Apparent Contradictions Part 1
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Chapter 9 Continuation of 8
Words of Institution and Communion Illustration
On the night Jesus was betrayed he took bread, and gave thanks, and broke it, and gave it to his disciples and said, this is my body given for you, do this in remembrance of me.
Jesus didn’t say this bread represents my body…he didn’t say this is a symbol of my body, he said this IS my body.
So for hundreds of years, the church believed that this bread actually turns INTO the body of Christ at Communion. That the bread isn’t half bread and half Jesus, but that the bread turns into his actual flesh and bones body.
In the same way, after supper, Jesus took the cup of wine and said this cup is my blood of the covenant, whenever you drink it , do this in remembrance of me.
That the juice or the wine or whatever is being used for communion doesn’t stay juice or wine, but turns into the actual blood of Jesus. That’s pretty weird.
And when Jesus after supper took the cup and said this cup IS the blood of the new covenant, that the juice or the wine or whatever is being used for communion doesn’t stay juice or wine, but turns into the actual blood of Jesus. That’s pretty weird.
Of course, we don’t believe that weirdo stuff in THIS church.
We believe something even...weirder.
We believe that the bread IS the body of Christ. His spiritual supernatural body. Not his fleshly one. His actual body is at the right hand of the father. But his spiritual supernatural body is what we eat at communion.
And it’s not that this bread is half bread and half Jesus’ spiritual body. It’s fully Jesus’ spiritual body and fully still ordinary bread. And it isn’t a mere symbol—we can’t only say that this bread represents or reminds us of his body…it does do that, but the greater truth is that the bread becomes the spiritual body of Christ while still being ordinary bread.
Isn’t that a contradiction in the basic science of matter?
Or is it an apparent contradiction and not a contradiction at all?
And what does it matter?
Chapter 9 Continuation of 8
Last Sunday we completed our Great 8 series, this was a series through Romans chapter 8, and this morning we are going to continue in Romans to , and one thing worth mentioning is that chapter divisions throughout the Bible were not original, they were added in the 13th century, and the verse divisions were added in the 16th century, and usually the chapter and verse divisions are helpful, but when Paul wrote this letter to the Romans it was just one long sermon with no chapter divisions. And in the case of through 9, the beginning of absolutely belongs to . It is a continuation of Paul’s thinking. Paul ends with these incredibly encouraging words:
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit— that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh. They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.
The entire chapter of is positive and uplifting and hopeful. Most, if not all of the actions described in are God’s actions not ours. And God’s amazing love and grace is unpacked in . And just when you are feeling encouraged, keep reading...
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
: 37-39-
I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit— that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh.
Paul has just painted this unbelievable picture in of how nothing compares to Jesus, elsewhere in Paul says he considers everything to be a pile of garbage compared to knowing Jesus. He said that his one goal is to be with Jesus and like Jesus. And here he says, if I could save the people who don’t believe in Jesus by giving up my own salvation and relationship to Jesus I would do it. It sounds admirable but it also sounds contradictory. And if you think that seems like a contradiction, look at verse 11:
9 I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit— 2 that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 3 For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers,[a] my kinsmen according to the flesh. 4 They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. 5 To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.
Contradiction Between and 9
I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit— that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh. They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises.
Contradiction Between and 9
And so when you see in light of , or if you even see the beginning of as belonging in thought to the end of , at first, you may see a great contradiction.
Paul has just finished saying that NOTHING can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.
I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit— that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh. They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen. But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel,
He has just finished saying that our present sufferings, our present condition is not worth comparing to the glory that will be revealed in us.
The entire chapter of is positive and uplifting and hopeful. Most, if not all of the actions described in are God’s actions not ours. And God’s amazing love and grace is unpacked in . And just when you are feeling encouraged, we turn to .
And then in , it’s almost as if a switch flips, and Paul goes negative. Verse 2
that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh.
R
that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart.
Verse 2, I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart.
What happened to the unadulterated joy of ?
Verse 3: I wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers.
What?
Paul is wishing that he could be accursed and cut off from Jesus if the unbelieving Jews of his day would believe in Jesus. It sounds admirable. But it seems like a contradiction to and even other places. Phil 3…8
Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—
That sounds like Paul is contradicting himself. On one hand he is saying he will give up Jesus, if others would come to faith in him. And then he says, I consider everything to be a pile of garbage compared to knowing Jesus.
Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,
Sovereignty and Man’s Responsibility
That sounds like Paul is contradicting himself. On one hand he is saying he will give up Jesus, if others would come to faith in him. And then he says, I consider everything to be a pile of garbage compared to knowing Jesus.
(they, Jacob and Esau—way back in the NT, these were sons of Jacob)
And if you think the beginning of is puzzling and contradictory with other statements Paul has made, it gets even more confusing as you read on.
though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls— she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means! For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.
Paul said that God said he loved Jacob and hated Esau. What about …for God so loved the world, that he gave his only son. Isn’t Esau part of the world? And how can God, a God who is all loving, filled with compassion and mercy, hate anyone? And I can almost hear some saying, well, if the good book says it I believe it…here’s something else the good book says:
The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
It seems that Peter and Paul have a bit of a disagreement. Or do they? Are these things contradictions? Or are they really APPARENT contradictions?
Are these things contradictions?
If you can grasp the theological concept of apparent contradictions and not only apply it to your head knowledge about these doctrines, but apply it to your practical life decisions and the way you see the world, your life will radically change.
What do I mean when I say apparent contradiction...
Or are they really APPARENT contradictions?
JI Packer and Apparent Contradiction
JI Packer defines an apparent contradiction as an appearance of contradiction between conclusions which seem equally logical, reasonable or necessary. Neither option is dispensable or comprehensible. Neither explanation is avoidable. We do not invent it and we cannot explain it.
In other words, God orders and controls all things, human actions among them, yet he holds every man responsible for the choices he makes and the courses of action he pursues. To our finite minds this is inexplicable.
Apparent contradictions are not contradictions at all. They are contradictions to our human minds, but in the mind of God they are perfectly harmonious. That is what we have here with God’s sovereignly choosing and human responsibility.
Man’s Inability
Do you see on a practical thinking stand point how that approach helps when it comes to these confusing doctrines? It’s not either/or, it’s both/and. In our Western, enlightened minds, we want either/or. We want to explain it. The fact is that Western Civilization of the past 500 years especially is the first civilization in the history of the world to demand natural, logical explanations instead of embracing deep mystery.
Man’s Inability
Because the fact is that the Bible teaches that God is sovereign, not us. That God is the one who elects those who will be saved, not us. That God adopts, we can’t adopt ourselves. That if it were up to us, we wouldn’t choose God, we would choose sin. In fact, the Bible teaches, that we can’t do anything spiritual until our dead spiritual heart is raised to life by the holy spirit. And even then, , Paul says that the faith that raised from the dead spiritual heart feels, that belief that we feel inside, wasn’t put there by us, but given to us as a gift.
That there is nothing man can do to save himself. That like , you must be born again. That , no man comes to the father unless the father draws him. That word draw means drags him, compels him to come. says that God chose us before the foundation of the world. says God predestined us…which means to determine beforehand.
One line is God’s sovereignty....that God holds the whole world in his hands. That God elects. That God predestines. That God holds us in his grip and his love. That there is nothing man can do to save himself. That like , you must be born again. That , no man comes to the father unless the father draws him. That word draw means drags him, compels him to come. says that God chose us before the foundation of the world. says God predestined us…which means to determine beforehand. Regardless of your belief on this, and honestly, you don’t get to even have a belief on this if you believe the scriptures are without error, because Scripture is not only clear but relentless on this point. Did God have a chosen people in the OT? Of course he did, the Jews. And he has a chosen people a royal priesthood still.
Regardless of your belief on this, and honestly, you don’t get to even have a belief on this, if you believe the scriptures are without error, because Scripture is not only clear but relentless on this point. Did God have a chosen people in the OT? Of course he did, the Jews. And he has a chosen people a royal priesthood still.
And doesn’t it even play out practically that it was God saving us, and not us all along? Every time I hear someone share how they came to faith in Jesus they say as I look back on before I was a Christian I can now see how God was working here and there, and he brought me to faith. He did it. . We know that God makes us alive.
But doesn’t that sounds like to me that we are robots. If God has already worked it all out, why do we even bother sharing our faith at all?
Man’s Responsibility
Man’s Responsibility
Because Scripture ALSO teaches not only is God sovereign, but man is responsible for choosing. That man is held accountable for whether or not he believed in Christ. That Christians ARE to boldly share our faith because it is a matter of life and death for unbelievers. That all are responsible to choose Jesus. That singing I have decided to follow Jesus is biblical. To choose life by following God’s will. . That God is always inviting us in. That God doesn’t force us. That Jesus said, come to me ALL ye who are weak and heavy laden and I will give you rest.
And the other parallel line is that man is responsible. That we need to choose Jesus. That singing I have decided to follow Jesus is biblical. To choose life by following God’s will. . That God is always inviting us in. That God doesn’t force us.
How can both be true? Isn’t this a contradiction? Only an apparent contradiction.
Only an apparent contradiction.
Door Illustration
Imagine that you are a non-Christians and you see a door to eternal life, and on top of the doorway is the verse from , whosoever will, let him come in. You see the door, the door is offering salvation, it is open for you to walk through it, but you choose not to, instead choosing destruction. You made the choice. You are responsible for that choice. But let’s say you see the door and it is inviting you to walk through it to eternal life and it says whosoever will let him come in, and you say, I am going inside, I will accept the invitation. I will enter that door. And so you go in and it shuts behind you. And you turn around and you see written on the inside of the door the words, “chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world.”
In other words both God’s sovereignty in choosing, and your human responsibility in choosing are both true. Isn’t that a contradiction? A logical fallacy?
Or is it really an apparent contradiction?
JI Packer defines an apparent contradiction as an appearance of contradiction between conclusions which seem equally logical, reasonable or necessary. Neither option is dispensable or comprehensible. Neither explanation is avoidable. We do not invent it and we cannot explain it.
In other words, God orders and controls all things, human actions among them, yet he holds every man responsible for the choices he makes and the courses of action he pursues. To our finite minds this is inexplicable.
Apparent contradictions are not contradictions at all. They are contradictions to our human minds, but in the mind of God they are perfectly harmonious.
In other words, we go 100 percent into God’s sovereignty. And 100 percent into man’s responsibility.
Do you see on a practical thinking stand point how that approach helps when it comes to these confusing doctrines? It’s not either/or, it’s both/and. In our Western, enlightened minds, we want either/or. We want to explain it. The fact is that Western Civilization of the past 500 years especially is the first civilization in the history of the world to demand natural, logical explanations instead of embracing deep mystery.
There was a theologian/pastor who responded to JI Packer’s apparent contradictions because Packer was speaking about predestination and man’s responsibility, and this pastor said, I understand them. I get it. No you don’t. And you don’t need to. You don’t need to fight it out. And debate. And be right.
One line is God’s sovereignty....that God holds the whole world in his hands. That God elects. That God predestines. That God holds us in his grip and his love. That there is nothing man can do to save himself. That like , you must be born again. That , no man comes to the father unless the father draws him. That word draw means drags him, compels him to come. says that God chose us before the foundation of the world. says God predestined us…which means to determine beforehand. Regardless of your belief on this, and honestly, you don’t get to even have a belief on this if you believe the scriptures are without error, because Scripture is not only clear but relentless on this point. Did God have a chosen people in the OT? Of course he did, the Jews. And he has a chosen people a royal priesthood still.
And doesn’t it even play out practically that it was God saving us, and not us all along? Every time I hear someone share how they came to faith in Jesus they say as I look back on before I was a Christian I can now see how God was working here and there, and he brought me to faith. He did it. . We know that God makes us alive.
When you look back on before you were a Christian you can see how God was calling you, and working in your life, and brought you to faith, we don’t see that WE bring ourselves to faith, that we somehow will it. We know that God makes us alive.
And the other parallel line is that man is responsible. That we need to choose Jesus. That singing I have decided to follow Jesus is biblical. To choose life by following God’s will. . That God is always inviting us in. That God doesn’t force us.
Christian Faith Filled with Apparent Contradictions
Here is what is humorous to me about these kinds of debates. We get all worked up about and try to explain our side, to rationalize it, to remove the mystery so that 2 plus 2 equals 4. But yet the Christian faith is FILLED with apparent contradictions:
The Christian faith is filled with “apparent contradictions.”
-The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, aren’t each 33 percent God, but each are 100 percent God. That equals 300 percent. An apparent contradiction.
-The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, aren’t each 33 percent God, but each are 100 percent God. That equals 300 percent. An apparent contradiction.
-God is 100 percent immanent (near and knowable), and 100 percent transcendent (far off and wholly other). An apparent contradiction.
-Jesus was 100 percent man and 100 percent God. He wasn’t a mixture of man and God. An apparent contradiction.
-Was Jesus peccable (able to sin), or impeccable (unable to sin)? Be careful how you answer, as either option (both are theologically orthodox!) creates apparent contradictions when it comes to either the value and extent of Christ’s “active obedience,” or the divinity and holiness of the Second Person of the Trinity.
Problem of Evil
And the most perplexing and brutal, and in times like these, relevant, apparent contradictions:
How can an all-powerful, perfectly loving, sovereign God, who providentially “controls all his creatures and all their actions,” and who said, “let the little children come to me,” and “anyone who causes a child to stumble would be better off weighted down to the bottom of the sea,” allow the palpable inexcusable pure unadulterated evil that was experienced when a killer shot 17 students in Florida? To say that is an apparent contradiction doesn’t come close to being adequately descriptive.
How can a sovereign, good, loving, all-wise, pure and holy God allow evil AT ALL while not also being the author of evil even though “all things were made by God”? If God, why evil?
How is it OK that God seemed to have lifted his restraining grace by allowing/permitting, while seemingly standing on the sidelines, as the killer planned to kill and ultimately killed 17 students?
If God, Why Evil?
Think about it...
Think about it...
If I KNEW there would be a school shooting, and I didn’t do EVERYTHING in my power to stop it, you would call me evil, or at least cowardly.
Taking it further...
If I not only knew about the planned shooting, but possessed the absolute POWER to easily STOP a school shooting, and I LET it happen anyway, so that my “own glory would be displayed” sometime in the infinite future, forget “apparent contradictions,” you would call me sick, delusional, evil, cruel, inhuman, unloving, not having an ounce of goodness, and even criminal.
But God not only knew about it, but could have stopped it and he didn’t. And you would have to say that God was actually present in those hallways during that shooting. Still...
If God, Why Evil?
Who Has Known the Mind of the Lord?
These are “apparent” contradictions, because even that which seems so obviously to be a contradiction related to God...somehow isn’t. One of the most important truths I have come to terms with is that great truths especially about God, usually have a polar opposite that is ALSO a great truth...without the truths becoming a contradiction, or minimizing one of God’s attributes.
In other words, we go 100 percent into God’s sovereignty. And 100 percent into man’s responsibility.
Do you see on a practical thinking stand point how that approach helps when it comes to these confusing doctrines? It’s not either/or, it’s both/and. In our Western, enlightened minds, we want either/or. We want to explain it. The fact is that Western Civilization of the past 500 years especially is the first civilization in the history of the world to demand natural, logical explanations instead of embracing deep mystery.
Who Has Known the Mind of the Lord?
Because even Paul admitted that this life is one filled with apparent contradictions, after he has poured out his heart trying to explain the mind of God from , he closes out the whole section with these words:
Do you see on a practical thinking stand point how that approach helps when it comes to these confusing doctrines? It’s not either/or, it’s both/and. In our Western, enlightened minds, we want either/or. We want to explain it. The fact is that Western Civilization of the past 500 years especially is the first civilization in the history of the world to demand natural, logical explanations instead of embracing deep mystery.
Do you see on a practical thinking stand point how that approach helps when it comes to these confusing doctrines? It’s not either/or, it’s both/and. In our Western, enlightened minds, we want either/or. We want to explain it. The fact is that Western Civilization of the past 500 years especially is the first civilization in the history of the world to demand natural, logical explanations instead of embracing deep mystery.
Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! “For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?” “Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?” For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.
So What?
Isn’t it pie in the sky to explain it at all? So again, if God, why evil?
There is an answer. And it isn’t a pat answer. Paul gives us the answer to if God, why evil, in this passage and it is beautiful. We will look at it next Sunday.
So again, if God, why evil?
I have an older pastor friend from seminary and his wife died and he and I were having a conversation about grief. And he told me that the memorial service was brutal, that his congregation saw him reduced to a pile of tears, and after the funeral his closest friends and family came to his home to console him. And he told me that like others he would go from laughing to crying. Some of you men have lost your wives in the past year or so. Unspeakable pain and loneliness. And so a woman he barely knew shows up at the door to pay her respects. She had attended the memorial service, maybe she was a marginal church member, he kind of knew her, kind of didn’t. And she says, I just praise Jesus that your wife is in Heaven, and I wonder why we would grieve and cry if we really believe she is dancing and singing in heaven. And he tried to believe the best and said, yeah, that’s true that she’s in heaven, she’s not with me and that makes me sad.
And the woman wouldn’t take the hint, and she said, you are a pastor, you of all people should know that we need to fight sadness at times like these and show we have strong faith. And he told me he looked at her kindly and said, “lady…if you think for a second that I am not going to deeply grieve the loss of my wife, then you should go knock on another door.”
There is an answer. And it isn’t a pat answer. Paul gives us the answer to if God, why evil, in this passage and it is beautiful. We will look at it next Sunday.
There is an answer. And it isn’t a pat answer. Paul gives us the answer in this passage and it is beautiful. We will look at it next Sunday.
In other words, explaining the pain and the problem of death and evil as apparent contradictions doesn’t take away the pain or the evil…or solve the problem.
So again, if God, why evil?
There is an answer. And it isn’t a pat answer. Paul gives it to us in this passage. We will look at it next Sunday.
There is an answer. And it isn’t a pat answer. Paul gives it to us in this passage. We will look at it next Sunday.
So What?
There is an answer. And it isn’t a pat answer. Paul gives it to us in this passage. We will look at it next Sunday. And even if you aren’t going through anything difficult right now, you still need this truth of apparent contradictions…because once you grasp this truth, it applies to everything in your life. It frees you. It frees you from being right all the time. It frees you from seeing everything in black and white. It frees you to apologize and say I’m wrong, will you forgive me, even at those times when you can’t even imagine that you could possibly be wrong.
And even if you aren’t going through anything difficult right now, you still need this truth of apparent contradictions…because once you grasp this truth, it applies to everything in your life. It frees you. It frees you from being right all the time. It frees you from seeing everything in black and white. It frees you to apologize and say I’m wrong, will you forgive me, even at those times when you can’t even imagine that you could possibly be wrong. It frees you to see the other person’s point of view.
So when considering apparent contradictions, if God, why evil? Isn’t it pie in the sky to explain it at all? So again, if God, why evil? There is an answer. And it isn’t a pat answer. Paul gives us the answer to if God, why evil, in this passage and it is beautiful. We are going to get into it next Sunday, but as you can probably guess the answer has a lot to do with pointing us to Jesus.
It’s not a Tagline But A Lifestyle
We have been shooting short videos called Reach Stories. These tell the story of how you came to the church and the impact the church has had on you. And it has been so encouraging to see our people getting nothing But Jesus. To see it changing our lives. And the person in our most recent video said that she has come to believe that nothing but Jesus isn’t a tagline but a lifestyle. I thought that was so good. Because if we answer the problem of evil with a pat answer like Jesus is the answer. Or nothing but Jesus is the answer and it doesn’t radically change our lives…we have solved nothing.
Give Up my Own Salvation
We will unpack this more next Sunday, but Paul said in verse 3, I would give up my own salvation if my family members and neighbors and those I love would come to know Jesus. Think about that statement. Are your political views or your opinions, or your perspective when it comes to an argument with your spouse so important to you that you wouldn’t give up anything at all? Paul was desperate for people to get Jesus.
We will look at it next Sunday.
How Beautiful are the Feet
That is why in : 15 Paul said how beautiful are the feet of those who bring this good news. We have good news to bring. And the good news is desperately needed because when we ask the question, if God, why evil, the answer isn’t that the evil can be solved by laws, even though laws are good, or by mental health care, even though that is needed, or by harsh comments by politicians on either side…because any thinking person would stand back from this great evil of these shootings and say, we are in trouble. There really aren’t a whole lot of solutions when you play it out naturally. The cat is out of the bag when it comes to the guns. They are out there. So if evil, why God? To make us desperate for Jesus…and we aren’t. Evangelicalism in our country isn’t desperate for Jesus. We are desperate to be right. To be powerful. If God, why Evil…Paul said it in verse 17, in order that my power may be shown in you throughout all the earth. That my purpose in election, which is glorify Jesus, may stand.
Words of Institution and Communion Illustration
Bill Davis on the Loss of his Wife
I have an older pastor friend from seminary and his wife died and he and I were having a conversation about grief. And he told me that the memorial service was brutal, that his congregation saw him reduced to a pile of tears, and after the funeral his closest friends and family came to his home to console him. And he told me that like others he would go from laughing to crying. Some of you men have lost your wives in the past year or so. Unspeakable pain and loneliness. And so a woman he barely knew shows up at the door to pay her respects. She had attended the memorial service, maybe she was a marginal church member, he kind of knew her, kind of didn’t. And she says, I just praise Jesus that your wife is in Heaven, and I wonder why we would grieve and cry if we really believe she is dancing and singing in heaven. And he tried to believe the best and said, yeah, that’s true that she’s in heaven, she’s not with me and that makes me sad.
And the woman wouldn’t take the hint, and she said, you are a pastor, you of all people should know that we need to fight sadness at times like these and show we have strong faith. And he told me he looked at her kindly and said, “lady…if you think for a second that I am not going to deeply grieve the loss of my wife, then you should go knock on another door.”
In other words, explaining the pain and the problem of death and evil as apparent contradictions doesn’t take away the pain or the evil…or solve the problem.
So If God, Why Evil?
As I have been watching this past week unfold, it is interesting to hear the solutions that people are offering to the problem of mass shootings. One guy wrote:
I’m Curious. How many more big mass shootings will take place before society wants change? 10? 20? How many people have to die first? Perhaps it will take the majority of America having a loved one or someone they know die before change is enacted.
One of the students who witnessed the shooting said this:
“Please, take action. Ideas are great. Ideas are wonderful and they help you get reelected and everything,” David Hogg said on CNN as he looked straight at the camera. “But what's more important is actual action ... that results in saving thousands of children's lives. Please, take action.”
So for that side, we need to take action, make some new laws. There is a video floating around about Australia that they had 13 mass shootings from 1979-1996, and then they passed strict gun laws, they offered to buy back certain guns, and since then they haven’t had any mass shootings.
The other side responds this way…a quote from our President:
"The city of Chicago. What is going on in Chicago? There are those who say that Afghanistan is safer than Chicago, okay? What is going on? You know what's wrong with Chicago? Weak, ineffective politicians. Politicians that don't want to force restrictions and don't, and by the way, Chicago, -- for those of you that are gonna say, 'Guns, guns' -- Chicago has the toughest gun laws in the United States, okay? Just in case you were thinking about it. You know they immediately say, 'Oh, you're gonna take away.' Well, Chicago has the toughest gun laws in the United States.”
Or more theological, guns don’t kill people, men’s hearts kill people.
Here’s the problem with all of it...
Words of Institution and Communion Illustration
On the night Jesus was betrayed he took bread, and gave thanks, and broke it, and gave it to his disciples and said, this is my body given for you, do this in remembrance of me.
Jesus didn’t say this bread represents my body…he didn’t say this is a symbol of my body, he said this IS my body.
So for hundreds of years, the church believed that this bread actually turns INTO the body of Christ at Communion. That the bread isn’t half bread and half Jesus, but that the bread turns into his actual flesh and bones body.
In the same way, after supper, Jesus took the cup of wine and said this cup is my blood of the covenant, whenever you drink it , do this in remembrance of me.
That the juice or the wine or whatever is being used for communion doesn’t stay juice or wine, but turns into the actual blood of Jesus. That’s pretty weird.
Of course, we don’t believe that weirdo stuff in THIS church.
We believe something even...weirder.
We believe that the bread IS the body of Christ. His spiritual supernatural body. Not his fleshly one. His actual body is at the right hand of the father. But his spiritual supernatural body is what we eat at communion.
And it’s not that this bread is half bread and half Jesus’ spiritual body. It’s fully Jesus’ spiritual body and fully still ordinary bread. And it isn’t a mere symbol—we can’t only say that this bread represents or reminds us of his body…it does do that, but the greater truth is that the bread becomes the spiritual body of Christ while still being ordinary bread.
Isn’t that a contradiction in the basic science of matter?
What we are about to do is a picture of the Gospel. It is a picture of apparent contradictions.
I have been using a graphic for the background of the verses this morning.
Show the blurred graphic
It looks like a color blur. Hard to make out anything. It looks like it has the potential for beauty. But it is blurred and concealed from us.
Show the in focus graphic
But now, you can see it. You can see the crown of thorns. The beautiful cross. But notice the artist also superimposes a black hole. The cross of Jesus that saves us, the black hole of life that would consume us if not for what we are about to celebrate.
To take it any further would be a theodicy. Theodicy is SUCH an important word because it is an attempt to explain tragedy in a way that inevitably diminishes an attribute of God and decreases our trust and faith in God.
To take it any further would be a theodicy. Theodicy is SUCH an important word because it is an attempt to explain tragedy in a way that inevitably diminishes an attribute of God and decreases our trust and faith in God.
For instance, to say that God didn’t allow the school shooting, or didn’t know it was going to happen, would be a theodicy that diminishes the theology of Providence and Omnipotence, and Omniscience, which are non-negotiable, and incommunicable attributes of God. To say that God wasn’t PRESENT in those hallways, would be a Theodicy that diminishes the divine attribute of Omniscience.
For instance, to say that God didn’t allow the school shooting, or didn’t know it was going to happen, would be a theodicy that diminishes the theology of Providence and Omnipotence, and Omniscience, which are non-negotiable, and incommunicable attributes of God. To say that God wasn’t PRESENT in those hallways, would be a Theodicy that diminishes the divine attribute of Omniscience.
In other words, our knowledge of the mind of God ends fairly quickly when tragedy like this strikes. This is just one reason I know that Christianity is true...because I see parents of children that were killed trusting God even MORE, and believing that God is even MORE infinitely good, even though he allowed such a great tragedy that he could have stopped. I am amazed at the deepening faith in the person and work of Jesus of those who suffer so horrifically and have never even personally laid eyes on Jesus! That kind of faith can only be attributed to that which is absolute truth.
In other words, our knowledge of the mind of God ends fairly quickly when tragedy like this strikes. This is just one reason I know that Christianity is true...because I see parents of children that were killed trusting God even MORE, and believing that God is even MORE infinitely good, even though he allowed such a great tragedy that he could have stopped. I am amazed at the deepening faith in the person and work of Jesus of those who suffer so horrifically and have never even personally laid eyes on Jesus! That kind of faith can only be attributed to that which is absolute truth.
Perhaps that is why one of the first things the resurrected Jesus said to his disciples was, “you see me and believe in me...many won’t see me in person and will STILL believe...those are the blessed ones.” Jesus was talking about you and me...if you dare to love and trust Jesus for salvation.
Perhaps that is why one of the first things the resurrected Jesus said to his disciples was, “you see me and believe in me...many won’t see me in person and will STILL believe...those are the blessed ones.” Jesus was talking about you and me...if you dare to love and trust Jesus for salvation.
Speaking of a tragedy God could have easily stopped...the Greatest Tragedy of all time was the crucifixion of his perfect and spotless Son...God could have stopped that, but he didn’t. Perhaps that is why at the Cross of Jesus the infinite love of God was most radiantly displayed.
Speaking of a tragedy God could have easily stopped...the Greatest Tragedy of all time was the crucifixion of his perfect and spotless Son...God could have stopped that, but he didn’t. Perhaps that is why at the Cross of Jesus the infinite love of God was most radiantly displayed.
Wow.
Wow.
This isn’t the way I was taught in seminary to “defend the faith” or “share the faith”...but it is so much truer, and far more loving, and keeping with Jesus’ paradoxical approach, than providing pat answers to unanswerable questions. If you want pat answers, and an “I’m sure of everything,” and “I will explain it all to you,” Bible Answer Man mentality through three step sermons spoken in the foreign tongue of Christianese, you probably won’t relate well to me as a pastor, friend, and human being. If you want to hear political punditry in the pulpit on the pros and cons of gun control, or a caustic diatribe about the evils of “those people out there”...again, I can’t help you.
This isn’t the way I was taught in seminary to “defend the faith” or “share the faith”...but it is so much truer, and far more loving, and keeping with Jesus’ paradoxical approach, than providing pat answers to unanswerable questions. If you want pat answers, and an “I’m sure of everything,” and “I will explain it all to you,” Bible Answer Man mentality through three step sermons spoken in the foreign tongue of Christianese, you probably won’t relate well to me as a pastor, friend, and human being. If you want to hear political punditry in the pulpit on the pros and cons of gun control, or a caustic diatribe about the evils of “those people out there”...again, I can’t help you.
But...if one beggar telling another beggar where he found bread and trusting that the Holy Spirit will transform my sucky words and the deep inarticulate groanings of my soul, into a prayerful sermon that I desperately hope and pray relentlessly points to Jesus, I may have some measure of comfort to offer in times like these to you because proclaiming Nothing But Jesus at all times, especially in times like these, is my absolute calling and all I have to offer.
But...if one beggar telling another beggar where he found bread and trusting that the Holy Spirit will transform my sucky words and the deep inarticulate groanings of my soul, into a prayerful sermon that I desperately hope and pray relentlessly points to Jesus, I may have some measure of comfort to offer in times like these to you because proclaiming Nothing But Jesus at all times, especially in times like these, is my absolute calling and all I have to offer.
That doesn’t make it easy or mean that we don’t beat on the chest of God...he can take it.
That doesn’t make it easy or mean that we don’t beat on the chest of God...he can take it.
I am longing for Jesus to make all things new, but until then, I must relentlessly and yes, tearfully, resolve to know Nothing But Jesus and him crucified () all the more. We must double and triple down on Nothing But Jesus in times like these. All the other pat, not apparently contradictory answers are a pile of theodical skubula ().
I am longing for Jesus to make all things new, but until then, I must relentlessly and yes, tearfully, resolve to know Nothing But Jesus and him crucified () all the more. We must double and triple down on Nothing But Jesus in times like these. All the other pat, not apparently contradictory answers are a pile of theodical skubula ().
Nothing. But. Jesus.
Nothing. But. Jesus.