On every Labor Day my thoughts go to the purpose of a Christian life.  Not because I want to work harder, but because I am thankful. And … a Sept. 5, 36^th birthday shout-out to my elder son Eric, who at the start of 8^th grade in 2001 wanted to go to church.  I am so very thankful. - Blessings, Bob

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Spirituality Column #877

September 5, 2023

Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary

Labor of Love   By Bob Walters

“Do this in remembrance of me. … For as often as you eat the bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.” 1 Corinthians 11:24-26

This past Sunday, for the third straight year, I randomly drew church communion meditation duty on or just before Labor Day weekend.  For me, it is a happy fluke.

That’s because 22 years ago, Labor Day weekend in 2001 – Sunday, Sept. 2, to be exact – was the day I first believed.  It was my “Awake Date” in Christ.  I had much to learn, but since that day, then at age 47, I have believed and however imperfectly, lived the faith and been blessed. I wrote about that day in church HERE.  Now, to today.

Our independent Christian church, East 91^st in northeast Indianapolis, celebrates bread-and-cup communion in each service, every Sunday. In our traditional service, a staffer or member of the laity, like me, presents communion. I draw duty twice a year.

Not long after the 2001 Awake Date, I was baptized. Over the next year I read the whole Bible, and over time I grew in knowledge and figured out that not just my purpose in life but ANY Christian’s purpose in life is simply this: to glorify God.

That’s what I talked about in communion this past Sunday, to remember our purpose of glorifying God each time we celebrate communion in Christ with the bread of fellowship and the cup of life.  In communion, Jesus said, “Remember me.” Christians often focus on the “bread of the broken body” of Jesus and the “blood of the death” of Jesus.  In reading the specific communion passages in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and in 1 Corinthians 11, and examining John’s Gospel account of the Last Supper and walk to Gethsemane with the disciples (Chapters 13-17), we know our communion in Christ is about so much more than a broken body and bloody death.

Communion is about remembering the obedience and truth of Jesus, and God’s eternal love, and our forgiven redemption as Jesus defeated death upon the Cross.  In our communion, together, we remember Jesus and our life’s purpose of believing … in His person, His identity as the Son of God, and His Lordship of all Creation.

We proclaim the Lord’s death until He returns, but I honestly don’t think the primary purpose of Jesus on the Cross was His death; His purpose was our saved lives.

Why the Cross?  Well, our sin, of course.  But I think the motivators were God’s love, Jesus’s truth, and the power of the Holy Spirit that could then be unleashed for God’s redemption of humanity.  We are invited into the Kingdom of God: the Garden.

Our purpose in remembering Jesus on the Cross is to glorify Him, and glorify God. My mentor George Bebawi memorably challenged that notion about a “sole purpose to glorify God” because, importantly, he said we must take it one step further. 

Glorify God, yes; but that’s not enough.  By Jesus’ sacrifice, we are invited not only to Glorify God. We also, ourselves, participate in God’s glory not just by going to heaven when we die, but in this life as well by living and sharing our faith with others. This life’s heavenly realms blossom by trusting Jesus not only as savior, but as Lord.

That is the New Covenant, and Jesus will direct our paths … if we let Him.

That is something to remember when we share communion.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) notes that believers glorify God uniquely; God made us that way. Walters has written often about his “Awake Date,” and always mentions he was in church only because his 13-year-old son Eric wanted to go. The service that day was led by then senior minister Dave Faust as E91 celebrated the 50^th anniversary of beloved Russ Blowers’ ministry there.  Dave baptized Bob in November 2001.