….  Take this cup – drink from it, all of you.” (Luke 22:7-20)

Rather than sitting around, analyzing the bread, and discussing the wine’s vintage, the disciples ate and drank.  They tasted real food and drink. They also tasted real spiritual food. It’s one thing to speak of God’s presence, and it’s another thing to experience that presence through an ordinary shared ritual of bread and cup.

God is good. Jesus is our Emmanuel, God with us. Christ is present with us through our ritual of fellowship and food. When the sixteenth-century Reformer John Calvin was asked how Jesus is present to us at the Lord’s Supper he explained: “Now if anyone asks me how this takes place I shall not be ashamed to confess that it is a secret too lofty for either the mind to comprehend or my words to declare….  I rather experience it than understand it.”

The taste of bread reminds us of the incarnation of Christ, and Christ’s humiliation and death. The taste of drinking the cup reminds us of the sacrifice of Christ, the drops of blood which Jesus sweated in Gethsemane, and the beatings, floggings, nails, and crown of thorns that caused the bleeding.

Tasting the bread and cup when we celebrate communion reminds us that our sins are forgiven, we are united to Christ, and we are united together. 

There are historical events which are just that. Then, there are past actions which linger with continual results into the present. The incarnation, life, death, resurrection, ascension, and glorification of the Lord Jesus are past redemptive events which continue to exert powerful force into the here and now.

Saints throughout church history have moved the message of Christ along and demonstrated for us that the past lives in the person of Jesus Christ.

Along with them, we proclaim that Christ has died, Christ has risen, Christ is coming again. And God has something planned for those who have gone before us, along with us, so that together we will experience the perfect righteousness of Christ forever. (Hebrews 11:39-40)

We are encouraged through word and sacrament to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ until he comes again. Let us respond to God’s wooing invitation to eat and drink, to taste and see that the Lord is good through faith, hope, and love. Let us find in God our refuge and strength, our ever-present help.

Soli Deo Gloria

Rituals Are Important (Exodus 13:1-10)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year A1 Comment
The Passover Meal (Last Supper) by Jess Santos

The Lord spoke to Moses, “Set apart every firstborn male for me. Every firstborn male offspring among the Israelites is mine, whether human or animal.”

Then Moses said to the people, “Remember this day—the day when you left Egypt, the land of slavery. The Lord used his mighty hand to bring you out of there. Don’t eat anything made with yeast. Today, in the month of Abib, you are leaving Egypt. The Lord swore to your ancestors that he would give you the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Hivites, and Jebusites. When he brings you into that land flowing with milk and honey, you must observe this ceremony in this month.

“For seven days you must eat unleavened bread. The seventh day will be a pilgrimage festival in the Lord’s honor. Only unleavened bread should be eaten during these seven days. No sourdough or yeast should be seen anywhere in your territory. On that day tell your children, ‘We do this because of what the Lord did for us when we left Egypt.’ This festival will be like a mark on your hand or a reminder on your forehead that the teachings of the Lord are always to be a part of your conversation. Because the Lord used his mighty hand to bring you out of Egypt, you must follow these rules every year at this time. (God’s Word Translation)

Rituals are an important part of being human. They help us to observe significant events, specials seasons, and daily routines. Ritual activities are meaningful re-telling of stories for us and others. In other words, rituals activate memory, enabling us to remember what is of value.

Religious traditions are typically filled with rituals, in order to remind the faithful of what is significant about their faith. Unfortunately, there are some Christian traditions which have a negative view of ritual, believing it to be “vain repetition.”

The problem, however, is not with rituals themselves; the issue is with the one performing the ritual. If it is done with a disconnect between head and heart, then the ritual does not accomplish it’s intended goal of helping the community to remember and giving meaning in the present time.

“Ritual is not simply an attitude or intention, just as love is not simply a feeling. At its most basic, ritual is something that you do. A man can’t plow a field just by thinking about it; he must go out to the field and get to work. If he is fully present to the work and acts with mindfulness and loving attention – if he brings his whole self along – then even as he turns over the rich soil beneath the plow, he turns it over in his mind and heart, as well. The act of tilling the soil becomes an act of tilling the soul.”

Alison Leigh Lilly

No matter whether folks are religious, or not, all people engage in rituals. For example, here are some rituals many people do in order to remember, celebrate, and renew an old story:

  • Birthdays (remembering and re-telling the birth story)
  • Graduations (remembering and re-telling the story of school)
  • Marriages & Anniversaries (remembering and re-telling the courtship story)
  • National Holidays (remembering and re-telling the patriotic story)
  • Dinner and/or Bedtime (remembering and re-telling stories from the day)
  • Morning (remembering and re-telling my story of purpose and meaning)
  • Earth (remembering and re-telling the seasons of Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter)
  • Annual sojourns to special places such as vacations, sports stadiums, or reunions (remembering and re-telling the story of friendship and family).

The reasons people do such rituals are to

  • Re-enforce values
  • Have a sense of belonging
  • Mark time in a meaningful way
  • Form personal and healthy habits
  • Remind of us of who we are and what our purpose in this world is

Avoiding rituals can cause a lack of identity and purpose. Failing to observe rituals can also create loneliness, confusion, and emptiness.

“Rituals are those repeated actions done again and again in the interest of things like focus, grounding, tradition, cultural symbolism, predictable life rhythms, and feeling a part of something bigger than ourselves.”

Craig Kelley

The Lord gave divine instructions to the newly freed Israelites. And those commands involved instituting some ritual behavior, to be done year after year. God told them to observe a Passover ritual each year so that the story of Israel’s deliverance from Egyptian slavery would remain alive for the generations to come; and so that the event itself would have meaning for people in the present time.

Because Yahweh spared the firstborn of Israel’s children and livestock – and not the firstborn of Egypt – those same firstborn are to be given to God, in some sort of vicarious ransom. All the symbols of Passover are meant to be reminders of what the Lord had done for Israel.

The exodus event is to be actualized, made real for the generations today. By means of ritual, the relationship between God and the people is remembered and renewed for each new generation. Engaging in the ritual repeatedly helps press the story and it’s reality into both the mind and the heart.

And this is precisely what worship is supposed to do for the Christian. Ideally, a worship service is a re-enactment of Christ’s redemption for believers. Even more, it’s a dialogue between God and the people in which the Lord speaks and the worshipers respond.

One ritual which unites all Christians together is the Lord’s Table (communion, or the Lord’s Supper, or the Eucharist). Each Christian tradition has their particular views and theology surrounding it – yet it’s common to all. Observing the Table is a ritual which has been going on for two-thousand years; and which has it’s roots in the Passover and the original meal at the time of the exodus.

The Table is a time of remembrance, communion, and hope. We retell the story of Christ’s redemption and remember the Lord’s once for all sacrifice on the cross for the whole world. It is a unifying ritual, where believers commune together. And the Table expresses hope – that just as we eat and drink now, we will do so all together at the end of the age at the great supper of the Lamb.

Yes, rituals have meaning and it’s symbols are significant. They help us to express our shared humanity together.

May the love of Christ be active in your heart, be heard in your words, be seen in your actions and inform your choices today and every day. Amen.