Tuesday,
March 7, 2023
You are reasonable people. Decide for yourselves if what I am saying is
true. When we bless the cup at the Lord’s Table, aren’t
we sharing in the blood of Christ? And
when we break the bread, aren’t we sharing in the body of Christ? And
though we are many, we all eat from one loaf of bread, showing that we are one
body. 1 Corinthians 10:15-17
If you’ve ever said something you immediately regretted, even as the
words rolled-out of your mouth, it proves you’re a member of the human
race. I had one of those moments this
past Sunday. It was during communion, celebrating
the remembrance of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, so our sins could be
forgiven. It’s arguably one of the most
sacred acts in worship, but also a source of deep, viscerally-felt joy – a veritable fountain of
eternal happiness to be part of the forgiven, the body of Christ, the church. I often find myself during this holy mystery
(as Charles Wesley put it in his hymn[1]) lost in wonder, love, and praise.
I ask our communion stewards to always leave the loaf whole. When serving this holy meal I prefer to
break-off a piece for each person who comes, signifying what Paul wrote about one
body. In the church we are
all a part of Christ’s body.
This Sunday everything went smoothly…until it came to the bread. The loaf was as fresh as ever, but the crust
decided it wanted to stay intact. As the
line formed to participate, I stepped forward, loaf in hand, ready to break off
a piece of the body (to serve a piece of the body). I struggled for a moment, but the crust wouldn’t
yield. It took two more yanks on the
loaf before it tore loose. I now had two
loaves, one in each hand. Looking up at
the congregant standing in front of me, with her hands palms-up, waiting, I
stammered: It seems this body of
Christ doesn’t come apart easily.
She smiled; I almost laughed out loud!
Solemn and sacred moments are a necessary part of engaging worship. However, at times the lighter moments can
point out some deep truths (albeit in a somewhat absurd and uncomfortable
way). I immediately regretted saying
what I did, but nearly as quickly it hit me that was a deeper truth that had
tumbled out of my lips…the body of Christ IS tough…Jesus said it
would be strong enough with the power of the Holy Spirit to storm the gates of
Hell[2]. That kind of body does not come
apart easily.
After some further reflection Sunday afternoon and Monday morning, I concluded
that God was speaking more to my heart in that humorous, uncomfortable moment,
than I’d realized. If you add up all the
stories you’ve heard of churches being torn-apart by a
fuss over trivialities like color of the roof or carpet, or what table the
cakes should on at a fellowship meal,[3] those tales are only an ugly tip on Satan’s lips. The church has withstood Nero’s persecution, the
Dark Ages with false doctrine, the greed of false prophets on TV and radio, physical
assaults like Covid and countless other viruses of human frailty.
And the church, the body of Christ, still stands! And will stand!
For You Today
Yes, Jesus did say HIS church
would storm the gates of Hell, and those gates wouldn’t be able to stand. He also said HIS words would
never pass away…ever![4]
There are about 2,500 devotional
posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road Devotions
library. To dig deeper explore
some of these: Mem Tsade Hey and Bread in the Cup
Title Image: via Pixabay.com Images without citation are in public
domain.
Unless noted, Scripture quoted
from The New Living Translation©
[1] Charles
Wesley, Love Divine, All Loves Excelling, United Methodist Hymnal, p.384
[3]
Irony definitely intended!
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