Song of the Drunkards

JESUS FACED A CONSIDERABLE AMOUNT OF OPPOSITION FOR HIS HARD WORDS AND UNFLINCHING DEVOTION TO YAHWEH. NO SURPRISE THEN IF WE FIND OUR NAME FESTOONED IN BARROOM BALLADS (CF. PS 69:12).

Wine in the Lord’s Supper

August 18, 2024 in Bible - NT - Matthew, Meditations, Worship

Matthew 26:26–29 (NKJV) 

26And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.” 27Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. 28For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. 29But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.”

Occasionally I find it helpful to explain some of the traditions that we use in our corporate worship. Today let us consider our practice of using wine in the Lord’s Supper. Why wine?

This is not merely an academic question. As your pastor, I know that many of you are tempted by alcohol; you have a history of alcohol abuse in your families or in your own life. Our use of wine in communion is for some of you a personal challenge. Further, we are part of a broader evangelical subculture which has a history of opposing alcohol. While Lutherans and Roman Catholics were almost uniformly critical of the prohibitionist movement in America, many of our evangelical forefathers jumped on the wagon. One of our Bryan family bibles includes a prohibitionist pledge.

So given these personal and historical factors, why do our elders persist in using wine? Why not just use grape juice? One of the questions that we evangelicals are known for asking is, “What would Jesus do?” In the matter of wine, the way to answer that question is to ask first, “What did Jesus do?” And the NT answers that question clearly: Jesus made wine, Jesus drank wine, and Jesus used wine to commemorate God’s salvation.

First, Jesus made wine. The first miracle that Jesus performed was turning water into wine at a wedding in Cana of Galilee. And, as the question that the master of the feast asks the groom makes plain, this wasn’t grape juice. “Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guest have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now!” (Jn 2:10) Jesus made excellent wine.

Second, Jesus drank wine. Jesus contrasts His ministry with that of John the Baptist in this way: “John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners’” (Mt 11:18-19). Jesus came drinking – and many accused Him of being a winebibber. Such an accusation would hardly make sense were Jesus known as a teetotaler. Jesus drank wine.

Finally, Jesus used wine to commemorate God’s salvation. When Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper, He used the fruit of the vine as a symbol of His shed blood. Refrigeration was not common in the ancient world. When the Bible references “the fruit of the vine”, therefore, it refers almost exclusively to wine. And if Jesus used wine to celebrate the Supper, why wouldn’t we?

So, what did Jesus do? He made wine, drank wine, and used wine to commemorate God’s salvation. And note well that Jesus did all this within a cultural context in which drunkenness was a common problem; He established this for His Church knowing that many of His disciples would be tempted by alcohol. So why did He do it? Why didn’t He just use water like the Mormons do?

Because in using wine within the context of the Supper, Jesus declared that wine in itself is good. The problem with humanity is not there in the cup; the problem is here in our hearts. Drunkenness – from wine or other alcohol – proceeds out of the heart (Mk 7:20-23). Therefore, by giving us wine for communion, by using wine in a holy, sacred context, Jesus is teaching us that it is possible for us to use and not abuse this gift to the glory of our Creator.

So what of you? Have you thanked God for the gift of wine even if you don’t personally drink it? Further, if you do drink it, have you been using wine to God’s glory or abusing it to your own shame? Reminded that God has given us wine to use to the honor of His Name and that we often deny or abuse His good gifts because our hearts are corrupt, let us confess our sin to the Lord. And as you are able, let us kneel as we confess.

Circumcision & Baptism

August 18, 2024 in Bible - NT - Colossians, Meditations

Colossians 2:11–12 

11In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, 12buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. 

This morning we have the privilege of baptizing Everett Byland & Lydia Eades. So why is a Bible-believing congregation baptizing an infant? Paul helps us answer this question by drawing a parallel between circumcision and baptism. Even as circumcision was applied to infants of believers in the old covenant, so baptism is applied to the infants of believers in the new.

This makes sense when we understand the nature of covenant signs: covenant signs are not first and foremost our word to God, our profession of faith, but God’s word to us, tangible representations of His promises. As the sign and seal of the new covenant, baptism guarantees that the promise of forgiveness offered through the death and resurrection of Jesus is from God Himself. Even as a Presidential seal guarantees that the message contained in the letter is from the President, so baptism guarantees us that the promise of the Gospel comes from God Himself, the Creator of heaven and earth. 

As we baptize Everett & Lydia this morning, therefore, God speaks to them and assures them of His grace and through this seal summons Everett & Lydia to trust Him and believe Him. In addition, God is reminding all who have been baptized of His promise: as surely as water cleanses the body, He will forgive and cleanse the one who trusts in the death and resurrection of His Son Jesus. So take your baptism seriously! The message it preaches has come directly from Almighty God!

The Public Reading of Scripture

August 11, 2024 in Bible - OT - Nehemiah, Meditations, Tradition

Nehemiah 8:5, 8

“Ezra opened the book [of the law] in the sight of all the people for he was standing above all the people; and when he opened it, all the people stood up. . . . They read from the book, from the law of God, translating to give the sense so that they understood the reading.”

Every church has traditions. They are unavoidable. They span from the type of music used in worship, to the clothes the preacher wears, to the time the Lord’s Supper is celebrated. Every church has traditions.

This realization should cause us some concern. For when we read the Gospels we find that Jesus issues some severe admonitions about the dangers of tradition. He warns that our traditions can become subtle or not-so-subtle ways to disobey the commandments of God. 

It is refreshing, therefore, when we read the Word of God and behold faithful traditions which have been established by our fathers in the past–traditions which do not violate but rather uphold God’s commandments. Such are the traditions in our text today from Nehemiah. There are three.

First, Ezra read from the book of the law. The law or Word of God, we are told repeatedly, is our wisdom, understanding, and life. It is this Word that conveys to us the truth of God and that is used by the Spirit of God to enliven us spiritually. Therefore, what better way to testify to this life transforming power of God’s Word than to read the Scriptures publicly in our worship?

Second, notice that in reading the Law, Ezra read it in such a way that the word was “translated to give the sense.” Have you ever wondered why we don’t read the Old Testament in Hebrew and the New Testament in Greek during our Sunday worship? Have you ever wondered why the Reformers objected to the Roman Church’s practice of reading the word of God exclusively in Latin? Here is your answer. When the law is read aloud, it is to be read in a manner which the people of God can understand. We must not erect traditions of language which preclude the people of God from accessing His Word. And so, our tradition is that we read the Word of God in English translation.

Third, notice that when Ezra opened the book of the law, the people of Israel stood up. Standing communicates respect, attentiveness, eagerness, and determination. It is, after all, at the most intense moments of an athletic competition that the spectators stand on their feet, on their tiptoes, straining to see the action. And when we stand for the reading of the Word we are communicating that here is one of the most central moments of worship. God is speaking to us—not through the frail mouth of the preacher, not through the symbolism of the sacrament, but through the living words of the text. 

The tradition of reading the Word of God week in and week out, therefore, upholds the centrality of God’s Word in our worship and lives. The Word of God is that which gives us focus, meaning, and direction. Apart from it we are no more than a rudderless ship. So Paul commands Timothy, “Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching” (ESV, 1 Tim 4:13). 

What then is to be our response to the reading? First, we are told in Nehemiah 8:3 that “all the people were attentive to the book of the law.” And this is our first obligation. We should be straining our ears to hear the words of the living God. Our ears should be attentive; all our being should be focused on God’s revelation of Himself.

Second, we should determine to give heed to that which we hear. We are told in the 12th verse of this same chapter that “all the people went away to eat, to drink, to send portions and to celebrate a great festival, because they understood the words which had been made known to them.” Having read the law’s regulations on the Feast of Booths, the people immediately set out to obey it. The people understood the law and gave heed to it. So ought we.

This reminds us that we often fail to give heed God’s Word as we ought. Our attention is often distracted when it is read. Our own opinions often intrude. Our heart often refuses to obey when we have heard. So, as you are able, let us kneel as we confess.