Jeremiah says the Lord has deceived him because he thought
it would be a wonderful thing to be called by the Lord. We do have some romantic dreams of serving
Him, whether we are called to ordained ministry or to some other ministry in
the church or the world. It generally doesn’t
take long before we get disabused of the romance of the service. We find that people don’t want to hear our
message when it conflicts with their desires.
We learn that people who say they are Christians sometimes act no better
than people who are not. If we are
honest, we learn that sometimes we aren’t either and we don’t enjoy having our
toes stepped on any more than other people.
We learn that all of us have a long way to go before we are like Jesus. The thing to remember is that all the prophets
were persecuted by religious people. Jesus
was crucified because religious people demanded it, not pagans. Jeremiah learns though that God has it all,
even when they are arrayed against him and the only truly safe thing to do is
obey, let the chips fall where they may.
Can you imagine knowing that you were about to be arrested,
beaten beyond recognition, spat upon, mocked and derided, a crown of thorns
pressed into your skull, all your friends would desert you, the entire city
would be shouting for you to be killed and you would be hanged on a cross and
having the presence and peace to pray this prayer? In only a few minutes all this would begin
and yet Jesus prays for those who will soon desert Him, one of whom will
publicly disavow Him three times this very night. He prays not for His own protection but
theirs, for their unity, their sanctification and their joy. Not only that, He prayed for you and me, “I
do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through
their word…” That’s us, that’s love. We are to be that peaceful, that trusting and
that unconcerned about ourselves. As
kids ask in the car on long trips, “Are we there yet?”
Paul says, “The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a
participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a
participation in the body of Christ?”
Doesn’t that indicate that there is something significant going on in
this ceremonial action? Further, he
warns the Corinthians that they should not come to the table casually and
unprepared for some are ill and some have died for failure to discern the
body. I am coming to a different
understanding of the sacraments because of what Paul wrote and what the reformers
themselves believed concerning these things.
Along the way we have lost too much from our sacramental understanding
and the loss, I believe is part of the weakness of the church. We are too much materialists and no longer
properly thinking about things “seen and unseen.” The sacraments are to be means of grace for
us, not just physical accidents. They
are a physical and spiritual connection with Jesus Himself, physical in that
the bread and wine are tangible reminders of a spiritual truth, we are both
body and soul and in the sacraments that is truer than at any other time.
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