Series: Communion Meditations

July 24, 2015

Christian Standard

Country Communion

By Daniel Schantz   “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you” (John 14:27, New King James Version). You arrive late at the little country church that is surrounded by lime green sycamore trees. Late, because you had a tiff with your wife at breakfast. The pianist is playing “The Old Rugged Cross” on a piano that is slightly out of tune, just like you. Just as you and your wife take a seat, several farmers stand up and make their way to the back of the auditorium. Their faces are red from sun labors, except for their foreheads

July 17, 2015

Christian Standard

Feeling Close

By Daniel Schantz “The soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David . . .” (1 Samuel 18:1). The word communion means “to share” or “to have something in common.” Although it is more than just a feeling, the feeling is rather nice. Communion is what you feel the first time you fall in love, and she loves you back. You can almost read her mind, and when she goes away, your heart breaks. Communion is what you feel in the middle of the night when your wife is trembling from a nightmare and, gently, you wake her from

July 10, 2015

Christian Standard

A Good Meal

By Daniel Schantz “For this reason many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep” (1 Corinthians 11:30). Church services are well underway in a smalltown church of a hundred souls, when a little girl of 10 meanders down the center aisle, looking for a seat. She looks confused, as if she has never been inside a church before and she doesn”t know where to sit. Her bony shoulders are draped with a rag of a dress and her hair is matted and greasy. Her fingers and arms are gray with ground-in dirt, and she looks starved. At last she

July 3, 2015

Christian Standard

A Good Thrashing

By Daniel Schantz “The punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5). Sixteenth-century England was the era of the “divine right of kings,” when kings believed they were appointed by God and could do no wrong. During this time, the king alone was allowed to discipline his own son, the prince, but kings were often busy or out of town. Even when they were available, kings tended to be indulgent, and thus princes were often spoiled. The solution was to hire a “whipping boy,” someone to take the beatings the prince

June 26, 2015

Christian Standard

Three Ways to Sing a Common Song

By Mandy Smith For many Christians, singing hymns in a group is still a meaningful experience. An a cappella version of “Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow” can induce goose bumps, especially when those harmonies chime in on the “A-men.” While we don”t usually dissect the meaning of this practice, there are reasons why singing as a group is powerful. The simple act of singing old songs about God to God with each other reinforces three things that are central to our faith: We are devoted to God through Christ, We are devoted to him together, and We are

June 19, 2015

Christian Standard

Ordinary Sacredness

By Mandy Smith We know Jesus instituted the Lord”s Supper during the Passover feast, which Jews have celebrated for generations. Passover is an annual festival remembering God”s salvation of his people from slavery in Egypt. Like all celebrations of annual holidays, it takes much preparation and is a turning point of the calendar. So, as good Jews, Jesus and his disciples prepared and celebrated this feast together. But Jesus knew this Passover would be different from all he”d celebrated before, because he knew his death was imminent. The food is a central part of the Passover feast, but so are

June 12, 2015

Christian Standard

Communion, Our Constant

By Mandy Smith The old Sunday school song goes, “Since Jesus came within and cleansed my soul from sin, I”m inright, outright, upright, downright happy all the time.” But very few Christians could honestly say they feel happy all the time. While we may retain an undisturbed, deep joy, it”s normal for any Christian to have moments of spiritual high and spiritual low, to feel close to God and far from God at various times, to have times of great faith and times of great doubt. One helpful practice that allows us to survive the darker times is to overlook

May 29, 2015

Christian Standard

Cruciform Ministry (Romans 5:8)

By Neal Windham Garrison Keiller tells the story of how Clarence Bunson (at least, I think it was Clarence), a mainstay in Keillor”s fictional town of Lake Wobegon, lay cruciform, frozen to the roof of his Minnesota home in the thick of winter. Bunson had gone out to clean the snow off his roof and, tired from his work, had fallen asleep. Meanwhile, his wet clothing bonded to the frozen roof, rendering him immobile. Neighbors asked whether anything was wrong, and with characteristic Norwegian restraint he responded again and again, “No, I”m fine.” We know his character well, don”t we?

May 22, 2015

Christian Standard

To Comfort All Who Mourn (Isaiah 61:1-3)

By Neal Windham The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners . . . to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion (Isaiah 61:1-3). Jesus loved Isaiah. Again and again, our Lord turned to the trusted old prophet to help orient his disciples in the compassionate ways of the kingdom. For example, he began the Sermon on the Mount

May 15, 2015

Christian Standard

Passover Parallels (Matthew 26:17-19)

By Neal Windham Jesus” last supper was almost surely some sort of Passover meal. It was eaten at night while in Jerusalem, as custom would have it. Our Lord likely explained the meal”s key features, much as Jewish fathers would have done for their own children, though in Jesus” case the symbolism was developed in new and astonishing ways. “This is my body,” he said, “my blood.” More than this, Jesus ended the meal with a hymn, as was also customary at Passover, and celebrated it with his new “family,” the disciples, a Passover tradition dating to the time of

May 8, 2015

Christian Standard

A Clean Break (1 Corinthians 11:20-23)

By Neal Windham Corinth is a beautiful city. Set on an isthmus dividing the Adriatic and Aegean seas, it was frequented by mariners avoiding the more treacherous waters of the Mediterranean in Paul”s day. As a result, it was a popular destination, well populated, and with a thriving economy. Remains of its stunning temple to Apollo stand in ruins to this very day, silently testifying to a distinctively pagan past. Little wonder that Paul had such a tough time with this church. It seems they were attempting to make the break with pagan society as slight as they possibly could.

May 1, 2015

Christian Standard

Mystery

By Neal Windham When asked what”s missing when churches marginalize the Lord”s Supper by breaking bread casually and infrequently, Eugene Peterson replied, “Mystery.” He wasn”t talking about cheap novels or detective shows. No, he spoke of a mystery that runs so much deeper, a plot hatched in eternity, hidden for long ages, thoroughly misunderstood, often misrepresented, but, in the end, designed for our good, for our “glory,” as Paul put it. Peterson spoke of a narrative fit for God. The word mystery comes from muo, a Greek verb that means to close or shut. Our word mute shares this root.

April 24, 2015

Christian Standard

Believing Is Seeing

By Robert F. Hull Jr. “Seeing is believing,” we say, but in the logic of the Gospel of John, it works the other way around: Believing is seeing. It is true Peter and John did not believe Jesus had risen from the dead until they entered the tomb and saw the abandoned grave clothes (John 20:6-8). It is also true Mary Magdalene and 10 of the disciples were permitted to see the risen Lord. But was this a privilege all disciples should have? Thomas seemed to think so. He wanted the same experience the other disciples had, or an even greater

April 17, 2015

Christian Standard

Could You Not Watch?

By Robert F. Hull Jr. In a powerful sermon, Fred Craddock points out that only the reader of Mark”s Gospel really sees Jesus in Gethsemane lying prostrate on the ground and hears him praying for the hour to pass from him (Mark 14:35, 36). Peter, James, and John are all asleep, and because we are awake and reading, we are tempted to be very hard on these three. How could they have fallen asleep, when all Jesus asked of them was to stay awake for a little time while he went away to pray? We can be unforgiving when we are

April 10, 2015

Christian Standard

Remember Your Baptism

By Robert F. Hull Jr. Sometimes we do not see the wealth of our own church practices until we worship with people whose practices differ from ours. From Easter to Pentecost you will hear in many churches, especially those in the Anglican, Lutheran, and Catholic traditions, the words “remember your baptism.” If you were to worship in some of these churches, you would even see a large vessel of water brought in as a visual reminder of baptism. It is especially during the season when we focus on the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus that the baptistery and the table

April 3, 2015

Christian Standard

Peace Commission

By Robert F. Hull Jr. According to the Gospel of John, it was at his last meal with the disciples that Jesus offered them the gift of his peace and told them not to be afraid (John 14:27). But that was before his arrest, trial, and crucifixion. A few days later they were huddled in a room with the door locked, very much afraid and not at peace. Suddenly the risen Jesus stood before them and said to them, “Peace be with you!” (John 20:19). He showed them his hands and his side, and said again, “Peace be with you!

March 27, 2015

Christian Standard

“˜Wash Your Hands”

By David Ray When you were little and getting ready to take your seat at the family dinner table, did your mom ask, “Have you washed your hands?” If you had, you probably proudly held them up to show her. But on those rare occasions when she caught you “dirty-handed,” you”d sheepishly have to slip away to put soap and water to work. As often as we were reminded, we should have remembered to wash our hands every time. But since we are creatures of forgetfulness, or just too preoccupied with other things, that getting ready for the table often

March 20, 2015

Christian Standard

“˜Whiter Than Snow”

By David Ray Rising to an elevation of more than 9,000 feet, Mount Hermon is a commanding presence at the northern edge of Israel. Its towering summits are usually snowcapped throughout the winter. In fact, today these mountains are home to Israel”s only ski resort. The melting snows help feed the Sea of Galilee and Jordan River valley far below. A psalmist poetically describes it as “the dew of Hermon” (Psalm 133:3) that falls toward Mount Zion. Snow is fairly rare in most of Israel. Jerusalem and its environs receive an occasional dusting, but seldom is there any real accumulation.

March 13, 2015

Christian Standard

Safety or Security?

By David Ray When Jim Elliot was in high school, he studied architectural drawing, played on the football team, got elected president of his senior class, and was such a talented actor that several of his teachers urged him to consider a professional career in theater. I guess you could say he was on a fast track to “success” in life. Growing up in a religious home, though, Elliot headed off to a Christian college and eventually sensed a calling to work with a remote tribe of Auca Indians in the jungles of Ecuador. They were a people who not

March 6, 2015

Christian Standard

March Madness

By David Ray It”s March, when college basketball takes center stage and provokes spirited debate about who will make it into tournament play. Team records wrangle for attention, brackets are set, and fierce competition begins. We get very passionate about who wins and loses. Winning brings bragging rights for fans, revenue for schools, and even professional signing opportunities for the greatest players. For a coach, however, losing badly can mean forfeiting an extended contract or finding a moving van parked in the driveway. Who wants to be last? The disciples of Jesus certainly didn”t! Once, after a long day, Jesus

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