Communion Meditation

Remembering Death in Life

With the death of Michael Jackson, the media buzzes with details of his popular career and his bizarre life: star of the family group, the Jackson Five, the changes in his music, his marriage to Lisa Marie Presley, his financial woes, his three children, all of whom bear both his names, his cosmetic surgeries, the charges of child molestation. Death calls us to remember a life, no matter how wonderful or sordid.

Insipid History

I disagree with the Marquês de Maricá, who wrote in his book of maxims, published in Rio de Janeiro in 1850, that "there would be no history more insipid and insignificant than that of men, if they all had good judgment."

Strength in the Cross

Strength brings choices. It must choose between oppression and justice. The weak are the test of strength, which must either align itself with those who cannot or help those who are helpless. From the school bully to the national dictator, strength brings choices.

The Perfect Picture

Even before our son's wedding last month, people asked us to send or show them pictures of the ceremony. Both those who were present and those who couldn't attend wanted to see pictures. For those who are present, pictures are a way of remembering. For those who can't attend an event or make it home for a holiday, pictures tell what happened.

Songs in the Courtroom

As I searched through the hymnal for a list of songs to lead, I found almost nothing on the Judgment or on God as Judge. It just wasn't there. One little phrase from the Psalms. And another from a song written by a brother in Christ about the Lord coming to judge. And that was it. Why, I wonder, is one of the major themes of Scripture absent from our hymns?

Fact and Truth

Though it makes a difference to someone, whether a sports team wins a tournament or championship has no effect on my life. Not even on my emotional scale. Jesus rose from the dead. This is a fact, like the announcement of the winning team of a playoff. But more than a fact, it is a truth.

The Accuser Has Been Thrown Down

Satan is the accuser. His mission is to keep man away from God. His methods are many, his wiles devious. The very word "Devil" means an accuser, a slanderer. While purporting to help and point out a more advantageous way to get through life, the prince of demons is setting a trap.

World's Greatest Problem

On Friday a Brazilian Catholic cardinal declared, in jest, to reporters, that the family is "the world's greatest problem." This was his throw-away phrase to deflect speculation that doing away with celibacy among the clergy might raise the number of priests in his religion.

Earnestly Desired

When Jesus wants something intensely, it's worth paying attention. Intensely. He said literally, "With desire I have desired." Some scholars understand this as a hangover from the Hebrew which intensifies the idea of the verb.

Family Meal

The Lord's supper is a family meal. It is for those who celebrate their redemption. It is for those who have been bought by the blood of the cross, who stand in a covenant relationship with God.

Abel and Enoch

The Hall of Fame of Faith begins with an unlikely candidate. Abel got himself killed, for not fault of his own, because he sought to please God. That he still speaks would seem a small reward for doing the will of God.

Tears of Joy

Glenda Williams tells that in their jail ministry in Geneva, Alabama, when one prisoner was baptized, he felt so thankful for the forgiveness of his sins that he stood in the baptistry and wept for a long time.

All the Nations

Every ethnic group has its customs and ceremonies that distinguish it and serve to differentiate its culture from the rest. But the people of God have more.

Suffering Heightens Awareness

For some, pain and suffering blunt the thinking process and dulls the senses. Some people feel stunned by the pain, their eyes clouded by affliction. Not Jesus.

We Come to the Table

We come to the table in such a sorry state, because during the supper of the Lord we are transported to the hill where Jesus was crucified, and there we see his pain, feel our destitution, receive his blessing.

Filled

Special meals are usually big meals. More dishes than we could possibly taste tempt us. Meats, vegetables, casseroles, breads, tempt us. Variety makes decisions difficult. Some of us go for seconds, and a few are observed to return three times. And the inevitable desserts draw the sweet tooth, even when the stomach complains.

A Victory Celebration

When there were no more worlds to conquer, Alexander the Great sat and cried, so it's said. In another world, of spiritual forces, where sin ensnared and guilt condemned and Satan ruled as prince of the air, Jesus, the Son of Man, conquered all.

The Vision in Jerusalem

In his vision of the defilement of the temple, Ezekiel is whisked away from Babylon, by the hair of his head, as the Lord transports him in the Spirit to Jerusalem (Ezekiel 8-11). The Spirit lifted him up between earth and heaven and in visions of God he saw detestable things being done by Judah, each more repugnant than the previous one.

When the Unexpected Happens

Unexpected things always happen. Life itself is a series of surprises, good and bad. The unexpected brings us both the trivial and earth-shaking. Be it a flat tire at an inconvenient moment or a terminal illness, we can't and don't anticipate today's events.

Nation of Whiners

As an advisor to the presumed Republican presidential candidate John McCain, Phil Gramm took criticism from all sides last Wednesday when he called America "a nation of whiners."

God with Us

At his birth, Jesus was announced by the angel as Emmanuel, "God with us," quoting Isaiah 7:14. With his dying breath, our Lord cried in agony, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?", his excruciating question directly from Psalm 22:1.

We Get Over Things

The New Zealander Frank Boreham wrote, "We get over things." He's right. In fact, we do get over things. At least, the majority of us. Most of the time. ...

Appeasement

Politics is astir with the word "appeasement." President George W. Bush used it last Thursday when he addressed the Israeli Knessit on the sixtieth anniversary of that country. He said to the members of that parliament, ...

I Come to Communion

I come to communion not because I am worthy, not for any righteousness of my own, for I have grievously sinned and fallen short of what by God's help I might have been. I come not because there is any magic in partaking of the symbols of Christ's body and blood. ...

The God of All Comfort

Five times. In one long sentence of the opening of 2 Corinthians, Paul uses the noun or verb form of "comfort" five times. Perhaps in the previous letter he had written, which may not have been preserved and would be the "sorrowful letter" he mentions in 2:4, great pain had been caused among the Corinthian saints. ...

The True Beauty of the Cross

As I look at the crosses on our communionware I'm struck by their beauty. They are smooth and polished. The metal on ours is intended to look like silver but in some cases they are intended to look like gold. Some have little decorations. ...

WE'RE GOING TO HEAVEN!

While the family and I were in Dallas visiting family, I took my children to Six Flags. It's an amusement park, like Elitch Gardens. And I remember the anticipation my children had just thinking about how much fun it was going to be. We went and had a great day at the park. So much so, that we bought season passes so they could go to Six Flags for free every time we went to Dallas for the rest of this year. ...