Why are we here?Are we here just to make officially certain Jesus hears our shopping list? Is our prayer life, our spiritual life and especially our church life some sort of perverse, shallow and ultimately unrewarding one way conversation? When was the last time Jesus truly got a word in? When was the last time we allowed Jesus to have the final “amen” on almost any conversation?
Or maybe we’re here today out of some misguided sense of religious duty; convinced God will like us better and perform for us more dramatically if we’re dutiful in our church attendance and daily doses of religious stuff. Although we would never admit it, do we almost view spiritual life and especially church participation as sort of a house payment? Make your regular payments or mean, old God might just foreclose on the Hanson house!
Or are we just plain consumers of religion? Are we here to get our weekly spiritual fix? Are we here for the very polite game show we’ve grown accustomed to watching? Is spiritual life nothing but a long series of stunningly selfish, almost completely consumer driven decisions – what have you done for me lately, God? What have you done for me lately, pastor? What have you done for me lately, church? What have you sung for me? How have you pleased me? How have you honored my shallow whims? Don’t you dare disagree with me, challenge me or, heaven forbid, interfere with any of my personal plans for the day! I can always go to WalMart! I can always change the channel! I can click away from you in the blink of an eye!
Why in the world are we here? Why are we doing the things we’re doing?
Twisted spiritual motivations have always been a problem for the human race. Ever since Adam and Eve selfishly wrecked us in the Garden we have been foolishly, rebelliously trying to control things. We have always treated Almighty God like a vending machine or a magic trick. We have always teased ourselves into believing salvation, spiritual depth and true significance come only through dutiful, joyless religious performance. And we have always, always, always treated Almighty God selfishly – we are always struggling against our sinful desire for a carefully controlled spiritual life. Folks, just because we’ve found new and slicker ways to be selfish and controlling doesn’t mean our spiritual selfishness is a new thing.
So what are we to do?
For the next several weeks, I’d like to offer one very simple answer. Be baptized! Be completely, truthfully, wonderfully, in every glorious sense of the word, baptized! Not in some empty, squabbling religious or denominational sense, but in the gorgeous way Jesus meant.
Have you ever wondered why, among all the teachings of Jesus, the communion table and baptismal waters passed down to us as ordinances in the church? Some Christian groups have even gone so far as to make them sacraments; necessary for salvation itself. Why?
There are lots of complex historical and theological explanations for this. But for the next several weeks, I’d to suggest a very simple answer. I believe both the Lord’s Table and our baptism are fully intended by God to smack our persistent selfishness right in the face! I believe these two ordinances are spiritually perfect metaphors for what God wants in our lives.
Think deeply for a moment. As we gather around the Lord’s Table, as we will do in just a moment, we are remembering the ultimate selfless act. Metaphorically, we are selflessly, gratefully and prayerfully remembering and embracing the gruesome death of the One who selflessly embraced death for us. We are remembering our Lord’s death until He comes. We are remembering and honoring the One who loved, remembered and honored us first; and did so before there was anything lovable, memorable or honorable about us.
And as we are baptized; oh, as we are fully and completely baptized, we are selflessly embracing not only His self-sacrificing death, but we are fully and selflessly embracing His resurrected life, in the full hope and expectation we too will be raised to new life. We will attempt to explore these beautiful baptismal themes exhaustively in the next few weeks.
But this is not a conversation without struggle. Predictably, our enemy does not want us reclining at this table with Jesus or fully embracing any baptism in His name. Given the deep significance of these ordinances, tension in our discussion should come as no surprise. So even though we are not going to be talking about a particular baptismal method or its relationship to church membership at all in this series, I want to do something different this morning.
As we gather around our Lord’s Table today, I want us to use our communion moment to prayerfully prepare ourselves for our baptismal study series. In Luke 22:7-20, we read:
Then came the day of Unleavened Bread on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, "Go and make preparations for us to eat the Passover." "Where do you want us to prepare for it?" they asked. He replied, "As you enter the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him to the house that he enters, and say to the owner of the house, 'The Teacher asks: Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?' He will show you a large upper room, all furnished. Make preparations there." They left and found things just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover. When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. And he said to them, "I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God." After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, "Take this and divide it among you. For I tell you I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes." And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me." In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.
Please prayerfully notice and apply four simple things in this familiar passage today.
First of all, please notice there were preparations involved in advance of this moment. Just as there were preparations required for this original Lord’s Table Passover meal, I believe there are prayerful and biblical study preparations required in our lives for our baptismal study series together this month. Ask the LORD to reveal what those preparations might be.
Secondly and very closely related, please prayerfully notice Jesus made and will always wonderfully make, in one way or another, with or without any human assistance, all the preparations we’ll ever need. Ask the LORD to miraculously prepare your pastor, your church and, most importantly, your own heart for the biblical meal He has planned for us this month.
Thirdly, please notice how Jesus lovingly longs to share this table and His life with His disciples. Please be prayerfully encouraged this morning in knowing Jesus longs to share all good things with us too. Ask the LORD for that same desire to share our lives with Him.
And then fourth and finally, let’s pray Almighty God would help us this month better understand and remember the full meaning of the body and blood of His Son, not simply today in our quiet communion remembrance, but this month in our baptismal study series together. Pray God would help us transcend ourselves and see all these things through His eyes.
May Almighty God help us put away our shopping lists and selfishness this month!
