Sharing Christ Jesus

 

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered on Sunday morning, World Communion Sunday, the 1st of October, 2023, at Pilgrim Reformed Church.  A recording should be available on our YouTube streaming channel: 

https://www.youtube.com/@pilgrimreformedchurch1992/streams.]

Family, as I mentioned, this is World Communion Sunday when Christians all over the world observe the sacrament of Holy Communion.  We will all be partaking of the sacred elements - the body of Jesus, broken for us; His blood, poured out for us - remembering the sacrifice He made for us.  And as we eat the bread and drink of the cup, we will be sharing Christ Jesus with one another.

The Apostle Paul wrote two letters to the church in Corinth.  Well… let me correct that…  Paul actually wrote three letters to that church family, but the first was lost, so what we call 1st Corinthians was really the second letter.  Now Paul knew they never received that first letter because of a letter they sent to him, describing issues and asking questions, some of which should have been answered.

The church was suffering through problems of immorality and divisions within the church family.  They had questions about the resurrection and about marriage and worship and even food.  In many ways, they were not all that different from the church today.  So Paul wrote another first letter to them, in which he addressed their concerns, giving practical advice on dealing with their spiritual and moral problems and questions.

Please listen and follow along to verses 13 through 24 of the 10th chapter of Paul’s 1st received Letter to the Corinthians, and I’ll be reading from the Easy-to-Read Version of our Holy Bible this morning…

13 The only temptations that you have are the same temptations that all people have. But you can trust God. He will not let you be tempted more than you can bear. But when you are tempted, God will also give you a way to escape that temptation. Then you will be able to endure it.

14 So, my dear friends, stay away from worshiping idols. 15 You are intelligent people. Judge for yourselves the truth of what I say now. 16 The cup of blessing that we give thanks for is a sharing in the blood sacrifice of Christ, isn’t it? And the bread that we break is a sharing in the body of Christ, isn’t it? 17 There is one loaf of bread, so we who are many are one body, because we all share in that one loaf.

18 And think about what the people of Israel do. When they eat the sacrifices, they are united by sharing what was offered on the altar. 19 So, am I saying that sacrifices to idols are the same as those Jewish sacrifices? No, because an idol is nothing, and the things offered to idols are worth nothing. 20 But I am saying that when food is sacrificed to idols, it is an offering to demons, not to God. And I don’t want you to share anything with demons. 21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and then go drink a cup that honors demons. You cannot share a meal at the Lord’s table and then go share a meal that honors demons. 22 Doing that would make the Lord jealous. Do you really want to do that? Do you think we are stronger than He is?

23 “All things are allowed,” you say. But not all things are good. “All things are allowed.” But some things don’t help anyone. 24 Try to do what is good for others, not just what is good for yourselves.

--1 Corinthians 10:13-24 (ERV)

Let us pray…  heavenly Father, You gave Your own Son up as a sacrifice that we might be forgiven of our sin.  Only a blood sacrifice can atone us, and Jesus shed His blood for us.  Thank You, Father, for loving us this much.  Sadly, though, Father, there are many who do not know of Your mercy and Your truth.  And there are too many who refuse to accept the truth even when they have been told it.  Forgive them, Father, for we still don’t always know what we’re doing.  Please help us reach out to the non-believers.  Help us share Your love with them.  And please protect us, Father, from those who serve Satan and carry out his evil deeds.  Remind us that You will help us resist the devil and endure to the end.  And Father, please keep us strong in our faith, of one mind and one purpose in our love, worship, and service, and healthy and safe in the days ahead.

Speak to us now, Father, that we might hear Your voice through Your Spirit within us and better understand the message You have for us this day.  Please help us see how some of our behavior does not please You.  Help us turn from our idols and worship only You.  This we pray in the precious name of Your Son, Christ Jesus our Lord.   Amen.

Author Dan Bernard once wrote, “Remember putting your face above a headless frame painted to represent a muscle man, a clown, or even a bathing beauty?  Many of us have had our pictures taken this way, and the photos are humorous because the head doesn't fit the body.  If we could picture Christ as the head of our local body of believers, would the world laugh at the misfit?  Or would they stand in awe of a human body so closely related to a divine head?”

They used to be quite common at attractions all over but you don’t see those cut-out figures much anymore.  The last ones I remember were from many years ago when we were visiting Erin in Vermont and we toured the Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream Factory.  They’d have these silly figures cut from plywood and painted and with a hole cut out for your face.  You’d stand behind the figure and stick your face in the hole and your friends and relatives would laugh and take pictures – great fun.

Mr. Bernard is imagining a cut-out figure of the church, with the head of Jesus showing through the hole.  Would the world laugh at this sight, he asks?  Would it look as funny and out of place as one of us with our face on the muscle man or bathing beauty figure?  Would people laugh at it?  Or would they stand in awe at how well that divine head seemed to fit that human body?

Today, family, the entire body of Jesus is joined together by Holy Communion.  How does the world see us?

Paul opened our scripture passage this morning talking about temptation, and I included it on purpose.  We may not often associate temptations with Paul and his works or his writings, but the reality is that the Apostle must have resisted many temptations in his walk with Jesus.  Think about all the times he was shipwrecked, beaten, imprisoned, spit at and cursed and chased out of town, or run out before the mob could get to him.  Don’t you think he was probably often tempted just to chuck it all, to quit this insanity, settle down, get a real job, and lead a normal life?

Paul knew full well, through his own experiences, that God will not let us be tempted more than we can bear.  And when we are tempted, our heavenly Father will help us resist, giving us a way to escape the temptation and turn away from it.  Then we can endure, just like he did.

And what are some of our temptations?  The Christians in Corinth had many, including the worshiping of idols and false gods.  In this regard, not much has changed.  We, too, have many temptations thrown at us today, and we, too, still struggle with worshiping idols.  Our idols may not be graven images, carved from wood or stone as objects of our worship.  But whatever we give our heart to, whatever we put ahead of God in our life, it is our idol, and it is a temptation held out before us by the devil, to take our heart away from God.

We cannot worship God and the devil both – it’s one or the other.  When we give in to these temptations, making sacrifices of our time and resources to our idols and taking spiritual, emotional nourishment from them, we are in effect worshiping the devil and not God.

Jesus, the Bread of Life, allowed His body to be broken, taking our sin upon Himself.  The Living Water allowed His blood to be shed for our atonement, that we might never thirst again.  This is the bread and the cup we share this morning.  We must not share a meal at our Lord’s table and then go share a meal that honors demons and the devil.  Trust solely in God, and He will help us resist these temptations, showing us the way to escape them.

A little later on, Paul gives us a bit more insight into the problem of trying to worship God while we still give of ourselves to our idols.  In his follow-up letter to the church in Corinth, from 2nd Corinthians chapter 6, in verse 14 through the first part of verse 16, Paul says…

14 You are not the same as those who don’t believe. So don’t join yourselves to them. Good and evil don’t belong together. Light and darkness cannot share the same room. 15 How can there be any unity between Christ and the devil? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? 16 God’s temple cannot have anything to do with idols, and we are the temple of the living God.

--2 Corinthians 6:14-16a (ERV)

When we accepted Jesus as our Lord and Master, we were made new.  We’re no longer the same as the world’s people, those who don’t believe.  So we shouldn’t act like them!  We’re not like them now, we don’t belong with them.  We can’t let their ways become our ways.  We need to influence them, not the other way around.

Now this doesn't mean we shouldn't try to reach out to sinners.  Jesus Himself did just that.  Listen to what the Apostle Matthew recorded for us in the 9th chapter of his Gospel account, verses 10 through 13…

10 Jesus ate dinner at Matthew’s house. Many tax collectors and others with bad reputations came and ate with Him and His followers. 11 The Pharisees saw that Jesus was eating with these people. They asked His followers, “Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and other sinners?”

12 Jesus heard them say this. So He said to them, “It is the sick people who need a doctor, not those who are healthy. 13 You need to go and learn what this Scripture means: ‘I don’t want animal sacrifices; I want you to show kindness to people.’ I did not come to invite good people. I came to invite sinners.”

--Matthew 9:10-13 (ERV)

Jesus associated with sinners – with worldly people – all the time.  But He did not let their habits and behavior rub off on Him.  Instead, He influenced them, greatly.

We, too, can reach out to the unbelievers, we just need to be careful not to let their ways become our ways.  It’s fine to go to a ball game or a race, just don’t let it become passion that takes you away from worshiping God and doing His work.  We need to remember that not all things are good, not all things help anyone.

Jesus didn’t tell us to go and associate with other Christians and tell each other about how Christ has saved us.  Although that is a good activity and it helps encourage us, it is not our primary job.  We are to go to the sick in spirit, those who need the great Healer, and show them mercy and kindness.  Let’s invite them to share this meal with us, to share Christ Jesus and His love, to share salvation.

In a few minutes, we will share the bread and the cup, and then we’ll sing a hymn, just like Jesus and His friends did so long ago.  By this Communion, we are all joined together with one another and with our Lord.  The Apostle Paul warns us not to come to this table until we are right with God.  So please take this time to silently confess any wrongs to our Father God and seek His forgiveness.  Remember what Jesus did for us, for you and for me.  He died just for you, just for me, so that we might live.

In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord, the one true Son of God.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Almighty God, thank You for giving us chance after chance to do the right thing.  Thank You for helping us stand against the devil and resist the temptations he holds out before us.  Too many time, though, we slip and let our pastimes take a more prominent role in our lives.  Too often our hearts are given to things and purposes not serving You, or own little idols.  Forgive us those times, please Father, when we don’t put You first.  Please help us set aside our desires for worldly things.  Help us better see the ultimate benefit and joy that comes from serving You.  And please help us to not be afraid to share our Lord Jesus with others, sharing Your love, so that they too may be saved by Your mercy and grace.  And Father, please shield us from Satan as he attacks our faith and tries to pull us away from You.  Help us be better servants, glorifying You in all we do so that the world can see You in us, through our deeds, in how we live.  And help us remain strong, faithful, and true to You in all things, no matter what the world throws at us or holds out before us.

Please hear us now, Father, as we pause for just a moment to speak to You through Your Spirit within us, promising to be more obedient to Your commands, and seeking Your help to do so…

Lord Jesus, You allowed Your body to be broken, Your blood to be spilled, just so that we could be forgiven of our disobedience to God.  You gave everything for us.  Thank You, Lord, for Your sacrifice made just for us.  We pray, dear Lord, that we can show as much love for others as You have for us.  Please, Jesus, help us reach out to the non-believing world, sharing Your story with the lost.  Help us show them Your love.  And help us endure any persecution our efforts may bring.  Shield our minds and our hearts from the world’s lies and empty promises.  Guide us around all the devil’s traps and snares.  Help us see though his temptations.

And Jesus, please help us be faithful and true to You, putting all our trust in You, all our hope in You.  Please heal the hurts that separate and divide us one from another.  Help us keep our focus on the things of heaven and the needs of others rather than on anything this life might offer.  This we pray in Your blessed name, Christ Jesus our Lord and our Savior.  Amen.