[P.S. Happy Birthday to me! in three days]
Communion Thoughts given
January 9, 2011
For The Bread:
Since August, we have heard how The LORD'S Good News is abundant in our lives: The Good News of Forgiveness; the Good News of GOD'S Desire for the Best for us, for Healing for us; the Good News of God's Gifts to us which none of us deserve, gifts of both Mercy and the Fulfillment of All our Needs; the Good News that we are Free because GOD makes us so; and my personal favorite, the Good News that we are Made Right with GOD through JESUS because otherwise we are always wrong. The only Good News I think Damon omitted is: GOD has made us wise.
I Corinthians 1: 20-29 tells us that only the 'wise' see the truth of GOD'S Salvation. To paraphrase the passage:
Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world’s eyes or powerful or wealthy when GOD called you. Instead, GOD chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And HE chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful.
But how do we show GOD'S Wisdom to the world in the 21st Century?...Well one thing we do is the sharing of communion every week. In doing this we show the world, we show each other and we even show ourselves that we can only remain wise by living our lives with GOD at the center of our lives in all matters. We demonstrate our devotion to the Wisdom of GOD through the breaking of this bread as a symbol of how JESUS in HIS Wisdom broke HIS Own Body to save this body of believers here tonight. Please permit me to thank HIM in behalf of Hope for that demonstration of love now:
HOLY LORD, thank YOU for offering the world knowledge of YOU and touching our hearts so that we can share in YOUR Wisdom every day we roam the earth. I beseech you to give us the words that we may better display YOUR Light to those we encounter on our journey that they may see Your Wisdom and BEING shining through us.
In The Precious, HOLY NAME of JESUS, amen.
For the Cup:
OUR GOD Is Wise, is HE not?...The Traditional of communion we encounter here is in part to display how we remain in CHRIST'S Wisdom week after week, but it serves another purpose as well...In the Old Testament GOD in HIS Wisdom asked the Israelites to remember HIS Salvation of them from slavery to Egypt every year at a certain time which centuries later leads to JESUS celebrating Passover with HIS disciples and asking them to remember HIM and their salvation from the slavery of sin every time they broke bread together. GOD reveals HIS Purpose of HIS Initial Command to remember Passover in Exodus 12:24-27:
You shall observe this rite for an ordinance to you and to your sons forever. When you come to the land which the Lord will give you, as He has promised, you shall keep this service. When your children shall say to you, What do you mean by this service? You shall say, It is the sacrifice of the Lord's Passover, for He passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt when He slew the Egyptians but spared our houses. And the people bowed their heads and worshiped.
Does CHRIST not share the same wisdom of The FATHER? As with Passover, our sharing of communion is also to provoke questions in our children. Questions like, “why we do this remembrance every week?” GOD'S Wisdom is to be shared with all generations. So as the cup is passed please say to the person seated next to you, “We do this to remember our freedom from sin and death.”
Please allow me to thank The LORD for our freedom from such things,
JESUS, in Your Wisdom you have taught us how to live in freedom from sin and death. Thank You for telling us how we can best teach our children to live in freedom through the ceremony of communion and the purpose behind why YOU asked us to remember YOU in this way. YOU are beautiful beyond words and we praise YOU for YOUR Revelation of Godly Wisdom.
In YOUR NAME, JESUS, we thank The Father of all Truth and Wisdom, amen.
For the Offering:
Earlier in my life when I prayed, and believe me I did pray for the time when I could stand before CHRIST'S Body and share with you how connected I feel to you and to our LORD through communion, I never thought much about what I would say before the offering. I confess I feel ill-equipped when it comes to this moment. I know we can never thank GOD enough for all the provisions HE makes for us; but I also know that throughout the New Testament there is wisdom to be gained about supporting ministries with our time, talents and monetary gifts. Please join me in my prayer for the wisdom to know how best to use our resources.
Dearest HOLY ONE, we come tonight to remember that everything we have is YOURS. Please give us the wisdom of how best to use the wealth YOU provide to bring glory to YOUR NAME. Thank YOU for taking such good care of us. In the NAME of The FATHER and of The SON and of The HOLY SPIRIT, amen.
