Reformed

Supper Ditches

by Ben Zornes · Feb 22, 2023

Amongst Reformed minded Christians, one of our besetting sins is that of making our faith into a merely set of logical propositions. While in other ranks of evangelical Christians, the faith is turned into a series of emotional therapy sessions.

But the Lord’s Supper rebukes both sorts of sins. You are confronted with a covenantal sign which you must eat and drink. You take this meal, and your hands feel the rough crust of bread, and the cool of the cup, your tongue tastes the sweet potency of wine and the savor of sourdough. The tangibility is inescapable here. But lest we drift into just “feel good-eology” we’re simultaneously confronted with the Word: this do in remembrance of Me.

Our mind is to be sparked by the sensations of bread & wine to reflect upon the covenant claims which our Lord Jesus made. He said this bread is His body, this wine His blood. Which forces us to meditate upon the grand doctrines of Christ’s incarnation, man’s fall into sin from his place of glory in Eden, and our Lord’s redemptive work upon Calvary to save us.

The doctrines we confess aren’t Stoical sayings. They are deep wells of eternal truth. Remember, these doctrines are revealed to mankind; not to assist us in escaping the prison of creation, but that we might be raised into the glory of creation redeemed. As Moses once declared, “those things which are revealed belong unto us & to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.”

Upon this table are the tokens that God has redeemed His Creation. So your mind meditates upon this bright truths, while your mouth tastes the goodness of God’s redemption work, and your heart is filled with joy that all of this is yours because Christ has won you.

So come in faith and welcome to Jesus Christ

The Door and The Table

by Ben Zornes · Mar 8, 2021

You’ll have noticed that we not only practice infant baptism, we also welcome those baptized children to the Lord’s table. Israel’s example warns us of the dangers of covenant presumption. So, we must not neglect to teach, early and often, what these sacraments mean, and, more importantly, how to receive them rightly. In explaining these great mysteries to our children, we’re to take expansive theological glories, and put them in half-pint sized terms.

The image of a family home assists in explaining these sacraments. If you’re not in the family, you aren’t welcome to burst in and plunder the fridge. That’s called trespassin’. You must be invited in through the door. That door is baptism. The door is the only entrance into God’s household.

Once in the house, the most important piece of furniture is the table around which the family feasts. The table is this Supper. This is the family meal of God the Father with His children. Those who are welcomed through the door of Christ, are then freely welcomed at the table of Christ.

While many in the Reformed tradition agree with us as to the scriptural foundation for baptizing infants, they make those children wait in line for 13-18 years at the spiritual equivalent of the DMV before being welcomed to eat at the table. But even a child can see the problem with that practice. Haven’t I come through the door? Then shouldn’t I come to the table?

After all, here’s the meaning of these sacraments. Jesus is the only doorway to fellowship with God. Don’t stay out on the porch. He invites all who hear His voice to come in and dine with Him. Once inside, don’t act like a beggar hoping for scraps. Come joyfully in faith to this feast. For that is how we are to receive these sacraments. We receive them by believing that Jesus is the Christ. Jesus is the door, and Jesus is the table.

So come in faith and welcome to Jesus…

Gospel Basics Then and Now

by Ben Zornes · Nov 3, 2020

We sit here, 500 years downstream from our Reforming brethren, and celebrate and proclaim the same Gospel which turned the world topsy-turvy then. Your salvation, from top to bottom, is by grace through faith alone.

It isnâ€™t because you came to church, sat up straight, and nodded piously along. It isnâ€™t because you did a sufficient amount of good deeds this week with a healthy dose of humble brag. It isnâ€™t because of which family or nation you were born into.

We come to this meal and proclaim here that God saves sinners. Proud sinners. Craven sinners. Corrupt sinners. Self-righteous sinners. Hypocritical sinners. Sinners of every stripe are invited to come. But because of what is proclaimed here in this meal we know that weâ€™re no longer known by our sins, weâ€™re no longer known as sinners. Instead, weâ€™re known by the One in Whom weâ€™ve trusted. He has taken away our soiled rags of sin, and clothed us with white robes of His righteousness.

And we receive all this by faith. We receive it all with hands He gave us. We behold it all with eyes which He opened. We taste it with mouths He made new. We delight in it with hearts which were once stone, but are now alive. By this faith we see that everywhere we turn is gift after gift after gift of Godâ€™s kindness to repentant sinners, even the faith which lets us see this is itself a gift.

God gives you this gift of forgiveness and everlasting life, and by that first gift of faith you receive it. Thatâ€™s the Gospel the Apostles, Church Fathers, Reformers, Puritans, and Evangelists have proclaimed. We enjoy it once more in this memorial meal, and proclaim the great redemption truth: by grace you have been saved through faith.

So come in faith and welcome to Jesusâ€¦