Lord's Supper

Robot Pizza & Forgiveness

May 11, 2021 By Ben Zornes Leave a Comment

One thing we pray for in the Lord’s Prayer, is that God would forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who have sinned against us. The Westminster Shorter Catechism draws out an important aspect of what we should mean when making this petition: “We pray, that God, for Christ’s sake, would freely pardon all our sins; which we are the rather encouraged to ask, because by his grace we are enabled from the heart to forgive others.”

The encouragement for boldly asking God to forgive our sins, arises from His grace within us enabling us to forgive others. You know that the God who forgives is at work within you when you are eager to forgive those who trespass against you, and thus have a clear conscience in asking God to forgive your trespasses.

But there’s a striking phrase in there that deserves our attention, we’re to forgive others from the heart. Forgiveness isn’t like a vending machine: money in, thingamajig out. Once, some MIT students built a restaurant run by robotics. No waiters or cooks needed, just swipe your card & 10 minutes later, out comes your robot-made pizza. That’s like forgiveness that isn’t from the heart. The meal might arrive hot & ready to eat, but the heart is missing.

True forgiveness is like the homemaker who pours her love into hand-kneading dough, slicing ingredients, and patiently watching it bake. The meal will arrive just like the robot pizza, but the difference is that along with the meal, sincere love for the eaters comes along compliments of the chef.

This meal is God’s token that you’re forgiven, and He means it. It isn’t mere formality or ritual. Nor are there clouds of suspicion hanging over you. He’s made a meal for us, and delights to commune with us. Through Christ, we taste true forgiveness, so that we might share that recipe even with our worst enemies.

So come in faith and welcome to Jesus…

The Crescendo of Our Worship

April 21, 2021 By Ben Zornes Leave a Comment

The whole of our service deliberately leads up to this moment. This communion meal is the crescendo of a glorious symphony. The grandest crescendo you can recall is like a dollar store penny whistle compared to the culmination of this worship service culminates. We’re raised up into glorious union with God, a great host of saints and angels. This meal is the whole point of our worship.

Imagine attending a London Philharmonic Orchestra performance. But imagine you’re deaf. You’d see the instrumentalists wiggling around in an odd way with their various funny-looking pieces of wood, string, and metal. You’d see the rest of the audience caught up in the rapture. You’d see the vocalists with mouths agape. You’d see the delighted applause at the end. But to you, it would all be a seemingly random set of senseless motions.

Taking this meal without faith is like that. You see all the motions, but hear none of the melodies. You can observe it all, but without faith you do not partake at all.

Our worship thunders up to this point. This is the trumpet blast, the timpani roll, the payoff for all the motifs. It all comes to this head. In the Lord’s Supper, God assures those who’ve heard His call, who have come in Christ––with the clean water of baptism upon their brow––that He is theirs, they are His, and nothing can separate them from the Father’s love.

You’ve been called to worship. You’ve been invited to confess your sins. You’ve witnessed a baptism and been reminded of yours. You’ve heard God’s Word proclaimed to you. And now, in this simple sign of bread & wine, you’re assured that all the promises of forgiveness of sins and fellowship with God are given to you. So, if you hear the crescendo, it’s because you’ve been given ears to hear it.

So come in faith and welcome to Jesus…

No Gleaning at This Table

March 23, 2021 By Ben Zornes Leave a Comment

God made gracious provision for the poor in ancient Israel. The practice of not harvesting the corners of their fields ensured that at harvest time, no one needed to go hungry. Those who were in need, or were sojourning through, would have access to a means of obtaining their daily bread. This practice gave the dignity of work to the poor, as they’d be responsible to come and glean that which the harvesters had left. It also allowed land-owners to spot potential talent for future harvests, and thus a way out of poverty.

While that arrangement is evidence of God’s kindness to all His people, regardless of their various circumstances, it is not how we should view the harvest which is laid upon this table. Some might think that they should be categorized as a sort of second-class citizen of heaven, left to pick up the crumbs of really holy people. You know the ones who pray for 10 hours a day, read the Bible for another 10 hours, and evangelize for 3 hours, before sleeping for one hour…then doing it all over again tomorrow. We might even have a suspicion that others are getting more out of this than we are, that God is somehow playing favorites.

Let me assure you, there are no gleaners at this table. The full harvest is here. It is extended to you, not by your deserving, or by your income bracket, or by your last name, or by your GPA, or by the size of your tithe check. All of Christ is given to you here. From the wisest to the simplest saint, from the eldest to the youngest, we share the full inheritance which God assures to those who look away from their works of righteousness, and turn to Him alone.

So come in faith and welcome to Jesus…

The Spirit and the Supper

February 10, 2021 By Ben Zornes Leave a Comment

The church, through all windings of history, has emphatically taught that Christ is memorialized in this Supper. The bread we break is His body, the wine we drink is His blood; this is a cup of blessing, because it overflows with Christ. But the only reason the saints partake of Christ is because of the Holy Spirit’s work.

One of the works which are attributed to the Holy Spirit is that of sealing. After hearing the Word of Christ’s saving work proclaimed, those who believe are, as Paul taught, “sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise (Eph. 1:13).”

The Spirit changes our heart and opens our eyes, so that the declaration of the Gospel is not only heard by our physical ears but is received by faith. The Spirit then seals that faith, confirming to the believer that they are owned a child of God. A seal confirmed that the letter which was received was genuinely from the one who sent it; and thus the contents of the letter could be believed, the promises made would be fulfilled, the benefits conferred would be given.

This is Christ’s body and blood. If you’ve heard & believed the good news that your sins are forgiven and have been given eternal life, it’s only because you’ve been united with Christ. The Christ whose body was broken & whose blood was shed to reconcile sinners to the Father. The only reason that you partake of Christ in this meal is because the Spirit has sealed you.

Calvin put it this way: “the Holy Spirit is the bond by which Christ effectual unites us to himself.” The Holy Spirit binds you to Christ, and Christ brings you to the Father, and by God’s triune grace, you enjoy fellowship with the Source and fountainhead of all the blessings. Fellowship with the Blessed One. Fellowship with God, because the Holy Spirit has sealed you.

So come in faith and welcome to Jesus…

The Unbending Kingdom

December 29, 2020 By Ben Zornes Leave a Comment

The early Christians were accused of being political traitors. The accusation was that, “these [Christians] all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, one Jesus (Acts 17:7).” Upon hearing the apostles’ teaching, the pagans concluded that Jesus wouldn’t fit politely in some corner of “the tapestry of human expression.” They realized what many Christians today don’t, which is that the preaching of Jesus is in diametric opposition to earthly kingdoms’ claims to sovereignty and ultimate authority.

Christ’s gospel isn’t intended to pedal in tandem with earthly kingdoms. It subdues kingdoms under it (Ps. 47:3). The Gospel of King Jesus isn’t content to simply run parallel with other kings. Rather, the kings of the earth shall bring their glory and honour unto Christ (Rev. 21:24). The Good News of great joy, of which the angel choirs sang over Bethlehem, isn’t intended to stay confined as a “private and deeply held personal belief.” To be exact, this good news is to be taught to all nations, and they’re expected to obey everything which Christ commanded (Mt. 28:19-20).

That’s the gospel which this meal heralds. It tells of Christ’s kingdom; a kingdom which shall have no end; where justice and truth reign; where sins are passed over, envies are dispelled, evil is cast out; a kingdom before which every other kingdom is obliged to bow, and every earthly ruler must do homage. Here we each lay down our claim to some imagined sovereignty over our sliver kingdoms. Here we confess that we are citizens of the heavenly Zion. Here we proclaim our fealty, and invite the kings and nations to join us in communion with our heavenly Lord: the Prince of glory and our King of love.

So come in faith and welcome to Jesus

The Non-contradiction of the Incarnation

December 15, 2020 By Ben Zornes Leave a Comment

The eternal Word was united to a human body. Though this was an act of humility, it was not an act of shame. He spurned not to be called a man. Joyfully He took on flesh, and dwelt among us.

You could have heard His infant cries, coming from real human lungs, on that night of His birth. That same body traversed Israel, healing the sick & blind, feeding the hungry, teaching of the Kingdom, driving out money changers. His body was broken on Golgotha. Then His body was buried in the tomb. But when He rose, it wasn’t as a disembodied apparition. He didn’t leave His body behind, opting for some floating orb of spiritual light instead.

No. He had come to defeat death. And so, like a trophy of His conquest, He rose from the dead withthat same body to everlasting glory. He ascended to the Father’s right hand, reigning there forevermore.

His body is now there. But it’s also here in the bread & wine. He’s here in His gathered saints. It’s no contradiction to say that His resurrected body is both ascended to the throne of glory, and here in this meal. No more than it would have been when He first was laid in a manger. Christ never laid aside His divinity in taking on humanity. As regarding His divinity, He has always been everywhere at all times.

His glorified human body now sits enthroned in heaven. But because He is the man Who is also the second person of the Godhead, He still fills heaven & earth. Here indeed is His body, broken for You. We can say both these things, because He’s the fullness of Him that fills all in all (Eph. 1:23), and also because He’s the child born in Bethlehem. Truly God, and truly man.

So come in faith and welcome to Jesus…

Edible Hope

October 7, 2020 By Ben Zornes Leave a Comment

Despair, foreboding, fear, and anxiety are the fruit of the vine which has sprung up in our nation. We would not acknowledge Christ and His Gospel as our Lord and our Light, and so we have reaped what we’ve sown. But here is hope. Edible and drinkable hope. Hope which you can hold in your hand, hope which will leave a tang on the tongue.

Hope is not wishful thinking. Hope is certainty. When we eat this meal together we are memorializing, remembering, carrying out a renewal of the central truth of the world in which we live. A dead Man once rose from the grave. When we eat this bread and taste the earthy richness of grain turned into sustenance, we are tasting the reality that Christ was buried like a grain of corn, and sprang forth as the first man of a new human race. When we drink this wine and taste the sun-ripened sharpness, we are tasting the reality that Christ drank the entire cup of God’s wrath, and now all you feel is the sunny pleasure of the Father’s joy.

In truth, this meal bids unbelief be gone, it dispels dark clouds of foreboding, it underscores Christ’s Word to us, “Fear not, little flock, it is Your Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom.” Your Father invites you to taste true hope. Here is our hope: Christ died for you. Christ rose for you. Christ reigns as King of the world for you. The Father now calls You His child, for you come to Him by faith in Christ.

So come in faith and welcome to Jesus…

Family Meal & Royal Feast

September 21, 2020 By Ben Zornes Leave a Comment

Each Sunday, our service culminates in a meal. It is a family meal, it is a royal feast, and it is a spiritual meal. Let me explain each of those.

First, God has adopted you into His family. If you’ve been baptized into Christ by faith, God owns you as His beloved son or daughter. He’s your Father. As the Father of fathers, He nourishes His children. This meal nourishes your faith by assuring you of Christ indwelling you by His Spirit. It sustains you until at last you reach your heavenly rest. Our Brother brings us here so that the Father might nourish our faith, giving us grace to enjoy true unity and fellowship with Him and all those who are born of God our Father. That is why this is a family meal.

But it’s also a royal feast. Here is the broken body and the spilled blood of the Anointed Hero. Broken and bloody He died––not in defeat––but because by His death He conquered the devil, that murderer from the beginning. The victorious King has now spread this royal table, spread it with the richest of fare, and invited His guests to gather around to celebrate the peace His war has won. Our enemies are conquered. So eat with jubilant gratitude, for you are in fact citizens of the kingdom won by Christ’s body and blood.

Finally, this is a spiritual meal. We take it by faith. We trust that all the spiritual realities of our adoption by Christ and our conquest in Christ are present here. Here we receive rich promises. Here we taste true joy. Here we partake of true unity. Here is Christ, all of Christ, given for you. You are made a son or daughter of God. You are reckoned as a citizen of His endless kingdom.

So come in faith and welcome to Jesus…