Traditions, Sacred Moments, and Motives

I grew up in a home with a single dad.  We never had elaborate traditions.  I don't blame him one bit for this because family traditions are a lot of work.  With a toddler now running around our house I can understand even more how it's hard for a single parent to spend much more time on anything other than what's essential.  

Contrast that with my wife's family who goes big for holidays and get togethers.  My wife's mom is the queen of decorating!  Her house is always elegant, fun, and creative whatever season it is. Contrast that with my home growing up where we only decorated for Christmas.   We had a tree, maybe some of those plastic candles with the light bulb on top, and maybe a strand of lights out on the front bushes.  Every holiday my wife's family all gathers together for a home cooked meal near made from scratch.  Contrast that with what I grew up with where on thanksgiving we usually went to Shoney's and on Christmas going to a Chinese buffet and one year I remember going to Denny's.

Sometimes I do miss the simplicity of our simple traditions I had growing up but I also cherish and look forward to each and every holiday with my wife's big family while experiencing new ones.  Traditions can be a good thing.  Traditions can change over time, they can fade away, they can become irrelevant, we can develop new ones, we can always revisit them, or we can join in with other people's traditions.  Traditions are great and valuable to society but some things shouldn't be a tradition.

Luke 22:14-19 reads: when the hour came, He(Jesus) reclined at the table, and the apostles with Him.  And He said to them, " I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.  For I tell you I will not eat it again until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God"  And He took a cup, and when He had given thanks He said, "Take this, and divide it among yourselves.  For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.  And He took the bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body, which is given for you.  Do this in remembrance of me."

In this passage Jesus didn't start a tradition.  He started a holy and sacred moment.  This holy moment wasn't something to be done for a while, lose interest in, and pick back up again.  This was to never change!  This moment is to remain sacred and set apart to remember what Christ did for us when he took the sin of the world upon His shoulders and paid the penalty for it with His death.

This Easter Sunday there were some firsts for me.  I wore a t-shirt to lead worship(forget the frock) and I knew I was going to say something that had a statistical 100% chance of offending someone who was in church...I asked some people not to participate in communion.  I made sure to welcome our Easter only guests and how much I valued their presence at church today.  I simply asked that if it's just your tradition to come to church on Easter to please let the plate and cup pass without taking communion out of respect for what communion is and the sacredness of the moment.  I challenge our congregation each week to examine the motives of their heart since we are a church where communion is celebrated every Sunday.  Communion isn't something where we come together and check it off our list to win Jesus points and/or feel good about ourselves because we've accomplished something.  We take it and reflect on what Jesus did and remember it was our sin that put Him on the cross.

I asked this of our guests not to shame them or make them feel alienated but because of what is written in 1st Corinthians 11:17-33.  We learn in that passage of scripture that to come and take communion with improper motives, to eat the bread and drink the juice/wine,  we eat and drink judgement on ourselves.  Everyone our congregation was encouraged to do the same thing, to examine their motives for being in church on Easter Sunday before they took the bread and the cup.  I cared enough for our Easter only guests to let them know what is written in scripture about those who take communion with improper motives.  The judgment of God is never to be taken flippantly, He is the creator of the universe and I fear our God because He is righteous and just.

The fear of God is healthy.  Because God is just the consequences of sin are just and the consequences of sin is death.

 God, though, is many things and though He is just He is also a God of grace.  Because of sin my sin my body is the body that deserved to be broken but a perfect and sinless Jesus substituted His body for him.  Because of my sin my blood should have been the blood that was spilled but a perfect and sinless Jesus Christ substituted His blood instated.  Because of my sin I should be the one to die but a perfect and sinless Jesus Christ took the burden of my sin and paid the penalty of death instead.  In communion we remember that moment in history where the sins of the world past, present, and future were placed upon our perfect and holy Lord and God Jesus Christ.  Communion is more than a tradition, it is a sacred and holy moment we are instructed to experience with pure motives, together, as one body of believers for the glory and honor of God!  

Remember your motives this week and live to glorify God in every moment!

Two Bites, Seconds, and God's Goodness

Being a southern boy I fall into the stereotype of liking green leafy vegetables, Turnips, collards,
spinach, etc.  I could eat them every day.  My absolute favorite is spinach fried in a pan with an egg cracked in while it's cooking and throw in a few dashes of salt.

My niece was over at our house a while ago and I decided to cook her my favorite dish.  As soon as I started cooking it she gave me the stank eye and let me know she was strongly opposed to putting whatever I was cooking in her mouth.  In my mind this northern child had been deprived of good southern greens and was going to take at least eat two bites.

When it came time for her to take her two bites with her meal she proclaimed my culinary
masterpiece as "yuck" and "groodey" and refused to eat it.  I politely told her if she ate two good bites I wouldn't ask her to eat any more.  Begrudgingly she took her two bites and I figured that would be the end of that.

After maybe a minute passed she asked in a sheepish voice, "Uncle Tim, Can I have some more of that spinach?"  I felt a little proud and then asked her if she liked it.  Her response, "No, I didn't like it at all, but God wants me to eat more of it."  I gave her all the fried spinach she wanted to eat!  She then turned to my wife and said in all seriousness, "God wants you to eat it too."  We still laugh about that moment in our home.

Psa 34:8-10  Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him! Oh, fear the LORD, you his saints, for those who fear him have no lack! The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.

God is so good!  So, so, good!  His ways are good and His motives are good.  Many people don't

have an accurate understanding of who God is but if they really got to know the creator of the universe they would discover a God who has loved them even before they were born.  They would know a God who has great things in store for them!  Just like my niece telling my wife you need to eat this spinach too so should we be telling our friends and neighbors about the goodness of God and testify to His goodness and grace.

Many times we also haven't surrendered areas of our lives to God as we should.  Yes, He is our Lord and Savior but many times we don't fully trust Him.  I know I'm guilty of that.  Are there situations in your life that seem hopeless or out of control?  Many time when I've been in a place like that it's because I haven't done things God's way or sought His wisdom and will.  When I repented and surrendered it to God His goodness shone through.  I know God will do the same for you if you would taste and see His goodness in every situation.

Pause and reflect on these two things: 

1. Who do you know that needs to taste and see God's goodness?  Who needs to hear the good news of Jesus Christ crucified and Him raising from the dead?  

2. Is there something in your life that isn't lining up with God's will?  Are your ways His ways?  What do we need to repent of and taste and see God's goodness in an area of our life.

God is so good He proved it to us!  Our Lord and God Jesus Christ stepped out of heaven to live as one of us.  He lived a life without the experience of sin yet suffered the burden of all of our sin past, present, and future!  The sinless and holy God experience sin for the first and only time and then died with that sin on His shoulders to pay the penalty of our judgement.  We deserved nothing short of death for our sin but God, in His goodness, choose to make a way for us to be reconciled to Him.  Be thankful and reflect on all these things this week!