Thursday, April 13, 2006
My wife and I kept two special remembrances of our wedding: a tape of the ceremony and a piece of wedding cake. The tape was a much better idea. We froze the cake and then we ate some of it on our first anniversary. You've heard about chocolate cake? This was more like chalk cake. But the tape was a great idea. Often, even now on our on anniversary, we replay it. We relive that wonderful day that our marriage began. And we are there! Some couples go way beyond a tape - they actually dust off the old wedding dress, reconvene the wedding party, and do it all again for their 25th. You know, it's good for a couple to remember their wedding day. A trip back to the beginning can rekindle that spark.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Back to Where it Started."
It's important to remember and to revisit where it all began in any important relationship; especially in your most important relationship. That's why Jesus invited us to often revisit that place where we began with Him.
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from 1 Corinthians 11, beginning in verse 23-26. It says, "The Lord Jesus, on the night He was betrayed, took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, 'This is My body which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.' In the same way, after supper He took the cup, saying, 'This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, whenever you drink, in remembrance of Me.' For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes."
Obviously, this is the familiar passage about the Lord's Supper. And Jesus is saying, "Remember Me ... remember My cross." And, in a sense He's saying, "Come back often to the place where it all began." Now this passage clearly establishes the practice of Communion, but I believe there is also an underlying principle here that we need to regularly visit the Cross where we were bought and paid for.
That can certainly happen at the Lord's Supper. But a heart-visit to Jesus' Cross can happen in your bedroom or your study as you let yourself wander mentally to the foot of that old rugged cross. You can do that as you're driving along or walking alone. You may go there at a time when you're feeling great guilt, of great pain, of great doubt, of great praise. But you need to look at Jesus there, agonizing under the weight of your sin.
The hymn writer expressed it this way: "Beneath the cross of Jesus, my eyes at times can see the very dying form of One who suffered there for me. And from my smitten heart with tears, two wonders I confess - the glories of His wondrous love and my unworthiness." You kneel at the Cross and you remember how serious, how ugly, how deadly your sin is; the sin that maybe you've been trying to justify or rationalize. And you again let His forgiveness give your soul a shower. You realize again how very loved you are by God.
It's there on Skull Hill that you strip away all your Christian meetings and activities. You lay aside your creeds and your rules for a moment. And you remember that Christianity ultimately boils down to two people - Jesus dying for you and you at the foot of His cross. It puts everything back in perspective. Where your relationship began is where the spark of first love will be rekindled. Let your heart go to that sacred spot often. You'll come away different every time that you go back to where it all started.