On Sunday I preached on James 4 and encouraged our Bridge congregation to be the utmost examples of humility, so far as to embarrass yourselves in today's culture by not drinking alcohol if you're under age...even if it's cool, or to go spend your Saturday building a house with Habitat instead of at the country club. It was a cool time for me to preach this, but it was driven home today in the car.
Heading back from a meeting in Richardson I was in a rare "I don't want to listen to music" mood and has ESPN radio on with "The Michael Irvin Show." Normally I think of Irvin as pompous and arrogant, but I'll admit this is from his days as a Dallas Cowboy. However, Irvin and his co-host were discussing how college football players seeking to be drafted by the NFL were doing awful on the Wanderlich test that measures quick thinking and ability to learn. Irvin was mentioning that players ought to get coaches for this, as preparation is the key, and definitely touted himself as an authority on such matters.
His co-host quickly and sarcastically replied, "Michael, you just know everything don't you?" To which Michael Irvin replied, "I didn't know not to go into that hotel room."
For those not up on Cowboy history, Irvin was famously caught in a hotel room in Dallas with several prostitutes and a large quantity of cocaine...quite the humiliation on an otherwise brilliant NFL career. But now, he is bringing it back up for the sake of educating young athletes to avoid the pitfalls of fame. He even wisely said, "I knew how to be the worst of me, now I've got to work everyday to be the best of me."
Christians...listen up to that.
I never imagined that a former NFL star could teach me about humility, but Irvin did that today. We're all striving towards God's perfection, or at least should be, but when we make mistakes we ought not to constantly and forever beat up ourselves thinking that we should be perfect in all ways. Instead, we realize our fallen nature, let God pick us up, go to God for inspiration to be the best of ourselves...now that we know what the worst looks like.
As we journey towards Easter, and even our "Sexual Revolution" sermon series, I think it's important that we recognize the worst of ourselves and not get caught up in it. Not repeating it, not dwelling on it. Instead, we openly lay ourselves before God every day and every night and let God show us what the best of us is and seek that with all our hearts...no matter the humiliation that might occur. It's for God...who can be against it?
Monday, March 23, 2009
Friday, March 20, 2009
Communion the right way?
The other day a congregation member came in my office and referenced a passage in 1 Corinthians (1 Cor. 11:27-30) about the proper manner in which we as humans ought to take communion. First of all, I have to complement this person on their thoroughness of reading scripture! And second, I'm glad they are thinking about it actively with their spouse.
It has gotten me thinking about the routineness of the Eucharist celebration, which many people find to be a very special thing. In The Bridge we were dealing with "the cattle stampede" problem that was distracting people from their spiritual journey, and some churches prepackage communion bread and juice in "to go" containers...so I guess I'm wondering if it really is special to people anymore?
The passage suggests that we are to examine ourselves as a body of Christ, and I think individually as well, before we partake in communion. Communion is one of our sacraments and John Wesley mentions it as a "means of grace" in which forgiveness through God's grace can directly be experienced by taking on Christ's body (and into you!).
That's really a lot of pressure to take on the body of Christ and to really think about being Christ on this Earth...so a lot of people take this passage to mean only that we should examine ourselves for sin and make sure that we are not in a sinful state before we take communion. I think this to an extent, but honestly...how often would we be able to take communion?
Communion is actually the time to take all of your sins to the Lord's Table and realize them, so you can let yourself be forgiven and move on from them, not something to condemn you further. It'd be great if everyone did take a little time to examine themselves and then go find forgiveness at the table...instead of just going through the drive through. Just something to think about.
After some thought and research, it seems as though this passage has to do more with examining the whole body of Christ, to make sure that we aren't taking our divisions and exclusions to the table of the Lord. According to commentary the Corinthians were leaving the poor and oppressed out of the communion ritual and, knowing that Christ died for all, this is perverting the meaning of the communion meal and using for impure purposes. I'd point you down the page to 1 Cor. 11:33 where it says, "So then, my brothers and sisters, when you come together to eat, wati for one another." I believe Paul is more talking about the apostacy of leaving out people from communion, rather than examining our own sins and staying away from the table.
That goes to say that communion has been shared by billions of people throughout history, which I think is awesome, and next time you go to the table remember all of the Christians who have suffered, been imaginative, showed devotion, and brought you to where you are today...and go and sin no more.
It has gotten me thinking about the routineness of the Eucharist celebration, which many people find to be a very special thing. In The Bridge we were dealing with "the cattle stampede" problem that was distracting people from their spiritual journey, and some churches prepackage communion bread and juice in "to go" containers...so I guess I'm wondering if it really is special to people anymore?
The passage suggests that we are to examine ourselves as a body of Christ, and I think individually as well, before we partake in communion. Communion is one of our sacraments and John Wesley mentions it as a "means of grace" in which forgiveness through God's grace can directly be experienced by taking on Christ's body (and into you!).
That's really a lot of pressure to take on the body of Christ and to really think about being Christ on this Earth...so a lot of people take this passage to mean only that we should examine ourselves for sin and make sure that we are not in a sinful state before we take communion. I think this to an extent, but honestly...how often would we be able to take communion?
Communion is actually the time to take all of your sins to the Lord's Table and realize them, so you can let yourself be forgiven and move on from them, not something to condemn you further. It'd be great if everyone did take a little time to examine themselves and then go find forgiveness at the table...instead of just going through the drive through. Just something to think about.
After some thought and research, it seems as though this passage has to do more with examining the whole body of Christ, to make sure that we aren't taking our divisions and exclusions to the table of the Lord. According to commentary the Corinthians were leaving the poor and oppressed out of the communion ritual and, knowing that Christ died for all, this is perverting the meaning of the communion meal and using for impure purposes. I'd point you down the page to 1 Cor. 11:33 where it says, "So then, my brothers and sisters, when you come together to eat, wati for one another." I believe Paul is more talking about the apostacy of leaving out people from communion, rather than examining our own sins and staying away from the table.
That goes to say that communion has been shared by billions of people throughout history, which I think is awesome, and next time you go to the table remember all of the Christians who have suffered, been imaginative, showed devotion, and brought you to where you are today...and go and sin no more.
Welcome to Blogging from the Bridge
Greetings fellow seekers of Christ,
After multiple requests for clarification on church and other theological issues, I wanted to set this place up as a safe area for people in our congregation, our city and our world to be able to discuss theological, spiritual and religious topics.
If you have a question after The Bridge service...post it here, see who answers. John and I (David) will check in often and respond the best we can as well.
Please feel free to comment, invite others and read often. I will also post Stonebridge UMC announcements and devotionals here when needed.
Have fun!
Pastor Dave
After multiple requests for clarification on church and other theological issues, I wanted to set this place up as a safe area for people in our congregation, our city and our world to be able to discuss theological, spiritual and religious topics.
If you have a question after The Bridge service...post it here, see who answers. John and I (David) will check in often and respond the best we can as well.
Please feel free to comment, invite others and read often. I will also post Stonebridge UMC announcements and devotionals here when needed.
Have fun!
Pastor Dave
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