Monday, May 20, 2019
653 - It Doesn't Add Up
Spirituality Column #653
May 21, 2019
Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary
It Doesn’t Add Up
By Bob Walters
We celebrate bread-and-cup communion every Sunday at our
East 91st Street Christian Church here in Indianapolis.
We do not – as do Catholics,
Orthodox, Lutherans, and Episcopalians – have a written liturgy or Eucharist. Instead, we go straight to Jesus, examine
ourselves, remember Him, pray as one in Christ, pass the elements among the
congregation, and hope no one drops the communion plates. The elements are bread chips and juice.
The weekly three-minute, in-service
communion meditation presentation duty is circulated among ministers, elders,
and the odd non-commissioned pew-sitter.
I’m in that last group, and this
past Sunday was my shot. Here’s what I
said.
“Christians love to multiply things.
“We pray for God to multiply our blessings, our joys, our numbers, our
gifts, and our love. Jesus instructs us
to forgive our brothers and sisters “70 times 7” times (Matthew 18:22). He assures us that a seed sown in good soil –
God’s Word of faith planted in a receptive heart – will multiply that faith 30,
60, or 100 times (Mark 4:8).
“We as believers are party to the grand multiplication of the Kingdom
of Heaven where we encounter the triune God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: the
Holy Trinity – and ponder the mystery of the three-in-one, one-in-three
God. With wonder, believers know we join
that Kingdom as heirs, as sons and daughters.
But how does that math work? How
can the trinity of three persons be one?
How can we, as believers joining the Kingdom separately with personal
relationships with Jesus, “all be as one”
as Jesus prays in John 17:22 , continuing, “even
as we are one,” referring to the Trinity?
“It is a grand mystery, indeed, but it needn’t be a math problem. Remember always that God is love, and love
requires relationship. Without
community, relationship cannot exist, and the Trinity is that eternal community
within which love exists. There it prospers
and is shared with us through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, who restores our
relationship with the God who created us.
“We remember that
restoration, that salvation, in this
communion with Jesus and with each other.
We remember that we are to love God, and love each other.
“But if – as is so often the case – the three-in-one, one-in-three math
of the Father-Son-Holy Spirit Trinity remains a vexation of logic, do what
Christians love to do, and multiply: 1 + 1 + 1 will always logically equal
three, but 1 x 1 x 1 is always One.
“Each believer who joins in communion – at this table or anywhere in
the world – multiplies the Kingdom by one again. We can multiply our faith, fellowship, and
numbers “times one” endlessly, and discover purpose, peace, power, and love in
that glorious, eternal, infinite One.
“The early church of Acts 2 added to its numbers daily, but I pray that
we multiply Kingdom glory when we share this simple communion meal remembering
Jesus.
“And now as the trays are passed, remember the love of our Lord Jesus
Christ, ponder the glory of God, and rest in the peace of the Holy Spirit. “When all are served, we will partake of this
communion meal together, as one.”
Walters
(rlwcom@aol.com) is thankful that math is never the point
of the Bible.
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