My apologies for the lapse in my writing – the effects of heavy demands from employers for my time over this weekend had me reeling. I'm just now getting back to "normal" sleep/meal patterns.
My little addition to Our Daily Bread (12/7/11):
For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes. (1 Corinthians 11:26 HCSB)
My generation (with war experience only of Desert Shield, Storm and 9/11 aftermath) may not grasp the importance this day has held for this nation for nearly two-thirds of a century. Though it is with limited understanding of the cost, I salute those who willingly and/or dutifully risked and gave everything in service to this nation. It bothers me that failure to set aside time to remember things like the momentous happenings of 12/7/1941 has led to entitlement and self-focused attitudes for those my age and younger. It is imperative that we remember the cost of freedom, for if we disrespect and forget the price paid by past generations, we will doom our children to repay the price (with decades of inflation).
I agree with what Randy Kilgore said in today's ODB about Christ instituting "the Eucharist" (while not the common Protestant term, I like it because it "is derived from Greek "εὐχαριστία" (transliterated as "eucharistia"), which means thankfulness, gratitude, giving of thanks" according to Wikipedia). But I feel it was not only a way to institute of remembrance, it was a teaching tool. Remember that Christ stated "Don't assume that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill." (Matt 5:17 HCSB) As Christians, we sometimes forget that the bread and cup were at the table set for Christ and his disciples to eat the Passover Feast. Just as sailors saluting at the rail sailing into Pearl Harbor act as bridge between the past and present, this table was similar for a Jew. Christ not only made a remembrance ritual for us now in future generations looking back, but He did so by tying it to the remembrance of redemption that had been in place for generations in Israel. Just as they were reminded of the miraculous salvation of the Jewish people from slavery in Egypt through the blood of an unblemished lamb, Christ showed his disciples precisely what He was doing: Fulfilling all that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob had been doing throughout history. As we come into Christmas and the time we remember His incarnation, let's not forget that God provided His perfect, unblemished Lamb (in a livestock shed welcomed by shepherds) to pay the debt once for all that we might also be saved from slavery.
This is what I saw, so I would echo the challenge from today's ODB:
Action Suggestion:
Read with fresh eyes the detailed instructions Scripture
offers for the Lord's Supper in 1 Corinthians 11, and
experience anew its power in your spiritual journey.
- Andy Jentes
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