Having Two Legs

Archives For Eucharistic Meditations

A Feast for the Hungry

March 31, 2013 — Leave a comment

“Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost.” (Is. 55:1)

Isaiah promised the restoration of Israel and said that the sign of that restoration would be a lavish feast spread for the hungry without cost. This is that feast. There is no cost to eat here. But there is a requirement. The requirement is that you must be thirsty. The requirement is that you must have no money. You must want to be here.

The great ongoing challenge of the church is proclaiming this grace, this open-armed grace. On the one hand, what could be more easy? Have you sinned? Just come, there’s forgiveness for you. Have you messed up with your kids, with your spouse, just come. There’s mercy, there’s grace. Have you been bruised, hurt, abused? Come, Jesus’ blood is strong. Jesus’ blood can make the foulest clean, can heal every broken heart. Continue Reading…

In Bible - Isaiah, Church Calendar, Eucharistic Meditations, Grace, TRC

Broken for the Broken

March 25, 2013 — Leave a comment

This table is for sinners. This meal is not for good people. This bread is not for people who have their act together. This wine is not for people who have never made enormous mistakes. No, this bread is broken because Jesus was broken for the broken. This wine is His blood because Jesus bled for the guilty. We do not gather here at this table as the top of the class, as the winners, the success stories, the clean, the innocent, the popular, the good looking. No, we are here as the failures, the losers, the guilty, the outcasts, the rejected, the ugly.

There are any number of ways we could get the idea of a new building wrong. As we prepare for this new stage in our story as TRC, we should be thinking and praying about the ways we will be tempted. One danger is the temptation that we will think we have arrived, that we are now a respectable church, full of good, squeaky clean people. Yes, we are a forgiven people. Yes, by the grace of God, we are healed and healing people. Yes, we have been given many blessings. But if we understand who we are in the light of God’s grace, we have to constantly remember where we have come from and how far we have to go. Continue Reading…

In Bible - Isaiah, Eucharistic Meditations, Evangelism, Justice & Mercy, Lent

The Exodus of Jesus

March 19, 2013 — Leave a comment

Our sermon text is about a new Exodus that God promises through Isaiah, an Exodus out of exile into freedom, into glory. In the gospels, the turning point in Jesus’ ministry, when He turns His face toward Jerusalem, is the transfiguration, when Moses and Elijah appear with Jesus, and He shines with the glory of His coming victory. And Luke’s gospel says explicitly that what they talked about was the Exodus that He was about to perform in Jerusalem (Lk. 9:31). In other words, the great Exodus that Isaiah foretold began when the exiles returned under Cyrus, but that only prefigured the Great Exodus of Jesus. And like the first Exodus, Jesus began with a meal, shared with His disciples, and He told them to keep celebrating it until He comes again in glory. Isaiah commands a number of things for keeping the Passover Feast which we should keep in mind: Wake up, get dressed, be on the look out, rejoice, get ready to leave, and the sign of their departure will be God’s servant, a new Moses, who will be greatly exalted, but He will be surprising because His appearance will be marred. Week after week, we come to this same table, to celebrate this same Exodus, and so the commands are still for us: Continue Reading…

In Bible - Exodus, Bible - Isaiah, Bible - Luke, Eucharistic Meditations, Theology - Sacraments

Everlasting Joy

March 11, 2013 — Leave a comment

“Therefore the redeemed of the Lord shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their head: they shall obtain gladness and joy; and sorrow and mourning shall flee away.” (Is. 51:11)

One of my earliest memories in church as a child is singing a song based almost word for word on this verse. John Frame, one of the greatest theologians of our time, was our Music Minister at my family’s church in California, and I specifically remember him stopping us in the middle of singing this song one time, in order to teach us to properly clap on beat to the song. I thought about trying to teach it to you this morning, but maybe another time.

Every week, we celebrate our return from the exile of sin and death. Every week we come with singing unto Zion with an everlasting joy upon our heads. This world is still full of sorrow and mourning, but we gather here because Jesus has come back from the dead. Jesus has taken away our sins. And now even sickness and failure and shame and death cannot and will not have the last word. And because Jesus drank the cup of God’s wrath and gave His body broken on a tree, we have this bread that will never fail and this cup of everlasting joy. And as we share it together, we lift it up to God and remind Him of His promises to us in Jesus to put all things right, and we remind one another that sorrow and mourning will not have the last word. They shall flee away. So come and rejoice.

In Bible - Isaiah, Eucharistic Meditations, Justice & Mercy, Theology - Sacraments, TRC

A Pro-Life Meal

January 21, 2013 — Leave a comment

Today around this country, many Christians are remembering the Roe vs. Wade decision from 40 years ago which left some of the weakest, most vulnerable members of our society undefended, unprotected. And millions of lives have been taken as a result. We stand with our brothers and sisters protesting this monstrosity, this barbarian holocaust. And we plead with Jesus to hear their cries, to forgive us, and to turn us from this great evil.

At the same time, I want to call us this morning to be more consistently pro-life. We are pro-life, but we have to recognize that there is more to being pro-life than merely protecting the life of the unborn. It certainly includes that, but there is more than that. And I want us to consider two areas in particular. First, we want to continue to grow up into a community that shelters and protects women, particularly those coming from abusive relationships, in crisis pregnancies, those most tempted, most vulnerable to considering abortion. And we also want to offer forgiveness and cleansing and healing through Jesus to all women who have had abortions. And there are many. There are some in our churches, and there are many in our community. Continue Reading…

In Eucharistic Meditations, Exhortations, Family, Food, Grace, Justice & Mercy, Theology - Sacraments, TRC

Shining Faces

November 27, 2012 — Leave a comment

In our sermon text today, we noted that the tabernacle and the priests were anointed with oil for their dedication. In the New Testament, all Christians are ordained to the new priesthood through the water of baptism and the anointing of the Holy Spirit. But in James 5 it says that if anyone is sick, he should call for the elders of the church to come pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord (Js. 5:14-15). The elders of Trinity take this seriously, and this is why from time to time we gather with individuals and families and anoint them with oil and lay hands on them and pray for their healing. One of the things that we regularly say when we perform this is to remind the individual or family that this anointing should remind them and is a prayer to God to remember their baptism, to remember His promises to them in Jesus. It’s a way to enact prayer before God with actions, we are asking the Holy Spirit to heal, to empower, to transform a difficult trial, a sickness into an occasion for great glory. We want Jesus to shine out in power, just like the oil makes your face shine. Continue Reading…

In Bible - Exodus, Bible - James, Eucharistic Meditations, Prayer, Theology - Sacraments, TRC

So Come, and Welcome Home

October 28, 2012 — Leave a comment

With the Reformers, we confess that Jesus comes to us in the Word and in the Sacraments. The gospel is proclaimed and read, the gospel is poured and sprinkled (or you might get dunked in it), and now we come to eat and drink the gospel.

In the providence of God this means that we basically have a trinity of expressions of Jesus. Jesus comes in the word, Jesus comes in the water, and Jesus comes at the table. Just as in God, the Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit each point to the other, giving glory to one another, so too, in the Word and Sacraments. The Word proclaimed points to the water, you were washed in and the bread you eat, and the wine you drink and the people eating and drinking around you. The Water points to the Word that proclaims the promises of forgiveness to you and to your children, and the table that proclaims the death of Christ until He comes.

And likewise, this table points you back to Jesus in His Word and Jesus in the Water. This table reminds you of what God has already spoken to you: you are justified, you are righteous in Jesus, and this table reminds you of what God has already spoken over you: His own name has been placed on you. You’re part of His family, and so look around you: these are your people. You belong here at this family table because you belong to Jesus. Continue Reading…

In Church Calendar, Eucharistic Meditations, Evangelism, Grace, Theology - Sacraments, Worship

We Don’t Need A Bunch of Martha’s

October 15, 2012 — Leave a comment

We have said that this table is to be a model for our tables, but it might occur to some of you that this table is different. For example, we say that this table is for all those who have been baptized and are walking with Jesus, not just anybody. At times, the elders have barred people from this table for refusing to repent of sin, and we pray for those individuals regularly, pleading with God to soften their hearts that they would come back and join us at this table again. That would seem to be different than our home tables. You probably don’t have a list of people who have been excommunicated from your home tables! But while it’s correct to point out that our tables are not synonymous in this regard, they are still analogous.

For one thing, there is an open invitation to this table. If you aren’t baptized, we warmly invite you to trust in Jesus and be baptized and join us. On the flip side, as we give particular energy and emphasis to our calling to be ministering to our neighbors and friends through hospitality, through meals together, following the example of Jesus, we are not just inviting neighbors and friends to eat with us. We are inviting them to Jesus. We are inviting them to be baptized, to repent and believe, and follow Christ. Continue Reading…

In Eucharistic Meditations, Evangelism, Family, Food, Theology - Sacraments

Christians Like Food

October 8, 2012 — Leave a comment

When Jesus rose from the dead, He was hungry. In Luke’s gospel, Jesus shows up talking with two disappointed disciples on their way out of town after the crucifixion, and Jesus joins them for a meal. Later that same day, Jesus met all of the disciples in Jerusalem gathered together, and Jesus asks them if they have any food. They had fish and honeycomb on hand, and so He ate some. In John’s gospel, Jesus meets the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias early one morning, and Jesus called to the disciples still out in their boats, “Children, do you have any food?” When they said they didn’t, Jesus suggested throwing the net over the other side of the boat, and when they did, they hauled in an enormous catch of fish. Then Jesus made breakfast for all of them. When Jesus rose from the dead, He was hungry. Part of the point of these meals is to prove that Jesus is really alive. Ghosts don’t get hungry. But another part of the point is to show us what resurrection life is like. Resurrection life is spent around tables. Lots of time is spent around meals. Food is a central part of resurrection life. If you’re alive from the dead, you should be hungry, and I don’t just mean that spiritually. I mean that you should genuinely like food. Why? Because Jesus does. You should love gathering with other disciples of Jesus and eating together. You should be hungry for food and fellowship. Continue Reading…

In Eucharistic Meditations, Food, Theology - Sacraments

Miniature Invasions of the Kingdom of God

October 1, 2012 — Leave a comment

Jesus came to save sinners. Jesus came to seek and save that which was lost. Jesus came to give His life as a ransom for many. And as Tim Chester points out, a central part of that mission is embodied for us in the fact that Jesus came eating and drinking. He modeled in His life the means and method by which the Kingdom of God will come on earth as it is in heaven. After Jesus suffered and died and gave His life as a ransom to free us from the power of sin, death, and the devil, He poured His Spirit on us in order that His life might multiply and fill the world. And that’s why at the center of our life together is this table where we proclaim the forgiveness of sins, the rescue of the lost, the ransom of every captive, the freedom of every slave, the resurrection of the dead. At the center of our life together, is eating and drinking with Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus came eating and drinking, and Jesus still comes eating and drinking. He does that here week after week as we renew covenant together. But He comes in your homes as you eat and drink together in gladness. He comes in your Sabbath feasting when you laugh with your children and honor your wife with compliments. He comes when you make meals for one another and show hospitality to one another. He comes in your parish groups, He comes when you make cookies for your neighbors, when you share your bread with the hungry, when you cheerfully make bag lunches for your children. He comes eating and drinking, He comes to seek and save that which was lost. He comes to ransom the captives and to set them all free. This table is a party table, a victory feast, celebrating the freedom of the captives. We have been ransomed. We are free. We are forgiven. So we celebrate this now, and our tables cannot be anything less than extensions of this table. Our meals, all of them, are just miniature invasions of the Kingdom of God.

In Against Christianity, Eucharistic Meditations, Food, Grace, Justice & Mercy, Theology - Sacraments, Wisdom