Insightful Musings on the Scriptures
by
Raymond P. Sparre
Northwest University class of '67
Howdy doody, everbody.
Man! That dates me. I remember watching Howdy Doody when I was about 5 years old on a 9” black and white television at a neighbor’s house. 1949? He was a stringed puppet. It doesn’t take much reflecting to become overwhelmed with the amount of change that has come our way since then.
I became kind of spaced out with several things this morning…including some other thoughts on today’s passage. I won’t bore you with it here…but if you want to be bored elsewhere, I’m sticking it on as an attachment. If you have a conflicting view and can share it with me along with sound Biblical support, please straighten me out.
Have a blessed day.
Love, Dad/Ray.
Many Christian churches often use this passage on the LORD’S SUPPER as a guide when conducting the ceremony of Holy Communion. It is certainly best if we as believers have a proper understanding of this highly significant ordinance of the Church. To help review its meaning I think I would like to draw from some notes in my Bible and make mention of its 3 facets of meaning—past, present, and future.
Past significance. The LORD’S SUPPER is a remembrance of Christ’s saving and once-for-all death, redeeming us from sin and its condemnation (Luke 22:19). Properly remembered, it should be a great deterrent to falling back into sin and avoiding even the appearance of evil (I Thessalonians 5:22).
Present significance. The LORD’S SUPPER is a ceremonial expression of our present and ongoing fellowship with Christ and participation in the benefits and blessings of the New Covenant in His blood where Christ becomes both our priest and sacrifice. It also indicates a fellowship with other members of the Body of Christ (10:16-17). By this act we proclaim the lordship of Christ and our commitment to do His will.
Future significance. Finally, the LORD’S SUPPER looks to the return of Christ, the future Kingdom of God, and the Messianic banquet when all believers will be with the Lord (Matthew 8:11; 22:1-14; Mark 14:25; Luke 13:29; 22:17-18, 30).
Whereas we are instructed that “a man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup” (vs. 28), perhaps these perspectives can assist in this self-examination process. Just bear in mind that the LORD’S SUPPER is a ceremony—a physical action that displays and illustrates a spiritual reality. So beware of how easily this form can be faked. There is nothing saving about the ceremony itself—it’s the personal embracing of the truth that it represents which saves. Remember—it’s not about performance, and it’s not about eating—it’s about relationship, it’s about worship, it’s about A HEART AFTER GOD and deliverance from and victory over SIN. Examine yourself.
Coming to think of it, we really ought to examine ourselves before we do ANYTHING.
19 July 12 --- Further thoughts on today’s reading in 1 Corinthians 11:2-16.
I want to be careful about posing as some big scholarly authority on Biblical interpretation, but I confess that this section between vv. 2-16 is kind of a puzzling challenge for me. I can’t seem to get it figured out and established as being a truly God-inspired argument and standard for all time. I can’t seem to avoid concluding that Paul’s discussion on male and female hair length and who came from who is basically a biased cultural tangent. I noticed again that I had written in the margin of my Bible some time ago a note that reads, “Hair is hair—whether male or female.” For any head, male or female, if you don’t cut it, it grows long. If you cut it, it becomes short. So what?
I realize that when I critique the Scriptures in this way, I am tampering with some traditional doctrines on plenary inspiration—that every word within the body of Biblical revelation is inspired. I certainly do not wish to engage in neutralizing the divine dynamic of the Scriptures, but I have come to embrace an accompanying and compatible view of the Bible which allows an author like Paul to exercise his individuality, while still acknowledging his functioning as an agent of divine truth. How so? I believe that the divine dynamic of the Bible is bigger than Paul and his cultural bias—bigger than the technicalities of languages, lexicons, and historical research—bigger than church doctrines—and bigger than versions and translations (there are many). I believe that it is the born-again condition of A HEART AFTER GOD that activates the Bible, whatever the translation, to be THE WORD OF GOD—living, powerful, and life-changing.The bottom line, as I see it, is fundamentally the bottom line that Paul offers in Galatians 5:6—“For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself in love.” And that applies to men, women, and people with long hair or people with short.
In verse 13 of today’s reading, Paul puts forth this combination of challenge and question: “Judge for yourselves: Is it right for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered?” If I could have a personal meeting with Paul, I think I would like to say, “OK, Paul, I’ll take your advice to judge for myself. And my judgment is that it doesn’t make a lick of difference.”