Series: Communion Meditations

Culture & Public Square Reconciliation

Something Stronger than Hate

By Daniel Schantz “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do” (Luke 23:34, New King James Version). In William Wyler”s 1959 award-winning movie Ben-Hur, Charlton Heston plays the wealthy prince of Jerusalem who is arrested by the Roman occupiers and thrown into the dark belly of a Roman ship, where he must row his enemies wherever they wish to go. With every pull of the oar, Ben-Hur”s hate of the Romans deepens, especially for Messala, the tribune who made him a galley slave. At last, Ben-Hur escapes his nautical prison, and by a quirk of fate he

August 17, 2012

Blessed Thirst

By Daniel Schantz “O God, you are my God; Early will I seek You; My soul thirsts for You . . . in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water” (Psalm 63:1, New King James Version). August. Dog days, the dry month. The front yard is like a worn-out carpet from lack of rain. Shrubs and trees are motionless, their leaves layered with dust. You carry a bottle of water wherever you go; it seems to be growing to your hand. You park your car in the shade. You walk slowly, trying not to sweat. Every

July 7, 2012

Prayer Worship & Prayer

The Mystery, the Meaning, the Love

By Rick Chromey As a man and woman exchange vows of commitment, to love for better or worse, in sickness or health, for richer or poorer, “until death” separates them, two people become one. In their physical relationship, they are one flesh. In their personal choices, they are one mind-set. In their seasons of loss, trouble, or crisis, they are one spirit. A divine thread is woven within the Christian wedding. What God has joined together, no one on earth can separate. A marriage is rock solid when God ties the knot. The bride”s white dress represents virginal purity. The

June 22, 2012

Holy Spirit Theology & Bible

Endless Summer

By Rick Chromey Few seasons, other than Christmas, have more songs dedicated to them than summer. The soundtrack of our youth is loaded with countless odes to those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer in the city. Even when the summertime blues proved cruel, most boys of summer still favored hot fun in the summertime. After all, who doesn”t enjoy a summer breeze to make you feel fine? Perhaps the reason summer captures our imagination and inspires our soul is we”d love for it to be, as the Beach Boys” album suggested, “endless.” Summer reminds us of childhood and a

June 8, 2012

A New Meaning to an Old Memorial

By Nancy Karpenske Imagine family and friends around your picnic table at Memorial Day. The head of the family is explaining to the youngsters about the origin and importance of the holiday. But instead of reciting history, as one would expect, he puts himself in the middle of the meaning, as if he is going to leave your family picnic and volunteer to give his life for his country. He even claims that from now on, Memorial Day will focus on his sacrifice more than on the remembrance of previous veterans. You might be glad this imaginary family isn”t yours””or

May 11, 2012

The Privilege I Anticipate

By Bryce Jessup I remember telling my dad at the age of 9 I wanted to become a Christian. I recall my older brother saying, “All he wants to do is be able to take Communion.” There was quite a discussion that ensued between my dad and his two sons! After studying for a number of weeks under my dad”s direction, I went forward to commit my life to Christ and be baptized. It was a wonderful time of celebration and hope for the future. I remember my uncle pouring some water into the baptistery from a vial he filled

May 3, 2012

Backward, Inward, and Forward

By Bryce Jessup Communion points us in three directions. We look backward, inward, and forward. First Corinthians 11:23-29 was written for troubled people who needed repentance, forgiveness, and acceptance in order to go forward with their lives. The same need exists for us today. The backward look is to Jesus when he said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me” (v. 25). Communion is looking back to the cross and seeing the One who died so that we might live. He hung from the cross not because of

April 28, 2012

Born into His Family

By Bryce Jessup One of my most memorable Communion times was sitting with my family circled in our campsite at Yosemite National Park. The day before, a number of us had caught our limits of trout. Half Dome was visible, the morning sun was warming us up, and we were rejoicing in our family vacation time on the Lord”s Day. Before we communed, my father invited each of us to share a verse of Scripture or some event wherein we had felt the touch of a loving God. Each of our children shared briefly, as did my wife and I.

April 21, 2012

The Place of Victory

By Bryce Jessup John Wooden, who died June 4, 2010, attended Shepherd of the Hills Church in the Los Angeles area. He is the only person to make it into the Basketball Hall of Fame as both a player and a coach. He won 10 NCAA Championships. He was named “Coach of the Century.” Few are aware he carried a wooden cross in his pocket. He would hold it in his fingers when things didn”t go well during a game. A reporter asked him if it was a religious ritual for him, and his answer was “no.” He said that

April 14, 2012

Forgiveness, Love, and Hope

By Bryce Jessup As a 20-year-old student in Bible college, I heard a sermon about the cross that I will never forget. The preacher told us the x in our English language was but a tilted t from ancient times. He went on to say that the t was one of the early symbols for the cross. His application was memorable. He said, “Isn”t it interesting that when you make a mistake with a typewriter (this was long before the computer age, but some will remember), you correct it by typing over it with a lot of x“s?” In other

April 7, 2012

The Host of the Table

By William Baker The original Lord”s Supper took place at a table (Luke 22:21, 30). The host was Jesus. He sent Peter and John ahead of the group to make the necessary arrangements with the owner of the house to eat at his large table of his second-floor room. However, the disciples being led to the house by a man carrying a jar of water on his head, as Jesus predicted (Luke 22:10), reveals that Jesus himself had already set this up ahead of them. After arriving at the room, Jesus functioned as the host. As he reclined around a

March 24, 2012

Unwelcome at the Table

By William Baker The original Supper of the Lord took place at a table (Luke 22:21, 30). Devoted disciples ate with Jesus at this Passover meal. One, however, left before the meal was over. Judas ate the wine-soaked bread Jesus offered him but immediately left to do his dirty deed of informing on Jesus to the temple authorities (John 13:26-30). His pact to help them capture Jesus out of the public eye would be honored that night (Luke 22:1-6). In a few hours, Judas would lead the guard to Jesus and betray him with a kiss of death. Jesus

March 17, 2012

The Family Reunion

By William Baker The original Supper of the Lord took place at a table (Luke 22:21, 30). It was a Passover meal. It was Jesus” last supper with his devoted disciples. In a matter of hours he would be arrested, beaten, and crucified. He treasured these last moments with them because they offered a foretaste of the greatest family festival reunion of all time. They would be back together again like this””at another table, at another time. Next time, gathered around the table would not just be this handful of solemn believers. Next time, every tribe, tongue, and nation would

March 16, 2012

The Table

By William Baker The original Supper of the Lord took place at a table (Luke 22:21, 30; John 13:28; 1 Corinthians 10:21). Friends gathered together in a large second-story banquet room to share a meal. But they did more than eat; they talked and sang and celebrated. This was a Passover meal, a festival meal reliving God”s rescue of the Jewish people from slavery and infant genocide. They ate greens and bitter herbs dipped in a spicy sauce, along with flat, unleavened bread. They drank wine, sharing sips out of at least three passed cups. They ate meat, one of

February 15, 2012

Doug Redford

In the Garden

By Doug Redford Last summer our local newspaper featured an article about urban farming in the Cincinnati area. It described how people began growing gardens in various locations throughout the city, not only as a hobby but also as a way to provide additional food. One man was rather philosophical about gardening. “I started seeing how gardening made people happy,” he said, “how it started changing the whole community, and it just took my heart.” Then he added, “In a garden, you control your own destiny.” That last statement, to use gardening language, deserves some cultivation. It brings to mind

January 7, 2012

The Old Has Gone, the New Has Come!

By Victor Knowles Today is New Year”s Day, the first day of the year and the first Sunday of the year. What a good way to start the New Year! “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” (2 Corinthians 5:17). Communion is a weekly reminder that in Christ we are a new creation. The old is gone. I remember singing a chorus in youth camp many years ago. “Gone, gone, gone, gone, yes my sins are gone!” The crimson cup reminds us that the old has gone. Jesus

August 27, 2011

Let All of Us Examine Ourselves

By David L. Eubanks The major focus of Communion is the Lord Jesus Christ. When he inaugurated it, he said, “Do this in remembrance of me.” The Lord”s Supper is not primarily about us but about him, what he did for us, and the life he gives us when we feed on him. At the same time, there is a definite element of introspection that goes with this feast. That was true of the meal at which Jesus instituted it. When Jesus told his apostles that one of them would betray him, they immediately began to ask, “Surely you don”t

August 22, 2011

A Memorial

By Ben Merold I walked up Kill Devil Hill near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, to get a view of the path of the first flights made by the Wright brothers. They gave proof to the world that a heavier-than-air flying machine could lift off under its own power, fly, and make a safe landing. This was the place of first flight, and a large monument marks the site. I found myself thinking that the entire area is, in one sense, a memorial. However, everything seems to focus on four large stones that mark the distance of their first flights. On

August 6, 2011