Sunday, July 27, 2008

Celebrating the Humility of Jesus

This meal is called communion, it is a sharing in the body and blood of the Lord. This meal is a celebration of the great humility of Jesus who gave up everything for us men and our salvation. This is why Paul get’s so bothered by the arrogance that some were displaying in the early church during this meal. This is a celebration of the humility of Jesus, a certain mindset that gave up all that was his due, trusting God for a good and glorious outcome. Each time we celebrate this high feast before God, we do it as a memorial. And that doesn’t just mean we think about it really hard for a few minutes. We celebrate this feast as a memorial like Passover, like the rainbow after the flood. This memorial proclaims the death of Christ until he comes, the apostle says. And this means that this meal proclaims the humility of Christ, it proclaims the humble submission of Christ to the will of the Father. And now we are invited to share in it. We are invited to share in the humility of Christ with one another. We are sharing in the humility of Christ in the face of the greatest act of injustice in the history of the world, a righteous man, the only righteous man, crucified with thieves and robbers. And Paul says, do you get it? You’re sharing in that. You’re sharing and communion in that kind of humility. And that doesn’t mean you’ve given up or decided you’re fine with injustice. Actually, it’s just the opposite. It means you trust God for the outcome. It means that you are so utterly confident in the goodness and power of God, that whatever the circumstances, he is willing and able to turn them to good. So whatever it is that haunts you this morning, whatever it is that plagues you, that disturbs you, that bothers you, that annoys you, that gives you grief and heartache this morning. Eat this meal, celebrate this feast, as a memorial, a prayer before the Father. And rejoice in faith, believing that the same God who raised Jesus will raise you up to glory.

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