Monday, October 16, 2006

The Architecture of Bread and Wine

We’ve talked about houses some today, and that in Jesus Christ, God is rebuilding a new house for himself to dwell in. We are that house, and through the power of the Holy Spirit, this meal is the hammer and nails of the project. Evangelism and baptism are the selection of the building materials, the reading of scripture and the declaration of the Word of God is the cutting and shaping of the timber to fit into the house in the right lengths and angles, and here at this table were being set in place. But you need to remember that we are all just blocks of wood. Pieces of wood don’t stand up on the shelves at the building supply saying ‘pick me! Pick me!’. And you certainly didn’t trim yourself to the exact right fit in the house. We didn’t do anything. God is the builder of His house; he picks the materials and he fits us into the house perfectly. And this table is proof that you’re in. You may have a sordid past; you may have sins that you are very aware that you are still fighting with and struggling against. The Christian life is a long term project. Think about our passage today and all the discussion of someone betraying Jesus; and the declaration that all of his followers will be made to stumble. But Jesus isn’t worried. You must confess the sin now, even now, and remember that God has already chosen you, and He has placed you here at his table in his house. You may be thinking what about this sin and that other sin and that one time when I… And He says to you, I don’t remember. You are my son, you are my daughter. And all of my children are righteous, clean and pure. This table is God’s grace to you, God’s favor, the proof that he has removed your sins from you as far as the east is from the west. And that means, he doesn’t remember.

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