More Than Meets The Eye
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
February 17, 2013 - Pastor Dale
Scripture Reading: 1Cor. 10: 16 – 21 & 26
Today we will celebrate the Eucharist – this Christ ordained ordinance of the Christian church. It may
be identified as the communion service,
the table of the Lord, the covenant meal of the church –none of which is
without merit. I personally prefer the term Eucharist
because it simply means ‘thanks’ or ‘the
giving of thanks.’ If this act of worship is
about anything at all it seems to me it is about and must always be about
thanksgiving; a grateful heart for all that God has provided for us in and
through the finished work of
redemption accomplished by His Holy Son, Jesus Christ the Lord of
all.
Before coming to Paul’s words written to the
Corinthianchurch I want us to
reference Heb.11:3. I will present
this from a couple of translations, and then announce my
theme.
Heb.11:3 It is by faith that we understand that the world was
fashioned by the word of God, so that that which is seen came into being out of that which is unseen.
(Barclay)
And it is only by faith that our minds accept as fact that the
whole universe was formed by God’s command – that the world which we
can see has come into being through what is invisible. (JB
Phillips)
Theme: “More Than Meets the Eye”
One of the issues we are always up against in
education is the conflict between science and faith. At the heart of that
conflict is the fact that science is
limited to the physical, material order of the visible universe, while faith
connects us with the invisible universe of S/spirit. According to the known
laws of science it is impossible for a human being to walk on water. But
according to the Biblical record both the very physical Christ and his very
physical disciple, Simon Peter, did.
For those of us who accept the authority of
scripture we are left to conclude that such a miraculous event indicates that
there must be another realm – another reality – and that it transcends , is
greater than and cannot be confined to this visible, material order. And of
course, this means it is beyond the possibility of scientific explanation.
Hebrews 11:3deals with these two realities or realms; it gives us the order of
these two realms as well as the relationship between them.
It is clear that there are two distinct
universes as to nature and function. The one is invisible/ unseen and entirely
S/spirit in nature and being. The second is visible/seen and entirely
material/physical. This Hebrews
text tells us that the invisible realm of S/spirit existed before the material
realm. It also tells us that the material
universe did not evolve progressively out of itself but that it came out‘of that which is unseen.’(Barclay) OR
‘has come into being through what is
invisible.’ (JB Phillips).
Based on this text (and certainly many many
others) it has to be concluded that the real world is S/spirit. By “real world”
I mean the world that existed before time, that continues to exist throughout
time and will eternally exist beyond time. We can also conclude that because the
origin of this seen realm is the invisible realm of S/spirit then that realm of
S/spirit is greater than and transcendent of the material realm. You cannot
confine the S/spirit world by any material
structures.
Believe me, I am not of those who justify
ignorance in education and science in the name of religion and who take great
pride in doing so. We need to thank our God for all true scientific discovery
and advancement; we are blessed to have access to this. But we must also
understand and accept that the ultimate and final definition of our existence –
the ultimate meaning of our life is far beyond science and lies entirely with
and in another reality.
You may be wondering what any of this has to
do with the Eucharist, or even with
the theme of this message: “More Than Meets the Eye”
Let’s return to the Corinthian text
and see what we can find.
In some respects it is a daring thing the
apostle does in this portion of his letter to the Corinthians. In dealing with
the Eucharist he cites two illustrations. Both were rooted in the experience of
Old Testament Israel, which, he wrote, happened as examples to us.
First he wrote of what really happened when
the priests (and I think in the broader context the whole nation) ate the
offerings that had been presented to God at the altar. He makes it totally clear
that in the physical act of eating those physical offerings there was a whole
nonphysical reality that they were sharing in. And that is the key word – the
key phrase – vs.18
‘...sharers in the altar...’
Look at what happened. And again you must
keep in mind that the act of eating was a physical act; they physically ate the
physical offerings of meat and bread, etc.. But in all of this highly physical
activity there was more than meets the
eye; and that “more”was this:
There
was a joining with the altar, an entering into fellowship with the altar, a
becoming one with the altar, an identifying with the altar; you are now “in
common” with the altar, you are a partner with and participant in the
altar.This, of
course, raises the whole issue of the altar itself. It too was physical –
physical bronze, stone or wood, which brings us to the core question: How can one
experience such profound oneness with a physical object – even if that object is
an altar?
And now we have come to the whole point of
Paul’s argument. The
issue is not the physical altar; the issue is the “life
of the altar” and that life is not physical; that life is spirit – the life
of God Himself.
With this in mind Paul then jumps to
something almost astounding; the issue of idolatrous worship.
Note with care what he teaches. The physical offering made to an idol is
nothing. And equally the physical idol itself is nothing. By ‘nothing’ he means
there is absolutely NO life (either spiritual or physical) in the offering or in
the stone, wood or bronze image. In other wordsthe issue in worship (both idolatrous worship and true
worship) is not physical, not of this realm, this world, this material
universe. But – and this is the whole point – there is more than meets the eye;
there is something unseen, something
invisible and far more real than the physical thing we are
doing.
Consider the following note:
The thing sacrificed has no spiritual power or
nature; nor does the physical idol to which it is sacrificed. Those
things are nothing in themselves. But more importantly than their not being
anything, idols represent that which is
demonic.
Demons are the spiritual force behind all idolatry. Those who
sacrifice to idols sacrifice to demons. When worshipers believe an idol
represents an actual god, Satan sends one of his demon emissaries to act out the
part of that imaginary god. There is never a god behind an idol, but there is
always a spiritual force; and that force is always evil, always
demonic.
And note that Paul uses the same word here –
‘sharers’ – meaning: There is
a joining with, an entering into fellowship with, a becoming one with, an
identifying with; you are now “in common” with, you are a partner with and
participant in the life of that invisible demonic entity that operates behind
the physical image.
Let me now bring this fact of the
relationship between the physical and the spiritual in worship to the Eucharist.
You will soon be given a piece of physical bread, and a physical glass filled
with physical juice. Every aspect of these physical elements came out of the
physical earth.
Paul reminded us at verse
26: For the earth is the Lord’s, and all it contains. And yet it remains
certain and true that this physical table, this physical bread and physical
juice possesses no inherent spiritual life or reality beyond the physical. The
bread does not become the actual flesh of the Christ nor does the juice become
His actual blood.
And yet there is more than meets the eye
in this very physical act of worship. So once more we find Paul’s favourite word
here: vs.16 - Is
not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing
in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread which we break a sharing
in the body of Christ?
If life is in the blood and the life of the
flesh is the blood (as scripture declares) then this sharing is a sharing in the very life of Jesus
Christ. This sharing is not superficial or shallow or casual; it is
deeply intimate and involves exchange, i.e. the giving away of yourself and the
receiving of the other one in the
relationship.
So once again: There is a joining with, an entering into fellowship with, a
becoming one with, an identifying with; you are now “in common” with, you are a
partner with and participant in the life of that invisible spiritual reality of
the very life of Christ.
What I can tell you with absolute Biblical
certainty is that right here at this very physical table there is present an
invisible, nonphysical and highly spiritual reality. In the S/spirit this
morning there is present at this table every provision that our Sovereign God
has supplied through the redemptive work of His Son, Jesus Christ. And returning
to the Hebrews 11:3 text we
understand that it is by faith that we now enter into and participate in and
become one with that invisible S/spirit provision.
All of a sudden this physical act of worship – this taking up of
the bread and the cup – this physical act of obedience based upon and born out
of the faith of our heart –becomes so much more than a physical act. We become
participants in that invisible world of Spirit – participants in the life
reality of Christ no longer after the flesh (as Paul wrote) but in or after the
Spirit.
No wonder the enemy wants to keep us from
this table by generating thoughts and feelings of guilt, condemnation, fear and
unworthiness. Knowing what I now know, wild horses couldn’t keep me from this
table. Come and eat; come and worship; come and
participate in more than meets the eye.
February 17, 2013 - Pastor Dale
Scripture Reading: 1Cor. 10: 16 – 21 & 26
Today we will celebrate the Eucharist – this Christ ordained ordinance of the Christian church. It may
be identified as the communion service,
the table of the Lord, the covenant meal of the church –none of which is
without merit. I personally prefer the term Eucharist
because it simply means ‘thanks’ or ‘the
giving of thanks.’ If this act of worship is
about anything at all it seems to me it is about and must always be about
thanksgiving; a grateful heart for all that God has provided for us in and
through the finished work of
redemption accomplished by His Holy Son, Jesus Christ the Lord of
all.
Before coming to Paul’s words written to the
Corinthianchurch I want us to
reference Heb.11:3. I will present
this from a couple of translations, and then announce my
theme.
Heb.11:3 It is by faith that we understand that the world was
fashioned by the word of God, so that that which is seen came into being out of that which is unseen.
(Barclay)
And it is only by faith that our minds accept as fact that the
whole universe was formed by God’s command – that the world which we
can see has come into being through what is invisible. (JB
Phillips)
Theme: “More Than Meets the Eye”
One of the issues we are always up against in
education is the conflict between science and faith. At the heart of that
conflict is the fact that science is
limited to the physical, material order of the visible universe, while faith
connects us with the invisible universe of S/spirit. According to the known
laws of science it is impossible for a human being to walk on water. But
according to the Biblical record both the very physical Christ and his very
physical disciple, Simon Peter, did.
For those of us who accept the authority of
scripture we are left to conclude that such a miraculous event indicates that
there must be another realm – another reality – and that it transcends , is
greater than and cannot be confined to this visible, material order. And of
course, this means it is beyond the possibility of scientific explanation.
Hebrews 11:3deals with these two realities or realms; it gives us the order of
these two realms as well as the relationship between them.
It is clear that there are two distinct
universes as to nature and function. The one is invisible/ unseen and entirely
S/spirit in nature and being. The second is visible/seen and entirely
material/physical. This Hebrews
text tells us that the invisible realm of S/spirit existed before the material
realm. It also tells us that the material
universe did not evolve progressively out of itself but that it came out‘of that which is unseen.’(Barclay) OR
‘has come into being through what is
invisible.’ (JB Phillips).
Based on this text (and certainly many many
others) it has to be concluded that the real world is S/spirit. By “real world”
I mean the world that existed before time, that continues to exist throughout
time and will eternally exist beyond time. We can also conclude that because the
origin of this seen realm is the invisible realm of S/spirit then that realm of
S/spirit is greater than and transcendent of the material realm. You cannot
confine the S/spirit world by any material
structures.
Believe me, I am not of those who justify
ignorance in education and science in the name of religion and who take great
pride in doing so. We need to thank our God for all true scientific discovery
and advancement; we are blessed to have access to this. But we must also
understand and accept that the ultimate and final definition of our existence –
the ultimate meaning of our life is far beyond science and lies entirely with
and in another reality.
You may be wondering what any of this has to
do with the Eucharist, or even with
the theme of this message: “More Than Meets the Eye”
Let’s return to the Corinthian text
and see what we can find.
In some respects it is a daring thing the
apostle does in this portion of his letter to the Corinthians. In dealing with
the Eucharist he cites two illustrations. Both were rooted in the experience of
Old Testament Israel, which, he wrote, happened as examples to us.
First he wrote of what really happened when
the priests (and I think in the broader context the whole nation) ate the
offerings that had been presented to God at the altar. He makes it totally clear
that in the physical act of eating those physical offerings there was a whole
nonphysical reality that they were sharing in. And that is the key word – the
key phrase – vs.18
‘...sharers in the altar...’
Look at what happened. And again you must
keep in mind that the act of eating was a physical act; they physically ate the
physical offerings of meat and bread, etc.. But in all of this highly physical
activity there was more than meets the
eye; and that “more”was this:
There
was a joining with the altar, an entering into fellowship with the altar, a
becoming one with the altar, an identifying with the altar; you are now “in
common” with the altar, you are a partner with and participant in the
altar.This, of
course, raises the whole issue of the altar itself. It too was physical –
physical bronze, stone or wood, which brings us to the core question: How can one
experience such profound oneness with a physical object – even if that object is
an altar?
And now we have come to the whole point of
Paul’s argument. The
issue is not the physical altar; the issue is the “life
of the altar” and that life is not physical; that life is spirit – the life
of God Himself.
With this in mind Paul then jumps to
something almost astounding; the issue of idolatrous worship.
Note with care what he teaches. The physical offering made to an idol is
nothing. And equally the physical idol itself is nothing. By ‘nothing’ he means
there is absolutely NO life (either spiritual or physical) in the offering or in
the stone, wood or bronze image. In other wordsthe issue in worship (both idolatrous worship and true
worship) is not physical, not of this realm, this world, this material
universe. But – and this is the whole point – there is more than meets the eye;
there is something unseen, something
invisible and far more real than the physical thing we are
doing.
Consider the following note:
The thing sacrificed has no spiritual power or
nature; nor does the physical idol to which it is sacrificed. Those
things are nothing in themselves. But more importantly than their not being
anything, idols represent that which is
demonic.
Demons are the spiritual force behind all idolatry. Those who
sacrifice to idols sacrifice to demons. When worshipers believe an idol
represents an actual god, Satan sends one of his demon emissaries to act out the
part of that imaginary god. There is never a god behind an idol, but there is
always a spiritual force; and that force is always evil, always
demonic.
And note that Paul uses the same word here –
‘sharers’ – meaning: There is
a joining with, an entering into fellowship with, a becoming one with, an
identifying with; you are now “in common” with, you are a partner with and
participant in the life of that invisible demonic entity that operates behind
the physical image.
Let me now bring this fact of the
relationship between the physical and the spiritual in worship to the Eucharist.
You will soon be given a piece of physical bread, and a physical glass filled
with physical juice. Every aspect of these physical elements came out of the
physical earth.
Paul reminded us at verse
26: For the earth is the Lord’s, and all it contains. And yet it remains
certain and true that this physical table, this physical bread and physical
juice possesses no inherent spiritual life or reality beyond the physical. The
bread does not become the actual flesh of the Christ nor does the juice become
His actual blood.
And yet there is more than meets the eye
in this very physical act of worship. So once more we find Paul’s favourite word
here: vs.16 - Is
not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing
in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread which we break a sharing
in the body of Christ?
If life is in the blood and the life of the
flesh is the blood (as scripture declares) then this sharing is a sharing in the very life of Jesus
Christ. This sharing is not superficial or shallow or casual; it is
deeply intimate and involves exchange, i.e. the giving away of yourself and the
receiving of the other one in the
relationship.
So once again: There is a joining with, an entering into fellowship with, a
becoming one with, an identifying with; you are now “in common” with, you are a
partner with and participant in the life of that invisible spiritual reality of
the very life of Christ.
What I can tell you with absolute Biblical
certainty is that right here at this very physical table there is present an
invisible, nonphysical and highly spiritual reality. In the S/spirit this
morning there is present at this table every provision that our Sovereign God
has supplied through the redemptive work of His Son, Jesus Christ. And returning
to the Hebrews 11:3 text we
understand that it is by faith that we now enter into and participate in and
become one with that invisible S/spirit provision.
All of a sudden this physical act of worship – this taking up of
the bread and the cup – this physical act of obedience based upon and born out
of the faith of our heart –becomes so much more than a physical act. We become
participants in that invisible world of Spirit – participants in the life
reality of Christ no longer after the flesh (as Paul wrote) but in or after the
Spirit.
No wonder the enemy wants to keep us from
this table by generating thoughts and feelings of guilt, condemnation, fear and
unworthiness. Knowing what I now know, wild horses couldn’t keep me from this
table. Come and eat; come and worship; come and
participate in more than meets the eye.