The Body of Christ

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]

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

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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^©  

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[1] Charles Wesley, Love Divine, All Loves Excelling, United Methodist Hymnal, p.384

[2] Matthew 16:18

[3] Irony definitely intended!

[4] Isaiah 40:8

Happy New Year

Thursday, January 19, 2023

Restore the joy of your salvation to me, and provide me with a spirit of willing obedience.  Psalm 51:12^(GW)

After King David’s unforgettable departure from living as the man after God’s own heart, he was miserable.  Life was falling apart, and there was no sense to living, let alone any joy.  His prayer in Psalm 51 was desperation.  That is something easily seen in our day.  People try to find some semblance of happiness, or at least a little relief from bad news.  That they need it is something you see every New Year’s Eve in Times Square, with 100,000 partiers in fully-intoxicated party mode.

Twenty years ago Elizabeth and I rang-in the New Year somewhat differently; we had the flu!  Our swizzle sticks were immersed in chicken soup.  When “the ball” finally dropped at midnight, I awoke because of the noise on TV.  I nudged Elizabeth, kissed her Happy New Year, she grunted, yeah…whatever, and we both went back to snoring in a Nyquil stupor.  It wasn’t all gruesome though.  Earlier that night Elizabeth had decided to bathe the dogs.  (We were “grand-dog” sitting at Carrie & Shannon’s house). 

When Elizabeth decides to bathe dogs, they have no choice.  One by one they were herded into the hall bathroom.  Being the sickest, I shouted encouragement from the living room while I watched the ball game.  When Elizabeth got to the “puppy” Cole, (85lbs and Buffalo-sized paws), things got out of hand.  Cole decided to exercise his I want outa here option.  He tried to bite the water, soap, scrubby-thing and shower curtain.  He understood that “nipping” Elizabeth was out of the question, so he just struggled to end the torture as best he could. 

The sounds were amazing.  I expected to hear, “No, Cole.  Stop, Cole.  Cole, cut that out.”  What I heard was high-pitched laughter…no words, just Elizabeth’s reaction to Coles struggle.  She was having a grand time with Cole giving Elizabeth a really good bath.

Elizabeth later explained to me that Cole had grabbed the soap bottle and flung it across the bathroom.  As she reached to retrieve it, the pooch got himself half-out of the tub, but his back legs were swimming, leaving a wake like the Titanic.  With water and suds flying everywhere, my bride was attempting to “re-tub” the front half of the dog, while the back end was objecting.  It was an epic struggle!

A few moments after the clatter began Cole and Elizabeth emerged from the bathroom in tandem; she had the hound by the tail with one hand, and a buzzing hair dryer in the other.  Cole was getting down the hallway as fast as his legs could scramble, considering he was dragging Elizabeth behind.  I don’t know whether it was the hair dryer or Elizabeth’s laughter that scared him the most.  Elizabeth rather enjoyed the ride!

It is an incredible thing, this joy that won’t be stopped; especially when it is connected to a Rotweiler/Bloodhound-mix puppy who won’t be stopped either.    I like joy; I like the genuine kind that starts deep-down within, and bubbles up to the surface.  It is irrepressible, unstoppable, and it is what Jesus died to bring to our souls – joy unspeakable and full of glory![1]

For You Today  

If you’re experiencing an absence of joy in your life, that deep-down contentment with living, there is something to be said for a spiritual checkup.  Joy is one of the characteristics of the Fruit of the Spirit.  Take time to read Galatians 5:22-25, and ask God to drench your life in His goodness.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

Go to VIDEO (read by author)

There are about 2,000 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road Devotions library.  To dig deeper on today’s topic, explore some of these: 

Joy Unspeakable  and  No More Tambourines

Images:  Title Pixabay.com   Images without citation are either personal property of the author, or in public domain.

Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©  

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[1] 1 Peter 1:8

Of Mules and Murphy's Law

Wednesday, January 4, 2023

The Lord observed the extent of human wickedness on the earth, and he saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil. Genesis 6:5

If you’re familiar with the adage known as Murphy’s Law and the epigram about leopards not changing their spots, you also will have little trouble understanding how God felt about humans back in Noah’s day.

Murphy’s Law simply states:  Anything that can go wrong…will go wrong.  Add the leopard epigrammatic twist, and it becomes:

Anything that can go wrong…will go wrong, again, and again, and again!

I have seen it firsthand!  About 30 years ago our church in Jacksonville, Florida, did an outdoor Christmas extravaganza, complete with stations around the buildings, representing Jerusalem and Bethlehem.  The pathway from the gates of the city (North Main Street in Jacksonville as Main Street Jerusalem), with tax collectors, Roman soldiers, Pharisees, women at the well, etc…eventually brought each visitor around to the back parking lot and the manger.  We had all the cast, Mary, Joseph, a two-month-old baby Jesus, plenty of sheep, a milk cow, and one very strong-willed mule.  The mule’s owner had a six-year-old son, in charge of keeping the animal off to one side of the manger while the preacher greeted the visiting public, and shared the story of Jesus’ birth.  That was the plan!  However, plans have a rather obnoxious habit of colliding with Murphy’s Law.  And, in this case, we became the story worthy of Clark Griswold’s Christmas Vacation.

The first couple of groups that came to the manger were textbook successes.  Then the mule started getting bored or anxious, wanting to take over my presentation of the Gospel.  It was hard for the crowd to hear the preacher for the braying.  (A member with a questionable sense of humor later told me it was hard to tell the difference between my preaching and the mule’s anyway).  The next time a group came through I cautioned the young boy holding the harness lead to keep the beast quiet.  About half-way through my presentation, the mule decided he’d had enough.  He strolled right between me and the crowd, dragging a six-year-old, holding onto the harness reigns, yelling at the top of his lungs:  stop it, stop it, you fool mule.  It was loud enough to be heard in South Georgia.  The worst part was the mule looking back and staring at me, face-to-face like Balaam’s donkey[1], with that look that said:  You were never in charge anyway, preacher. 

If the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over while expecting a different result, Murphy’s correlation of that would be:  If you think you’re in control, you will spend major portions of your life in therapy.

The people of Noah’s day thought they were in control…but that was before the barometer dropped, and the thunder clouds gathered. 

For You Today  

Not every plan you make will result in as much disaster as that one night in North Florida’s manger scene.  But even when it does, it may be appropriate.  There may have been some people there who just needed a good laugh, and a lighter load during a tough time.  It’s hard to figure-out why God put mules on the earth, until the moment they steal the show.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

Go to VIDEO (read by author)

There are about 2,000 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road Devotions library.  To dig deeper on today’s topic, explore some of these: 

Fear Factor - Part 1  and  When It Hurts So Much

Images:  Title Pixabay.com   Images without citation are either personal property of the author, or in public domain.

Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©  

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[1] Balaam and his Donkey Numbers 22

When God Makes You Laugh

Monday, December 19, 2022

Then God said to Abraham, “Regarding Sarai, your wife—her name will no longer be Sarai.  From now on her name will be Sarah.  And I will bless her and give you a son from her!  Yes, I will bless her richly, and she will become the mother of many nations.  Kings of nations will be among her descendants.”  Then Abraham bowed down to the ground, but he laughed to himself in disbelief.  “How could I become a father at the age of 100?” he thought.  “And how can Sarah have a baby when she is ninety years old?”   Genesis 17:15-17

There are those times when God unveils a blessing that’s just too good.  Scripture records the kind of laughter Abraham experienced as unbelief.  That’s very different from being known as the father of the faithful.  But, in this case, it’s somewhat understandable.  Abraham’s heart had hungered so long for the reality of the promise God had made to him, yet he and Sarai had never been parents together.  They were well-past such things.  Now he was a hundred, and his bride was 90.  Was God unaware nursing homes aren’t equipped with maternity wards?  I can just see the smirk forming at the corners of Abram’s lips, picturing himself signing-up for Lamaze classes down at the VFW.  It seemed like a cruel joke to play on an old man.  For decades he’d hoped and been patient.  Now, when all that hope seemed a mere frustration, was God just messing with Abram’s mind? 

Rewinding the video to an earlier time, Abram had never smiled at the hard things before.  There was that moment when God said:  Pack your bags, Abe; bring Sarai and all your stuff…got something I want to show you.  Abraham looked at the horizon beckoning, and just took the first step…not much of a miracle. 

But  God asking him to believe in becoming a dad when he was already on Social Security…this was just too much a fantasy.  How could he NOT laugh?  Scripture tells us Sarai also laughed over that incredible idea, but 9 months later there was a cradle in their bedroom, and the fulfillment of God’s Word meant diapers, and a whole new way of thinking about this life of faith to which God had called them.  What a ride!

For You Today  

Have your prayers gone unanswered?  Are there some things you’ve hoped for that no other person on earth knows about, but have been almost daily in your prayers?  Does it seem too good to be true that God might be telling you to hang-in with Him a little bit longer…because His promises are certain? 

And what if it happened?  What would it be like to have God make you laugh…today?

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

Go to VIDEO (read by author)

There are about 2,000 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road Devotions library.  To dig deeper on today’s topic, explore some of these: 

   An Uncomfortable Answer from the Whirlwind and The School of Suffering and Unanswered Prayer

Images:  Title Pixabay.com   Images without citation are either personal property of the author, or in public domain.

Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©   

A Joyful Symphony

Tuesday, November 8, 2022

Sing a new song to the Lord, for he has done wonderful deeds.  His right hand has won a mighty victory; his holy arm has shown his saving power!  The Lord has announced his victory and has revealed his righteousness to every nation!  He has remembered his promise to love and be faithful to Israel.  The ends of the earth have seen the victory of our God.  Shout to the Lord, all the earth; break out in praise and sing for joy!  Sing your praise to the Lord with the harp, with the harp and melodious song, with trumpets and the sound of the ram’s horn.  Make a joyful symphony before the Lord, the King!  Let the sea and everything in it shout his praise!  Let the earth and all living things join in.  Let the rivers clap their hands in glee!  Let the hills sing out their songs of joy before the Lord, for he is coming to judge the earth.  He will judge the world with justice, and the nations with fairness.  Psalm 98:1-9

I attended a meeting Sunday evening of leadership teams from four local churches.  The facilitator took time introducing each pastor, as some of us were in a first year of appointment.  One of each church’s team mentioned how the pastor sang, or played piano.  My group was noticeably (and appropriately) silent on the matter.  I can play the piano, but no one would listen, because I just bang on the keys with no discernable musical ability!  As for singing, I can make a joyful racket with my voice, but couldn’t find the key with a search warrant.

So, what am I doing writing about all these musical instruments, including the human instruments that are supposed to create a joyful symphony?  So glad you asked…I’m doing what the preacher is supposed to do, take a close look at the Word of God, and share what I see.  In this case the Word’s words tell the story.

Joyful is a word that is somehow confused with giddy laughter.  While often there is laughter associated with joy, laughter is more an adjective to describe one facet of joy.  Joy is a deep-down, in-the-pit-of-your-soul assurance of well-being.  It is knowing God’s got your back (and front, middle, sides, bottom, and top)!  It’s the understanding that when all else in the universe may melt-away, family or friends desert, and all you counted-on turns to dust, God will be there, smiling at you, ready to embrace.

Symphony is a word that can encompass many applications beside music.  Anything that takes a bunch, rather than an individual, could be described as a symphony.  In an orchestra there are many instruments, percussion, strings, wind; you never find them alone for the big sounds.  But what musician in his right mind would try to pucker-up to a tuba and saxophone at the same time, while playing the violin with his feet for good measure?  It just doesn’t work.  Each instrument needs someone who knows that tool, and who will follow the musical score, designed to get the best contribution for the sound of the whole group.

Even with my limited knowledge of music, it is a no-brainer that a symphony orchestra cannot produce the finest music, if the instrumentmentalists don’t follow the score, listen to each other, practice together, and have their whole heart in presenting the piece, all the while keeping their attention on the conductor.  Now, that sounds like a perfect description of the church, Christ’s body…all different, all wonderful, all needed.  And all created, and gifted, and called to be the symphony of God’s praise.

For You Today

You are placed in the Body of Christ as an instrument of His praise.  And God knew what He was doing.  You have a contribution to make.  Even the tiny triangle with one note to play would be missed.  So, play your joyful note!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

Go to VIDEO (read by author)

There are about 2,000 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road Devotions library.  To dig deeper on today’s topic, explore some of these: 

       Sometimes It's Hard to Sing a New Song   and   Go Git Y'r Bucket

Images: Title image Pixabay.com Images without citation are either personal property of the author, or in public domain.

Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©   

Through the Valley of Weeping

 

Tuesday, March 9, 2021

What joy for those whose strength comes from the Lord, who have set their minds on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem.  When they walk through the Valley of Weeping, it will become a place of refreshing springs.  The autumn rains will clothe it with blessings.  They will continue to grow stronger, and each of them will appear before God in Jerusalem.  Psalm 84:5-7

Scripture speaks to us on many levels in the same passage.  On one level, the Psalmist speaks of longing for the temple in Jerusalem; on another, this is a picture of those longing for the eternal temple in the very presence of God.  The pilgrimage of which the Psalmist speaks is a journey in this land; for the Psalmist, the valley of weeping is like arriving near Jerusalem through the western Valley of Hinnom, or Gehenna.  It is the place of the most-despised history of Jerusalem’s past, a garbage dump of child sacrifice, tombs, and demons.  It is the place Jesus referred to when he warned people of the dangers of the fires of hell.[1]

By contrast, the Psalmist said passing through this place that borders Jerusalem, would unveil the most refreshing waters of beauty imaginable.  This is what it is like to have walked the arduous pilgrimage road to Jerusalem in those days, braving the dangers of mountains, wild animals, robbers, and thirst, knowing the ground was cursed with the blood of thousands of criminals, sacrificed children, and garbage lit on fire, only to arrive at the holiest of cities.  To call it refreshing hardly does this image justice.

A deeper, more eternal view of this Psalm, casts even the holy city as a place to leave, in favor of the holy city not made with hands – the New Jerusalem.  For any who kneel in honor and reverence of JHWH, this is the end of our holy journey.  We call it Heaven, God’s haven of rest, the throne room, and a thousand other euphemisms of joy, peace, strength, and eternal life.  We call it “home”.

Shortly after I got home from church this past Sunday I learned of the passing of a dear friend.  Donna was the one my bride called “Sissy”.  Elizabeth was an only child so the longing for a sister, and the deep friendship we shared over the years, was a natural.  Along with her husband, Dan, this couple was, perhaps, the happiest, most joyful pair we know.  You could not spend more than a few minutes with them before the laughing began. 

Having served together at a church early in our ministry, we knew of some of their sorrow which was mingled with the joy.  Dan and Donna buried a son, taken too soon. 

I think of my friends this morning because I love them, and because I mourn Donna’s passing, and share some of Dan’s grief.  We talked with Dan by phone on Sunday, sharing memories and past times of joy.  And we spoke of the reunion of God’s family that’s coming one day.  We spoke of what the Psalmist calls those  refreshing waters of the holy city.  And I’m envious of Donna’s day today, splashing around in refreshing, complete, unhindered joy.

I am so happy for “Sissy” and so broken for my friend.  And that’s the way it is on this life’s road…each mile has its own sorrows and joys; each pathway holds its dangers and snares. 

But….one day….

For You Today

Have you set your mind on a pilgrimage to God’s holy city?  The Psalmist says that is where you find joy and refreshing.  That’s a pretty good place to be when your journey takes you through the valley of weeping; it’s where the masks come off, and social distancing evaporates!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!  

[1] Title Image:  Courtesy of Pixabay.com    Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©

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[1] Matthew 5:22 (also see James 3:6)

Seriously?

Monday, April 27, 2020

The Lord appeared again to Abraham near the oak grove belonging to Mamre.  One day Abraham was sitting at the entrance to his tent during the hottest part of the day.  He looked up and noticed three men standing nearby.  When he saw them, he ran to meet them and welcomed them, bowing low to the ground.  “My lord,” he said, “if it pleases you, stop here for a while.  Rest in the shade of this tree while water is brought to wash your feet.  And since you’ve honored your servant with this visit, let me prepare some food to refresh you before you continue on your journey.”  “All right,” they said.  “Do as you have said.”  So Abraham ran back to the tent and said to Sarah, “Hurry!  Get three large measures of your best flour, knead it into dough, and bake some bread.”  Then Abraham ran out to the herd and chose a tender calf and gave it to his servant, who quickly prepared it.  When the food was ready, Abraham took some yogurt and milk and the roasted meat, and he served it to the men.  As they ate, Abraham waited on them in the shade of the trees.  “Where is Sarah, your wife?” the visitors asked.  “She’s inside the tent,” Abraham replied.  Then one of them said, “I will return to you about this time next year, and your wife, Sarah, will have a son!”  Sarah was listening to this conversation from the tent.  Abraham and Sarah were both very old by this time, and Sarah was long past the age of having children.  So she laughed silently to herself and said, “How could a worn-out woman like me enjoy such pleasure, especially when my master—my husband—is also so old?”  Then the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh?  Why did she say, ‘Can an old woman like me have a baby?’  Is anything too hard for the Lord?  I will return about this time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”  Genesis 18:1-14

When the visitor brought the news to 100 year old Abraham and his 90 year old wife Sarah, that they would have a baby, Sarah hardly had a fighting chance to stifle that laugh.  My wife knows that drill.  Sometimes when she hears even bad news she will giggle.  It’s an involuntary response to something unnerving.  For Sarah, sneaking-up on the age when birthday cakes are official fire hazzards, signing up for Lamaze classes and shower gift lists at Macy’s was nothing more than a rear-view-mirror memory.  Seriously?  Not even a hope anymore. 

I was 24 when I found out I was going to be a father.  Elizabeth had planned this big speech surrounded by a romantic dinner if the pregnancy test came back positive.  She’d been thinking about it for the whole 5 years we’d been married.  Unfortunately, I was the one who got the phone call before she got home from work.  When she walked through the door I told her, Doc called…yer gonna gain weight.  (Mr. Romance-killer strikes again!).

Reflecting on that moment of being told I was going to be a father, it was overwhelming; I was still a kid, and what did I know about diapers, teething, and not-breaking a little human?  It was fearful…but, somehow wonderful.  There was so much of that how can this be in my mind that day…and for the last 49 years. 

And yet, there it was.  The news was undeniable in May of ’71…the promise of the doctor’s office became a presence in our every waking moment (which was plenty, considering she didn’t sleep more than two hours at a time!).

It’s a deep thinking process when you begin with is anything too hard for God?  That’s the question Abraham’s visitor posed; there came a time when Sarah stopped laughing the skeptical grunt of human response, and began the joyful laughter of God’s redeemed people. 

God’s always been into miracle births…a 90 year old woman, who’d doubtless tried countless times to have a baby and couldn’t, and then gave up the idea or hope.  And what about the teenager who’d never tried to have a baby, and then had one like none other, and laid him in a manger?  And talk about births…how about that one where all hope lay buried in a borrowed tomb…where life was well-past the expiration date…when a dead man gets up and walks out of a grave, you have a really new birth to talk about then!

For You Today

It’s wise to remember that when hope is long past, and even the thought that you could ever begin to hope again, the visitor’s question is always going to rule the day:  Is anything too hard for God?

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day! 

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Title Image:  Pixabay.com      Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation©

For other posts on Laughter see Laughing So You Don't Cry and Flamingled and Elderly People and Laughter of the Redeemed and Why There Should Be Seatbelts on Dentist’s Chairs