Series: Communion Meditations

August 5, 2016

Christian Standard

The Summer of “66

By Victor Knowles It was the summer of 1966, and I was set to enter my junior year in Bible college in August. Three shocking events transpired that sultry summer 50 years ago. On June 6, civil rights activist James Meredith was shot while traveling in Mississippi. Fortunately, he survived. A few days later, on July 14, the city of Chicago became the scene of a horrific mass murder when Richard Speck killed eight student nurses. And just when I thought things couldn”t get worse, on August 1 an ex-Marine, Charles Whitman, barricaded himself atop the University of Texas Tower

July 29, 2016

Christian Standard

Bless the Hands

By Nancy Karpenske When my family gathers at the dinner table, it is common for the designated prayer person to pray, “Lord, thank you for the hands that prepared this meal.” Those would be my hands they are talking about. Sometimes fixing dinner has taken hours, chopping, mixing, stirring, grating. Occasionally my hands smell like the onion I chopped, or they are scratched from picking raspberries. But quite often my hands have merely pushed the buttons on the microwave or flipped the switch on the Crock-Pot in order to produce a satisfying meal. I like to cook and bake. But

July 22, 2016

Christian Standard

Don”t Look Away

By Nancy Karpenske You probably know someone who can”t stand the sight of blood””the man who considered becoming an emergency medical technician but couldn”t deal with the blood, the mom who nearly passes out while washing off her child”s bloody knee, the friend who avoids any movie with gory scenes. Blood can make us extremely uncomfortable. But the death of Jesus, horrifically bloody, is the centerpiece of our salvation. We can”t afford to close our eyes or look the other way. “For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed

July 15, 2016

Christian Standard

Bring It to the Table

By Nancy Karpenske “Bring it to the table.” You might hear the phrase in any one of several settings. A project manager where you work might say, “Bring it to the table.” He means you have an idea or a concern that should be examined and discussed. Until a problem is “brought to the table,” it can”t be solved. The Lord”s table is a safe place. You can bring your messiness and brokenness. You can bring your problems and worries. One of the most comforting descriptions of Jesus (although originally offered as a criticism) was, “He eats with sinners.” Sometimes

July 8, 2016

Christian Standard

Empty/Full

By Nancy Karpenske A cup, a gas tank, a bank account, a house, even a heart can be described as empty. Typically when something is empty, the implication is it”s not worth very much, or it is waiting to be filled. Philippians 2:7 says Jesus emptied himself of godly power. He emptied himself of godly glory. The Message says, “He set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave.” That emptying process looked like this: He humbled himself, he showed up on earth as a human, he accepted the role of a servant, he obeyed

July 1, 2016

Christian Standard

Come Clean

By Nancy Karpenske The notion of “coming clean” implies a person is concealing something, not being completely honest. Coming clean is connected to guilt and shame. If someone stares you down and says, “Time to come clean,” it probably isn”t a request to wash up before sitting down at the dinner table. God invites us to dinner at his table. We have a standing invitation. Communion is a moment when we are invited to come closer to God. The bread and the juice, symbols of Jesus” torture and death, remind us in a vivid way that we have already been

June 24, 2016

Christian Standard

The Menu

By Chuck Sackett The menu””dated 2 April 1912″”offered a choice of consommé mirrette, sweetbreads, spring lamb, and braised ham. When the menu went to auction in 2004 (92 years after the actual meal) it was expected to produce a record sale for Titanic memorabilia. It did, selling for 51,000 pounds. The original menu was sent from Ireland by Fifth Officer Harold Lowe to his future bride, Ellen Whitehouse. Lowe figured as one of the heroes the night of April 14, 1912. He was responsible for filling a number of life rafts with women and children, actually using his pistol to

June 17, 2016

Christian Standard

Where Everyone Is Equal

By Chuck Sackett Ellie sat in the third row, left-hand side of the worship center. Ellie was from the wrong side of the tracks. Her clothes were not the best, and sometimes not the cleanest. She didn”t always clean up well, especially at first. But she was there, every Sunday. Ellie didn”t always eat well. Many of her meals in years past had been served from the Dumpster side of restaurants. Even now she had few dishes and little money for food. Actually, she wasn”t that good of a cook. The Binghams sat in that same row. They might have

June 10, 2016

Christian Standard

We”ve Waited All Week

By Chuck Sackett Edgar Nichols spent his final years serving in Boise, Idaho. He used to enchant his students at Boise Bible College with stories of crossing the Himalaya Mountains from Tibet to India, or induce tears telling of his family leaving him alone in India for months as he recovered from tuberculosis Having spent years as a missionary to the people of Tibet India, Ghana, and Hawaii, Nichols commanded a hearing every time he stood to speak. One Sunday morning at First Church of Christ in Boise, he stood tentatively at the Communion table. His then feeble voice was

June 3, 2016

Christian Standard

With Eyes Wide Open

By Chuck Sackett Immediately before worship was to begin, a leader in the congregation dumped a boatload of complaints on the preacher. As the preacher entered the worship area, his once light spirit””which had been anticipating worship and preaching””bottomed out in a wash of questions. Instead of worshipping, he fidgeted throughout the singing, trying to get his heart and mind back on track. He was agonizing over the complaints, frustrated by the timing, and momentarily incapable of preaching. Fortunately, Communion was served before the sermon that day. As he continued to try to settle his spirit, he felt a hand

May 27, 2016

Christian Standard

Fields

By Tom Lawson Not far from where I live, vast acres of grain fields extend as far as the eye can see. It is intriguing to see the land transition from muddy brown to springtime green to harvest gold. Huge combine harvesters make their slow passage through the fields in August and September, pouring tons of harvested grain into the beds of waiting trucks, as the rich fields are reduced again to brown stubble and mud. Few of us give much thought to where our food is produced, or by whose hands and efforts it comes to our table. To

May 20, 2016

Christian Standard

Celebrity Doubles

By Tom Lawson During the 1930s a hopeful contender in a Charlie Chaplin look-alike contest in San Francisco was disappointed when he did not even make the finals. The contestant was, of course, none other than the real Charlie Chaplin. Today, an entire industry of celebrity doubles has arisen. Want Arnold Schwarzenegger at your 5-year-old”s birthday party? No problem. Want Barack Obama to speak at the church”s annual Thanksgiving dinner? No problem. Among the billions of human beings on earth, some clearly bear striking similarities to others. In European folklore this may be behind the myth of the doppelganger­””a person”s

May 13, 2016

Christian Standard

Crowded Tables

By Tom Lawson One thing Americans traveling in the United Kingdom will notice almost immediately involves what people call “personal space.” Houses are smaller. Automobiles are smaller. City streets are smaller. People simply live closer together. Nowhere is this more evident, or more awkward, than when eating lunch in a sidewalk cafe or British pub. Do not expect to eat alone. Even if you are by yourself, you will not be eating alone. The American custom of devoting an entire table to a group, or even a single person, is simply ignored. If there are empty places, don”t be surprised

May 6, 2016

Christian Standard

Violent Table

By Tom Lawson Right now, in this time of worship, it is easy to forget how much violence there is outside these walls. We come into this welcoming place, we sing songs of praise, we greet friends and visitors, and we come to the time of Communion. All very nice and so very far removed from all the ugly that”s out there. It”s surprising, then, to consider for a moment that this brief meal is all about . . . “¢ a human body broken. “¢ human flesh torn and bleeding. “¢ an innocent man hanging by nails in unimaginable

April 29, 2016

Christian Standard

Guilt and Forgiveness

By Mark Krause Guilt. Oh, how we manipulate our lives to avoid, deny, or relieve any sense of guilt! No one likes to feel guilty, but once we get the feeling, it has staying power. We need to do something to alleviate the burden of guiltiness. Some people try to remove guilt by consulting a friend or therapist who tells them they”ve really done nothing wrong. But true guilt cannot be dismissed so easily, so the feeling lingers. Some seek a dialogue of forgiveness with the offended party. But this may be denied or impossible to us, so the guilt

April 22, 2016

Christian Standard

What Kind of Table?

By Mark Krause One of Paul”s names for Communion is the “Lord”s table” (1 Corinthians 10:21). It is impractical for most churches today to celebrate the Lord”s Supper by sitting at chairs around a large table. Yet the table is an important symbolic element to our understanding of the Supper. Table fellowship is a powerful thing. We do not normally sit down to eat at a table with random strangers or with enemies. We like to take our meals with family and friends. When we celebrate Communion, we reenact a meal with other people, and these are people with whom

April 15, 2016

Christian Standard

Why We Meet

By Mark Krause Why did the early church celebrate the Lord”s Supper every week? The answer to this is very simple, but for some Christians it requires a different way of thinking. Most believers are well acquainted with the church tradition and expectation of meeting together on the first day of the week. This weekly gathering is reflected in a term we sometimes use for a particular, local church, the congregation. This word literally means “those who gather together.” Churches are made up of members who assemble, who come together. But why? If you were to ask believers why they

April 8, 2016

Christian Standard

Not Defiance, but Surrender

By Mark Krause I recently read of a young mother who named her son Defy. Yes, I spelled that correctly: Defy, as in “to oppose with an attitude.” She said she wanted her child to grow up knowing he never had to accept the status quo and should always question everything. While I understand the cultural frustration that causes this sort of thing, it seems dangerous to me. If everyone in a society becomes a relentless questioner, pretty soon there is no one left to give answers, and collapse is inevitable. This can happen in the church. Is our first

March 25, 2016

Christian Standard

Taken and Broken

By J. Michael Shannon In some ways our Communion service seems a strange thing. We know it has its roots in the Passover celebration, but as we would expect from a ceremony instituted by our Lord, it can speak to us of much more. What is the significance of eating bread and drinking juice? Why does it represent the body and blood of Jesus? Why do we internalize these emblems? All living things, for their survival, depend on other living things to surrender their lives. Whether a person eats meat or is a vegetarian, something that was living surrenders its

March 18, 2016

Christian Standard

Whose Supper Is It?

By J. Michael Shannon In 1 Corinthians 11:17-26, Paul describes the proper attitude to exhibit around the Lord”s table. His admonition is to the church at Corinth, a congregation that desperately needs this message. That church has many problems, more so than most any congregation we might attend today. One of the more serious problems is that it fails to take the Lord”s Supper seriously. Here is a church where the rich will not wait for the poor to arrive for the supper and eat all the food before the actual celebration of the emblems. This is a church where

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