Memorials

Acts 2:42

Do you do anything to help you remember important information?  I bet you do.  I usually keep a small notebook in my pocket or close at hand so that I write down important dates, and facts or anything that I don’t want to forget.  I also have a bunch of pictures on my computer, and framed photos on the wall.  The pictures that make the wall are the ones that I want to see and be reminded of every day.

In the Old Testament when something important happened, the people would pile up stones in a pillar.  Then when people were walking along and their children asked, “Why is there a big pile of rocks over there?  Did something important happen here?”  The parents could tell them the history of the place and how it shaped their people.  We make memorials like this all over place today.  Just look around Washington D.C.

Right before Jesus is arrested and crucified, he has one last dinner with his closest friends and followers.  We call this the Last Supper.  In that upper room Jesus sets up a memorial.  He takes some ordinary food of the day, bread and wine, and tells his disciples that when they eat and drink to remember him and what is about to happen to on the cross.

The early Church devotes themselves to the breaking of bread.  They devoted themselves to the memory of Jesus and the work on the cross.  The early Christians set their lives in a rhythm that constantly reminded them of Jesus and the Cross.  Today our challenge is how do we set our lives up in such a way that we are constantly reminding ourselves of our Lord and Savior.

What’s your position?

One of the strongest values of Americans is individualism.  While we do not have the dramatic mythology of the Greeks or the Romans, we do have the Old West.  The characters that are celebrated in story are lone cowboys, lone lawmen, and lone settlers.  All of the heroes are celebrated for their rugged individualism and survival.

I have constantly striven to be a self-sufficient individual who takes care of himself and relies only on himself.  In my school days I even competed in individual sports.  I ran cross-country and track for the school, and competed in karate tournaments as well.  In track and cross-country both my performance could help the team but only by what I did as an individual.  In karate my training partners helped along the way but I competed alone. 

This is not how we are meant to run the race of faith.

For me this is one of the harder teachings of the Bible.  We are saved as individuals but as soon as we are, we join the team of the Kingdom of Heaven.  We call this team the body of Christ, or simply the Church.  Acts 2:42 calls it the fellowship.

The apostle Paul explains this a little more in his first letter to the Corinthians.  In the twelfth chapter he explains that different people have different roles on God’s team.  Jesus is the head or the coach and the rest of us have other roles to fill.  Some are teachers, some are healers, and some are leaders.  Paul does not give a complete list of gifts here but begins to give us an idea of the ways that God equips his team.

Being on the team requires participation and there are no individual events.  Everyone on the team everywhere in the world is to be working together toward the team’s goal of victory.  Victory is the sharing of the gospel’s redeeming message and meeting the needs of everyone we can.  The question is: What position do you play?

Following Up

Day one: Read what is said about Spiritual gifts and the body in 1 Corinthians 12

Day 2:  What are your gifts?

Day 3 How can I use my gift to further the message of Jesus Christ?

Day 4 How can I use my gifts to help those in need?

Day 5 Read Ephesians 4:1-16 How does this passage further your understanding of the body and fellowship?