Ben Zornes

Living and Dying to Show the Preciousness of Christ

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Word & Sacrament

Word & Sacrament

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Churches can get lopsided and sidetracked quite quickly if there isn’t frequent instruction. Some churches get drawn into the mystery & symbolism of the sacraments. These begin to crowd out the Word as they become barnacled with more ornate traditions, customs, and requirements. The sacraments become more & more elaborate, and soon the thing they signify is hidden from view due to all the frivolous fanfare.

Other churches desire the appearance of sturdiness that comes with wooden hermeneutics, rigid doctrines, with so much precision that it can only be measured by intricate lab instruments. These churches preach verse by verse expository sermons; but often the Lord’s Supper is only observed quarterly, and to make sure nobody gets any Roman Catholic notions they preach another sermon before the supper just to drill it into everyone’s head that this is just to remind us of Jesus, but beyond that it doesn’t do anything.

But the Word and Sacraments must go together. Like skeleton & flesh. Like light & warmth. Like framing & furniture. Like covenant vows & covenant consummation. Our relationship with Christ isn’t like a contract stored in some heavenly filing cabinet. It’s personal, and the sacraments bring this reality to us. Bread you can touch and taste. Wine with potent sweetness. Water that spills down your head. But neither is our relationship with Christ a ritual which puts us in touch with a “higher power” to align our chakras. Our fellowship with Christ is objective, grounded in eternal truth, and this is what the Word preached brings to us. 

God has revealed His promises to us in His Word, and then He substantiates His promises in signs of water, bread, & wine. So where Christ’s Word & Sacrament dwell together, there is Christ’s Church. Where His Word of promise is both proclaimed and tasted. The Word provides the firm ground, upon which our faith might partake of these gracious blessings.

So come in faith and welcome to Jesus Christ…

Not a Sin Offering

Not a Sin Offering

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The Roman Catholic error as regards the Lord’s Supper is in seeing it as a reoccurrence of Christ’s sacrifice for sin. In that respect, they come to an altar, not a table. That view leads to treating these elements as a means of appeasing God. You take the Supper to avoid God’s anger. The problem with that take is that Jesus instituted this sacrament at a meal in the warmth of an upper room, not at the altar for burnt offerings.

In terms of Israel’s sacrificial system, this isn’t a sin offering before us, it’s a peace offering. We don’t take this sacrament to appease God, but because God has already been appeased. Christ’s blood covers your sin, so that you might enjoy a feast of His presence in His presence. This Sacrament isn’t the means of atoning our sins, it is the blessing purchased by Christ’s atonement. Your sins have already been washed away, consumed in the fire, and now you are invited to sanctify and celebrate the name of Yahweh. In the peace offering, the worshipper partook of a portion of the offered animal. It was a shared meal of gratitude, not a ceremony to cover guilt.

But as a peace offering, we should ask what is it that is ascending to God? The answer is that we’re told that in our worship we are to be living sacrifices (Rom. 1:1-2). Since in this Supper we hold forth the token of our union with Christ, it follows that in Christ, we are the offering, we are the sacrifice. In Christ the true Sin Offering our guilt is washed away, in Christ the true Peace Offering we ascend to the Father as a pleasing aroma. The glory displayed here is God delighting in us, as we delight in Him.

So come in faith and welcome to Jesus Christ…

The Loudness of Baptism

The Loudness of Baptism

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Baptism is loud. It isn’t a quiet thing. It doesn’t use its indoor voice; in fact, it doesn’t have an indoor voice. And what does baptism say? What is the substance of the holy ruckus it makes? It proclaims that Christ lived, and died, and rose again; and your baptism into Him means that you did too.

It doesn’t whisper sweet-nothings about how good of a person you are, or how lucky God is that you chose him, or that you’ve done anything spectacular. It doesn’t speak coddling words to puff up your self-esteem. It doesn’t get all mushy with sentimental sayings.

It shouts that you are dead. The Old Man is crucified––with all his twisted desires, all his selfish rage, all his pride, all his shame, all his guilt. Your baptism tells you, and the whole world, that when Christ died, you died in Him. And with the volume turned to full blast, it blares out like a megaphone that when Christ rose, you rose with Him to new life, and You are now seated with Him in His reign of peace. This is the promise that is declared by this sign of baptism, and this is the gift that you receive by faith.

Sacrament with Word

Sacrament with Word

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A good host who’s prepared an unfamiliar meal will explain the meal to the guests––perhaps describing the seasoning used, or the cooking process––and give instructions for the best way to savor the new delicacy.

When Jesus instituted this meal, He gave the disciples both explanation and instruction. Jesus took familiar ingredients––bread and wine––and familiar traditions––the Passover meal––and He expanded them into meaningful bread and wine, and incarnate tradition. 

He made the meal more than a mere meal. He turned it into a mystery. But then immediately explained the riddle. The meal wasn’t meant to be a foggy mystery. We weren’t left to guess as to what we do or why we do it. Here’s a meal, we get that. However, this meal does something. Which is what we mean when we call it a sacrament. This meal confirms a covenant. 

But Wordless sacrament is just cultic ritual. Sacrament-less word is just philosophical gymnastics. One is like a promise without anything promised, the other is like a costly object dangled in front of us with no way to obtain it.

So Jesus accompanies Sacrament with Word, and Word with Sacrament. He gave us a meal which meant more than a meal, then tells us the greater meaning, and how to enjoy that deeper meaning. The bread and wine is Christ’s body––there’s the explanation. The meal is truly taken by remembering Christ––there’s the instruction as to how we truly relish this covenant feast.

In short, the mystery of this meal is that Jesus gives us Himself, and we receive Him by faith. For in Jesus, the Word is made flesh, the sacrament is made plain. Jesus brings heaven down to earth, and brings man up to God.

So come in faith and welcome to Jesus…

Ben Zornes