SUNDAY AGAIN, ANOTHER CHANCE...
Tomorrow is Sunday. The day of resurrection. The Lord’s
Day! The called by the Gospel will gather again to announce or proclaim the
death of the Lord Jesus.
The fact of it! But not merely the fact of it! As much as
they can grasp of it they will proclaim while confessing that they can’t get to
the bottom of it.
It is the crowning event of the greatest Story ever told
or tellable. It doesn’t stand alone as a bizarre event. It is inextricably
connected with the birth, life, resurrection, glorification and coming of the
Lord Jesus. To attempt to sever it from any of this is to mutilate it. Paul,
who said he had purposed before going to Corinth that he would preach nothing
but the cross of the Lord Jesus never ceased to preach the resurrection and
glorification of the Lord.
To speak of the glorification of Jesus Christ without the
cross is to deny the entire OT drift as well as specific texts [compare Luke
24:25-27; 44-47]. To speak of the suffering of Christ without his resurrection
and exaltation is to do the same and to ignore the fulfilment of God’s eternal
creation and redemptive purpose.
To engage in holy communion as we participate in the body
of Christ [1 Corinthians 10:16-21] is to do more than speak of Jesus’
sacrificial suffering. The Supper speaks of his all-out war against the gods
and against all that is in us of an idolatrous spirit. As we eat the Supper
stands in judgment on all that is in us of selfishness, bitterness and abuse of
one another [1 Corinthians 11:20-34].
To engage in the Lord’s Supper and reduce it by
ceaseless talk of our own forgiveness is to ignore and diminish vast
layers of truth simply by silence on them. The Supper speaks of the person and
work of the Lord Jesus and of his Holy Father glorifying his Holy Son on his
way to exalting him [John 12:23-33].
Until the death of the Lord Jesus is given its place
within the context of cosmic truth and as God’s faithfulness to his creation
purpose we will hear nothing from we the rank and file but “Thank you for being
so kind as to forgive our sins.”
Should we not be constantly aware of his generous
forgiveness of our sins? Absolutely! Is that all we should be aware of?
Absolutely not! Should the incarnation, life, death, resurrection,
glorification and return of the Lord surprise us? The answer to that is [as in
the entire message] in Isaiah 49:14-16!
Grateful? Yes, and profoundly! But we’re a bit far down
the road now to speak as if God hadn’t demonstrated his relentless and
unswerving love for the human family. What if all your children ever said to
you when they came into your presence: “Thank you for providing for us”?
It’s time those who teach us the meaning of the Supper
which proclaims the person and work of God as he has come to us in and as Jesus
Christ got on with it. Topic after topic after topic after topic. No expounding
the meaning of the “Christ-event”!
No wonder our public [and I suppose, private] prayers are
so shallow and repetitive. Our people don’t know what else to say! I lay that
at the feet of our preachers and teachers and the schools that shape our
teachers and preachers.
Where is the sustained expounding of the cross of the Lord
Jesus that would turn our corporate worship into something to hunger for? That
would lead our worship leaders to choose relevant and rich texts, hymns that
are rich in thought of GOD and his Blessed Son and preaching that supports all
that instead of nice little homilies on nice little topics?
Tomorrow we get the chance to admire and worship the
“lifted up” Savior who has been lifted up not only on the cross but now lifted
up far above all principality, power, might and dominion and every name that is
named, not only in this world but in the world to come. This is the One who
will call us to share in the meaning of the body and blood.
Maybe some minister of the Word will help his sisters and
brothers to become wide-eyed at the privilege and vastness of what we do and
leave astonished [at least for a while] at what has happened in that hour.