This morning, I was in charge of communion in both our English and Chinese speaking services. (The main difference is that you have more time to speak in English worship because there is no pause for translation.) One point I have used in the past in our Chinese service has to do with the statement by Paul in 1 Corinthians that we proclaim His death when we eat and drink the Lord's Supper. One time, I talked about how the middle school girls in my classes are more than willing to proclaim their love for certain young men on the board. Sadly, most of these young man do not reciprocate the proclamation of affection!
When I was teaching and coaching in Tennessee, I knew a coach in Nashville who taught and coached at a small Christian based high school. He found that in coaching, sometimes his wedding ring caused some problems in dealing with equipment. (I knew a guy in Nebraska who lost a finger when his ring was entangled in a basketball net.) His wife was very understanding. I'm sure she trusted her husband and like I said, it was a small school and everyone knew his marital status. Additionally, I take it Mrs. Coach felt the women there had Christian morals and would leave her husband alone. But then, the coach took a job at a big public high school, one with much more of a worldly perspective. People did not know him OR his wife. Now, Mrs. Coach had her husband wear his wedding ring to school for the world to see. She wanted everyone who came in contact with her spouse to know that he was married and more specifically, he was married to her. Maybe that's what Paul was getting at in his letter to the brothers and sisters in Corinth. The passage is in the middle of a chastisement over the way they were observing the death of Jesus. We have a role and our involvement should be done in a proper manner, so others will see and be instructed. We are proclaiming that His death gives us life. And with our relationship to the Lord, there are scriptural references to marriage and brides, like our married couple. Kind of has a nice ring to it, doesn't it? I won't wear one until I get married- nothing for me to proclaim!
Applicable quote of the day:
"Communion is an ordinance for redeemed sinners, and not for unfallen angels. By receiving it we publicly declare our sense of guilt, and need of a Savior – our trust in Jesus, and our love to Him – our desire to live upon Him, and our hope to live with Him."
J.C. Ryle
God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1
www.hawleybooks.com
E-mail me at steve@hawleybooks.com
4 comments:
Great post! I always think of his broken bones and my sin when I eat the bread, remembering his death. And then how His blood cleansed me from my sin with the juice. I am always blown away with the joy- of being completely clean. It's much wiser to come clean with the Lord (argh argh argh) than try to fake perfection. Can't fool God.
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I always sorta' took communion for granted until a few years ago I was a pilgrim on the Walk to Emmaus and we studied the deep meaning of communion. It was a very emotional experience, and I have never looked at communion the same way again.
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