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August 03, 2008
Mixed Emotions at the Table
Romans 9: 1-16
delivered on August 3rd, 2008
During a Communion service I told the congregation to receive the body and blood of Christ with Joy. One of the church members later said that he had been taught to approach the Lord’s Supper with Sorrow for his sins and sorrow for the suffering of Christ and he found my exhortation to receive the meal with joy to be strange and even jolting.
I told him that I agree with him and his training, that we should approach the table with Sorrow and grief, but that I think there is also room for joy. I think that the Lord’s table is a place were we should have mixed emotions. As we come to this table there is reason for sorrow and joy
In the passage that I just read to you, St Paul was not writing about the Lord’s Supper, but in this passage I think the Holy Spirit working through St. Paul has given us a few things we might think about as we prepare to partake of the Lord’s Supper this morning.
First of all, Paul expresses a great sorrow that most of his fellow countrymen had not come to believe in Jesus and receive Salvation from him. Paul had been called to be the first major evangelist of the Gentiles, but he still felt a great sorrow for those Jews, people of his own race, who did not believe in Jesus.
He wrote that he would have been willing to surrender his own salvation if that would have brought them into God’s kingdom.
Now of course, the only person whose condemnation or suffering can bring us salvation is Jesus, and St. Paul knew that, but he loved his fellow Jews so much that he would have surrendered his eternal Salvation for their sakes if he could.
Which leads me to think that as we approach the Lord’s table, it is proper to be sorry for those who are not here. The majority of Jews today have not accepted Jesus as their savior. We should feel and express sorrow and concern for them as we approach this table.
They have been born into the group of people who received the OT ordinances of God. Their feasts and festivals point to the Savior, but they have not come to Him.
We need to pray that God will have mercy on more of the Jewish people and bring them to faith in Christ.
But Paul was not so concerned about the Jews only because they were the physical descendants of Abraham. He was sorrowful about them because they were HIS people.
We all have people. People we love. People we identify with. People we have come from and people who have come from us. And we all have people who are not here. Not only do they not come to Faith Church for Communion, they do not go to any church for communion because they do not believe in Jesus. When we come to eat this meal, we should be sorrowful that we do not share this Sacrament, this salvation with them.
The cause of Christ might be well served if we were willing to sacrifice our eternal salvation for our people if we could, if we could realize that we loved them that much.
In the 6th – the 12th verses of this passage, Paul expounds on the reasons why the unbelief of the majority of the Jews does not constitute an unfaithfulness of God’s plan. To put it simply, not all of the chosen people are chosen. They never were. Of Abraham’s sons, only one was chosen. Of Isaac’s twin sons, only the younger was chosen.
Those who were truly chosen were chosen long before they were born, so it had nothing to do with any merit on their part. Those who are saved are saved because of God’s Mercy.
And that is a reason to rejoice as we prepare to celebrate the Lord’s Supper. We are here because we believe. We believe because God in his mercy chose us to believe. It had nothing to do with us personally. We were no better than others or no more worthy than others. We have been given God’s Salvation through the death and resurrection of Jesus.
As we eat and drink this meal and look forward to the great wedding feast in the kingdom of God we should be grateful and rejoice because we are the recipients of God’s Mercy.
And we should be sorrowful because of the sufferings of Jesus and because of those who are not yet a part of God’s kingdom. As we commune it is proper to pray that God will show mercy and give faith to more of his people, the Jews, and to more of our people, those whom we love and desire to be a part of God’s eternal kingdom.
Let us pray,
Almighty God, We thank you for extending your mercy to us and inviting us into your eternal kingdom. We also pray that you will extend your mercy to more of your people and to our people.
Pastor David Horner
Posted by faithpres at August 3, 2008 05:22 PM