The Loaf

Application of the biblical text is not always as easy one might think. I wonder what the full story was on the man who was sleeping with his father's wife. Surely it was not his mother or else Paul would have said so. But what was the story and what had Paul's previous attempts been to restore the man? And how do we apply the command to not even eat with such persons when it appears that the kind of meal Paul was referring to does not even exist in our church culture? Such questions trouble me but I think we can still glean the point Paul is making and there is certainly plenty of relevant application to be made to our lives. The sermon this morning was an attempt to do that. Imagine how much fun we'll have when we get to women wearing veils, men not cutting their hair, and women remaining silent! If only we had someone from Chloe's household to fill in the details for us.

The Irony

One definition of irony is, "an outcome of events contrary to what was, or might have been, expected." Talking about the cross in 21st Century North America is vastly different from talking about the cross in 1st Century Corinth. To think that God would allow his son to suffer the indignity, humiliation, and shame of death on a cross was almost unthinkable to a person familiar with the use of crosses for public execution. For Jesus to say that one who would follow him must take up their cross daily is laughable until we realize that he is serious. To view the slide show of methods of execution I referenced in the sermon this morning click here. (You many need to click the link "Continue Gallery" to get past the ads.) I find these images disturbing but they do put into context why "the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing" (1 Cor. 1:18).

Click this link if you would like to see the Scum of the Earth Church web site.

The Spirit

For years I've been convinced that the best preaching is expository where the preacher's objective is to preach directly from a specific text of Scripture. The task for the preacher is to first attempt to understand what the scripture meant to the original readers and then, using that information, determine what the message is for today. The final step is to decide how to best communicate that message in the sermon. It certainly is not the easiest way to preach, but I feel the process builds in a certain amount of controls so that what is preached is in fact "the word of God" and not simply some good ideas with a few passages of scripture tacked on.

My goal with each sermon is not so much to give neat and tidy answers to the difficult questions of life, as it is to cause people to think. After wrestling with a text all week it is almost a relief to hand it off to others to roll it around in their minds for awhile. One of the greatest compliments I hear in preaching is for someone to say, "I haven't been able to stop thinking about the passage you preached last Sunday."

The sermon this morning, with it's contrast between thinking as a natural individual and thinking as a spiritual individual in the natural world, is just such a sermon. My hope is that by wrestling with this concept God's spirit will help each of us see practical ways he desires us to live in the natural world as a person full of his Spirit.

The Message

A few years back I read The Unnecessary Pastor by Eugene Peterson and Marva Dawn. A thought provoking read to say the least. Can any of us honestly claim to be "necessary"? How easy it is to think of ourselves as more important than we really are. The marvel and beauty of recognizing that we are "unnecessary" is when we realize that God desires to use us anyway. There is only one Savior and all the rest of us are simply servants doing our assigned duties. Spiritual elitism can occur when we elevate certain preachers, teachers, methods, seminars, authors, counselors, etc.... to the position of Savior. In essence we elevate ourselves because of our association with the one we have elevated.

From here it is a very small step to the development of a faction. The end result is envy, fighting, jealously, quarreling, bitterness, and so forth. The bread and cup call us to remember the message. Messengers are "unnecessary". They certainly have a job to do and they should do the best they can with the message they have to deliver! However, today's messengers will not even be known in a few decades. God will raise up new messengers.

The bread and the cup direct us to give all our allegiance to Christ. He is the message. In him we will find unity with one another.

The Call

We looked a long time last week to find a picture to use for the sermon series, "Supper Time", which began today. I wanted a picture of the bread and cup but had a terrible time finding a picture that looked like something you could possible have for supper! To have the heading "Supper Time" over a picture of a pinch of cracker and a thimble full of wine just didn't look right. I finally found this one which we used in the presentation today. It's a thought provoking picture don't you think? What thoughts come to your mind as you examine it?

I've never considered that the answer to the problems of unity and holiness would be found in the Lord's Supper until this past week. I'm excited to dig deeper in to 1 Corinthians to uncover the power of this simple observance that Christ told us to do "in remembrance of me."