Red, White, and Hope

If you’ve driven anywhere in the last month, turned on a tv or radio, or gone to the mailbox, then you are probably well aware that the 2024 election season has officially begun. Campaign signs are on every street corner, political ads are airing on tv, debates are being held, and campaign mailers are hitting mailboxes. Over the last decade, politics have felt increasingly tense, so how should we navigate the election season as Christians?

Remember That Every Person Is, First And Foremost, A Person

Politics offer a unique look at human behavior. As we watch campaigns and debates, it can be easy to fall into an “us versus them” mentality. The danger here is that when we do this, our brain makes a shortcut, and we start seeing individuals in the “them” category purely as their political ideologies dictate and not as the humans they are.

This process is known as “dehumanization.” Brene Brown, a research professor and author saying, “Dehumanizing often starts with creating an enemy image. As we take sides, lose trust, and get angrier and angrier, we not only solidify an idea of our enemy, but also start to lose our ability to listen, communicate, and practice even a modicum of empathy.” Once we see the other side as an enemy, the issue becomes framed as good versus evil, and all of a sudden, the ends start justifying the means. We start treating people differently on the basis of their political beliefs. Think about the things you’ve heard about politicians, parties, and the people who support them. What labels have been applied to them? How do people talk to or about them?

When I first heard about this concept, I challenged myself to think about groups of people with whom I did not agree, and I was shocked to see how often I had reduced them down to their ideas and stopped seeing them as people.

At the end of the day, every human being is made in the image of God, and deserves to be treated with kindness and respect regardless of what they believe or do. This includes candidates, protestors, supporters, leaders, and voters. During this time when much of the country will be at odds over politics, how can we intentionally remind ourselves and others to treat people as image-bearers and not as enemies?

Put Your Identity In Jesus, Not In A Political Party.

Over the last several years, politics have grown so that they are now a core part of one’s everyday life. No longer do we live in a society where everyone could vote as they willed and leave it at that, living peacefully with those who voted differently. Now, your political affiliations even affect which memes you see on Facebook.

While it is easy to get wrapped up in the culture and base our identity on politics, it is critical that we remember this is not what we are called to do as Christians. Our greatest commandments are to love God with all of our hearts and souls and minds, and to love our neighbors as ourselves (Matt. 22:37-39). We are called to be “salt” and “light” (Matt. 5), but if we don’t have love, these efforts will have gained nothing (1 Cor. 13). The social issues at play in our society today are important, but pale in comparison to eternity.

Pray For Every Candidate, Regardless Of Their Party.

At the end of the day, even the best candidates have human limitations, and being an elected official is an immense responsibility. The sheer number of decisions they have to make on a wide range of topics, and often very quickly, is a lot of pressure. Add on top of that the tensions surrounding many of their decisions, the opposing opinions that may (or may not) have equal credibility, and the number of lives that could be impacted by their decisions. Regardless of whether or not you agree with a candidate or elected official, they need your prayers.

No Matter How It Turns Out, There Is Still Hope.

Whether the election turns out as we hope or not, we have to remember that God is still sovereign. As it says in the book of Daniel, “He removes kings and sets up kings” (2:21), and He has a reason for doing both. As we go through what will likely be a tumultuous election cycle, it is important that we remember to hold fast to our faith and trust that God has a plan for whatever the outcomes might be.

So, I encourage you to do some research; read some articles; don’t listen much to social media; be in prayer; get out and vote when it’s time; be God’s person all the time but especially when the rest of the world seems chaotic. Blessings on your journey.

Searching for Purpose.

Many of us have lost things along the way. We have lost our phone, our wallet, our keys…our minds sometimes. And so we go looking for these items that have meaning to us. I have spoken to many people over my ministry career who have a feeling of lostness. They feel they are living everyday with no real compass. They don’t feel satisfied in the their life choices and direction. They want to know what is the meaning of their life? How do they discover their purpose?

King Solomon tells us in Ecclesiastes 2 that he’s gone down every road available. He’s tried every earthly thing. He experienced pleasures of all kinds, had all the money and stuff he could aquire. He had so many relationships and sexual encounters. He used his creativity to build things that would outlast him, one of which was the temple in Jerusalem. He was an international celebrity and enjoyed being a house hold name for the world. And then King Solomon said that none of it mattered or brought him satisfaction or made a real difference in his life. He said it was like chasing the wind….all meaningless.

It is meaningless unless you have God in the priority position in your life. The only way you will satisfy the aching spot in your heart is to find your purpose in God and His story. So, how do I find my purpose in this life as it relates to God?

Paul told us in Ephesians 2:10, “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” We are reminded the same hands that created the universe…the same hands that knit you together in the womb of your mother are the same hands that want to show you your purpose. And in order to discover your purpose, you must hang out at the intersection. So you ask, “What intersection?”

There are four roads that lead to helping you answer the question of your purpose and if you stand at the intersection of those four roads, you’ll figure out your purpose.

The first road is answering the question, “What brings God glory?” John the Baptist said in John 3:30, “Jesus must become greater and I must become less.” Live life in such a way as to bring God glory every single day, not just on Sunday. How are you using your time, talent and resources to make more of God than you do yourself? Everything outside this idea Solomon says is hevel or meaningless. Paul tells us in Romans 11 that everything we have and all that we are flows from God and is for God. What are you doing to bring God glory?

The second road is discovering your gifts. Paul gives us a list of spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians 12. He tells us that each of us have been given at least one gift by the Holy Spirit. And when you master that gift, desire to lean into the other gifts as well. God was deliberate when he saw you in your mother’s womb and knew just exactly what to give you as a gift. What is your gift and how are you using it in God’s story?

The third road is discovering your passion. What is the thing you are very passionate about? For me, it’s preaching and kids and teenagers. Another way to word this is what brings you joy? And you know it’s your passion when you discover it’s not being done and it creates an emotional response in you. So on mornings I’m not bringing the Word, I miss that piece of sharing God’s story. When I see children or teens being mistreated, it gets me agitated. So what are your passions and how are you using those in God’s story?

Finally, the fourth road is where are the open doors? Find the places available to do things you are passionate about. You’ll feel the Holy Spirit nudging you at your place of employment, in the places you live, play and worship. How are you using your gifts and passions for God’s glory in the places where there are open doors?

If you don’t know what your gifts are, ask someone close to you like a spouse or a close friend. I promise they will tell you what they see in you if you ask.

And you don’t need an army to accomplish living everyday into God’s story. What I see in the Bible is this formula: God + You = enough. When you surrender to God’s story the only power you need is the power of Almighty God.

So let the maker give you meaning. Once, I couldn’t get my Apple computer to do what I needed. After working with it half a day, I finally took it to the Apple Store and in about a second, they had it functioning at its full potential. So also, when we surrender to our Maker, he’ll help us function at our full potential.

You want to find purpose in life? Solomon tells us you won’t find it in anything the world is offering you. You’ll find purpose in God, our Maker at the intersection of God’s glory, your giftedness and passion, and open doors. But you must be brave enough to listen and then act. Blessings on your journey.

Finding Your Way

Ecclesiastes is the perfect book of the Bible for our current cultural times. King Solomon, the wisest man to ever live, is looking back on his life and offering sage advice for the people who are listening to him. In Ecclesiastes, Solomon will help all of us answer two questions that we all have: What’s the meaning of life? and What’s my purpose on earth?

Each of us get so caught up in the rat race of gathering “stuff”. We do things in our life that we think is going to fulfill us and satiate us. We amass money, relationships, sexual encounters. We get caught up in food, alcohol, pills. We think all of these things will satisfy us. Solomon says he’s tried all of that to the “nth” degree and all of that isn’t it.

Solomon was so rich and powerful, he had the ability to pursue every possibility to find joy and happiness in them. At the end of his life, with all of his life experiences, he lets us know as we are on life’s journey, we could do one of three things on the road we travel on.

If we are not careful, we could end up in the ditch of fatalism, believing nothing really matters. You can try to fill your life with money, sex, substance, or the party scene because you’ve resigned yourself to nothing really maters. But Solomon is telling us, he’s tried all of that and it’s like chasing the wind.

He says we could also wind up in the ditch of humanism which just makes everything about me. It’s an egocentric lifestyle that screams my weekends are about me, my relationships are about me and my goals are just about my self-fulfillment. This way of life says we are out to tantalize all five of our senses. It’s about self-actualization. But Solomon says God wants to get you off that hamster wheel.

Each of us have a God-shaped hole within us. That space draws us closer to God when we let it. And when we decide God’s call overrides what the world says, we begin walking on the road of faith.

Solomon is telling us, he’s tried everything and the only thing that brings joy and happiness, the only thing that satisfies, the only thing that affirms our purpose is God. No amount of money, sex, pleasure or prestige will ever amount to what God will do in our lives.

A.W. Tozer wrote in “The Pursuit of God”, “It is not what a person does that determines whether their work is sacred or secular. It is WHY they do it. The motive is everything. Let a person sanctify the Lord God in their heart and they can thereafter do no common act.”

You don’t have to have 14 degrees or a boat load of money to have purpose. You don’t need to find importance in your relationships or power in your sexual exploitations. You don’t need to be a king or president to find significance. You simply need to follow God.

It’s in God you’ll find purpose and meaning. It’s in him you’ll discover peace and a life that is satisfying. Don’t chase the wind but chase after the God who created you and loves you. Blessings on your journey.

Don't Miss Your Calling.

In the 8th grade, I got my first job…washing and waxing cars across the street from my house. I gave it my best shot but within 2 weeks, the owner told my dad it wasn’t working out. I found out quickly my calling was not in the car industry in any shape or form.

The Apostle Paul tells us in Ephesians chapters 1-3 how much Jesus has done for us. Because of Jesus’ sacrifice, we have been adopted into God’s family. We co-heirs with Christ. We are sons and daughters of the Most High God. We have so much to be grateful for in Christ Jesus.

So Paul tells us in Ephesians 4:1, “I beg you to live a life worthy of your calling because you have been called by God.” Now, in America we get caught up in what we are called to do. Am I called to be a lawyer or work in retail? Am I called to be an electrician or a movie producer? Am I called to be a spouse or live single? Am I called to get this college degree or that one?

But Paul is reminding us that calling is about who you are before what you do. Our calling is our identity. We are called to be holy, set apart from the world. We are not driven by the things of this world but called by God, infused by Jesus and empowered by the Holy Spirit to live a holy life.

See, I know I am called to be a minister/pastor at the local church. I know I’ve been called to be a father and husband. But I can be those things and not living a holy life. If that happens, then I am not living into my calling. It’s a who before you do. Paul tells us in Colossians 3:17, “In everything you do, do it to the glory of God.” It’s a call to holy living. It’s not about what I do but who I am as I do those things.

We get caught up in titles and positions…in the amount of money we have…in the kind of job we have. Paul is telling us in doesn’t matter about any of those things but about how you do them. You see, the size of your assignment never determines the significance of your impact.

Just like that little shepherd boy who was taking lunch to his brothers. He got to the camp and heard the local bully cussing out God Almighty. So the little boy picked up 5 smooth stones and ended that ridiculous episode. Or the little boy who went to hear Jesus speak one day in the middle of nowhere. He was the only smart one to bring something to eat. Late in the day, it was his small lunch that Jesus broke apart to feed thousands of people.

The size of your assignment never determines the significance of your impact.

As you live everyday with the spirit of “less of you and more of Jesus”, when you live where it’s not your name you care about but the Name of Jesus, when the focus is about how you are living for Jesus and not the dollar…you won’t need to find your calling because your calling with find you.

So one day you realize there’s someone in need, you’re called to meet that need. You’ll see someone who’s hurting and you’re called to listen, to cry with them, to help bear their burden. You might be in a space where you’re called to love a spouse that’s difficult to love or pray for an adult child who keeps running away from God. Maybe it’s a call to confess sin that’s been holding you back. And you hear Paul’s voice, “Whatever you do, honor Jesus.”

What am I called to do? It starts with who. You are a child of God, coheir with Jesus, empowered by the Holy Spirit. So live a life worthy of your calling. Jesus has done so much for you. Won’t you live for him? Blessings on your journey.

How to Grow Spiritually.

The Apostle Paul lays out the formula for spiritual growth in Ephesians 3. He reminds us in chapters 1-3 what God has done for us through Jesus Christ. Then in chapters 4-6, Paul reminds of how we are called to live in gratitude because of what Jesus has done for us.

In chapter 3, Paul says that God’s plan all along has been to offer salvation for both Jews and Gentiles. When we believe we come together as the church, then Paul says God’s intention is to show His power through the church, not only to the world, but to those rulers in the unseen, heavenly realms.

So God is going to use me and you to show all creation, seen and unseen, how amazing He truly is. But in order to be a part of His plan, you and I must make Jesus the priority in our lives. Jesus has to be the first thing in our lives. See, our identity is IN JESUS. The world would have us make our identity in our sexuality or gender; our money and things; our diplomas and titles; our relationships and family. But Paul reminds us if we are going to show the world how amazing our God truly is, we are going to have to make Jesus the #1 thing in our life.

So how do we do that? What’s the formula? What are the steps I can do that would make it obvious to those around me, Jesus is my priority? Paul gives us three things, found in his prayer in Ephesians 3, to do in order to grow in faith and clearly have a life seated in Jesus.

The first one is so very hard. As humans, it’s hard to submit…to acknowledge someone is more important than we are. But Paul says the first thing to do in Ephesians 3:14-15. He says, “I fall on my knees and pray…” In other words, he humbles himself before the Father, acknowledging someone greater than he is in control. We hate to give up control.

There is something to be said about body posture. We really don’t worry too much about this in our American culture but I challenge you to try it. There is something about praying on your knees that creates a submissive attitude. And we humble ourselves more than just before the Father but also with others.

Paul says in Philippians 2, our attitude MUST be like Jesus Christ who humbled himself. So if you follow Jesus, it’s not an option to humble yourself. It’s a requirement to forget your life then find your life in Jesus. So our attitude of humility not only includes Jesus but those we work with, those in our family, those in the neighborhood. Our spirit must take on the spirit of Jesus.

Secondly, Paul says we need to allow the Holy Spirit to strengthen us in verses 16-17. When we get in step with the Spirit, it’s then that we discover a better way of life. Paul gives us the fruits of the Spirit in Galatians 5: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. When we exhibit these traits in our lives, we’ll recognize we are in step with Spirit who is transforming us to look more like Jesus. Start with just choosing one of those and work on it in your life. Once you feel you have the hang of it, try adding another one to work on.

Finally, Paul encourages us to experience the love of Christ. His love is all encompassing. It’s everywhere if we just look. The Apostle John tells us what love looks like in 1 John 4:19. We know how to love because He first loved us. We see Jesus’ unselfish act, giving his life on a cross so that each of us could have a relationship with our Heavenly Father. Jesus gave up his life even when I was sinner.

Paul finishes up this prayer by telling us how we can be complete and feel complete. He says to humble ourselves, allow the Holy Spirit to transform us and experience the all encompassing love of Jesus Christ. When we do all three, we will be complete with all the fullness of God and power God can give us. That’s exciting and encouraging.

So remember, when we make Jesus the priority, we gain adoption into the family of God and are strengthened with power to live this life for Jesus. Embrace Jesus today. Make Him the center. Choose Jesus as your identity and see if that doesn’t change everything in your life! Blessings on the journey.

Prodigal Father

Yesterday was Father’s Day and many of us called our dad or had lunch with him or at least sent a card to him with a Home Depot gift card in it. All of us have a father.

Yesterday was also Sunday when believers gather in one place to worship our Heavenly Father and thank Him for all He has done for us through His Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus entire ministry was working to tell the world how incredible that Father truly is. Jesus’ whole life was spent pointing people to the Father. So it’s no surprise Jesus shows us how full of grace and unconditional love our Father is as Jesus tells stories in Luke 15.

While the Pharisees are upset that it appears Jesus is condoning sin by eating with sinners and tax collectors, Jesus reminds us our Heavenly Father is too busy rejoicing over found coins, found sheep and found kids to worry about what they were doing while they were lost.

See, Jesus tells the story of young son who wanted his inheritance from his dad before the dad died. Amazingly, the dad grants his half to him and the son goes away to the big city where he blows his entire bank account on worldly living. Sleeping in the day and partying at night with conditional friends who love the son as long as there is money. After weeks of the party life, spending money on drinking, drugs and women, the money runs out and then the friends do as well. In addition, there is a famine in the land.

So with no money and no friends; no place to stay and nothing to his name, the young son finds a job at a pig farm, slopping the hogs. Every day, he’s in the pig pen, in the mud, in the feces, in the stink and longing to eat what the pigs are eating. Until one day, he comes to his senses. He says, “I can go home and just ask dad if I can be a servant. Even the servants have food to eat.” So he begins the long walk of shame home.

But we discover the dad has been watching for his son every day. And one day, he sees his son in the distance so the dad runs down the road to meet him. While the son is trying to get the words out about being a servant, the dad says, “Bring a new robe, the family ring, new sandals and start cooking. Welcome home, my son.”

Now while Jesus reveals how wonderful it could be for prodigals to come home, it’s disturbing. Because most of us want our pound of flesh. Most of us want the sinner to come home but groveling on their knees, not to a party. And the young son has spent his half of the inheritance so he’s coming home to live off his brother’s half.

Big brother comes home to find the party and is irrate! “I’ve been here working the whole time and you never threw a party for me,” he says. And in the moment, dad realizes he’s lost both sons, one to a life of reckless abandonment and another to angry self-righteousness.

See, what the older son doesn’t realize is that dad does love them both but not because of what they deserve. He loves them both because that’s just who he is. See this father is a prodigal too who never tires of giving his love away.

We all are so blessed to have a Father who loves us unconditionally. When you decide to come home, he doesn’t remember what you’ve done but just loves on you. So if you are looking for peace in your life…if you are looking for a father to hold you close unconditionally…if you are looking for permission to leave behind the shame and guilt of your past mistakes, then say “yes” to Jesus and come home. Making Jesus Lord of your life will allow you to drop the baggage and embrace a totally new and wonderful life. Blessings on your journey.

All in this Together.

When you find someone from your town or area, it’s exciting. You could be at Walmart, the doctor’s office or on a cruise. Suddenly, you hear someone mention your home town. You talk to them and it’s an instant bond. You have something huge in common. You know the same roads, stores, schools…you have a commonality.

As followers of Christ, you look at any body of believers and it’s typically a diverse group. You’ll find the educated and the uneducated; you’ll find those with no money and lots of money; you’ll find different skin colors and different nations of origin; you’ll probably hear different languages spoken. But the Apostle Paul tells us in Ephesians 2:1-10, that we are all the same. As believers, we walk together in unity despite our different opinions and backgrounds.

You see, we are all from the same exact place. Paul tells us early in Ephesians 2, we were ALL dead in our sins…that we all USED to live the way of at the world…that we ALL were deserving of God’s anger and wrath. Paul tells us, we are ALL from the same exact place: Deadsville, USA, population: everyone.

Paul also reminds us that we ALL got into the family of God the same way too. If you are an adopted son or daughter of God…if Jesus is your brother, then you are part of the family of God! And the way we all got in was through Jesus and his sacrifice (“so that no one can boast”).

I’ve worked in churches since 1993. I found it fascinating that someone in every church needs to tell me something like, “You know, my grandparents started this church”, or “my family has attended here since 1906”, or “I gave a lot of money to build this church building”, or ‘I’ve been on 23 mission trips”. Paul says, no one can boast. It’s because of Jesus you are in the family. It’s because of grace you have been saved, nothing you have done.

Finally, Paul tells us we ALL have something special to do together. In Ephesians 2:10, Paul says we are God’s masterpiece. The original language uses the Greek word from which we get our English word, poem. Paul says that we are God’s poetry to the world around us.

Paul is calling us to be a sweet aroma to those we come in contact every day for the cause of Christ. Our words and behavior should reflect the unconditional love and grace of Jesus. If we are to boast, we boast in Jesus Christ because it is in Him we have life and life to full.

So that challenge this summer is go be Jesus. Express kindness, peace, and compassion. Hand out love, grace and forgiveness. Speak words of life to those you interact with each day. Blessings on your journey.

United in Christ

I have been together with others and we all had a common goal. I enjoyed playing high school football. We went to the state playoffs all three years of high school and I was an all-district defensive halfback my senior year. As a team, we were all different yet unified in our goal to win on the field.

I have been on a diverse missions team where each of us brought a specialty to the group. We were from different backgrounds, philosophies and expertise but together, we carried the Gospel message to the local people we were trying to influence for Christ.

While each of us who follow Jesus are very different, we must remember our commonality. Our likeness is our unshakeable identity in Christ Jesus. God has given us an unshakeable identity in the risen Savior.

The world tries to separate us by telling us our identity is in our degrees hanging on the wall, our skin color, our nation of origin, our socio-economic background, the power or title we might hold, the relationships we have. But God tells us in Ephesians 1 that we all have been adopted into the family of God through Jesus Christ. We are in the same family.

My dad has done a lot of ancestry background for our family heritage. I know I’m a fourth gen Church of Christ preacher. I know I am 50% Irish. I know where my ancestors came from when they came to American. My last name ties me to who I am. Because I am a family member, I have access to all the rights and privileges my name allows. I am also an American citizen. Because I am a citizen, I’m afforded certain rights and privileges as an American.

Paul is telling each of us, because we claim Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we are part of the family of God. God has adopted us as his sons and daughters. As a family member, I have all the rights and privileges afforded to someone in the family of God. We have the unconditional love of our Heavenly Father because of what Jesus did for each of us.

At Jesus’ baptism, God establishes Jesus’ unshakeable identity. God says that Jesus is His Son, that He loves him and is pleased with him. As we become part of family of God by accepting Jesus as our Savior, we too can reflect the same sentiment from God. He claims us as His sons and daughters. He loves us and is pleased with us. I also must remember, all of this is possible, not from anything I do, but from what Jesus has done.

So, sit in your unshakeable identity as a child of God. Know God has adopted you and because of that you have all the rights and privileges of a family member. God loves you and wants the very best for you. Blessings on your journey.

Fearfully and Wonderfully Made

When I was in grade school, we made stuff which we brought home to our parents. Some of those things were hung up but were terrible works of art. Yet my mom, no matter, would just ooh and ahh over it, telling me what a great artist I was. To this day, she get’s out and hangs up a Christmas candle I “cross-stitched” on burlap in the fifth grade!

You know, the world and culture tell us a couple of things. We are either put together or thrown together. And if we buy everything they are selling…if we look like them…they say, we are put together. However, if we don’t have the right amount of money, or are pretty, or have overachieving children, or have scars from an unhealthy body, well, we are thrown together.

Most of us have a story to tell because we are not perfect. Let’s be honest, it’s hard to keep up with Malibu Barbie and Malibu Ken! But the writer of Psalms tells us something all of us need to hear. He spells it out in Psalms 139, reminding us that God put us together, that we are special and unique, that God has actually known us even before we were born and has a plan for us as an adopted member of His family.

See, our security in who we are cannot come from culture or Malibu. Our security comes from being in Christ and must flow from the inside out. As Christ-followers, it seems basic. However, we get pressured everyday in believing the voices that tell us we are not pretty enough, or smart enough, or rich enough, or fit enough, well you get the picture.

Jesus himself took issue with this mentality in Matthew 23 when He dresses down the religious leaders of his day. Jesus reminds them the outward appearance means nothing, zero, nada. It’s what’s on the inside, in the heart, that really counts.

So, every day, we thank God for creating us in His image and loving us unconditionally. We are humbled knowing there’s nothing we can do to ultimately to change the way He made us. Sink into the words of the Psalmist as he reminds us of how intimately God knows you and how much He has for you in the days ahead…

“You, God, made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.” Psalms 139:13-16 NLT

So be confident that we have a new, fresh life in Jesus. God is FOR you every day. His plans for you far outweigh anything the world could promise. He’s adopted you into his family which means you have everything the King owns already. You are fearfully and wonderfully made. God’s work is evident in you. Blessings on your journey.

Marry Me!

In Jesus’ day, when a young man and woman wanted to get married, both dads and the couple got together to talk about it. The groom-to-be and his dad would go to the house of the bride-to-be and the four of them would sit at a table and negotiate the bride-price. You can bet it would rival the cost of a small house. But there would need to be some physical payment for the girl to get married.

Once the price was settled upon, the groom’s dad would pour a cup of wine and give it to his son. The son would then offer it to the girl he wanted to marry. She then had two options. She could refuse the cup of wine, indicating while was was flattered by the proposal, she didn’t want to accept the gift of his life. Or she could take the cup of wine and drink. In doing so, she was saying, “I accept the gift of your life. I give you my life as well.” After which, preparations would be underway for a celebration and wedding.

At the Last Supper with Jesus and the disciples, they are celebrating the Passover with the traditional meal. This meal was hosted by Jesus meaning he retold the Exodus story and how God had saved Israel from Egypt. During the meal, which lasts hours, certain things are eaten at certain times and four cups of wine are drunk at different moments in the story.

The first cup of wine is the cup of sanctification. God chose us to be His holy people. He promised to unburden us from the entanglement of our enemy. The second cup of wine is the cup of deliverance. God reminds us that we cannot affect our own release but in fact must depend on him for deliverance. The third and fourth cups of wine are redemption and salvation. God’s work requires both divine power and payment.

Suddenly, out of the norm, Jesus turns to his disciples at the Last Supper and changes the final cup. He tells them the cup represents a new covenant in His blood. Like our Jewish groom-to-be, Jesus offers the cup to his disciples and says, “I love you. Will you marry me? Will you be my spiritual bride?”

Every Sunday in our tribe, we gather around the table where Jesus presides. Jesus then says to you, “I love you. I died for you. Will you marry me?” How personal a moment…God looking down on us and says, “I love you.”

So each of us, when we take the cup during communion, we accept the life Jesus gives us and we give our life back to him. We say, “God I accept your gift and give you my life in return.” What an intimate and wonderful time we experience every time we share in the Communion! It’s a beautiful moment when we are reminded two lives have become one and in doing so, we celebrate a very bright future. Blessings on the journey.