Communion Meditation

I have the honor of presenting the communion meditation at our church this week. This is what I will be presenting:

This mornings’ Communion Meditation is directed at all of us who strive to be our best, but who are continually disheartened by the results. For those of us who fall short of our own expectations, again and again, often not only letting ourselves down, but others we love in the process. I am here this morning, as exhibit A, so to speak, of such a person and to encourage you to meditate on the truly fantastic place you are at, Spiritually, if all you have tried has failed you. You are in the Perfect place, as your non-perfect self, to see the amazing power of God working in your life.


2 Corinthians 12:9But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.

Here we learn of a supernatural law. Just as in the natural world, there are laws like the law of gravity or the law of motion. Heat plus water creates steam. Cold plus water creates ice. Human weakness plus God’s grace creates power. The power to do and be that which we humanly cannot accomplish or become.

Power= Dynamus, the power to get the job done, the energy needed to accomplish the task. Human failure and suffering and imperfection allow the Devine power, placed within us through the Holy Spirit to be seen at work, without the chance for any misunderstanding or false human credit. “This power did not come from this man, we can say, no matter how great a man he is, because at this point, at this moment, he is unable to accomplish even the smallest thing.”

Jesus, according to theologians, lived the perfect life, the sinless life, but his story was less than ideal. His ending, though fulfilling the prophecies and the purposes of God, was less than “acceptable” by most people’s standards of a perfect life. What would be your perfect way of dying? Steve Irwin, the crocodile hunter, sadly died earlier this month. He died in a way that his own Father said he would have wanted to die, doing what he loved. Personally, my perfect way of dying would have to include a scene where I was in my own bed, surrounded by my children, my grands and great grands, singing me into the courtroom of Heaven, the day after my 105th birthday celebration.

Now that you have thought of your own ideal ending, think about the humility of our Savior, picture him, if you will, in his last moments on the cross: Does this portray the picture of a successful World Leader? Does this bloody crucifixion of a naked Rabbi have the markings of a “perfect” game plan to save the world? In fact, this clever disguise of true power was one of the main things that confounded the King seeking Jews. Those awaiting a Messiah who would be Kingly and Stately and Warlike, missed the suffering servant King suffering before their very eyes.

In the book of Luke, Jesus invites us to partake in a memorial or remembrance of him:
do this in remembrance of me…
I grew up in the Lutheran church, my pastor always wore these beautiful robes, which he changed for the different seasons of the Christian Calendar. He would stand up front, like a royal being and with flowing sleeves, giving us the bread and the grape juice each Communion. It kind of seems like an oxymoron of sorts. The kingly beauty of the broken flesh and the dripping blood. What if the symbols for this remembrance ceremony we perform each week were the placement of a golden crown and the dawning of a royal robe on each one of us? Wouldn’t that seem like a more fitting way to remember the King of Kings?

But let us remember our suffering King, who allowed us to see, through this window of utter weakness and humility, the Dynamus of His Father God, by becoming nothing so that we could know the power of Grace. The power that propels us and pushes us to heights far above our own capabilities.

Luke 22:19-20
19And 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." 20In 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.