I Was Just Thinking...........

A few days ago my brother and I were reminiscing about bottled pop, (that would be soda for some of you.) We both agreed the taste is so much better.

I grew up on a farm just outside of a small town in rural Missouri. In the summer I would ride my bike into town to the little grocery store. With my pockets stuffed with coins from my piggy bank, I would walk into the store and buy a bottle of pop. I loved walking up to the pop cooler, putting my coins in, and pulling my favorite ice cold drink out of the cooler. Then I would awkwardly use the cooler’s built in bottle opener to pop off the cap. My mouth watering with anticipation, I would take that first drink of the ice cold pop. A little taste of heaven.

Bottled pop is scarce these days. It’s become more of a novelty. A minority in a sea of containers made of aluminum and plastic. And, while this makes the product much more convenient and marketable, the flavor has been compromised. The little taste of heaven is less refreshing and less satisfying.

Pop companies have tried all shapes and sizes of containers to market their beverages. Some have even gone as far as changing the flavor of some of their products. The funny thing about these “new and improved” versions though, are how they’re received. Some reject it, some embrace it, some are skeptical, some are critical and probably most often it’s just met with indifference.

We are raising generations who have never tasted that “little taste of heaven.“ They think aluminum and plastic is the way pop has always been bottled. That’s the way they’ve bought it, drank it and enjoyed it. They know no different.

Some of us though, have tasted the original bottled drink. The one that is refreshing, sweet and satisfying. The one we’ve missed and been settling for it’s replacement.

And, the one I desire to make a comeback, so everyone can taste it.

The original…….

…..which needs no marketing, yet everyone needs.

The one that satisfies.

That’s the one I crave.

Most protestant churches observe the Lord’s Supper in some form or fashion. Here are my “non-traditional” thoughts regarding the Lord’s Supper.

I believe the Lord’s Supper is a communal celebration. As the body of Christ the focus of the celebration should be on Jesus. It’s not a somber time, but should be that of a joyous attitude of the grace extended to all of us. Ironically, the Greek meaning for the word eucharist (which best describes our practice these days) means “thanksgiving” or “to thank”, but it would be hard to discern the thankfulness of people during Communion because of the solemn atmosphere.

There may be tears, but not of sadness, but rather from the overflow of a grateful heart. I don’t believe it is a time of examining ourselves for sins we’ve committed. When it becomes about us, (which I think we spend way too much time on), it is no longer about Him, and we are clearly instructed by Him to remember Him. Further, when we focus on ourselves, it becomes more individual and less communal.

I also believe it should be part of a full meal, and while it is believers who have reason to celebrate, unbelievers should not be excluded. As a community where God’s grace has been so lavished upon, this is clearly a time to share that grace with unbelievers. Proclaiming the grace extended to us through His life broken and raised again. The new covenant and the only atonement for our sin ridden souls.

As far as this being part of a Sunday morning service is really a traditional ritual passed down. I think what is most closely the true portrayal of the Lord’s Supper, is perhaps the meals our church used to have on Wednesday nights where it was open to the community as well as our church, or when small groups meet together for a meal. These are times I believe the Lord’s Supper should be observed, and not necessarily with niblets of bread and thimbles of grape juice. And always proclaiming Jesus, who brings and binds us together as a community.

This is my current understanding of the Lord’s Supper, and it’s very different than the way I observed it growing up. It may change as I continue to study more about it, but for now this is how I believe it should be celebrated.

I haven’t seen this in a while, and was thinking everyone else is probably needing a little chimpanzee riding on a segway. It’s very hooky!

You.

Are.

Welcome!

When one thinks about the cross, it’s usually in the context of the crucifixion of Jesus. The cross seems to be iconic in the realm of Christianity. We’ve taken the cross and written songs, poems and made artwork, jewelry, clothes and other merchandise displaying the cross as a symbol of our faith. And, we love symbols, don’t we? Why? Maybe because we can identify those with similar thoughts with just a glance of a symbol.

I would like to offer another perspective on the cross. The cross was commonly used in Biblical times as a way of execution. This way of execution was usually reserved for those who committed the most heinous of crimes. The cross could be constructed of one single piece of wood fashioned as a stake, where the criminal’s feet were nailed to and with their arms stretched over their head’s the hands nailed to it. Then there’s the commonly known, two pieces of wood constructed in a t-shape. Where the arms were stretched out from side to side on the cross plank. Either way, it was a slow, agonizing death. The one being executed suffered horrifically, and it usually took several hours to die. This is the symbol we adorn ourselves with, hang in our buildings, and hold in high regards.

In today’s terms, we could replace the cross with a firing squad, an electric chair, or lethal injection. All, of which are a quicker more humane ways to die. If Jesus lived in the last century, that may have been the way he most likely would have been executed. Would His followers then placed a replica of one of those execution styles in every church or around their necks?

Now, before you get all up in arms. I’m not at all minimizing what happened on the cross. I would just like us to take the focus and “beauty” of the cross and place it where it belongs.

On Jesus.

Yes, He was nailed to the cross and suffered the punishment that we all deserve.

But, the cross didn’t save us, HE did.

That’s where the beauty lies. In the perfect Son. The perfect once and for all sacrifice for all humanity. The One who bore all the sins of the world. The One who redeemed us and restored us and turned our twisted little selves into a thing of beauty in God’s eyes. He’s the most beautiful thing the world has ever seen or will see.

So I’ll cling to HIM.

….not the old rugged cross.