Friday, 12th October 2007[The title of today's post is actually the title of a song that was very popular back in the 1980s. Those of you out there from my generation would probably remember that it was a hit by a duo called Hall and Oates.]
Just this week, we partook of the Holy Communion (which is administered on the 1st Sunday of every month in my church). As part of the ritual leading up to going forward to the Lord's Table, we had to read responsively what was projected on the screen.
In particular, there was a portion of the ritual that went something as follows:
"However, Scripture also tell us that anyone who partakes of the Lord's Table in an unworthy manner is guilty of bringing judgement upon himself. So let us now examine ourselves for areas that we have missed the mark."
I admit to having recited the above passage for more than15 years already. However, having just watched the DVD sermon "Health and Wholeness through the Holy Communion", my spirit man has become extremely sensitive to what does not align with the Word of God, and I was struggling to say those words aloud and was thinking to myself, "I can't go for that. No can do."
In 1 Cor 11, Paul was asking the Corinthian church to examine whether they were rightly discerning that the Lord's Body was meant for their health and wholeness. This has unfortunately been misinterpreted to mean that we should be examining ourselves for unconfessed sins!
Even under the Mosaic Law, when a Jew brought a sin offering to the LORD, the priest did not examine the
offeror for spots or blemishes. After all, the very reason why that man was there to offer a sin offering in the first place was because he had sinned! Rather, the priest examined the
offering to ensure that the sacrifice was without blemishes.
Yet, here we were, on this side of the cross, being asked as
offerors, to examine ourselves for areas that we have missed the mark, when Jesus, our
offering, has already been accepted by God the Father, as the perfect sacrifice, once and for all.
As I stood there wondering how to respond, I was reminded of a story that Rev Leslie Quahe, a previous pastor of our church, told. As a youth growing up, he was made to recite the Apostles' Creed, which goes as follows:
I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth;
And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord:
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried;
the third day he rose from the dead; he ascended into heaven,
and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty;
from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church,
the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
Whenever they recited the Creed, he noticed that one particular person would cough whenever the word "catholic" was read. One day, he decided to ask the person why he did so, to which the guy answered, "because I do not believe in the Catholic church". From then on, Rev Quahe would "cough along" with him. (Of course, we know that the word "catholic" means "universal", and some modern translations now use this word in its place).
Anyway, that pastor could "cough" whenever that word was recited. But how was I going to prolong a cough right throughout the passages that were unbiblical?
I did the next best thing. Instead of reciting, I thanked the LORD that Jesus is our perfect sacrifice, so when He examines Jesus, He finds no spot or blemish. Furthermore, Jesus did not miss the mark in any area of His life, and as He is, so am I in this world. After that, I felt extremely at peace :-)
Other misinterpretations of the Holy Communion such as "partaking unworthily" and "confession of sins" are clarified in the videos excerpts that was part of the blog entry
The Health Gospel.
2007 to play golf with several other brothers from the NTI/NTU Alumni Christian Fellowship. This was the Annual Golf Challenge for 2007.
