What if Jesus was the one who brought the bread and juice to you when you were taking communion?
Can you envision this? If you can, I think you might find it helpful in personalizing the cross. We hear preachers and teachers tell us that if there had been no one else who had sinned other than me, Jesus still would have gone to the cross—He would have died for just my sins.
That’s not only amazing—it’s amazingly true (see Luke 15:3-5) . . . But of course, we’re not the only one who needs the forgiveness and redemption God offers through His Son. The truth of the matter is we’re not one of many, we’re not even one of a multitude—we’re simply one of everyone.
And that’s the rub.
It can be difficult to sit in the assembly among many and appreciate and personalize Christ’s sacrifice. (There is a splendid sense in which it is equally wonderful to think of Christ’s death for everyone in your congregation—click here for that). Right now though, the issue is the challenge of taking the cross personally and that can be difficult to do if you feel a little lost in the crowd.
That’s why imagining Jesus handing the bread and juice to us (and us handing it back to Him when we finish) can vividly bring home the truth of how Jesus went to the cross for me. Many times, I have placed myself in the upper room with the disciples as I took communion, but last Sunday morning, for whatever reason, I thought about Him personally handing the elements to me. It flipped a switch as I experienced that feeling you get when you suddenly see something in a different, deeper way than ever before. It wasn’t that I didn’t know this truth before—I did. But picturing Christ serving communion to me somehow just made it more vivid and sharper.
But that’s not really what I wanted to talk about—that’s just an example. What I really want to discuss is the principle of learning to look at the same truth in different, new-to-us ways.
Whatever else the Scripture is pointing us toward when is speaks of us “renewing our minds” (Romans 12:2), it is urging us to keep our faith fresh. One of the ways we do that is by learning to look at truth in different ways.
Think of truth as being in the middle of a circle. As you work your way around the circle, you’re always looking at it, but you’re seeing it from slightly different perspectives. You hear the story of the Good Samaritan and how we are to love our neighbor. You initially think about the people who live close to you. When you later reflect upon it, you recognize a neighbor is anyone who needs your help. The next time this story comes to mind, you think about how we’re called to help even those who are radically different that we are (Matthew 5:46). Which one is true? They all are! You’re just moving around the circle and looking at the same truth from different angles. However poorly I’ve explained that, I hope you can see how moving around the circle enables us to see the truth in greater depth and dimension.
That’s one of the ways we can keep our faith fresh.
A Taste of Grace with Bruce Green 