Communion 5

Acts 2:46-47

A few years back we knew that we would be unable to visit with our families over the Easter weekend. It was just not part of our busy schedule that year and we decided we would simply have a nice Easter Sunday meal at home as a family. We prepared a nice ham and all the side dishes – salad, mashed potatoes, corn and so on. It was a lot of food but we went ahead with our plans.

Then, unexpectedly, my sister and mother showed up at our house. We were excited at that point to have prepared such a large meal of abundance. And we were pleased that someone had come to share it with us.

After the resurrection of Jesus and after he was taken up into heaven the faithful believers continued to meet together as the beginnings of the church we know today. What did they do? What was their attitude?

The love and grace of Jesus Christ did not stop with his death. It continued on among the faithful and still flows today. The early believers would gather together in informal bands of worshipers. As part of their worship there was the sharing of food.

The believers would break bread together – eat – and they did it with glad hearts. They were pleased to be with one another and they were gladdened by the fact that each of them had a relationship with Jesus Christ.

Such should be our attitude as we celebrate Communion in our places of worship. Communion may be a time when we examine ourselves, where we realize that we are not worthy to receive such grace from God. But it should also be a time of celebration and gladness. We should take part in Communion with glad hearts, realizing that although we are unworthy, still Jesus loves us so much that he continues to open himself up to us so that we might be in his loving presence.

Let us rejoice as we take part in Communion. Let us be glad that Jesus loves us. And let us also take the opportunity of Communion to once more invite the Spirit of God to live in our hearts.

DAILY CHALLENGE: How can you be certain to have a glad heart when you take part in Communion?

Communion 4

John 6:48-51

If you are a parent you have likely encountered problems with getting your child to eat the proper foods. Many children, perhaps most children, would rather eat sweets and candies rather than healthy vegetables no matter how they are cooked and presented.

As adults we know what is best for our children. We know what foods will give them healthier, stronger bodies. But it isn’t always something the child will accept.

When addressing the crowds that followed him Jesus offered a comment on just who he was. What does Jesus say that he is? What is the difference between his bread and the manna the Jews ate in the wilderness? What is special about the “bread” of Christ?

This was a difficult message for people to hear and understand. First, Jesus claimed that he was living bread. He told them that they should eat his flesh (verse 51) and that would provide eternal life.

Additionally, he made a comment about the miracle that the Jews had experienced during the Exodus, a miracle revered by the faithful. He pointed out that even though these people had eaten a gift from God they were still mortal and did eventually die.

The confusion came when people took Jesus literally. During the institution of Communion at the Last Supper Jesus explained that the bread the disciples would eat was his flesh. What he meant was that, like the bread, his body would be broken. Like the bread, the presence of Jesus would give eternal life.

We cannot take these words too literally. We must learn to understand that we must take part in the presence, grace and teaching of Jesus to gain everlasting life. By taking part in Jesus, the way we might take part in a daily meal, we are given a new life, a new way of living and loving and being children of God.

DAILY CHALLENGE: How can you take part in the flesh of Christ?

He Seeks Us 3

Matthew 15:31-32

Years ago many of the churches in Hamilton, Ohio, organized a system to help the homeless in that town. Churches took turns providing homeless families and individuals with shelter and a meal. That ministry quickly grew into something more comprehensive. Instead of simply a bed and a meal the churches soon offered a bed, activities to occupy their time, and not just one meal, but three meals. Their compassion could not stop at the bare essentials.

In a familiar story Jesus is preaching when he is surrounded by a massive crowd of thousands of people. What has already happened among the people? What does Jesus want to do for them?

Not only has Jesus provided these thousands of listeners with powerful teaching and instruction, he has clearly performed miracles among them. He has given voice to the mute and restored the lame and crippled. His mercy and compassion are so great that the crowd is praising God for all of His love.

But Jesus is not done yet. He has taught them and healed them, and now he wants to feed them. His compassion knows no bounds.

And the same is true of us. Jesus has given himself completely for our salvation. He suffered and died on a cross so that we might be freed from the chains of our own sins.

He also continues to be a presence in our lives, a source of comfort and guidance and wisdom. He is the rock of hope that we can rely on in difficult times. But he doesn’t stop there.

Jesus constantly seeks us out with his love. No matter what we do in our lives, no matter what mistakes we make, no matter how we might disregard and ignore God, still Jesus seeks us so that we might have a relationship of love with him.

Even if Jesus has already taught you and healed you, he still wants to feed you with his compassion and mercy. Jesus still seeks you to provide you with life-giving sustenance in your walk of faith.

DAILY CHALLENGE: What can you do to receive the food Jesus will give you?

Mediator 3

John 6:30-35

As I mentioned a few weeks back, our youth took part in a ministry outreach at the Cincinnati Vineyard church. When asked about the experience much of the responses were focused on the bands that played and the great people they met. Our friend then reminded them all not to forget the good work they had done in serving God’s kingdom.

The experience was good. It was enjoyable and it was also a great service to the kingdom of God. But it was easy for the fun experiences to begin to outshine the holy purpose of what was done.

At the beginning of John 6 we have the story of Jesus with his disciples as Jesus feeds a huge crowd of people. Afterward the crowds go out looking for Jesus who has crossed the Sea of Galilee. When they find him they ask questions, but Jesus perceives that they are looking for physical reward, more food, and he teaches them about working for God.

What question does the crowd ask in verse 30? What comment does Jesus make about Moses and the manna from heaven? What do the crowds ask for? How does Jesus describe himself?

So much of what Jesus did in his ministry addressed the physical needs of so many people. He healed the sick. The lame could walk. He caused the blind to see. He drove out demons. He even provided food for the hungry.

It was so easy to begin seeing Jesus as a man from God who was there to make things better, but only in a physical sense. And the same can be said of us. So many can see Jesus as that teacher or helper who leads us through the difficulties of life and makes our physical life easier to handle.

We need to remember that Jesus does more than just meet our physical and emotional needs. He is more than a healer and a helper.

Jesus is that spiritual mediator between us and God. He is the spiritual bread that we can feed on in our souls so that we might move closer to that state of perfection and the presence of God.

By drawing close to Christ not only are we physically and emotionally better off, we gain spiritual strength as well. Jesus is the true bread from heaven. He is the source of sustenance for our souls, so that spiritually we are better off. And when we have that soul nourishment the physical challenges seem so much less important.

By feeding on Christ, learning from him and spending time in his presence, we will find a peace in our very souls, a peace that comes from knowing we are brought to God through the Son.

DAILY CHALLENGE: How can your soul feed off the true bread from heaven?

Communion 3

John 6:48-51

We are very excited by the fact that a Panera Bread has opened near our home. For Mother’s Day we even bought a loaf of fresh, country style bread and sliced it up as part of our brunch after church. It didn’t last long.

As much as we enjoy this bread, there is a better bread that is offered to nourish each one of us spiritually. What is Jesus? What does he remind the Jews about? What type of bread is Jesus?

Obviously, Jesus is speaking metaphorically. He is not truly made of wheat or rye. He is not literally a piece of bread.

Instead, this comparison is a foretaste of what he will do during the Last Supper with his disciples. He is comparing himself with bread.

Why bread? I believe it is because bread is such a mainstay in almost every diet of almost every culture throughout the world. It is one of the basic foods that we as people eat. It is a basic food that keeps us going.

But Jesus points out that even the Jews with Moses in the desert were given a type of bread – manna – something special from God to keep them going. Yet even this special gift from God was not enough to keep the people alive forever.

Only Jesus is the bread of life. Only Christ is that basic component for us, something that gives us strength and nourishment, not for our bodies, but for our souls.

If we can feed on Jesus – that is, if we can follow his teachings and imitate his life, if we can make him a basic part of who we are and how we live and love – then we can find that everlasting sustenance from God.

Jesus points out that his flesh, his physical body, was like bread. It was meant as something real and tangible that was broken for us. His flesh was broken as a sacrifice for us so that we may have eternal life. But to achieve this holiness, this sanctification, we must feed on Christ, symbolically, taking him into us and making him a part of us on a daily basis.

The bread of life, Jesus himself, is a gift from the abundant table of the Lord.

DAILY CHALLENGE: How can you feed on Jesus every day?