Tired, Not Really!

2 Corinthians 4:8-10 Paul writes, “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.”

I am tired. Just when I think I have gotten some energy back, I’m tired again. I think there are more people who are tired than there are who have energy. Just look at all of the energy drinks out there. There are tons of them, from purely chemical to purely organic, from some with tropical rainforest fruits to straight corn syrup, you can find an energy drink to suit anyone. Why are there so many energy drinks? Because people are tired.

Paul’s words to the Corinthians shows me why I’m so tired. Afflicted, perplexed, persecuted, struck down, carrying death and carrying life. Just reading those words make me tired. How about you? It is the life of the sinner saint, the paradox of Christian existence that wears down the human soul and body. Luther wrote in the Large Catechism about this very thing. The human becomes a target of an enemy that never sleeps nor grows weary. Temptations pop up constantly, like little advertisements on your computer. Just when you click one away, a new one is there. What do you do when you can’t stop them from coming? You shut off the computer and retreat.

When the afflictions, perplexing things, persecution and blows come, you and I as mere human beings cannot withstand them on our own. We run to the death and resurrection of Jesus, the death and life of our Savior that we carry within us. We run to the Lord’s Prayer. That is why we are not crushed, driven to despair, forsaken, nor destroyed. Because if we, through baptism, have been tied to a death like Jesus, we will surely be raised up to new life like him. The sinner/ saint paradox is what it is.

But we still get tired. Spiritual fatigue shows itself often in physical fatigue, at least it does with me. When my spirit is flagging, my body is flagging. That’s when I go to the store and buy a concoction of chemistry and mystical rainforest fruit. I think it’s more psychological than it is real. That feeds my body and wakes it up, but it does nothing for my soul. I pray for the life of Jesus to be manifested in my body. Wow, what a prayer! My soul will grow weary, but Jesus never tires.

Would you be so bold as to pray that prayer with me? As more and more of us suffer from a tired soul, would you pray that the life of Jesus would be manifested, would show itself in your body? Let’s see what the Lord has in store with that one!

Heavenly Father, though we grow tired from the constant battle, the death and life every day, we pray that through the power of your Holy Spirit, that the life of your Son, Jesus would be made manifest in our bodies today! Amen, Amen, Amen!

Making a Statement

1 Corinthians 11:26 Paul writes: For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

What is it about you that makes a statement? For some, it’s the clothes they wear. The more expensive, the more fashionable, the flashier the clothes, the louder the statement. What do your clothes say about you? What does your car say about you? What does your house say about you? Think about the statement you make every time you walk out the door. “Well, I’m not trying to make a statement. I just wanted to go get a loaf of bread,” you might say. That may be true, but the fact is that everything about you makes a statement of some kind or another.

Statements are open to interpretation, though. They are often misinterpreted and misunderstood. Paul was writing to the Corinthian church because their practice of the Lord’s Supper was making the wrong statement. It showed him that they didn’t really get what it was all about and that they were making a mockery of the sacrament. Some where pigging out while others were going hungry. Some were getting drunk while others were left thirsty. Not only were they getting in trouble with Paul but they were thumbing their noses at God, and he wouldn’t stand for it.

“For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.” If you’re making fun of this stuff now, what statement are you making about the sacrifice of Christ and his forgiveness. He called them to account and with brutal honesty, told them they’d better shape up.

When you come to the Lord’s table for communion, you are making a statement. Whether you think so or not, you are. When you stand at the altar, you are proclaiming the death and resurrection of Christ for the forgiveness of sins, not only in your life, but in the lives of all those around you. When you come to the table, it’s not just a you-and-Jesus thing. It’s a you-and-me-and-Jesus thing. We stand together, proclaiming our faith in Jesus and our thankfulness for all that he has done and continues to do for us. When you come with hands open, you make a statement that you stand with the church that feeds you. This is where it gets sticky. Do you believe what this church believes about what you are eating and drinking? I suppose you are free to make up in your mind what you think you believe about it all, but you’re also free to be very wrong about it and thus, run the risk of being like the Corinthians. I’ll ask once again: what statement are you making when you stand before the altar and share in the feast of the Lord’s Supper?

Through faith in Christ, the gift of the Holy Spirit, we are fed with the bread of life for the forgiveness of our sins, the strengthening of our faith, for eternal life and for salvation.

Heavenly Father, through the sacrificial death and glorious resurrection of your Son, Jesus, we are mercifully given forgiveness, life and salvation. Strengthen us by your Spirit to come to your Holy Supper in humbleness and in faith. Until we feast in the heavenly kingdom, in Jesus’ name, amen.

Scandalous!

John 6:58 Jesus said, “This is the bread that came down from heaven, not as the fathers ate and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” Jesus said these things in the synagogue, as he taught in Capernaum.

“Did you hear what he said?” Scandalous! Top scandals always revolve around celebrities, politicians and sports stars. We eat this stuff up, too. We love a good scandal. We love to see the mighty brought low, those who think they’re untouchable exposed. Scandalous. Until the scandal is brought home, then, we don’t like it so much and wish everyone would just stay out of our business. Hmmm. Something doesn’t seem quite right. Even the simplest things can be made scandalous. Innocent pictures, benign letters written, all can be turned into something scandalous.

Jesus turns bread into something scandalous. I think he does it on purpose. I don’t think it was an accident that Jesus took something like manna and bread and made it into something shocking. The people needed to be shocked. They needed a wake up. They needed to have the ordinary turned extraordinary. “And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” Yikes! Yuck! What?! Bread becomes flesh? Scandalous. Our precious manna, first turned to Jesus and now, quite literally to his flesh, the meat of his bones.

Yet out of this scandalous talk of flesh, blood, eating and drinking come the words of eternal life, as Peter confesses later. The living Father gives life to Jesus and Jesus, through his flesh and blood sacrifice on the cross, gives life to you and me. These are incredible words of eternal life for you and me today. Despite the scandal of food, flesh and blood, Jesus promises life from them. Jesus says that the words he speaks are spirit and life. They are the air we breathe.

Jesus is still scandalous today, isn’t he? I mean, we can talk about all kinds of things that for all intents and purposes should offend us, but when it comes to talking about Jesus, it can be incredibly scandalous. People are not offended by the amount of sex, drugs, death and violence on TV, but put Jesus on there and “Oh My bleep” Who do those Christians think they are? Scandalous. Spirituality is great as long as you don’t mention Jesus. He’s scandalous, because he says he is the only way to the Father. Does any of this really make sense at all?

I want to take a quick survey, but you don’t have to raise your hand. What are the things that are scandalous to talk about in church? Money, politics, sex? What are the things that are scandalous to talk about in the “outside” world? Jesus, church, faith. Again, HUH?

Jesus is Scandalous. He takes bread, food, and makes it scandalous. He takes the common and scandalizes people with them. And Peter makes a confession that sticks with us today: Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed and come to know that you are the Holy One of God. The words of eternal life are scandalous. They are scandalous because they do what they say. His words spoken effect what they are speaking. When he says, “I forgive you.” You are forgiven. When he says, “This is my body,” it is what he says. It’s scandalous because words represent what they are spoken about, they don’t become the very thing. But with Jesus, they do.

Which leads me to the scandal of the Lord’s Supper. Whether Jesus was trying to clue the world in with this discussion in John is still up for debate. To me, the debate doesn’t matter much. The Lord’s Supper is a scandal in itself. Bread and wine become body and blood, solely based on Jesus’ scandalous words. It is the true body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ under the bread and wine, instituted by Christ Himself for us Christians to eat and to drink. That’s straight out of the catechism. This body and blood, this flesh and blood, this living bread is given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins, for life and for salvation. That is scandalous.

And all y’all are wrapped up in the scandal. Simply sitting in this place puts you in the midst of one of the longest running scandals in the history of creation. It puts you in the middle of the sinner/saint scandal, of those who don’t live a life that measures up to the scandalous standards of the Father and yet the very same that Jesus died for. How scandalous is it to be a Christian? Jesus asks the twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” Are you scandalized by me? But you’re here, now, in this place because you are not scandalized by Jesus and his words. You are forgiven, not forsaken. Scandalous!