Pickle Heaven Press-James R. Johnson

something to help you laugh and think about life with Christ

Tag: communion

a full cup — March 28, 2024

a full cup

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Our church was participating in communion.  A group of us stood at a table.  The bread had been received and we were preparing to drink the grape juice.  The pastor held up a tiny cup and said to us, “This is the cup of His blood shed for the forgiveness of sins. Take and drink.” 

And we did – except for the guy standing right next to me.  His cup was empty – dry as a bone.  Wow!  I wondered, “What sin did this guy commit that was so bad that he was denied communion?”   

Or maybe this was still another evidence of “shrinkflation.”  Just not enough Welch’s in the bottle to serve everyone.  

Well, it’s most likely that the juice in the cup had leaked out or those who had pre-filled the cups accidentally skipped over that one.

Regardless of why, the pastor quickly handed the confused guy a replacement – and he was able to commune with the Lord and us.

The Lord’s Supper is a symbolic rite, but our little service made me wonder, “Is it possible for an individual to stand before God one day, and find that he too is holding an empty cup?”

Communion was given to perpetually remind us that Christ shed His blood on a cross to cleanse us from sin and put us in good standing with God. 

So, I suppose the question here is, “Did Jesus shed His blood for some and not all?”  John the Baptist said no.  He saw Jesus and said, “Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” – John 1:29. According to John there is a cup for everyone – world-wide.

Jesus also told us that His sacrifice was for all.  He said in John 6:51, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats from this bread, he will live forever. The bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”  He gave Himself for the lives of those in the entire world!

Paul agreed in 1 Timothy 2:6 where he told us that Jesus gave himself as a “ransom for all.”

Evidently there is a cup of redemption poured out and prepared for every individual who will have ever lived.  No one will ever peer into an empty cup when they stand before the Lord.

But – not all will be redeemed!   Though Christ died for the whole world, many in the world will nevertheless perish in their sins.

I have officiated at many communion services, and inevitably there have always been some present who have declined to participate.   Their reasons varied, but for some, they chose to let the tray pass, because they did not identify with Christ.  They had never come to believe in Him and trust Him as their Savior.

Maybe they came to church out of curiosity.  Or maybe they were grandparents who were visiting family and the family asked them to go to church with them.

But the tray is passed to grandpa, and grandpa quickly passes it on.  There was a full cup prepared for him in that tray, but he let it slip by – a tragedy.

Equally tragic – I recently sat down and spoke with a mother, who had come to faith late in life.  But she was passionate about Jesus and wanted her adult son to have his chance to meet the Lord. 

So, she set the cup before him, but he refused to drink.   This mom is now profoundly sad, because her boy was recently involved in a car accident which took his life.

She is inconsolable now because he is gone and because he had never come to Jesus.  She doesn’t expect to ever see him again. 

The cup is full!  Continue to drink from its lifegiving flow if you know Him.  Take your first sip if you don’t.   

A Prayer: Lord thank you that there is a cup of redemption for each one of us.

This has been Jim Johnson and pickleheavenpress.com

May the grace of our Lord Jesus be with you always.

Biblical references from the NET Bible ®

communion chaos — July 5, 2023

communion chaos

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If I were you, I would not trust me – at least, in matters of communion.  You see I have been doing ministry for a long time, and in the course of my work I have been privileged to lead many communion services. 

Unfortunately, I have the sad reputation for messing them up. 

I had shared a brief devotional with my congregation, called the servers up, prayed and then handed them the communion trays.  And as they walked away from me, I realized, “Oh no, I just handed them the juice trays, but the biblical order is bread first.”

My smile hid the panic I felt inside.  What should I do?  “Hey guys I need a do over.  Get those trays back here please!”

Well, I decided to let it ride and continued with the service, following up the juice tray with the bread.  But I braced myself for some post service criticism.

Sure enough, a woman made a beeline for me after we dismissed.  She said, “What a wonderful communion service.  It was so meaningful.”  I said, “Uh, well, uh thank you.”

I vowed to never make that mistake again, and yet several months later using a cheat sheet – I got the order wrong again.

Recently I was asked to fill the pulpit for a pastor friend.  His secretary sent me the order of service and it had me down for doing the welcome, and several prayers and – oh no – leading communion. 

When I arrived, I found that someone had thoughtfully provided the communion elements for me.  They sat on the outside ledge of the pulpit.   Two minutes later I clumsily knocked them over.  Fortunately, all this was before the service.

A servant hearted man cleaned up the sticky mess and replaced the elements.  Once the service began, I greeted the visitors and as I did, my hand accidentally grazed the second cup.  The communion service became a baptismal service as the congregation was sprinkled. 

After that I sat on the platform with my eyes closed while a trio did a special number.  I think it had something to do with, “a wretch like me.” 

But then I sensed someone near, so I opened my eyes to see a man holding more replacement elements just inches from my face.  He scared me and I jerked in surprise nearly sending the elements to the moon. The congregation laughed.

Wow – I sure know how to mess up a communion service.  But then the Holy Spirit felt sorry for me and reminded me that spilling the juice actually captured the spirit of communion quite well.

When Jesus gave us the rite, He took a cup of wine and said, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.”  –  Luke 22:20

The blood of Christ was unique.  Peter described it as being “precious” and “unblemished.” – 1 Peter 1:19.  But its practical value to us is that it was “poured out.”  It was shed for us.

Hebrews 9:22 says, “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.”  The animal sacrifices were given to Moses and his people, to help them understand that sin is detestable to God, deserving of death.   The blood of a lamb was poured out on the altar as a token of the life given. 

In the same way, our perfect Savior stepped up and absorbed the wrath of God by surrendering His life on the cross.  The crimson flow that came from His side was the evidence. 

The word “pour” that Jesus used at that first communion service, is elsewhere translated as, “spilled.”  (Luke 5:37). Christ’s blood was spilled as was the juice on the pulpit, to remove the stain of sin.

I shared this insight with the congregation prior to taking communion.  As they left that day, they were probably thinking, “What a wonderful communion service.  It was so meaningful.”

A PRAYER: Lord I am so glad that you redeemed that communion service, and grateful that you redeemed us.

This has been Jim Johnson and pickleheavenpress.com

May the grace of our Jesus be with you.

Scripture references are from the NETBible® 

prune juice predicament — August 21, 2020

prune juice predicament

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The ladies of the church were tucked away at their annual women’s retreat.  My wife was charged with preparing for the communion service.  However, it was Sunday morning when she realized that she had accidently purchased a bottle of prune juice rather than grape.

There was no time to get to the grocery store.   Maybe she could slip in the prune juice and no one would know.  It could be a moving service.  No – can’t do that! 

She ran to the camp host to see if they had any grape juice around.  They told her to check the freezer for some concentrates.  There were two – passion fruit and lemonade.

Lemonade?  Hmm – maybe, but anyone who has ever bought a lemon – would have conflicted feelings about Christ.

Passion fruit was closer to the color of grape juice, and aren’t we all supposed to be passionate about Christ?  Passion fruit it was!!

Despite the tropical juice and French bread cubes, the women managed to savor the wondrous work of Christ on their behalf. 

It makes me wonder though; Is it important that the juice of grapes be used for communion?   

The beverage options in Jesus’ day were limited.  The Qumran Quik Stop carried water, wine and sometimes goat’s milk or vinegar.  (Eeeww – who drinks vinegar?)  

When Jesus gave us the rite of Communion, He did so during a typical Passover meal using what He had before Him, which was most likely wine.  People didn’t imbibe a lot of pure grape juice back then because fermentation begins as soon as the skin of the grape is broken.  Refrigeration was still 2 millennia in the future.

In fact, the church has used wine through the ages to celebrate communion.  It really wasn’t until 1869 that Thomas Welch found a way to pasteurize grape juice to keep it from fermenting.  He marketed it to local churches, urging them to adopt it for communion services, calling it “Dr. Welch’s Unfermented Wine.”

Today some of us have red-faced arguments over whether it was wine or grape juice that Jesus used.  I was stunned to find out that the Bible does not specify. 

When the Lord gave us the rite, He referred to what was in the cup generically as, “the fruit of the vine” which could refer to either.  Paul was also vague in 1 Corinthians 11:25-28.  I wonder if the Lord was diplomatically trying to help us avoid our present-day communion controversies.

But what is it about the fruit of the vine that makes it an appropriate symbol of the blood that Jesus shed for us?   Why not Dr. Pepper?  

Maybe it’s because wine is frequently associated with joyful celebration in the Bible.  When King David was installed as King of Israel the wine flowed.  (1 Chron 12:38-40) Likewise, when Christ shed His blood, He earned the right to rule on the throne of David as King (Philippians 2:5-11) – a great cause to celebrate.

Certainly, the juice was nutritious and life giving – a reminder that Christ gives us life abundant now and for eternity.  Not common knowledge back then, but we now know that the fruit of the vine is full of antioxidants that ward off free radicals.  We also know that the blood of Christ secures us from the wrath of God. (Romans 5:9)

Or maybe it’s because the blood of grapes becomes more precious over time.  It’s not that the value of the His sacrifice improves, but our appreciation of it grows. 

My best guess, however, is that the juice is produced by the crushing of the grapes.  The ancient prophet predicted that our Savior would be likewise handled.   “He was wounded because of our rebellious deeds, crushed because of our sins.”  – Isaiah 53:5  NETBible ®

That night in the Upper Room, Jesus made sure that His disciples understood that He was the one the prophet had in mind.  Like the juice of the grapes that He held in His hand, He would be crushed, but the blessing that would come from it would be vast, extraordinary and eternal. 

The next time you receive communion, forget the prune juice and mull over the fact that Jesus was crushed for you.

A PRAYER: Lord help me to better understand and appreciate the kind of love that Jesus has for me. 

stolen piece — April 22, 2020

stolen piece

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It was solemn moment in the service. Communion was being served. The tradition of the church was for folks to rise, move to the center aisle and go forward, receive communion and then return by the side aisle.

My friend Steve had just returned and had taken his seat when something in his peripheral vision frightened him.  There was a big, ugly, hairy animal on his arm.  He stifled a scream, jumped up and tried to shake the fearful thing off onto the next guy, but it had a tenacious hold on him.

He paused and realized that the beast was actually a bushy lady’s wig.   He snagged it with his coat button when he returned from communion.  OK this was absurdly embarrassing.

He discreetly scanned the row in front of him for a seated lady without any hair.  And there she was – an older, dignified matron who had no idea that her glory was missing.  Her husband noticed, however, and laughed himself under the pew.

I asked Steve what it was like doing church with her after that.  He said, “Every time they met, she gave him an icy stare and a grunt.

And who could blame her?  He exposed her scruffy scalp to the church!  He put her imperfection on display for all to see!   Oh my!

We will forgive him for that because it was an accident, but some of us do it quite purposefully.

During the Covid-19 confinement I had an occasion to personally speak with the Sheriff of one of our counties in East Texas.  I asked him if he was seeing the same uptick in crime that they were experiencing in New York.  He said not in terms of robberies, but the number of domestic 911 calls were spiraling up. 

Couples were getting into fistfights over the TV remote or a thoughtless remark – trivial offenses that didn’t really matter before.

I get it.  The quarantine is taxing. People are sitting around, with little to do, and their frustration is translated into impatience with their 24-hour-a-day companions.  Its crazy!  People are facing essentially a life and death situation and yet they are squabbling over who gets to wear the prettiest facemask. 

It’s at times like these we need the counsel of the Word of God. 

The Apostle Paul wrote, “Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with a heart of mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if someone happens to have a complaint against anyone else. Just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also forgive others.”   Col 3:12-13  NET Bible ®

I love every word of this prescription.  Our homes would be astounding if we filled them with mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.  But sometimes the only thing we are capable of doing is, “bearing with one another.” 

The word “bearing” in the Greek more specifically means, “to endure” one another.   To endure is to put up with someone.  Yes, your wife may talk incessantly when she is frightened, but who isn’t frightened at the moment? Instead of attacking her, maybe you just need to bear it. 

He thinks he owns the TV remote.  Why go to war over it?  He will be back to work soon, then you can wipe it down with a sanitizer cloth and have it all yourself.  In the meantime, maybe you just need to bear it.

Along with the “bearing” Paul adds “forgiving.” – always appropriate especially because we have been forgiven.   Maybe Steve should have been forgiven for heisting her hairpiece?

Solomon the wise adds this to the mix. “He who conceals a transgression seeks love, but he who repeats a matter separates intimate friends.”   – Prov 17:9  NASU  Rather than camping on offense we should conceal it to minimize the embarrassment.  

Maybe the husband of the hairless wife should have quit laughing and discreetly helped to her to get rewigged?   As it was, she was on her own.  She turned, stared at Steve and said, “Hey you, boy, give me that hair!” 

Now of course, I am not suggesting that we should forever ignore personal differences.  A healthy relationship will withstand and prosper when effort is made to resolve these things.  But there are times, however, that its best just to bear them.  This may be the time!