Obstacles as Opportunities: Preamble

Obstacles as Opportunities: Preamble.  The harvest is in. The barns are full. Turkey and deer find plenty of leavings in the corn fields to pack on winter weight before the cold sets in. Before rushing too quickly into singing carols like, “O Come All Ye Faithful,” congregations sing hymns like, “Come ye thankful people come / raise the song of harvest home. / All is safely gathered in / ere the winter storms begin.” Wood stoves and fallen leaves scent the air with nostalgia, that is, except for the air around the church building. The farmers around here are flinging slurry on their fields. If you need a definition of agricultural slurry, I trust you will find the answer on your first attempt. But suffice it to say, Norman Rockwell didn’t paint any canvases about spreading manure “ere the winter storms begin.”

In a sense, manure is often viewed as an obstacle to breathing deeply this otherwise perfect November air. It stinks literally and metaphorically, as if it were somehow unfair of the farmers to ruin Autumn for the rest of us. To the farmers, however, I presume that manure smells more like an opportunity for next spring’s crop than an obstacle to enjoying this year’s delights. Manure improves the soil. In due time, everyone benefits from improved soil, farmer or friend, though it stinks for a while. 

End-of-year at Grace Community Church brings a healthy rhythm, reviewing the past year and previewing the next year. Like most churches, we check the numbers, draft a budget, assess our strengths and weaknesses, consider course corrections, recommend additions and subtractions in programing, set the theme for emphasis in teaching and preaching, and establish some metrics by which we will measure if we are successful in the new year.

As we look back at 2024 and stare ahead into 2025, the Elders see struggle, mostly financial, ahead of us. Despite keeping to a very frugal budget in 2024, we have zeroed our church savings account, bleeding $500 per week all year long. Unless the Lord intervenes in the first part of 2025 with a windfall, we will have to make some difficult decisions regarding missions giving, rent, and payroll. But our Lord is the Intervener! Therefore, our first challenge in addressing this struggle is our mindset. Will we frame our financial limitations as an obstacle or an opportunity? Viewed as an obstacle, any course correction will feel punitive, even stinky, which is unfortunate and unnecessary. Viewed as an opportunity, which it is, all course corrections carry the optimism of an optimized harvest by this time next year.

Without struggle, we tend to coast. Any coasting I’ve ever known has been downhill. But with struggle, we have opportunities to climb: to respond by faith, to review our vision and mission, to renew our strength “mounting up with wings like eagles” (Isa. 40:31), and to reinvigorate our prayers as we “grow the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Pet. 3:18).

An Overview of the Lord's Supper (Part Two)

 An Overview of the Lord’s Supper (Part Two).  Compared to the central position that the Lord’s Supper holds in regular Christian worship, surprisingly few verses outside the four gospel accounts mention its observance. Though often pressed into a Communion application, John 6 does not mention the Communion ceremony.

Jesus explained to the Jewish crowds who had just eaten the miraculous meal of the loaves and fish, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves” (John 6:26). Instead of portraying Communion, Jesus pointed to himself. “I am the Bread of Life, whoever comes to me shall not hunger” (John 6:35). “Everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day” (John 6:40). The crowd understood what Jesus was saying about himself, he came from heaven (John 6:42), but misunderstood his imagery: “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” (John 6:52). They confused the subject with its metaphor.

The subject of John 6 is the person of Christ, not the work of Christ, per se. The metaphor of believing was eating. “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day” (John 6:53-54). Yet, the repeated phrase, “raise him up on the last day” (vv. 40, 54), clarifies the confusion. Belief in the Son is the point, not the eating of Communion. Ritual doesn’t impart eternal life, only belief in Jesus does.

One of the two passages outside the four gospel accounts that rightly mentions the Lord’s Supper is Acts 2:42-27. In it, the church found a summary of its four main activities: “they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers” (vs. 42). Because it appears in a list and uses the definite article, The Breaking of Bread operates like a proper name grammatically.

Verse 42, therefore, is unlike verse 46: “And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts.” Thus, the second mention of “breaking of bread” in this paragraph was not the Communion (vs. 42), but a general description that modified the main verb, received. In other words, The Breaking of Bread happened when they were gathered for worship service, whereas house-to-house meal sharing throughout the week characterized the early church.

The second passage is 1 Corinthians 10:14-22. The Communion illustrates Paul’s overall logic as to why the church should withstand the temptation to observe both paganism and Christianity simultaneously (i.e., syncretism). “Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry” (1 Cor. 10:14). “The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ?” (1 Cor. 10:16). The Communion is both communal and exclusive. “Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread” (1 Cor. 10:17). “You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons” (1 Cor. 10:21). Partaking any ceremonial table is an act of worship. Though idolatry is impotent (vs. 19), Christ will not share his glory with demons. He is rightly jealous for his people (vs. 22).

An Overview of the Lord's Supper (Part One)

An Overview of the Lord’s Supper (Part One).  Our Lord Jesus established two, enduring ordinances for the church to observe in perpetuity: water baptism and the celebration of the Lord’s Supper, or Communion (also called by some, the Eucharist). 

Water baptism happens once, usually marking the beginning of one’s Christian journey as a testimony of faith in Jesus as Savior. Communion, however, happens often with an unspecified frequency but a certain purpose: “As often as you eat this bread and drink this cup you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes” (1 Cor. 1:26). The central imagery for the Lord’s Supper is the shared meal. Christ’s table is set. God’s children are all invited to gather around. Communion is a family meal. 

Significant and sober but not necessarily somber, the meal looks back—“Do this in remembrance of me” (Luke 22:19)—and looks ahead—”For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes” (Luke 22:18). This meal is the rallying point for the church, its rehearsed center, and default setting.

In the Synoptics, the history-shifting ceremony was placed in its historical context (Matt. 26:26; Mark 14:22; Luke 22:19). Jesus commandeered the Jewish Passover Feast, which was quite a feat, since it unilaterally belonged to the Lord. “You shall keep it as a feast to the Lord” (Exo. 12:14). Jesus personally fulfilled Passover and reforged it as the ceremony of his New Covenant. “For Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed” (1 Cor. 5:7).

Instituted on the last night before his crucifixion, the Lord’s Supper was later infused with explanation. In his first epistle to the church at Corinth, Paul delivered a stinging rebuke for the misuse and misunderstanding of the Communion meal. “But in the following instructions I do not commend you, because when you come together it is not for the better but for the worse” (1 Cor. 11:17). But their errors gave occasion for a clarification of the Communion, which has ironically edified the church in every generation since the Corinthians botched the Communion.

They were using the Lord’s Supper at Corinth as a wedge to divide the church. The Lord’s Supper should unite the church, not further entrench factions within the church. To this grievous error Paul gives his sarcastic retort: “When you come together, it is not the Lord's supper that you eat” (1 Cor. 11:20). Call it something other than Communion, Corinthians, because there is neither communion with God nor community with one another. 

They were cliquish, which probably indirectly referred to a separation between Jews and Gentiles during the meal or to political parties in the church: “I follow Paul,’ or ‘I follow Apollos,’ or ‘I follow Cephas,’ or ‘I follow Christ’” (1 Cor. 1:12). But they were also selfish, cutting in line, overindulging, disallowing some to participate. “For in eating, each one goes ahead with his own meal. One goes hungry, another gets drunk” (1 Cor. 11:21).

Paul added a final application for the Corinthians with a very sharp edge. “Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord” (1 Cor. 11:27). Communion is about communion! If you mess with it, you mess with God at your own peril (see, 1 Cor. 11:30).

An Overview of Christian Baptism (Part Two)

An Overview of Christian Baptism (Part Two).  In addition to explaining what water baptism is, it is also important to explain what water baptism is not. Baptism in water is not baptism by the Spirit. All believers at the point of salvation are baptized into Christ by the Spirit; they are born again and become members of Christ’s body, the church. “For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit” (1 Cor. 12:13). Spiritual baptism, albeit unseen, is nevertheless true. Water baptism, therefore, as a symbolic act makes visible the believer’s otherwise invisible spiritual baptism. It displays to the world what has been declared by God. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Cor. 5:17).

In a way that no other Christian action can, water baptism professes to the world publicly what the believer has already confessed to God personally at conversion. Fundamentally, water baptism does not save anyone; it testifies that salvation has come to this person through his or her faith in Jesus alone. Water baptism is a sign, a symbol of identification. As with all biblical symbols and signs, the power remains in what is signified instead of how it signifies. Thus, there is no power in the water itself or the pronouncement of the words, but only in the object of our faith, Jesus Christ. “Everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved” (Rom. 10:13).

Additionally, water baptism is not the same as the command for the Christian to be repeatedly filled with the Spirit. “And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit” (Eph. 5:18). Being filled with the Spirit carries the idea of consciously yielding to the Spirit’s guidance, day-by-day, especially for the purpose of serving others in love. The altered state that comes from yielding to strong liquor (spirits) is the explicit counterfeit of being filled with the Spirit. Water baptism is distinct from being filled with the Spirit because it happens precisely once at the point of conversion; filling happens regularly.

Finally, if a person does not understand the gospel, then he or she cannot rightly believe the gospel. In such a state, any act of baptism would be meaningless. Case in point, Priscilla and Aquila exhort Apollos, although he knows of Messiah from the Old Testament promises up to the baptism of John, had never heard about Christ’s death, burial, resurrection, or ascension of Christ to the Father from where he sent the Holy Spirit to the church. Therefore, when Paul arrives to town, he quickly brings Apollos’ disciples (and presumably Apollos, too) up to speed regarding the redemptive work of Christ. “And he said, 'Into what then were you baptized?’ They said, 'Into John's baptism.' And Paul said, 'John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus.' On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus” (Acts 19:3-5). Baptism follows belief that Jesus is the sinner’s only hope in life or death.

An Overview of Christian Baptism (Part One)

An Overview of Christian Baptism (Part One).  Water baptism is an ancient ceremony in the church, the first of two ordinances instituted by Christ. The second ordinance is the Lord’s Supper, or Communion. Water baptism beautifully re-enacts the gospel and serves both as an introduction—the individual’s public profession of personal faith in Jesus—and an induction of the baptized person into Christ’s local church. “We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life” (Rom. 6:4). Baptism is all about belonging! You belong to Jesus, and you belong to everyone else who also belongs to Jesus.

The word baptism itself means to dip, immerse, wash. But as a concept, baptism entails much more than a water ritual. Rich in symbolism and diverse in tradition, while water baptism is not salvation, as the thief on the cross could not get baptized before Jesus promised, “Today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43), water baptism is usually the first act of obedience that a believer in Jesus takes after his or her conversion. This is sometimes called “believer’s baptism” (i.e., credo baptism), because it happens after a profession of belief in Jesus for forgiveness of sins and eternal life. Many born-again, Bible-believing Christians practice “infant baptism” (i.e., paedo baptism) in the Reformed tradition of inducting a child into the covenant community, much like circumcision did for the Jews. Quite distinct from that, though, the Bible gives no endorsement of “baptismal regeneration,” which is the false belief that the ritual of baptism imparts salvation, or any part of salvation.

Water baptism is the distinctly Christian rite that Jesus modeled and mandated as the new, normalized method of publicly identifying with Jesus and his church. In this sense, Peter spoke into one verse two distinct aspects of salvation, without confusing or confounding them, internal belief and external baptism. “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Act 2:38). The internal part, repent/believe, is primary. The external part, be baptized, is secondary since it bears testimony to belief. This is the normal beginning of the Christian journey, belief then baptism.

Like the Old Testament references to passing through the waters of the Red Sea (Psa. 78:13; Isa. 43:2), going under the water of baptism symbolizes descending into the grave. The sinner willingly joins Jesus’ death, sinking under the water, because he or she believes that Jesus willingly died as the perfect and only substitute for sin. “We have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died” (2 Cor. 5:14). Furthermore, just as Jesus did not remain dead, even so the believer does not stay under the water at baptism. By faith, he or she spiritually rises with Jesus in his resurrection. “And he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised” (2 Cor. 5:15).

Water baptism, therefore, declares publicly to the world what the Apostle Paul explained carefully to the church: “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Gal. 2:20). Water baptism depicts the believer’s unity with Jesus by faith through all the aspects of redemption—death, burial, and resurrection.

The Immeasurable Greatness of His Power

The Immeasurable Greatness of His Power.  Power is important, and increased power is sometimes essential to get a job done. But raw power, unless it is converted into a usable form, is unhelpful if not lethal. Hurricane Helene teaches us that lesson.

Like most people in Western NC who did not already own a generator before Helene, we bought a generator after Helene. But harnessing that generator to power the well pump and water pressure tank, the fridge and freezer, the stove and oven, the modem and router is the real trick. Having 5800 Watts, 30 Amps, and 240 Volts is completely useless until it has been converted into a useful form. Raw power is unforgiving.

Many trips to the hardware store showed me that several people were trying to do what I was attempting to do, to reverse-hook up a generator to power the house. Only a few of us could find the parts we needed as we commiserated in the electrical aisle! By the time I figure this power puzzle out, the electric company will probably have restored power to the community. Oh well, there will always be another storm to justify the purchase of a generator, though probably none in my lifetime as historically devastating as Helene.

A theological parallel to converting electrical power into a useful form was waiting for me in Ephesians 1:16-23. Like the raw power of electricity, but infinitely more so, God is inaccessible in his full strength. We who are weak cannot tie into his omnipotence without a mediator—a step-down transformer, so to speak. Jesus Christ made the raw power of God approachable. He who is great became small, so that we who are small might have a relationship with him who is great. Jesus did not become less powerful by becoming small; he became knowable, accessible. His omnipotence is now regulated through relationship.

Paul’s prayer for the church at Ephesus hints at this power conversion. “May God give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him … that you may know … what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe” (Eph. 1:17, 19). His great power “that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places” (vs. 20) is ever present, since God never ceases being God, but it is now directed (think: converted) toward us who believe in his Son! Omnipotence transformed to daily use! Paul’s prayer is that the church comes to understand that the same omnipotence that raised Christ from the dead is available to them and at work in them.

Who Is Man?

Who Is Man? (Colossians 1:21-29)

²¹ And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds,

²² he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him,

²³ if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.

²⁴ Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church,

²⁵ of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known,

²⁶ the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints.

²⁷ To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

²⁸ Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ.

²⁹ For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.