Familiarty = Contempt?

Today's Daily Soap {Scripture | Observation | Application | Prayer}

• S: 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 (MSG)
• O: In church this evening, the message was on the Communion. The Master, Jesus, on the night of his betrayal, took bread. Having given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body, broken for you. Do this to remember me." After supper, he did the same thing with the cup: "This cup is my blood, my new covenant with you. Each time you drink this cup, remember me." What you must solemnly realize is that every time you eat this bread and every time you drink this cup, you reenact in your words and actions the death of the Master. You will be drawn back to this meal again and again until the Master returns. You must never let familiarity breed contempt.
• A: Our church partakes of Communion every Sunday. This can sometimes make the practice seem mechanical, and it can become very easy to forget what Communion is all about. Especially when Communion is taken individually rather than as a group, served by the passing of the serving dishes, as it was done once monthly in the Baptist church in which I was brought up. And if you have kids in church with you, and they see you eating crackers and drinking grape juice, they want some, too. It is all too easy to allow the ritual practice of something such as Communion to become meaningless to us. Have you ever really thought of just what that cracker (unleavened bread, actually) and cup of grape juice signify? Have you given consideration to not just the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, but also the humiliating beating he suffered prior to being lead to Golgotha? The shredding of skin on his back as he was lashed with a whip. The blood spilled in the street before he was even nailed to the cross. And, of course, the brutal nailing of spikes through his wrists and feet, pinning him to the cross. His very suffering and death that led to our salvation. The bread: His Body. The cup: His Blood. The final sacrifice for our sins: His Life for ours. If you feel up to a compelling yet graphic depiction of Christ's suffering, try The Passion of the Christ.
• P: Father, Thank You not only for what You did for me, to save me from my sins, but also for providing me with a constant reminder of the cost You paid so that I won't have to.

Download the sermon audio here.

Send feedback to Joe by email, or by calling 206-600-4JOE.